A pilot project, the Rental Mediation Service, aimed at offering tenants and landlords free access to independent mediation services during the landlord possession process has seen only 22 referrals from an estimated 3,000 potential cases between February and October 2021.
The project, launched by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities (DLUHC) in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, was designed to reduce pressure on the courts by resolving disputes and sustaining tenancies.
The low level of participation in the scheme suggests that duty advisors in County Courts may not have promoted the scheme adequately, according to a report by the Rental Mediation Service Pilot: Post Implementation Review.
The report also revealed that mediation was often offered too late in the possession process, with tenants not having specialist legal advice, making it confusing and overwhelming for all parties involved.
Propertymark, the trade body representing estate agents and letting agents, suggests that including local authority housing and homelessness departments in the referral process may increase awareness of the scheme and help deliver guidance to tenants at an earlier stage. Furthermore, the Rental Mediation Service needs to be implemented at an earlier stage to delay possession proceedings and prevent issues from tenants.
Despite the poor outcome of the pilot, Propertymark’s head of policy and campaigns, Timothy Douglas, believes that mediation should still form an important part of reforms to eviction rules and dispute resolution going forward.
Douglas emphasises that timing is essential, and mediation must be used before relations between landlords and tenants have broken down.
Propertymark’s The Future of Renting position paper recommends action in ten areas, including communication and reporting, negotiation, conciliation, complaints, escalated complaints, mediation and mandatory pre-action consideration of alternative dispute resolution, to enhance dispute resolution and improve the possession process.
