The rate of maladministration in affordable and social housing remained high in 2024/25, but the Housing Ombudsman has found evidence of improved conduct by public landlords.
The Ombudsman’s Annual Complaints Review 2024/25 found a 2% fall in the overall maladministration rate, a 7% drop for complaint handling and a 9% decrease in fault handling anti-social behaviour.
There were also over 800 more findings made where landlords took reasonable steps to put things right voluntarily, rather than being ordered to do so by the Ombudsman.
Within the complaints data, the Ombudsman found evidence of 120 landlords where 75% or more complaints were upheld. There were also 131 landlords who received at least one finding of severe maladministration, some several times.
Despite “encouraging” signs, the Ombudsman reported maladministration rate remained high at 71%.
Poor property conditions continue to dominate the authority’s casework with a 43% increase in findings — far above the overall rise in investigations — with no improvement in the maladministration rate. The data also showed that local authority landlords facing acute pressures handling housing complaints, alongside medium-sized housing associations.
The Ombudsman also highlighted the impact this had on residents’ lives and welfare. One household was found to have been living for two years with bin bags covering a hole in their living room ceiling with the risk of asbestos, while another lived for three years without functioning heating and hot water.
Overall, the Ombudsman made 26,901 interventions to put things right, with 40% of compensation related to leaks, damp, and mould.
“This review shows the first signs of the sector’s complaint handling improving — it is from a high failure rate and focus cannot be diverted,” said Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman.
“Still, it shows some things are starting to work.
“To ensure the success of these measures, landlords must continue to learn from complaints for the benefit of this and future generations.”
