Nearly all private landlords in England will have to join a mandatory landlord Ombudsman under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, and how they handle tenant complaints will carry as much weight as the condition of their properties.
The scheme is not yet live. The government’s roadmap points to 2028 for full implementation, following the rollout of the PRS Database. Tenants are expected to use the service free of charge, while landlords will have to comply with its decisions, with councils taking enforcement action against those who do not.
“For years, landlords have been striving to establish a ‘perfect property’,” said Mark Dawson, tenant matters advisor at AST Assistance. “But now as the PRS landlord Ombudsman becomes mandatory, there is more importance placed on ensuring landlords act fairly and follow the correct processes. Clear communication, thorough records and consistent tenancy management will matter just as much as legal compliance.”
Landlord Ombudsman moves the test from compliance to conduct
Legal compliance remains the baseline. Gas and electrical safety, deposit protection, right to rent checks and the tenancy rules in force since 1 May 2026 are not optional, and the Ombudsman does not change that. What changes is how a landlord will be judged once a tenant complains. The scheme is expected to consider each case on its merits and decide what is fair and reasonable, rather than working through a rigid checklist of obligations.
Conduct sits at the centre of that assessment: how quickly the landlord responded, what they said, what they did and whether they treated the tenant reasonably. A landlord can be fully compliant on paper and still struggle to answer those questions if nothing shows how the issue was handled.
Most tenant complaints are not about a single defect, Dawson said, but about how a defect, request or dispute was dealt with. Delayed repairs, lack of communication and unexplained decisions are common triggers for escalation. A property with a genuine issue but a prompt, well-documented response can be defended more efficiently than a “perfect” property where the landlord cannot show what happened.
A free, independent route for tenant complaints also raises the risk profile for private landlords. Disputes that once stalled or ended in an informal settlement will go to a third party, who will judge whether the landlord’s conduct was fair and reasonable.
Evidence will settle that question. A landlord who can produce a dated repair log, a clear sequence of correspondence and a consistent approach to similar situations will find fairness far easier to demonstrate than one relying on memory and good intentions.
A phased rollout
Membership of the Ombudsman will be mandatory for private landlords in England, including those who use a letting agent, so handing day-to-day management to an agent does not remove the obligation to join. Landlords who fail to sign up can expect action from their local council, including civil penalties.
The PRS Database comes first, launching on 15 December 2026 as part of phase two of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. The Ombudsman will follow later in that phase, once the database is in place.
Communication comes first
Many disputes escalate because of what was not said rather than what was done. Poor communication can look like repair reports that go unacknowledged, verbal agreements that are never confirmed in writing, or different answers from different members of a tenancy management team. Rent increases, access requests and notices sent without adequate explanation can also cause misunderstanding and conflict.
Good practice starts with acknowledging every tenant request promptly, even where the fix will take time. Tenants want to know their issue is being dealt with, Dawson noted, which does not always mean offering an instant solution. Landlords should set out what happens next, who is responsible and when it will be done.
Timelines can slip when parts need ordering or maintenance is unavailable, provided the tenant is told and given a reasonable explanation. Phone calls or site conversations should be confirmed in writing, in plain, courteous language, because anyone reviewing the file will see it.
Refusals need the same care. When a landlord declines a request, whether for a repair, a pet or a change to the tenancy, a valid reason makes the decision far easier to defend than an unexplained no.
Records and the reasoning behind decisions
AST Assistance’s guidance rests on a simple principle: anything unrecorded cannot be evidenced. Core documents include the signed tenancy agreement, the inventory, and check-in and check-out reports supported by dated photographs, along with safety certificates showing issue and renewal dates.
Maintenance needs particular attention. A repair log should show when an issue was reported and acknowledged, the action taken, the contractor used and the date of resolution, and a timeline is typically the first document a reviewer will ask to see after a complaint.
Tenant correspondence, including emails, messages and notes of calls, should also be kept, along with records of inspections and visits and the notice given beforehand. Rent statements, deposit protection details and any deductions need retaining with supporting evidence.
The reasoning behind decisions belongs in the file too, particularly where a request is refused or a repair is prioritised or delayed, because it shows the decision was justified on the information available at the time. Without that context, a decision may be deemed unreasonable. Records work best when stored in one organised place and time-stamped as events happen rather than afterwards, which guards against memory loss and shows the entry is accurate.
Tenant records also contain personal data such as names, contact details, payment information and correspondence, so they fall under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. That means keeping the data secure, holding only what is needed and not retaining it for longer than there is a valid reason to.
Consistency across tenancies
Reviewers will look for patterns in a landlord’s behaviour, such as whether similar issues were handled in similar ways and timeframes. Inconsistent treatment of tenants or properties, or between a landlord and their agent, could suggest arbitrariness or unfairness to the Ombudsman.
Standard response times for repairs, enquiries and complaints form the basis of consistent management. A defined escalation process for urgent, unresolved issues gives both sides a clear route to deal with serious housing problems before they reach the council, the Ombudsman or the courts.
Larger portfolios may need outsourced support or professional systems so the same standard applies to every property, since tenant enquiries are easy to lose track of across many homes. Where more than one person or agent manages a tenancy, shared records and a clear handover are necessary to avoid confusion.
Landlords do not need to overhaul everything at once, AST Assistance advises. The starting point is to review current practice and identify gaps in how repairs, complaints and communications are handled, then set up a single system to store records, whether digital or paper.
Reviewing a sample of recent tenancies and testing whether each can evidence what was done and why, almost as a reviewer would, offers a practical check.
