Gove “names and shames” three more social landlords, insists Ombudsman should be first route for reporting complaints

The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Michael Gove, has publicly criticised Orbit Housing, Lambeth Council and Birmingham City Council after the Housing Ombudsman found severe maladministration in their handling of complaints.

This brings the total of providers “named and shamed” by the minister in 2022 to 14.

In a letter to the Law Society, Citizens Advice, and Housing Law Practitioners Association, Michael Gove has separately urged solicitors “to tell social housing tenants that the Ombudsman should be the first route for reporting complaints with their landlord – and that it is unacceptable for landlords to let legal proceedings get in the way of repairs”.

The Department for Levelling-Up, Housing and Communities said: “While lawyers will always have a crucial role representing tenants in legal proceedings, the Ombudsman services are free to use and residents are now able to bring complaints directly themselves, potentially avoiding lengthy and costly legal proceedings.”

Michael Gove said: “Each of these landlords have failed their tenants, letting people suffer in disgraceful conditions while refusing to listen to complaints or treat them with respect.

“Housing providers will have nowhere to hide once our Social Housing Bill becomes law early next year. A beefed-up Regulator will have the power to enter properties with only 48 hours’ notice and make emergency repairs with landlords footing the bill.”

In a statement Orbit said: “Our customers deserve quality, affordable and safe homes and we recognise that in this instance we did not meet the expectations of our customer regarding the maintenance of her home, communications and complaint handling. We have accepted the findings of the Housing Ombudsman and apologised to our customer, and we are working with her to finalise a resolution.”

A spokesperson for Birmingham City Council said: “As one of the largest social landlords in the country with 60,000 properties, Birmingham City Council takes its duty to provide all its tenants with suitable accommodation very seriously. When individual cases do reach the Housing Ombudsman, the Council takes the appropriate action to ensure any  recommendations are adhered to.

“The cases referred to in DLUHC press release are historical cases and relate to 2021/22 and have now been resolved.  Also, since then we have undertaken a review of how complaints and Ombudsman cases are dealt with and have liaised directly with the Housing Ombudsman as part of our journey of improvement and are applying any lessons learned from these previous cases.”