The Property Ombudsman (TPO) for Property Sourcers
TPO has been providing the property sector with an Ombudsman service since 1990. As the only Ombudsman within the private property sector and with over 30 years of experience, TPO has an unrivalled level of expertise that will help NAPSA agents set the bar for other sourcing agents to follow.
Do property sourcers need to join a redress scheme?
Yes. If you carry out property work for consumers — and that includes sourcing agents and deal packagers, not just estate and lettings agents — you have a legal obligation to belong to a government-approved redress scheme. It gives your clients an independent route to resolve a complaint, and you can't trade compliantly without it.
The Property Ombudsman is one of the government-approved schemes, and a NAPSA partner. We have included what it covers, what it costs, and how to join.
What is TPO?
TPO has been providing the property sector with an Ombudsman service since 1990. As the only Ombudsman within the private property sector, with over 30 years' experience, TPO has an unrivalled level of expertise — helping NAPSA agents set the bar for other sourcing agents to follow.
Alongside providing redress for consumers if things go wrong, TPO carries out other functions designed to resolve disputes early and help businesses improve standards:
Front-end consumer enquiry services: resolving issues before they become formal complaints through early advice and guidance, which reduces the time, cost and resource of dealing with formal complaints.
Improving standards: as an Ombudsman scheme, TPO feeds back lessons from the cases it handles so stakeholders, including NAPSA members, can raise standards and improve their businesses.
What TPO costs for sourcers
TPO Full Membership covers property sourcing (alongside sales, lettings, auctions, buying agents and more). Fees below are excluding VAT, paid directly to TPO.
Cost breakdown
What the 3 free case reviews mean: your annual fee includes handling for up to three complaint case reviews a year at no extra charge — useful built-in cover, given most sourcers won't exceed that. You only pay the additional-review fee if you go beyond three in a year.
Where it fits in the order: join your redress scheme after your professional indemnity insurance is in place — they'll ask for proof of cover — and before you register with HMRC for AML supervision, which asks for your redress details.
New to the process? Our 10 Steps to Setting up Your Sourcing Business walks you through every step in the right order, so nothing gets done backwards.
NAPSA and TPO Partnership
NAPSA and TPO share the same objective: helping sourcing agents set up and run legal, compliant and ethical agencies. As an Ombudsman, TPO's role is to help prevent disputes before they happen, through evidence-based learning that improves standards. As NAPSA grows, TPO works with NAPSA members to provide that learning — helping you develop your business and give your clients an excellent service.
Crucially, TPO reviews complaints about sourcing agents in line with NAPSA's Code of Practice — so the standards you're trained to are the standards you're assessed against.
Consumer Complaints
Complaints do sometimes happen. If you receive a complaint, be sure to respond to it in accordance with the NAPSA Code of Practice. The guidelines in the code are there to help you to resolve problems should they occur, so please take the time to read them.
If the complainant remains unsatisfied following your responses, please direct them here: tpos.co.uk
Get set up properly
The Complete Sourcing Programme covers your training, documents, guided setup and a year of membership — including help getting registered in the right order.
Just need the roadmap: the 10 Steps to Setting Up course (£12.99 +VAT) walks you through each registration.