Sean Hooker - Head of Redress for the Property Redress Scheme

Introduce yourself

A: My name is Sean Hooker. I have worked for the HFIS group for sixteen years, originally helping set up the resolution service for mydeposits before moving over to set up the PRS. Having started in insurance, I became a bit of a complaints expert, and I am a trained mediator and adjudicator.

What does the Property Redress Scheme do and what is your role?

A: I’m the Head of Redress for the Property Redress Scheme. The PRS is one of only two government authorised consumer redress (ombudsman) schemes that property agents must join. We launched in the summer of 2014 and now have almost 18,000 members and offices, making us the largest redress scheme in the UK.

I run a team of professional and experience dispute resolution experts who deal with complaints that have become intractable and fractious and basically, we put things right.

What services do you offer and in what ways do you work with estate and letting agents?

A: We deal with complaints from customers of property agents, tenants, landlords, buyers, sellers and leaseholders. We however consider agents as members and work to help them avoid getting in the hot water over complaints, to raise standards and remain compliant with the law.

What makes the Property Redress Scheme different and how does it benefit agents?

A: We are not just a legal requirement. It is not our role to penalise or prosecute agents but to help them put things right. On that basis our trained team of experts will pick up the phone and talk to you and help resolve your dispute as quickly as possible, before it gets out of hand. We also host training sessions, webinars and provide advice to help agents get things right in the first instance as prevention is better than cure!

We have recently released our latest annual report which reflects on the past year’s activity for the Property Redress Scheme and provides an overview of the property market, complaints statistics, and insight into our new member panel as well as results from one of the industry’s largest sentiment surveys. You can read the report here.

Opinion questions

What is your greatest achievement in your current role?

A: We were the third approved scheme back in 2014 with no members and we have now grown to over 17,750 signed up. This makes us the largest letting agent redress scheme in the UK sector!

What is the most satisfying part of your job?

A: Helping restore trust in a client relationship that has gone wrong. Complainants can destroy a good relationship, so helping the parties resolve their issues can also repair broken trust and in a lot of cases actually strengthen it.

What do you see as the biggest challenge facing estate and letting agents at the moment?

A: We know there will be a lot more regulations coming down the line and preparing for these will require planning and resourcing. The market will need to gear itself up for bringing up the standards of properties both in terms of safety and condition but also to a new level of energy efficiency and environmental standard. Agents are key to helping customers on this journey but it will be at a cost. Persuading them to pay the price in an increasingly competitive market, with housing stock scarce, margins tight and expenses rising will separate the sheep from the goats.

What is your prediction for the private rental sector over the next 12 months?

A: In the absence of a massive increase in new housing, tenant demand will remain extremely high, however the market is showing a ceiling in the ability to tolerate rent rises as affordability continues to be an issue. We are also seeing a generation of landlords coming to the age that they want to cash in their chips. Recent legislative and tax changes and those potentially in the pipeline will persuade more to make their minds up on going. This said there is an ever-flowing stream of new and innovative property investors coming into the market to replace the old guard. I can therefore only see the sector growing. Agents have to make themselves relevant to this new cohort through their own initiatives, embracing technology and offering quality and value for money.

Personal questions

What’s your favourite city to visit?

A: Rome – so many different faces. Roman, Renaissance, Religious

Would you rather be a free-moving tenant or settled owner occupier?

A: Well certainly when you are faced with a leaky gutter in your own home, you wish you could pick up the phone and get somebody to deal with it, however the perception is owning is more secure. I think however, there is big argument to promote a letting alternative, especially for older people who can release their equity in order to income secure rather than asset secure. Given my age, if this was the case, I could be persuaded to be a tenant.

What’s your current favourite pastime?

A: I have to say at the moment going to see my team, Arsenal play.