Housing Ombudsman calls for national tenant body and funding review as it reveals 474% surge in repair complaints
29 May 2025
The Housing Ombudsman has released its latest Spotlight report titled “Repairing Trust” which sheds light on the national crisis in maintaining England’s social housing.
The Housing Ombudsman has released its latest Spotlight report titled “Repairing Trust” which sheds light on the national crisis in maintaining England’s social housing.
Despite millions of successful repairs, persistent dissatisfaction among residents exist. An unprecedented rise in complaints threatens to undermine social landlords contribution to the government’s housebuilding ambitions unless reforms address systemic issues. The Ombudsman calls for a transformative overhaul. This includes urging the establishment of a national tenant body to strengthen tenant voice and landlord accountability, alongside a comprehensive review of funding practices.
The report highlights evidence of stigma leading to poor landlord behaviour. It also acknowledges operatives are reporting more instances of unreasonable behaviour by residents. The causes for repeated failings include an absence of records on properties, physical and mental health needs being missed, temporary fixes rather than permanent repairs and patterns of poor diagnosis, delays and quality assurance. The report examines decades-old challenges that predate Brexit and current skill shortages.
The Ombudsman highlights the need to modernise maintenance operations and end some poor practices. This includes closing cases before hazards are resolved because of unevidenced claims that the resident denied access. Based on a review of hundreds of cases and over 3,000 responses to a call for evidence, including MPs and councillors, the report presents some stark data, including:
- a 474% increase in complaints concerning substandard living conditions between 2019-20 to 2024-25
- of these complaints, 72% have been identified as stemming from poor practice
- £3.4m compensation ordered for poor living conditions in 2024-25
- despite social landlords spending a record £9bn on repairs and maintenance in 2023-24
- an estimated 1.5 million children in England live in a non-decent home in 2023, 19% of those live in social housing
The report includes examples of good practice alongside instances of poor handling. This includes a resident’s personal belongings being destroyed during works, operatives arriving in the middle of the night without notice and delays leaving a disabled resident without bathing facilities for months.
The report outlines the strong shared interest between residents, landlords and contractors for change. By focusing on shared goals of respect, empathy, accurate information, safety, and mutual trust, relationships can be strengthened.
Spotlight report on repairs and maintenance summary page
Spotlight report on repairs and maintenance – repairing trust (PDF)
It sets out 10 key findings with recommendations for policy makers including:
- Recognising the scale of the challenge: A thorough review of the national funding settlement for social landlords to ensure it can sufficiently meet the needs of both new and existing homes.
- Addressing barriers: Review the sector wide obstacles that hinder maintenance modernisation. By fostering greater collaboration within the sector, including in areas of high demand, services can be improved, leading to enhanced living conditions for residents.
- Resident representation: The establishment of a statutory body to protect and advocate for residents’ interests. This body would ensure residents have a powerful voice in the decision-making processes that affect their homes and lives, enhancing accountability.
Recommendations for landlords include:
- Cultural shift: The report advocates for a cultural transformation within the sector, calling for empathetic communication and transparency. Landlords should treat residents as individuals deserving of a safe home. Language plays a key role, including avoiding impersonal language such as ‘stock’ and ‘decants’ when speaking to residents. Human-centred services that treat residents with respect and dignity is recommended.
- Predictive maintenance models: Transitioning from reactive to predictive maintenance models can greatly enhance efficiency and service quality. By anticipating issues before they escalate, landlords can provide more timely and effective repairs.
- Strengthening relationships: Modernising and improving relationship management with both contractors and residents. Stronger partnerships will lead to better communication, quicker resolutions, and a more satisfactory experience for all parties involved.
- Code of conduct: Creating and promoting a Code of Conduct for all staff and contractors entering residents’ homes. This code would set clear expectations for behaviour and communication, further building trust and accountability.
Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said:“Repairs are the single biggest driver of complaints and determining factor of resident trust. This reflects how home is an emotional place, and a repair is more than a job.
“For the millions of repairs done successfully each year, clear and consistent failings are apparent in our casework as maintenance becomes more complex and costly.
“The report shows a significant risk to the government’s vital housebuilding ambitions is the current unsustainable model for maintaining existing social homes. While it takes 2 years to build a home, this creates a 60 year maintenance need.
“Nor have policy expectations kept pace with living standards, with bathrooms and kitchens not requiring replacement for 30 or 20 years respectively – a statement absent of aspiration from the world’s 6th wealthiest nation.
“Without change we effectively risk the managed decline of one of the largest provisions of social housing in Europe, especially in areas of lowest affordability.
“It also risks the simmering anger at poor housing conditions becoming social disquiet.
“The government’s commitment to quality social housing is apparent and we encourage it to act as an enabler. This requires a review of funding arrangements as well as addressing the imbalance of power between resident and landlord through a national resident body, protected in statute, to increase accountability and resident voice.
“Landlords themselves should address some reoccurring poor practices, such as attitudes to ‘no access’, inadequate information management and communication that can fail to treat residents with respect, dignity or empathy. Landlords also need to ensure there is no stigmatisation of social tenants.
“Reforms should harness technology, moving from reactive to predictive repairs and addressing systemic challenges around planning, skills and communication.
“The human cost of poor living conditions is evident, with long-term impacts on community cohesion, educational attainment, public health, and economic productivity.
“We have seen shifts in health, for example, from response to prevention and alignment of incentives in aviation, where from passenger to pilot to provider there is a zero-tolerance approach to safety.
“It is time to value the social housing we have today, as well as tomorrow.”
Spotlight report on repairs and maintenance – repairing trust