AWARD-WINNING ESTATE AGENCY
AN ESTATE AGENCY THAT CAN ACTUALLY BACK UP ITS CLAIM TO BE 'THE BEST'!
Here at OASiS, we know that awards may not mean much to our clients as 90% of our clients come to us by recommendation; however, we recognise that it is important for our team to know they work for an award-winning estate agent. We are really proud of the awards that we have received for both our sales and lettings departments. Over the years, we have received multiple awards from The Guild of Professional Estate Agents and The Best Estate Agents Awards.
THE BEST ESTATE AGENTS AWARDS
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
We are proud to be members of the following professional organisations:
- The Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS)
- The Ombudsmen of Estate Agents (OAE)
- The UK Association of Letting Agents (UKALA)
Our team is fully conversant with all property-related matters and fully support the aims and ideals of:
- Association of Residential Lettings Agents (ARLA)
- National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA)
We also fully support the aims and ideals of the association of residential lettings agents (ARLA) and the national association of estate agents (NAEA).
OEA - THE PROPERTY OMBUDSMAN
The Property Ombudsman came into being on 1 May 2009. Formerly, the Ombudsman for Estate Agents (OEA), the name change was made to reflect the broader jurisdiction in relation to Complaints we are now able to deal with, e.g. Sales, lettings, commercial and overseas.
The Ombudsman for Estate Agents (OEA) Scheme was established on 1 January 1998. The Scheme is open to all those firms of estate agents with a principal, director or partner who is a member of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) or Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS); to all corporate estate agents, defined as those who are subsidiaries of a bank, building society or insurance company, or are themselves quoted on the Stock Exchange and to other estate agents who are sponsored and seconded by existing member agents. From June 2006, the OEA extended its services to Lettings and Property Management agents.
By dealing with a Member of the TPO, the public may be confident about the agent’s approach in its dealings with actual and potential buyers and sellers of residential property or lettings in the UK.
With effect from 1 October 2008, all estate agents are required to register with an Estate Agents Redress Scheme that has been approved by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and which investigates complaints against estate agents. The TPO is one of the schemes approved by the OFT.
Oasis has, in addition, agreed to follow the TPO Code of Practice for Residential Estate Agents, approved by the OFT under its Consumer Codes Approval Scheme. By signing up to this Code of Practice we can provide additional consumer protection that goes beyond that required by the law. Registered agents, who do not voluntarily accept the Code of Practice obligations of the OEA Scheme, are not entitled to show the OFT approved code logo.
The Property Ombudsman provides a free, fair and independent service for dealing with unresolved disputes between sales and letting agents who have joined the TPO and consumers who are actual or potential buyers or sellers or landlords or tenants of residential property in the UK. The Ombudsman is a member of the British and Irish Ombudsman Association and follows the standards and rules of the Association. The Ombudsman is totally independent of agents and reports directly to the TPO Council which has a majority of non-industry members.
The Ombudsman’s role is to reach a resolution of unresolved disputes in full and final settlement and, where appropriate, he will make an appropriate award of financial compensation or other action for example make an apology. Therefore, if you feel that you have been disadvantaged by the actions or inactions of a TPO member, you have access to an independent dispute resolution service and can be certain of receiving a fair and reasonable judgment of your complaint.
A Consumer Guide, available in the offices of all sales and lettings agents who have joined the TPO, informs complainants that: ‘Your complaint may be considered by the Ombudsman if you believe that the agent has:
- infringed your legal rights; or
- failed to follow the rules and obligations set for agents under any code of practice to which they may subscribe; or
treated you unfairly; or - been guilty of maladministration (including inefficiency or undue delay) in a way that results in you losing money or suffering avoidable aggravation, distress and/or inconvenience.’
The Ombudsman will not normally review a case until the internal complaints procedure of the agent has been exhausted. If you need guidance on what to do, please contact us and we will be able to assist you.
TDS - THE TENANCY DISPUTE SERVICE
The Dispute Service is an independent, not-for-profit, company established in 2003 to resolve tenancy deposit disputes in the private rented sector.
The company has achieved the UK Government Standard for Customer Service Excellence and won Tenancy Deposit Service of the Year at the PropertyDrum B2B awards 2012. We operate the Tenancy Deposit Scheme in accordance with the requirements of the Housing Act 2004.
This provides a dispute resolution service should a dispute about the allocation of a deposit arise at the end of the tenancy.
UKALA - UK Association of Letting Agents
In an expanding private-rented sector, landlords and tenants increasingly need a letting agent that offers detailed knowledge, quality service and fully complies with the increasing amount of legislation. Being members of the UKALA give our tenants and landlords this additional assurance.
