Ombudsman consults on 2026-27 Business Plan for healthier homes, fairer services, and trusting relationships
5 March 2026
Ombudsman consults on 2026-27 Business Plan as complaint volumes reach record levels
Our 2026-27 Business Plan consultation is now open. We are seeking views from landlords, residents, and the wider sector on our strategic approach and priorities for the year ahead.
The consultation runs from Thursday 5 March to Thursday 26 March 2026. It is an opportunity to shape how the Ombudsman responds to record demand and supports earlier resolution of complaints.
We have seen an almost 500% rise in cases over 5 years, reaching over 13,000 cases in 2025-26. To respond to this demand, our Business Plan sets out clear targets for 2026-27:
- 90% of high-risk cases determined within 4 months
- 50% of cases determined within 6 months
- no case older than 16 months at year end
We have already reduced our cost per case by 27% since 2023-24 and we are targeting a further reduction in 2026-27. We complete over 800 investigations a month and are heading towards 1,000, with 30% more investigations completed in 2024-25 compared to the previous year.
The Business Plan also sets out a 3-year caseload reduction strategy focused on:
- faster and more appropriate case routes
- improved landlord complaint handling to prevent complaints escalating to the Ombudsman
- reducing the age of the oldest open cases
- increasing efficiency to lower the cost per case
Subject to consultation and approval by the Secretary of State, the 2026-27 membership fee will rise from £8.03 to £10.56 per home from 1 April 2026. We have held our membership rate for 2 years despite an 87% rise in demand over this period.
We are using reserves and funds set aside from previous years to keep the increase as low as possible. We are committed to reducing the fee where we can in future years.
Business Plan 2026-27 consultation document (PDF)
Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said: “We recognise the enormous effort most social landlords have made to improve their approach to complaints over the last 6 years.
“Adopting the Complaint Handling Code, using complaints as an early indicator of wider issues, investing in their teams, strengthening governance — this is real and meaningful progress. Our Business Plan is designed to build on it.
“Our goal is to help landlords resolve more complaints within their own processes. Earlier resolution is better for residents, and it builds stronger, more trusting relationships between landlords and the people they serve.
“The fee increase is not something we have taken lightly. We held our rate for 2 years despite overwhelming demand and have driven down our cost per case significantly. We determined more than 980 cases last month, but we need to do more to ensure that complaints are responded to in a timely manner.
“The fee funds a wide range of support for members to prevent complaints escalating to us. This includes our Centre for Learning, which helps with complaint handling and tackling other key issues we see in our casework, to our independent investigation work which shares learning and provides recommendations for landlords to improve.
“Our ambition is to reduce fees within this corporate plan period. But right now, our focus is on responding to demand, improving our efficiency, and supporting landlords to do right by their residents.”
How to take part in this consultation
You can take part in the consultation online by completing our survey.
Please read our consultation document and all the information on the consultation page before completing the survey.
Complete the online consultation
Other ways to take part
If you need help completing the online survey, please call us on 0300 111 3000.
You can also email your response to consultations@housing-ombudsman.org.uk.
Our phone line opening hours are:
- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 9am to 5pm
- Thursday 9am to 3.30pm
Lines are closed for staff training every Thursday from 3.30pm to 5pm.
Calls are recorded for training and monitoring purposes.
Alternatively, you can download a print version of this consultation document and return to us by post.
Our postal address is:
Housing Ombudsman Service
PO Box 1484,
Unit D Preston,
PR2 0ET