Your landlord ignores your repair requests for three months. You chase by email and hear nothing. It can feel like the only options are to keep chasing, go to court or give up.
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 will add a binding route. Once the new Private Rented Sector (PRS) Landlord Ombudsman launches, a complaint will end in a decision the landlord has to follow.
The scheme is not live yet. The government's implementation roadmap expects landlords to sign up in 2028. Until then, a formal written complaint, a report to your council's private housing team and a claim at the County Court or First-tier Tribunal can already make a landlord act. If a letting agent manages your home, it must belong to one of two government-approved redress schemes, The Property Ombudsman or Property Redress, and you can take an unresolved complaint about the agent's work there.
Will landlords have to join the PRS Landlord Ombudsman scheme?
Yes, once further regulations are made. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 lets the government require private landlords in England to join, and those membership regulations do not exist yet. What is already law is the framework. Since 17 September 2026, the Private Landlord Redress Schemes (Approval and Designation) Regulations 2026 have set the requirements a scheme must meet to be approved, but they do not require any landlord to join.
Once membership is required, landlords who fail to join can face civil penalties from the council. A landlord who keeps refusing after a penalty commits an offence that can, in time, support a Rent Repayment Order.
What can tenants complain to the PRS Ombudsman about?
The Ombudsman will handle disputes. Crimes such as illegal eviction are likely to stay with the police and council.
The government says the scheme will consider complaints about a landlord's actions, inactions or behaviour. Its earlier plans gave examples like these:
- repairs not done within a reasonable time
- the condition of the home
- how the landlord has behaved towards you
A withheld deposit is likely to stay with the deposit protection schemes, which run their own free adjudication. The exclusions will not be settled until the scheme rules are published.
For harassment or any other housing offence, the council and police are the routes that work today. See what counts as landlord harassment and how to stop it.
A rent increase goes to the First-tier Tribunal under section 13 of the Housing Act 1988, so it is unlikely to be one for the Ombudsman. See what to do when your landlord raises your rent.
How to write a formal complaint letter to a landlord
The approval rules require every scheme to give the landlord time to resolve a matter before a complaint is accepted. A complaint your landlord has never seen is likely to be turned away, so raise it in writing first.
Email your landlord to describe the problem, name any obligation it breaches and set a deadline. For a non-urgent issue, 14 days is a sensible deadline. If you have a repair issue, cite section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. If it is a conduct issue, describe the specific incident and date.
Be specific. "My landlord is difficult" is not a complaint. "My landlord received written notice of a boiler fault on 3 March 2026, acknowledged it on 4 March, and took no action for six weeks despite two follow-up emails" is a complaint.
If the landlord still ignores a serious repair, your council's private housing team can inspect the property and, where it finds a hazard, order the landlord to fix it. Here is how to report your landlord to the council.
Keep every exchange, including screenshots of messages and exported text logs.
How the PRS Ombudsman complaint process will work
Once the scheme opens, you will complain to the Ombudsman after your landlord has had a reasonable time to respond.
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Gather your evidence. Your tenancy agreement, all correspondence with the landlord, photos of any disrepair and professional reports, such as a gas engineer's finding.
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Submit to the Ombudsman. The scheme will set out how, and you will explain what resolution you want.
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The Ombudsman investigates. Both sides get to respond, and how long it will take is not yet known.
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A binding decision is issued. The Ombudsman will be able to require the landlord to act, pay compensation of up to £25,000, or apologise. The Act lets the government provide for a decision you accept to be enforced as if it were a court order.
When to use a tribunal or court instead of the Ombudsman
The PRS Ombudsman will be the most accessible route. It will be able to order compensation of up to £25,000, but it cannot make a Rent Repayment Order.
For financial recovery, a Rent Repayment Order through the First-tier Tribunal can award up to 2 years' rent, less any Universal Credit or Housing Benefit paid towards it, for offences committed on or after 1 May 2026, or 12 months for earlier ones. If an unlicensed HMO began before 1 May 2026, rent paid before that date stays under the old 12-month rules, so the new limit cannot be reached until 1 May 2028. If your landlord is running an unlicensed HMO or has illegally evicted you, the Rent Repayment Order guide explains how much you can claim.
Disrepair that has affected your health or damaged your belongings is usually a County Court damages claim, brought on form N1, instead of an Ombudsman complaint.
The Ombudsman scheme will suit conduct complaints where the financial stakes are lower, such as a landlord who ignores emails for months. You may be able to complain about conduct and claim money through the tribunal too. The scheme's rules, not yet published, will decide when the Ombudsman can turn down a complaint a court or tribunal is dealing with.
Can a landlord evict you for complaining now Section 21 has ended?
Since Section 21 ended on 1 May 2026, no new Section 21 notice can be served, so a landlord must prove a legal ground under Section 8. The exception is a Section 21 claim the landlord started under the old rules, by 31 July 2026 at the latest. That claim can still run its course, and the old ban on a retaliatory notice after a council improvement notice still applies to it.
If a landlord relies on a ground they do not reasonably believe applies, such as claiming to sell when they don't, and you give up the tenancy within 4 months of them relying on it, without a court order, the council can impose a civil penalty of up to £7,000. If the landlord knew the ground would fail or was reckless about it, and you left within those 4 months without a court order, that is an offence, which can bring a civil penalty of up to £40,000 or prosecution, and a Rent Repayment Order.
The risk does not disappear. For new claims there is no standalone retaliatory eviction defence, and if a landlord proves a mandatory ground the court must order possession. On a discretionary ground, the timing of your complaint can bear on whether possession is reasonable.
If you are not sure whether your situation calls for a court claim, a Rent Repayment Order or a future Ombudsman complaint, Remedy can look at your tenancy and tell you which route fits.
