Spotlight report on landlords’ engagement with private freeholders and managing agents

This report draws on several real-life experiences, but a single resident’s story forms its backbone.

The case involves the loss of heating and hot water for more than a year. It offers important lessons for landlords on how to respond effectively when a managing agent is involved.

This report also focuses on landlord engagement with third party freeholders and managing agents who sit outside the Housing Ombudsman Scheme.

Our approach

This report focuses on:

• whether landlords are put in a weaker position when it comes to complaint resolution, service quality, and discharging their statutory and contractual obligations through reduced autonomy or control
• the degree of clarity that landlords, third party freeholders, managing agents, and residents have on their roles and responsibilities when dealing with service issues and complaints
• whether residents are at an increased risk of receiving a lower standard of service
• how landlords have navigated the additional complexity of engaging with third party freeholders and managing agents and how that contributes to findings of maladministration