Repairs drive social housing complaints as Ombudsman urges action

More social housing landlords are resolving complaints at an earlier stage, but more work is needed, according to the Housing Ombudsman.

The Housing Ombudsman’s annual complaints review for 2025–26 found that repairs remain the biggest source of concern for residents, with many worried about delays and response times.

The findings come as the government has hinted at legislation to protect domestic abuse victims from being denied social housing because of rent arrears.

£4.8 million in compensation

According to the data, responsive repairs featured in 80% of cases and recorded the highest rate of severe maladministration of any category, at 5%.

Condensation, damp and mould accounted for 34% of repairs complaints, while leaks made up a further 23%.

Windows, introduced as a new category this year, had the highest uphold rate among repairs complaints at 80%, alongside a severe maladministration rate of 10%. More than 65% of all compensation ordered related to responsive repairs.

In total, £4.8 million in compensation was ordered during the year, although the average award per upheld case fell to £703, from £947 the previous year.

The Housing Ombudsman made 8,783 determinations during 2025–26.

There were also some positive signs. Findings of no maladministration rose to 17%, up from 13% the previous year, while severe maladministration findings fell to 470, accounting for 2% of all findings, down from 714 (5%) last year.

Still work for social housing landlords to do

Andrea Keenoy, Interim Housing Ombudsman, said: “This year’s review shows social housing landlords continue to learn and improve by using their complaints as early warning indicators of something going wrong.

“More residents are coming to us with confidence that we’ll investigate fairly, and more social housing landlords are resolving issues before they reach us. That’s real progress.

“But there is still work for social housing landlords to do. Behind every severe maladministration finding is a household affected by serious failure.  We will work with the sector to keep driving these down.

“We encourage social housing landlords to use our Centre for Learning resources to take lessons from our casework. This can improve services for landlords and prevent complaints from coming to us.”

More complaints about local authorities

The data also shows that the Housing Ombudsman received more complaints about local authorities than housing associations, at 72% compared with 59%.

The Housing Ombudsman said this is largely because housing associations resolve more issues through redress before they reach the Ombudsman, 31% compared with 12%. This suggests that problems may arise at similar rates across both sectors, but housing associations could have greater flexibility to resolve issues at an earlier stage.

The Housing Ombudsman also investigated more than twice as many complaints per 1,000 homes in London compared with other parts of the country, pointing to specific challenges in the capital, including overcrowding and ageing housing stock.