© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
The Property Redress Scheme (PRS) has been approved by both the Chartered Trading Standards Institute and the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team to offer alternative dispute resolution (ADR) to consumers and traders acting within the property sector under the new ADR regulations which came into force in October.
It is already law that property agents must be a member of a government-authorised redress scheme. Now all traders operating within the property industry must signpost their consumers who are unhappy with their service to an authorised ADR provider.
Although the trader is not required to actually engage in the authorised ADR providers resolution process, the aim of the legislation is to push ADR up the agenda as an alternative to the parties going to court. Also judges won’t look favourably upon traders who unreasonably reject the opportunity to use ADR and instead force a complainant to issue court proceedings. If a trader does not signpost their consumers to an authorised ADR provider then they can be subject to fines of up to £5,000 by trading standards.
Sean Hooker, Head of Redress said: “I am delighted that on the anniversary of it being a legal requirement for letting and property agents to be a member of a consumer redress scheme the PRS can now announce that it has gained authorisation to offer ADR services to its property professional membership. I strongly believe that ADR provides a quicker and more satisfactory resolution to disputes by engaging the parties and getting to the core of the issues in dispute.”
The PRS uses a mixture of early resolution, mediation and adjudication to reach resolutions to the disputes.