The Property Ombudsman promotes TSI approved Codes of Practice in Sunderland.

The Property Ombudsman, Christopher Hamer recently attended an event organised by Sunderland City Council to promote its Accredited Landlord’s Scheme, a new partnership launched to improve and maintain standards of accommodation in the private rented sector. Christopher spoke about the importance of the redress scheme explaining what TPO represents, how he operates and his role as the Ombudsman.

Christopher comments: “These types of schemes are vital in helping to raise standards and improving industry best practice, informing landlords and agents of the legal developments affecting their businesses and emphasising the importance of dealing with consumer dissatisfaction in a structured way. The private rented sector is continuing to grow at a rapid pace and landlords as well as letting agents need to meet all current housing demands, and know and understand up-to-date legislation, regulations and the standards they should follow. The Sunderland Accredited Landlord’s scheme has been very welcomed in the area and many cities are now looking to promote such schemes.

With all letting agents in England now legally required to register with an approved redress scheme, letting agents are more accountable than ever before to both landlords and tenants when it comes to dealing with tenancies. Educating landlords about their responsibilities through localised schemes will help maintain consistent standards, as well as helping to improve the landlords’ relationship with an agent.”

The Property Ombudsman scheme has been operating throughout the UK for 25 years. TPO’s Codes of Practice are comprehensive and cover all aspects of the latest property and consumer laws, and all of them have received Consumer Code Approval from The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI), a hallmark for excellent consumer protection. The only way an agent can display a CTSI logo is through membership of an organisation whose code of practice has passed a stringent two-stage process to gain independent accreditation. Agents signed up as a TPO member can display the CTSI approved code logo which will assure consumers that they are following the highest industry standards.

Christopher continues: “We work very closely with The Chartered Trading Standards Institute to support standards within the housing industry in the UK.”

Accredited Landlords Scheme 1 Christopher Hamer

Commenting on the event in Sunderland, Deputy Mayor of Sunderland, Councillor Alan Emerson said: “I’m delighted that Mr Hamer asked to join us at the event to learn more about the voluntary Sunderland Accredited Landlord scheme, which is successfully helping us work in partnership with landlords to raise the standard of accommodation within the private rented sector.

There are a large number of people living in rented accommodation in this part of the city, and we want to work with both tenants and landlords to help make sure that expected standards of housing maintenance and property management are being achieved. The Accreditation Scheme was introduced after talking to landlords to identify their concerns, and then deciding how we can best work together to address them through providing the practical advice and support necessary.

Christopher Walkey

Founder of Estate Agent Networking. Internationally invited speaker on how to build online target audiences using Social Media. Writes about UK property prices, housing, politics and affordable homes.

You May Also Enjoy

Rightmove logo
Breaking News

Sandbanks crowned most expensive seaside spot

New data from Rightmove shows that Sandbanks in Poole, Dorset is the most expensive coastal area in Great Britain, with an average asking price of £1,282,565 Canford Cliffs in Poole is second, with an average asking price of £974,635, and Milford-on-Sea in Hampshire is third (£728,460) Sandbanks is now the only seaside spot above £1million:…
Read More
Rightmove logo
Breaking News

Rightmove’s Weekly Mortgage Tracker – 01/07/25

Average rates for 2-year and 5-year fixed-rate mortgages   Term Average rate Weekly change Yearly change 2-year fixed 4.57% -0.05% -0.83% 5-year fixed 4.55% -0.04% -0.45%   Lowest rates for 2-year and 5-year fixed-rate mortgages   Term Lowest rate Weekly change Yearly change 2-year fixed 3.69% -0.13% -0.98% 5-year fixed 3.87% -0.01% -0.36%   Average…
Read More
Breaking News

Housing Insight Report Covering May 2025

Sales On average, there were around 11.5 homes placed for sale per member branch in May 2025. Lettings The average void period reported by member agents increased to just over three weeks in May 2025. We are seeing an average of 37% of housing transactions taking longer than 17 weeks to complete. The timescales are…
Read More
Breaking News

Rental Market Hotspots Drive National Growth

New analysis from FCC Paragon reveals modest national growth in rental demand across England in Q2 2025, up by 1.2% to 29.4%. However, this overall increase masks significant regional variation, with several counties experiencing substantial quarterly surges that are driving the market forward. The research shows that rental demand across England strengthened in Q2, up 1.2%…
Read More
Breaking News

Nationwide House Price Index for June 2025 – Thoughts from the Industry

Nationwide House Price Index for June 2025 shows House prices fell by -0.8% between May and June of this year. On an annual basis, the average house price increased by 2.1% although this rate of growth had slowed from 3.5% the previous month. As a result, the average UK house price now sits at £271,619.…
Read More
Breaking News

Clarity still needed on key areas in Renters’ Rights Bill

Ahead of Report Stage of the Renters’ Rights Bill in the House of Lords later today, 1 July 2025, Propertymark is urging the UK Government and Peers to amendment Bill, so it is fit for purpose. There remain long-standing concerns about the capacity and capability of the Courts, with the time from claim to hearing…
Read More