Social housing landlords failing residents on compensation

The Housing Ombudsman has called for fair compensation across the social housing sector after a report found that social housing landlords are failing to apply their own compensation policies correctly.

According to the report, there were numerous cases where residents living in poor housing conditions received no compensation.

The Housing Ombudsman has launched new compensation guidance, which will come into effect from April this year.

Housing association failed to fix damp and mould for three years

According to the report, Riverside housing association failed to fix damp and mould for three years despite the resident having a four-year-old child.

The Housing Ombudsman says despite the resident chasing for updates, the housing association failed to attend appointments and did not communicate properly with the resident.

The housing association did not offer compensation, and instead, the Housing Ombudsman offered £3,000 in compensation.

Riverside Housing Association told the Housing Ombudsman report that it has updated its mould inspection process, including same-day mould washes and the appointment of additional contractors to reduce delays.

It now has customer liaison officers for complex cases to improve communication, and its complaint handling process and compensation policy have been revised to align with Ombudsman orders.

They say record-keeping has also been improved through a single system, and follow-up calls are now made after repairs are completed.

Missed opportunity to put things right

In another case in the report, a social housing landlord increased compensation at its stage two response. However, the Housing Ombudsman said this missed the opportunity to put things right for the resident earlier in the complaints process.

Clarion housing association did not test the water for five months after the resident reported issues.

The social housing landlord often did the same repairs several times or did not act on recommendations. The Housing Ombudsman says its communication was poor, and it did not keep accurate records.

It had been 188 weeks since the resident first reported issues and Clarion still had not fixed the problem.

The resident received an offer of £3,000 only after the case came to the Housing Ombudsman. This was an increase from £800 at stage two.

In the report, Clarion says it has introduced a single point of contact for complex cases, which gives clear senior escalation routes, and a real-time feedback tool to help identify and resolve issues more quickly for residents.

A single vision of fair compensation shared across the sector

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said there should a single fair compensation across the social housing sector.

He said: “Compensation is emotive.  When times are hard and budgets tight, for both residents and social housing landlords, this can drive the wrong behaviours. It can result in residents expecting unrealistic redress for failings. Or organisations being institutionally reluctant to compensate.

“There should be a single vision of fair compensation shared across the sector.

“At the heart of compensation is fairness. Individual circumstances will lead to different awards but the core principles driving decision-making should be common.

“Non-financial orders, like apologies, matter greatly too. But fair compensation can go a substantial way towards restoring trust amongst residents and prevent complaints escalating to us.

“A virtuous cycle of improving complaint handling and proactive learning to prevent complaints will longer-term also reduce the need for compensation.”

New compensation guidelines

The Housing Ombudsman has published new compensation guidelines, due to come into effect later this year.

Compensation will be calculated using the Regulator of Social Housing’s rent calculator, running from when an issue was reported, minus a reasonable repair period, to when repairs are completed or a determination is made.

Social housing landlords may offer additional compensation if delays continue after a determination, but the Housing Ombudsman will not award compensation for issues such as record-keeping failures or loss of personal belongings, which fall under insurance.