Housing Ombudsman reports double-digit rise in percentage of cases where maladministration is found

The Housing Ombudsman’s latest Insight report, covering October to December 2022, has revealed that it found “full or partial maladministration” in 55% of cases this quarter, compared to 43% in the same period last year, a 12% rise.

The report also found a 54% increase in orders and recommendations to “improve residents’ lives and landlord’s services”.

Orders following investigations were made by the Ombudsman on 1,263 occasions this quarter, an increase from 819 in the previous quarter (July to September 2022), the report revealed.

The report notes that orders may include “ensuring repairs are done, providing individual redress for residents or taking action to prevent a reoccurrence e.g. change in policies and procedures”.

Other key statistics from the report were as follows:

• The Ombudsman received 8,123 enquiries and complaints in this quarter – a 24% increase.
• While ‘property condition’ remains the top complaint category, it has risen from 41% to 51% of all complaints.
• Second highest complaint category is complaint handling with 13%, and third is ASB (anti-social behaviour) with 10%.

The Ombudsman said that the case studies in the report “provide an opportunity to share learning more widely across the sector”. They involve landlords operating in the North West and North East of England, as well as the Yorkshire and Humber region.

One case featured Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council responding to a “complex and challenging complaint” after a resident reported multiple repairs and raised concerns about rent arrears. The Ombudsman said the landlord was “able to demonstrate that they had promptly responded to the residents’ concerns to resolve repairs and answer the residents arrears enquiry”.

Other case studies of good practice include Doncaster Borough Council’s “effective inspection process and timely repairs, which meant the resident's concerns were dealt with appropriately”, said the Ombudsman.

Another was Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council who “dealt with an ASB case successfully by acting in a proportionate manner and evidencing the decisions they were making”, the Ombudsman revealed.

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said: “We’re seeing the continuation of the surge in complaints we’ve experienced since last year.

“And not only that, we’re now finding more maladministration than before, showing some of the issues we’re uncovering are serious and have needed dealing with for some time.

“This also means we are issuing more orders and recommendations to make residents lives better and improve landlord’s services so that residents do not suffer in the future."

The Ombudsman added: “This Insight report is also full of good practice where we have not upheld the complaints. These lessons are invaluable for landlords to improve services and prevent complaints. This includes how effective record keeping practices are integral to effective complaint handling and landlords’ overall service provision.

“We’ll soon be publishing a Spotlight report on Knowledge Information Management, which includes record keeping, and hope the sector takes the learning from that to improve in this key area of complaints.”

Lottie Winson