Learning from severe maladministration – December 2025

Learning from domestic abuse

It’s vital that landlords recognise and adapt service delivery based on the individual circumstances of the household. Domestic abuse survivors may require urgent repairs to security features to feel safe in their homes. 

Landlords should consider how it records and acts on information from a household. This helps make informed decisions about prioritisation and urgency. It can also be key to deciding whether there’s need for mitigating measures or even a temporary move.  

Repairs, such as a faulty entrance door, can be the highest priority for a domestic abuse survivor. Proactive and empathetic communication should also be central to responses. It also ensures that landlords are keeping correct records about the household circumstances up to date. 

We understand that dealing with domestic abuse and survivors may be challenging for social housing staff. There are plenty of organisations that provide training and support: 

• Addressing Domestic Abuse 
• Standing Together Domestic
• Abuse Housing Alliance 

Learning from children

When a child is present in the home, it can significantly change the response that a landlord needs to provide. This may mean that safety is more of an issue, or the impact of delaying repairs worsened.  

Landlords should consider doing an early risk assessment. Or keeping risk assessments up to date as the repair develops. Landlords should keep in regular contact with the household. This will ensure it has a firm understanding of how the issue is impacting any children. 

It may also mean that landlords need to consider temporarily moving residents earlier or at a time they would not usually. However, there are different aspects landlords should consider as part of this. For example, how close the home is to schools or family who can help with childcare. 

Learning from accessible housing

Repairs that make a home more accessible or involve adaptations can be complex. Clear and proactive communication with the resident must be at the heart of this work. 

Landlords should carry out risk assessments early and follow any advice from Occupational Therapists. 

Repairs can seriously affect someone living with a disability. Landlords should decide if they need to arrange a temporary move. As this may change as the works develop, this should be kept under review.

Adaptations and repairs to make a home accessible can be complex. Tell residents what’s happening at each step.

Where we have seen good practice in this area, landlords have appointed a single point of contact.

Learning from roof repairs

Roof replacements are often major in nature and the process of agreeing the scope of works can be lengthy. Good proactive communication with a resident is key to the success of any repair in this area. Strong records also help to avoid too many repeat inspections. 

As replacements can take a while, landlords should consider temporary fixes or moves early. Consider this along with a household risk assessment. Use both to set the right priority for actions. 

Learning from windows and doors

We have set out a range of key learning in our reports, specifically on windows. This includes landlords ensuring they promptly inspect homes when residents report window safety concerns. This inspection can assess whether landlords need to replace or repair windows. It can also look at the impact on the household. This should then inform how the landlord proceeds with the case.  

We acknowledge that window replacement can take time. This is especially true in high rise blocks. Therefore, landlords should consider what temporary fixes they can put in place to reduce the risks while they schedule those works. This may include preparing a temporary move for the household. 

Some of this learning is also true for doors, where replacements are not always simple.  

Sometimes major works suit a job better than one-off fixes. We understand that many things can change work timescales. This includes contractor availability, and the scope of works that landlords require.  

However, the risk to the resident's safety should be a priority and landlords should adequately assess this.  

Landlords should assess how timely future works will be before deciding not to replace windows and doors outside of this schedule. They should assess how likely these works are to happen on time. They should also evaluate the seriousness of the issues and household circumstances, along with any expert advice received. 

If landlords decide to replace windows or doors as part of major works, this can take time. They should consider what temporary repairs they can do in the meantime. 

Landlords should provide timescales for future works. They should also regularly communicate throughout. It keeps residents informed, especially if there are delays or changes. 

There are also lessons in these cases for landlords managing other tenures such as shared ownership or leasehold. It’s important the landlord is sure in its responsibilities and whether they need to conduct section 20 consultations. 

Learning from homeownership

Landlords should maintain and repair the structure and exterior of properties, as most leases state. 

Most repair policies say landlords do not need to repair internal damage to leasehold properties. The exception is when a fault in the building's structure causes the damage.  

Some repairs can be complex, and landlords can find it challenging to treat leaseholders fairly in these situations. Early communication and effective record-keeping are central to a strong response.  

We’ve set out other failures in previous reports. This includes delays to inspections and not progressing repairs. These failures affect leaseholders as much as any other resident.  

Landlords should also know what enforcement action it can take. When landlords reach the thresholds for enforcement action, it should take it. The purpose is to keep all residents safe. This includes using injunctions and taking legal action. 

Learning from access 

When making appointments landlords should give sufficient notice to the resident and try to accommodate their preferred timings. 

Landlords should also consider confirming appointments. This could include sending reminders by text message or other contact method agreed with residents. 

Landlords could also update the resident at the earliest opportunity if there is a need to reschedule. We provide recommendations about the impact of missed appointments in our Spotlight report on knowledge and information management. 

Landlords should make sure contractors or operatives understand what work they need to do. They should also explain any specific requirements. 

This will reduce the number of missed appointments. 

Learning from internal complaints procedures

A landlord’s internal complaints procedure plays an important role in resolving an issue for a resident. It is also an opportunity for the landlord to learn. While there are important timescales involved through our Complaint Handling Code, key is ensuring that responses are ethical too. 

This means providing genuine apologies, demonstrating learning, and setting out clear timeframes for resolving issues. 

Accurate records are key for landlords, being able to rely on this evidence means landlords can make informed complaint responses. This also means a resident can be confident in the landlord’s approach and improve relationships.