Every private landlord in England will have to join a single, government backed redress scheme, and staying out of it could cost up to £40,000. The PRS Ombudsman is the second pillar of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, arriving after the PRS Database begins its regional rollout in late 2026. Mandatory membership is expected in 2028. That sounds comfortably far away. It is not. The complaint records, repair logs and response habits that will keep you out of trouble in 2028 are the ones you build this year.
Key takeaways
- The PRS Landlord Ombudsman is a new, compulsory redress scheme for private landlords in England, created by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025
- Mandatory membership is expected in 2028, after the PRS Database rolls out regionally from late 2026
- Every private landlord letting an assured tenancy must join, including single property landlords and those who use a letting agent
- Penalties run to £7,000 for a first breach, up to £40,000 or prosecution for serious or repeated breaches, plus a possible Rent Repayment Order of up to two years’ rent
- Landlords will fund the scheme through an annual per property fee that has not yet been confirmed
- Under a Corporate Lease Agreement, Elliot Leigh becomes your tenant and handles the occupier relationship, including complaints
What is the PRS Landlord Ombudsman?
The PRS Landlord Ombudsman is a new redress service for tenants in the private rented sector in England, created by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. It will investigate tenant complaints about their landlord free of charge to the tenant, reach binding decisions, and order remedies including apologies, information, corrective action and financial compensation. Membership will be compulsory for private landlords.
It closes a gap that has existed for years. Tenants renting through a letting agent could already escalate a complaint to an agent redress scheme. Tenants of self managing landlords had no equivalent. Their only routes were the council’s environmental health team or the courts, neither of which is proportionate to a boiler that has been broken for six weeks.
The government has said the Ombudsman will support landlords as well as police them, with guidance and training on handling complaints early. That is worth taking at face value. An Ombudsman that resolves disputes at stage one is cheaper for everyone than one that adjudicates them at stage three.
When does mandatory membership start?
Mandatory membership is expected in 2028. The Ombudsman sits in Phase 2 of the government’s implementation roadmap, published on 13 November 2025, and it will follow the PRS Database rather than arrive alongside it. The Secretary of State must first appoint a scheme administrator, who then needs time to recruit, train and build capacity before landlords are required to join.
The roadmap is explicit that mandatory membership switches on only when ministers are confident the service is ready to accept members, and that landlords will be given proper notice rather than a surprise deadline. Treat 2028 as a working estimate, not a statutory date.
| Milestone | Status or expected timing |
|---|---|
| Phase 1: Section 21 abolished, all assured tenancies periodic | In force since 1 May 2026 |
| Maximum civil penalty for serious housing offences raised to £40,000 | In force since 1 May 2026 |
| Draft Private Landlord Redress Schemes (Approval and Designation) Regulations laid before Parliament | 28 April 2026 |
| PRS Database regional rollout begins | From late 2026 |
| Scheme administrator appointed | Expected 12 to 18 months before launch |
| Mandatory Ombudsman membership | Expected 2028, subject to confirmation |
| Decent Homes Standard and Awaab’s Law in the PRS | Phase 3, dates to be confirmed |
| EPC C minimum standard | Target 2030 |
Which landlords will have to join?
All of them. Membership will be mandatory for every private landlord in England letting an assured or regulated tenancy, with no exemption for portfolio size. If you let one flat on a periodic assured tenancy, you will need to be a member. If you let 200, you will need to be a member.
Using a letting agent does not exempt you. Your agent already has its own redress obligation, and that obligation covers the agent’s conduct. The Ombudsman covers the landlord’s conduct. They are separate duties, and the tenant can pursue either.
Does a corporate let work differently?
Yes, and this is where the structure of your letting matters. A Corporate Lease Agreement is not an assured tenancy. The property is let to a company, which holds the relationship with the person living there. Under that structure Elliot Leigh is your tenant and deals with occupier complaints itself.
What powers will the Ombudsman have?
The Ombudsman will be able to make binding determinations on complaints and require landlords to put things right. Expected remedies include a written apology, the provision of information, corrective action such as completing outstanding repairs, and financial compensation to the tenant. Decisions will be enforceable, and complaints are expected to be accepted from former tenants as well as current ones.
Most complaints reaching it will be familiar to anyone who has managed property:
- Repairs not carried out, or carried out badly, in breach of Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985
- Damp and mould, and the response times that Awaab’s Law will eventually codify for the private sector
- Poor or non existent communication, including unanswered messages about urgent issues
- Deposit handling and failures around TDP and prescribed information
- Conduct around access, inspections and entry to the property
- Handling of a rent increase or a possession notice in a way that the tenant says was unfair
What happens if you do not join?
Failing to join once membership is compulsory carries a civil penalty of up to £7,000 for an initial breach. Serious or continuing breaches can attract a penalty of up to £40,000, or criminal prosecution. A tenant may also apply for a Rent Repayment Order of up to two years’ rent. Separately, a landlord who is not a member of the scheme is not lawfully letting.
That last point deserves emphasis. This is not a fine you absorb as a cost of doing business. Non membership is expected to sit alongside licensing breaches, undermining your position on possession and exposing you to a Rent Repayment Order on top of the penalty.
What will membership cost?
Landlords will fund the scheme through what the government calls a fair and proportionate charging model, in practice an annual fee per let property. The figure has not been confirmed and will be set closer to launch.
Estimates of £25 to £75 per property per year have circulated in the trade press. None is official and none belongs in a budget as a firm number. A line item does. Add it to the PRS Database registration fee, also unconfirmed, and Phase 2 becomes a recurring annual cost per property rather than a one off exercise.
What should landlords do before 2028?
Build the paper trail now. The Ombudsman will judge you on whether you handled the complaint properly, and that judgement is made from records. Landlords who log everything tend to win. Landlords who rely on memory and WhatsApp tend not to.
- Write a short complaints procedure with named stages and response times, and give it to every tenant at the start of the tenancy
- Give tenants a single, monitored point of contact, not a personal mobile you answer when convenient
- Log every complaint, every response and every date, including the ones resolved in an afternoon
- Keep repair records, contractor quotes and invoices filed by property, not by year
- Keep gas safety certificates, EICRs and EPCs current and stored digitally, because the PRS Database will ask for them from late 2026
- Acknowledge every written complaint in writing within a set window, even when the answer is not ready yet
- Review your Section 11 repairing obligations and set internal response times for damp, mould and category 1 HHSRS hazards
- Decide who handles complaints when you are on holiday, and tell your tenants who that is
For the wider picture on how Phase 1 and Phase 2 fit together, see our Renters’ Rights Hub and our guide to the Renters’ Rights Act.
Frequently asked questions
When will the PRS Landlord Ombudsman launch?
Mandatory membership is expected in 2028. The Ombudsman is part of Phase 2 of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 and will follow the PRS Database, whose regional rollout begins in late 2026. A scheme administrator has to be appointed first, and is expected to be in place 12 to 18 months before landlords are required to join. The government has said it will give landlords clear notice in advance.
Do I need to join the PRS Ombudsman now?
No. Membership is not yet a live legal requirement, so there is nothing to sign up to at this stage. Treat it as a Phase 2 obligation to prepare for rather than a current duty. The useful work now is building a written complaints procedure, logging complaints and responses, and getting your gas, electrical and EPC certificates organised for PRS Database registration from late 2026.
Does using a letting agent mean I do not have to join?
No. Letting agents already belong to their own redress schemes, and that covers the agent’s conduct. The Ombudsman will cover the landlord’s conduct, and the duty to join falls on the landlord regardless of who manages the property day to day. A tenant will be able to complain about the landlord even where an agent handles the tenancy.
What are the penalties for not joining the Ombudsman scheme?
A first breach can attract a civil penalty of up to £7,000. Serious or continuing breaches can attract up to £40,000 or criminal prosecution. A tenant may also apply for a Rent Repayment Order of up to two years’ rent. A landlord who is not a member once membership is compulsory is not letting lawfully, which has knock on consequences for possession.
How much will the PRS Ombudsman cost landlords?
The fee has not been confirmed. The government has committed to a fair and proportionate charging model, which in practice means an annual fee per let property set closer to launch. Figures of around £25 to £75 per property per year have been suggested in the trade press but none is official. Budget for a recurring annual cost alongside the PRS Database fee.
Does guaranteed rent remove Ombudsman exposure?
Under a Corporate Lease Agreement, Elliot Leigh becomes your tenant rather than managing an assured tenancy on your behalf, and handles the occupier relationship including complaints. That changes who deals with day to day complaint handling. Landlords should confirm their own position with a legal adviser, as the final redress scheme regulations are still working through Parliament.
Phase 2 is a cost and an admin burden, and it is coming whether or not the 2028 date holds. Guaranteed rent takes the occupier relationship off your desk entirely.
See what your property would earn with a guaranteed rent agreement on the Elliot Leigh rent calculator, or speak to the team on 0208 983 4444.
