Our membership of The Property Ombudsman

National Property Buyers is a member of The Property Ombudsman (TPO), the UK's largest property redress scheme. This gives you a free, independent route to resolve a complaint, if we can't put things right directly ourselves first.

What The Property Ombudsman actually is

The Property Ombudsman has provided independent dispute resolution since 1990, as a not-for-profit company funded by member fees. It’s approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, covering estate agents, letting agents, property managers, and direct buyers like us. Its reach spans England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Channel Islands.

Why this isn’t just a voluntary badge

Redress scheme membership for relevant property businesses can be a genuine legal requirement, not just a goodwill gesture. The Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007 gives the Secretary of State that power. TPO is one of the two schemes approved for it. That’s why our membership matters: a genuine statutory framework, not just a badge we chose to display.

What this means for you, in practice

  • Free to use. Bringing a complaint to TPO costs you nothing, whatever the outcome.
  • Independent. TPO isn’t part of our business — it investigates and decides complaints on its own judgement.
  • Genuine compensation power. Where a complaint is upheld, TPO can award compensation for actual financial loss, and separately for distress or inconvenience caused.

A real alternative to court. You don’t need a solicitor or legal proceedings to use this service.

Our own complaints process, step by step

We’d rather resolve things directly with you than have you need TPO at all. If something’s gone wrong, here’s exactly what happens once you tell us:

Step 1 — Acknowledgement, within 3 working days. We’ll confirm we’ve received your complaint and send you a copy of this procedure.

Step 2 — Investigation, within 15 working days. Our Office Manager reviews your file and speaks to whoever handled your case, then sends you a full written outcome.

Step 3 — Senior review, within 15 working days. If you’re still not satisfied, a senior member of staff reviews it independently and confirms our final position in writing.

Step 4 — Independent redress. If you’re still not satisfied, see below for exactly how to escalate to The Property Ombudsman.

We’ll always make reasonable adjustments if you need extra support — age, bereavement, disability, limited English, or similar.

Escalating to The Property Ombudsman

Once you’ve been through our process, or 8 weeks have passed, you can submit your complaint to TPO. You’ll need to do this within 12 months of our final response.

What happens next. TPO typically takes 25–30 working days just to confirm your complaint qualifies. A case officer then attempts early resolution, usually over a further 4–6 weeks. If that doesn’t settle things, both sides submit evidence for a formal decision. Altogether, TPO’s typical wait time for a full decision is 3–6 months. Worth knowing upfront, since this isn’t a same-week process.

TPO’s contact details:

Being honest about what this does and doesn’t mean

TPO is a genuine, established redress scheme. It’s worth being clear about what that actually involves, rather than just displaying the badge. Unlike the Financial Ombudsman Service, TPO wasn’t created by statute. It existed before the 2007 Act, later approved as compliant. It doesn’t carry the FCA’s statutory oversight. What it does offer is real: a genuinely independent third party, a proper evidence-based process, and the power to make a binding award against us.

Worth knowing if a decision goes in your favour: any final decision is binding on us, not on you. If you’re unhappy with the outcome, you keep the right to pursue the matter through the courts instead.

Verify this independently

We’d rather you check this yourself than simply take our word for it:

Our TPO membership number: T10986.

Source: The Property Ombudsman — see their site directly for the most current process details and timescales.

Questions about a specific situation? Speak with our team directly — most concerns are resolved faster this way than through any formal scheme.

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