Housing Ombudsman’s latest Insight report shows significant increase in complaints

We have published our latest Insight report covering January to March 2021. It shows a significant increase in the number of enquiries and complaints received compared to the same quarter in 2020, going up by 73%. In March 2020 the number had declined due to the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown coming into force but has gradually increased over the year and then exceeded the previous year.

We received 6,010 enquiries and complaints between January and March 2021 compared to 3,482 for the same quarter in the previous year. Comparisons for March alone show an increase from 960 in 2020 to 2,447 in 2021. In addition, the number of decisions on cases in our formal remit increased from 505 to 640 over the same two quarters.

This is the second of our Insight reports with a regional focus, this time covering the East Midlands, West Midlands, and East of England. The case studies featured have been selected from cases across those three regions and reflect the most frequent areas of complaint – repairs, complaint handling and tenant behaviour.

The case studies highlight a range of findings including where landlords have responded effectively as well as where we have found failings. Some show landlords responding to issues during the Covid-19 pandemic including one related to a report about noise nuisance where we found the landlord had taken reasonable steps to investigate the allegations and seek corroborative evidence in line with its policy. Another concerned delays in dealing with a complaint about damp and mould which we found could not all be attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said: “Demand for our service is clearly increasing which we expect to continue this year. This reinforces the need for landlords to use the good practice set out in our Complaint Handling Code, so they can respond to complaints fairly and effectively.

“A number of cases highlighted in this report concern the challenging period during the Covid-19 pandemic, and I hope the case studies and the lessons identified in this report provide useful learning for the sector.”

Read the report 

Our series of quarterly Insight reports provide insight on our complaints data, a selection of case studies and key learning points. It is part of our continuing progress towards being a more open and transparent service and promoting positive change by sharing knowledge and learning from our casework.

We also hold ‘Meet the Ombudsman’ events on a regional basis, linked to our Insight reports. Landlords can register an interest in hosting a Meet the Ombudsman event by email to Insightreport@housing-ombudsman.org.uk