The Housing Ombudsman has made nearly 22,000 interventions to put things right for residents over the past 12 months – a 329% year-on-year increase, according to its Annual Complaints Review for 2023-24.

It has also published 271 landlord performance reports and written to 126 landlords where failings were found in 75% or more of its decisions – compared to just 25 landlords last year.

The report also reveals that two landlords had a 0% maladministration rate on five findings or more – Pine Ridge Housing Association and The Abbeyfield Society. It has written to these landlords to welcome the figures shown in their reports.

Additionally, the Ombudsman has highlighted five landlords that have significantly decreased their maladministration rates over the past year and are now have a maladministration rate of under 75%. Those landlords are:
• Basildon Borough Council from 87% to 64%
• Broadland Housing Association from 78% to 42%
• Cheshire Peaks and Plains Housing Trust from 80% to 38%
• Lewes Council from 80% to 67%
• Southend-on-Sea Council from 83% to 65%.

Other key figures include:
• 73% of decisions resulted in maladministration because the landlord did not follow its legal requirements, policy or process
• A 4% rise in severe maladministration to 856 findings, or 7% of all decisions, with the no fault rate falling from 25% to 15%
• 73% of property condition findings upheld, 84% for the handling of the complaint, 68% for anti-social behaviour and 62% for health and safety, including building safety – every complaint category has seen an increase
• The area with the highest proportion of findings upheld was London at 77% compared to the lowest of 62% in the North East and Yorkshire, with every region witnessing an increase
• Nine landlords received more than five failure orders for non-compliance with the Complaint Handling Code or cooperating with investigations.

The impact on residents’ lives and welfare of poor services and conditions is apparent in the complaints investigated throughout the year.

This includes declining school attendance amongst children living with untreated damp and mould, repair delays forcing a father to carry his severely disabled daughter up and down the stairs every day, and a doctor advising that housing conditions could have led to a resident’s lung infection. In several cases of disrepair residents have referred to visiting hospital while waiting for works.

The Ombudsman is encouraging landlords to learn from this review. Its Centre for Learning has eLearning modules and workshops to give housing professionals free-to-access materials to improve services.

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said: “These figures are another stark reminder of the scale of the housing emergency and the urgent need for landlords to improve essential services and some living conditions.

“Both our complaint review and satisfaction surveys show that social housing residents deserve better.

“Every day social landlords do vital work and resolve requests successfully. But where things go wrong the causes are consistent: failing to meet statutory requirements or its own policies and procedures, including failing to recognise hazards, protracted repairs, and overlooking disabilities and health needs. These failings are compounded by poor communication, complaint handling and record keeping.

“Behind every statistic is a resident’s life that has been disrupted by landlord inaction or ineffectiveness. Our cases show this leads to children missing school, reports of declining health or people forced to sleep on sofas or floors.

“This could be avoided with more investment into existing homes, improved systems and technology and stronger service management. Without tackling the root causes of complaints, trust in landlords will be eroded, with communities and the economy adversely impacted.

“Resolving some of these fundamentals can be the catalyst for a better future where landlords prevent complaints coming to us and deliver better outcomes for residents.

“Until then this review also shows the scale of our intervention. We are making more remedies and, using our wider orders powers, these are becoming more far reaching to put things right for other residents impacted and prevent complaints.

“Early next year we will also publish a Spotlight report on disrepair, which is the main driver of complaints, to support landlords to learn from these cases.

“The incoming Decent Homes Standard will set minimum conditions of social homes for the next generation. This important and vital programme risks being an unfulfilled promise if landlords do not grip the issues exposed by this review. Social landlords also need to ensure they can focus on improving and investing in existing homes when wanting to help build the thousands of more homes needed.”