Do landlords have to join the new private rented sector ombudsman yet? No. As of 18 September 2026 there is no scheme to join and no fee to pay. What changed on 17 September is that the rulebook any future scheme must follow became law, and it confirms two things much of the coverage has got wrong: there is a £25,000 compensation cap, and the government intends the Housing Ombudsman Service to run it.
Mandatory membership is still expected in 2028, and it needs another set of regulations before it can start. Here is what is settled, what is not, and what to do in the meantime.
What became law on 17 September 2026?
The Private Landlord Redress Schemes (Approval and Designation) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/1033. The draft was laid on 28 April 2026 and approved by both Houses over the summer (a Commons committee debated it on 22 June and the Lords approved it on 6 July). Housing minister Matthew Pennycook signed it on 16 September and it came into force the next day.
They are an enabling instrument. They set the conditions a scheme must meet before the Secretary of State can approve or designate it, under section 65 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025. The government's own explanatory memorandum is explicit that they "do not themselves impose membership requirements on landlords or create new duties on businesses". So nothing you do as a landlord has to change yet.
| Item | Status at 18 September 2026 |
|---|---|
| Power to make landlords join a scheme | In the Act (s.64), not yet used |
| Conditions any scheme must meet | In force from 17 September 2026 |
| Compensation cap of £25,000 | In force as a condition of any scheme |
| Who runs it | Government intends the Housing Ombudsman Service; not formally appointed |
| Membership fee | Not set; must cover costs without profit |
| Date landlords must join | Expected 2028; needs further regulations |
| Penalties for not joining | In the Act; bite only once membership is required |
Who will run the landlord ombudsman?
The Housing Ombudsman Service, which already handles complaints about social landlords, is the government's stated choice, but it has not been formally appointed. In the Commons committee on 22 June 2026, Pennycook said the government's intention "is for the Housing Ombudsman Service, which already administers social landlord redress, to operate the private landlord redress scheme too". In the Lords on 30 June, MHCLG minister Baroness Taylor of Stevenage added the caveats: "subject to final assurance on deliverability", and "there is still work to do before an administrator can be officially appointed". She also said no alternative routes to delivery are being considered in this Parliament.
The explanatory memorandum says the Secretary of State will approve or designate only one scheme, to avoid confusion, keeping the power to add another only if the first is failing or closing. The government's implementation roadmap says the administrator will be chosen at least 12 to 18 months before landlords must join, to give it time to scale up. The Housing Ombudsman itself has been under interim leadership since 1 August 2026, when Andrea Keenoy took over as Interim Housing Ombudsman.
How much will the landlord ombudsman cost?
Nobody knows, and any figure you see quoted is a guess. The regulations require fees that are "sufficient to meet, but do not exceed, the scheme costs", fair and proportionate, and reviewed regularly, with the Secretary of State approving any increase. Compulsory fees cannot be used to run optional extras such as voluntary mediation. The actual amounts will be set out by the scheme, not the regulations, and published "elsewhere", in the minister's words. The roadmap only promises "a fair and proportionate charging model, confirmed closer to launch".
It will be a separate charge from the PRS database, which the government announced on 9 September 2026 will cost £65 per property per year, opening region by region from 15 December 2026. The government has said it is exploring aligning the two sign-up processes; it has said nothing about combining the fees. Our guide to preparing for PRS database registration covers what that one asks for.
Is there really a £25,000 compensation cap?
Yes. The schedule to the regulations says a scheme may order a member to pay "compensation of no more than £25,000". It was in the draft laid in April, so reports that the cap was invented were wrong. The figure mirrors the cap in the mandatory redress schemes letting agents already belong to, The Property Ombudsman and the Property Redress Scheme. Tenants who want more can still go to court, and the government has committed to reviewing the cap within five years of the scheme starting.
Compensation is not the only remedy. A scheme can require an apology or explanation, or other action such as putting a repair right, and its decisions will be binding. Section 68 of the Act lets a decision be enforced as if it were a court order.
When will landlords have to join?
The roadmap expects 2028. Two things must happen first. A scheme has to be approved or designated and be operationally ready, and the government then has to make further regulations under section 64(1) saying which landlords must join and from when. The roadmap also puts the ombudsman after the PRS database, which will not finish rolling out across England until late 2027. Ministers have promised "sufficient notice and clear guidance" before the requirement starts.
When it does, it will cover private landlords of assured and regulated tenancies in England, including landlords who use a managing agent. Agents stay in their own redress schemes as now, so a fully managed service will not cover you. The point of the new one, in Baroness Taylor's words, is that "it is not right for a landlord to be able to get away from their responsibility because it is the agent that is part of a redress scheme".
What happens to landlords who do not join?
Once membership is mandatory, failing to join can bring a council civil penalty of up to £7,000 (s.66). Carrying on for more than 28 days after a penalty, or repeating the breach within five years, becomes an offence under s.67, punishable by a penalty of up to £40,000 or prosecution. Landlords expelled from a scheme for ignoring its decisions face the same exposure until they rejoin, and the scheme must tell them what they need to do to get back in. None of this can bite before the membership regulations exist.
A worked example: what one complaint could cost
Tom has three flats in Coventry, each let at £1,000 a month, and manages them himself. It is 2028 and membership is live.
- Joining. He registers each flat on the PRS database at £65 a year, £195 in total, and pays whatever the ombudsman fee turns out to be.
- A complaint. A tenant reports a leaking roof, Tom takes four months to fix it, and the tenant escalates after Tom's own complaints process fails. The ombudsman can order him to put the roof right, apologise and pay compensation. The ceiling on compensation for that complaint is £25,000, which is 25 months of that flat's rent. Most awards will be far smaller, but the cap is the number to plan around.
- Not joining. Had Tom never signed up, the council could fine him up to £7,000, and up to £40,000 if he still had not joined 28 days later.
The practical lesson is that the cheapest protection is a complaints process that resolves problems before they reach the ombudsman. The regulations require each scheme to give landlords time to resolve a complaint before it is accepted, so a written, dated response to every repair report is worth more than any membership card.
What should landlords do now?
- Do not pay anyone to "register you" for the ombudsman. There is nothing to register for.
- Write a simple complaints process: how tenants report problems, when you acknowledge them, and your target fix times. Keep a dated log.
- Budget for the database first. Registration opens by region from 15 December 2026, and every region has three months to comply.
- Watch for the membership regulations. They, not the rulebook, will set the date you must join.
For how the ombudsman fits with everything else the Renters' Rights Act switched on, see our Renters' Rights Act timeline, and for the council penalties already live, our landlord fines table.
Does the landlord ombudsman apply in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland?
No. The regulations extend to England and Wales in law, but apply only to England in practice. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own landlord registration and dispute routes.
This is general information as at 18 September 2026, not legal, tax or financial advice. The scheme, operator and fees are still being set, so check GOV.UK for the latest before acting.
