The number of enquiries to The Property Ombudsman rose by 29% year on year to a record high of 39,285 in 2020, but only 5,122 cases were accepted by the service.
The Ombudsman says the remaining 34,000 enquiries “were resolved at first contact” through guidance and signposting.
The number of accepted cases was up by just 0.3% annually, although the number of cases resolved was 12% higher year on year.
The Ombudsman backed the complainant in 2,907 cases, handing out 2,473 financial awards, which totalled £1.9m, although this was down by 13% on 2019’s figure.
It dealt with 2,737 complaints relating to lettings, 1,656 relating to sales, 1,194 relating to leasehold management and 120 which related to other property professionals.
The average awards were £612 for lettings, £653 for sales and £339 for leasehold management, while the biggest individual award was £24,139.
In the lettings sector, the Ombudsman found in favour of the complainant in 69% of cases.
Of the complaints it dealt with, 55% were from landlords and 43% from tenants, with the remainder from other parties.
The top five categories of complaint were management; communication and record keeping; instructions and terms of business; and complaints handling.
In the sales sector, the Ombudsman sided with the complainant in 65% of cases.
Complaints from sellers accounted for 68% of cases, while 30% came from buyers and the remainder from other parties.
The top five causes of complaints were communication and record keeping; instructions/terms of business/commission/termination; marketing and advertising; and complaints handling.
In the leasehold management sector the Ombudsman backed only 40% of complainants, which it says is a reflection of the uncertainty many leaseholders have about the division of responsibilities between managing agents and their landlord clients.
It says 80% of complaints were received from leaseholders, with freeholders, resident associations, resident management companies and right to manage companies making up the remaining 20%
The top five causes of leasehold complaints were complaints handling; communication; demand/collection service in relation to service changes; and maintenance and major works.
Where the Ombudsman ordered members to pay financial awards there was a 99% compliance rate and only 19 agents were excluded from the scheme for failing to pay.
Property Ombudsman Rebecca Marsh says: “2020 was a year like no other for all businesses and everyone had to quickly respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“TPO effectively transitioned from an office-based service to a remote working operation with no loss of service.
“I’m extremely proud of the whole team who performed well whilst rising to the challenge of global events.
“Our customer services team responded to another record volume of consumer enquiries with an ever-increasing number of people opting to contact us via TPO’s complaints portal, launched in February 2020.
“The pandemic is not over yet, so it will be interesting to see if this trend continues or adjusts as we slowly get back to normal.
“TPO helped over 34,000 enquiries that did not need to go on to become accepted cases by signposting them to organisations that could help, or giving advice and guidance to promote a local resolution between them and the agent.
“Providing a front-end enquiry service is one of the unique functions of an ombudsman.
“Its importance in helping consumers in such a complicated sector, whether or not their issues fall within TPO’s remit, should not be understated, as often straightforward guidance and advice can help stop disputes from arising in the first instance.
“Enquiry levels in 2021 are already showing further year-on-year increases and we are expecting this to continue as the impact of the pandemic on peoples’ relationship with their homes continues to play out.”
