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Housing Ombudsman’s Annual Complaints Review released

17 October 2023

The Housing Ombudsman’s Annual Complaints Review highlights concerning trends in social housing complaints, as follows:

  • Severe maladministration findings have sharply increased; this could be due to many factors which are likely poor property conditions, legislative changes, media attention, and the Awaab Ishak inquest.
  • Service request handling was often unreasonable, and there were fewer findings of no fault, resulting in more than half of findings being upheld for the first time.
  • Over 5,000 complaints were received, a 28% increase from the previous year.
  • The Ombudsman has written to Chief Executives of landlords with high maladministration rates, especially those above 50%, and even more so above 75%.
  • The Ombudsman recognized five landlords for their positive complaint handling approach.
  • Complaint Handling Failure Orders (CHFOs) were issued, mostly for not following the Complaint Handling Code, with a notable trend in severe maladministration findings.
  • Property condition complaints were the most common, with a significant increase in failure rates.
  • Health and safety complaints had a 52% maladministration rate.
  • Regional data showed variations, with the South West having the lowest overall maladministration rate and better health and safety complaint handling.
  • London had the highest number of determinations, with a high maladministration rate and numerous severe maladministration findings.

These findings indicate significant issues in the social housing sector, particularly in property conditions and complaint handling. If you are affected by the same please don’t hesitate to contact us at info@sbwlaw.co.uk or via phone on 0333 305 5005.