Housing Ombudsman urges Hackney Council to avoid ‘positivity prism’ as it drives performance improvement
22 May 2025
The Housing Ombudsman has published a special investigation into Hackney Council, revealing multiple missed opportunities to identify root causes to improve its service to residents.
The Housing Ombudsman has published a special investigation into Hackney Council, revealing multiple missed opportunities to identify root causes to improve its service to residents.
The investigation identified issues in several areas, including risk assessment and prioritisation, responding to vulnerable residents and its knowledge and information management. There were also issues with the scrutiny and oversight of complaints, with performance data not being used effectively to inform policy and practice improvements.
The investigation was prompted by the level of maladministration and severe maladministration findings in the Ombudsman’s casework, with poor practice found in 79% of complaints.
The investigation included an elderly resident without heating and hot water for 7 weeks, another resident without electricity using candles to light their home, and a resident who experienced flooding after their case was marked complete without repairs happening. We reviewed 49 complaints and visited the landlord in late 2024 to engage with staff and residents.
The landlord has faced significant challenges, many shared across the sector; the Covid-19 pandemic, inner city demand, ageing homes and insufficient budgets. It also suffered a cyber-attack in 2020.
The Ombudsman publishes special investigation reports to help other landlords identify potential learning to improve their own services. The report made a range of key findings, including:
- repairs
- damp and mould
- complaint handling
- knowledge and information management
- scrutiny and oversight
- policy and procedure
- vulnerabilities
Hackney Council special investigation report (PDF)
Hackney Council special investigation report summary page
Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said: “This investigation highlights the importance of culture within an organisation. I welcome the commitment of officers and leadership to learning and improvement through this report.
“We met officers who were often trying to deliver services with little structure, procedure, systems or data to support their work. From the evidence we have heard and seen, the good work achieved was happening despite the landlord’s structures and systems rather than because of them.
“The landlord has invested in significant resources to support and deliver its improvement programme. It has recognised the need to separate strategic and operational leadership roles to allow added time for leaders to focus on each area of work. At times the process has been rewarded rather than the outcome.
“The pressure for improvement has sometimes created a ‘positivity prism’ which has overstated changes compared to the reality experienced by residents. This could go some way to explain the root cause of the landlord’s problems. It must ensure its mindset does not prevent real learning and reflection, including from complaints, to achieve its ambitions.”
After all special investigations, the Ombudsman invites the landlord to provide a learning statement.
Hackney Council learning statement
Councillor Guy Nicholson, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet member for Housing Management and Regeneration, said: “The Council has never shied away from its duty to its tenants and residents to provide the best housing services and should it fall short, it must improve.
“The Council acknowledges the Housing Ombudsman’s assessment that tenants have not received the service they should be receiving from the Council. On behalf of the Council I apologise for this shortfall and reassure both tenants and the Housing Ombudsman that Hackney Council is fully committed to improving the service it provides as a landlord to the homes it has responsibility for.
“The Housing Ombudsman has investigated a range of cases that had affected tenants from two years ago which predated the implementation of the Council’s own internally led service improvement plan.
“It is heartening to note that the Housing Ombudsman recognises the commitment of housing officers in delivering services to tenants, acknowledges the Council’s work to implement its service improvement plan and the introduction of a better approach to support residents with additional needs to live in their homes.
“The Housing Ombudsman also acknowledged the range of external challenges that the Council has faced in recent times which included the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns, rising prices and the impact of maintaining an ageing housing stock which had all contributed to the shortfall in service.
“I can assure the Housing Ombudsman that all in the Council will remain focused on improving the housing services it provides to its tenants.”