The Housing Ombudsman’s latest Insight report covering April to June 2022 shows complaint volumes remain high, with the service receiving 6,009 enquiries and complaints over the three months.

The Ombudsman found maladministration in 48% of cases and made 1,370 orders and recommendations to put things right. Property Condition accounted for 40% of complaints.

The case studies highlight where landlords have implemented good practice and have followed its principles of dispute resolution. They focus on where the Ombudsman found no maladministration or that landlords had provided reasonable redress through its own complaints procedure.

In one example the Ombudsman found the level of redress offered by the landlord was reasonable. It concerned a resident’s complaint about a missed repairs appointment by their landlord’s contractor.

It found the landlord acted reasonably in the circumstances, taking action to put things right including paying for the resident’s independent contractor fees in recognition of its service failure and putting in place measures to stop recurrence.

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said: “Complaint volumes remain high, and we expect demand to increase given the removal of the ‘democratic filter’ next month. This change is a hugely positive step and removes a key barrier for residents accessing our service.

“This report highlights cases we have investigated where we found the landlord had used the complaints procedure effectively to resolve issues or put things right.  It shows the difference that an effective complaints procedure can make for landlords and residents.

“The financial pressures on landlords are immense but it is a reminder of the importance of investing in complaint handling services and learning from complaints during challenging times to help maintain effective service areas.”

You can read the full report here.