Property Agents Turn to AI to Handle AI-Generated Tenant Complaints

AI Complaints Create New Challenges for UK Property Agents

Property agents across the UK are facing a growing challenge: complaints increasingly written with the help of artificial intelligence. According to industry leaders at ARLA Propertymark, the rise of AI-assisted correspondence has created a paradox—agents must now deploy the same technology to manage complaints that tenants have composed with algorithmic help.

Greg Tsuman, a past president of ARLA Propertymark, has observed a marked shift in complaint complexity. "With the rise of AI, we have seen a spike in complex and intricate complaints," Tsuman explained. "We are now having to spend time and effort addressing multipart points and complaints that are sometimes without grounds. AI tends to be very much user-biased – it can tell you what you want to hear, and it can lead people into a potential false sense of awareness where the complaint might be without true merit."

The technology makes it easier for tenants to articulate grievances in polished, multi-layered language—sometimes articulating issues that lack substantive foundation. This places additional pressure on agents who must still respond thoroughly and legally, despite the potential merit of the underlying complaint.

How Agents Are Adapting

Progressive letting agents are implementing structured processes to handle the flood of AI-assisted complaints. Tsuman's firm has developed a three-tier system: initial assessment at office level, escalation to department heads, and final review by compliance teams.

Crucially, agents are using AI themselves—but strategically. "We have now started using AI to help summarise and analyse the substance of potential correspondence because if you are looking at a document that spans several pages of A4, that quickly becomes a very time-intensive task," Tsuman noted. "We don't use AI to respond to complaints, but we use it to do the heavy lifting so that we can see the wood from the trees. We then rely on human expertise to make a response."

This approach preserves the human judgment and legal knowledge required to respond appropriately whilst reducing the administrative burden of processing lengthy, sometimes redundant complaints.

Calls for Mandatory AI Disclosure

Tsuman has advocated for clearer regulatory oversight. He has proposed that The Property Ombudsman consider making AI disclosure mandatory—requiring complainants to state whether artificial intelligence assisted in drafting their correspondence.

"AI shouldn't prevent any complaint from going ahead because it may have assisted in making the communication clearer for the respondent to review," Tsuman said. "The aim would be to prevent potential spurious complaints that might be seen as a 'scattergun' approach, where tenants might potentially end up including details which aren't correct or are taken out of context."

Ben Stokes, president-elect of ARLA Propertymark and a lettings director, has corroborated these observations. He highlighted another concern: AI tools often incorporate outdated or inaccurate information from the internet. "We've noticed a spike in AI-generated complaints, often merging knowledge from the internet about previously proposed government bills, such as the Renters' Reform Bill, and therefore pointing users towards information that is no longer accurate," Stokes explained.

Proportionality and Accuracy Concerns

Stokes emphasised that the core issue is not complaints themselves but disproportionate claims. "The biggest thing we are finding is that AI tools are empowering people to complain about things and blow small situations out of proportion," he noted. "It can be difficult to navigate AI complaints that someone has not written, especially when the legal stance is not correct. We check them carefully and respond in a way that points tenants in the right direction."

For property investors and letting agents, the implication is clear: tenant management now requires additional technical and legal literacy. Using deal finder tools and planning alert systems remains essential for identifying investment opportunities, but managing complaints—whether AI-assisted or otherwise—demands robust internal processes and compliance oversight.

As the regulatory landscape evolves, transparency around AI use in tenant communications may become a competitive advantage for agents who demonstrate rigorous complaint handling procedures.

Source: Property Industry Eye.