Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to appoint a Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman under the Renters' Rights Act 2025.

Regulations, which can be found on gov.uk here, came into force on 17 September 2026 allowing the Secretary of State to designate or approve a private landlord redress scheme which will provide private tenants with free and impartial access to redress.

The government’s intention is that the existing Housing Ombudsman Service, which currently provides mandatory redress for social housing tenants, will set up and operate the service.

The regulations in question do not require landlords to join a scheme immediately. The scheme will be prepared for designation, and the necessary digital and operational functionality will be developed before further regulations set out which landlords must join and when.