Spotlight reports

Central to this report is what it means to be vulnerable in social housing today, but also most importantly, how landlords can respond effectively and how to do so without stigma or marginalisation. 

The complexities of this housing crisis require modern and agile services. But this report reveals how landlord’s services can be held back by weaknesses in data and information, that can turn an ordinary service request into an extraordinarily protracted complaint.

Damp and mould can be a complex and often frustrating issue. We recognise that some landlords are being proactive and that governing bodies are scrutinising approaches. This report aims to support these actions.

Following the inquest into Awaab Ishak, the Ombudsman wrote an open letter to all landlords to reinforce the recommendations that were made in the Spotlight on damp and mould report.

At the heart of our findings in this report is a fundamental unfairness: most noise reports concern household noise rather than anti-social behaviour (ASB), and yet most landlords handle it under their ASB policy.

This report draws on several real-life experiences, but a single resident’s story forms its backbone. It involves the loss of heating and hot water during more than a year and provides several, powerful lessons for landlords who want to ensure an effective response when a managing agent is involved. 

Following on from publishing guidance setting out our approach for considering what is fair in all the circumstances on cladding-related disputes, this report builds on the Ombudsman’s approach.

Living in a warm, safe and decent home is a fundamental need and critical to our health and well-being. But when there is a loss of heating or hot water at home, the impact is significant on the household. This is especially the case where young children, elderly or vulnerable residents are concerned. This report offers lessons for all social landlords following more than 200 investigations. 

This report brings together insight from handling almost 2,000 complaints received from leaseholders and shared owners between 2018 and 2020. This includes more than 800 formal investigations. For the first time in a report, the Ombudsman provided information about individual landlords. 

Delivering a good repairs service should be a high priority for landlords. However, dissatisfaction with day-to day repairs consistently accounts for over a third of the complaints made to the Housing Ombudsman each year.