The much lauded government introduction of a Rental Mediation Service to settle disputes between landlords and tenants, sustain tenancies and take the pressure off courts seems to have fallen flat on its face.

The proposal came about during the pandemic with an alliance between the Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities and the Ministry of Justice to introduce a County Court mediation service for landlords and tenants.

The pathfinder pilot was set up to help cope with the backlog of cases caused by pre-Covid which started in February 2021 and ended in October.

From an estimated 3,000 potential court cases during the nine month operation a paltry 22 referrals were made to the mediation service, which a trade body suggests shows a lack of awareness of the scheme by Duty Advisors in the County Court.

Just nine of the 22 referrals were sent through to the Rental Mediation Service.

A recent review of the proposed scheme came to the conclusion that the mediation service was made available far too late in the possession process.

The review stated the service was offered after the relationship between landlords and tenants were irreparable as cases had already progressed to the court stage.

There were also comments that the few participants who took part said tenants did not receive suitable and appropriate legal advice during the mediation process, resulting in confusion and incorrect information overload for both parties.

A spokesperson for the industry association says :”There is a missed opportunity to include local authority housing and homelessness departments in the referral process, who are usually in contact with tenants at a much earlier stage and may be able to deliver guidance and signposting to the scheme.

“Mediation needs to be implemented at an earlier stage, as it could delay possession proceedings and cause more issues from tenants. If effectively implemented, the Rental Mediation Service would also be beneficial for landlords not wanting to lose good tenants, who are happy to engage in order to resolve disputes.”

He adds: “The UK Government’s PRS White Paper includes proposals for mediation to be used as a tool to resolve renting issues and despite the pilot receiving an extremely low number of referrals, we believe that mediation should still form an important part of reforms to eviction rules and dispute resolution going forward.