Housing association slammed by the Housing Ombudsman

The Housing Ombudsman has published a scathing report criticising Hyde Housing Association for repeated failings in repairs, complaint handling and service charge enquiries.

The investigation, prompted by a high rate of maladministration, uncovered a pattern of unreasonable delays, poor communication and inadequate redress.

The report highlights several specific cases where residents suffered due to the landlord’s shortcomings.

In one instance, a vulnerable resident endured months of damp, mould and damaged furniture, while the landlord failed to address the issue.

In another, a resident was unfairly blamed for a leak and denied appropriate compensation.

Hyde’s complaints process was ineffective

The Ombudsman, Richard Blakeway, found that Hyde’s complaints process was often ineffective, with barriers to escalation and a lack of transparency.

He said: “The timing of this investigation provides a valuable opportunity for the landlord to further establish an open, positive complaint handling culture throughout what is a growing organisation.”

He added: “Our investigation shows that residents have experienced the same problems repeatedly over several years, but the landlord was initially slow to recognise and respond to these.

“Problems within repairs and maintenance, in particular the management and monitoring of contractors, had consequences across other teams which meant residents received poor service from more than one part of the landlord.

“The landlord was complacent about delays in numerous areas of its service.”

Could have done things better

Andy Hulme, of Hyde Housing Association, said: “We recognise that historically we haven’t always met some of our customer’s expectations, and we apologise to those customers where we could have done things better.

“We know the impact this can have and are committed to learning from these experiences to ensure we do better in the future.”

He adds: “While challenges remain for charities like Hyde, this report recognises our ambition to continue evolving and improving our services.

“To ensure timely resolutions, we’ve also doubled the number of colleagues handling complaints and brought our repair service in-house.

“As a result, most customers now receive their repairs in around three days and customer satisfaction with our repairs teams is sector leading at over 95%.”