Government rules out enforcement powers for Housing Ombudsman

The government has confirmed the Housing Ombudsman can not take enforcement action against social housing landlords.

In a written Parliamentary question, Labour MP Neil Coyle asked whether the government would consider allowing the Housing Ombudsman to issue fines for maladministration by housing providers.

He suggested this could compensate tenants, require implementation of recommendations, and help cover some of the Ombudsman’s costs.

Not appropriate to take enforcement action

Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook said: “The Housing Ombudsman is an independent and impartial adjudicator, investigating and resolving individual complaints between social housing residents and their landlords.

“To maintain that independence and fairness, it is not appropriate for the Ombudsman to take enforcement action against social housing landlords.

“Instead, where it identifies evidence of a failure at the landlord level, it can refer matters to the independent Regulator of Social Housing, which is responsible for setting standards that landlords are required to meet and assessing how far landlords are delivering the outcomes of those standards. The Regulator can take regulatory or enforcement action where necessary.”

The news comes as the Housing Ombudsman has set out its plans to tackle a rise in complaint cases involving social housing landlords.

Over the last five years, the Ombudsman has seen more than a 500% increase in cases, reaching more than 13,000 last year.