Rising Social Housing Complaints Prompt Ombudsman Action

The Housing Ombudsman has reported a dramatic increase in complaints involving social housing landlords, with cases rising by over 500% in the last five years to more than 13,000 in 2025. In response, the Ombudsman has launched a consultation on its business plan for 2026-27, setting ambitious targets to improve complaint resolution times and reduce the overall caseload.

New Targets for Complaint Resolution

The 2026-27 plan aims to determine 90% of high-risk cases within four months and 50% of all cases within six months. Additionally, no case should remain open for longer than 16 months by the end of the year. These targets reflect the Ombudsman’s commitment to faster, more effective handling of complaints, which is crucial given the rising volume of cases.

To achieve this, the Ombudsman will implement a three-year caseload reduction strategy focusing on quicker and more appropriate case handling. A key element is improving social housing landlords’ own complaint management processes to prevent issues escalating to the Ombudsman.

Supporting Landlords to Resolve Complaints Early

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, emphasised the progress made by many social housing landlords in recent 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.”

He added, “Our goal is to help social housing 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.”

This approach highlights the importance of landlords proactively managing complaints to improve resident satisfaction and reduce the burden on the Ombudsman’s office.

Membership Fee Increase to Support Services

Alongside these operational targets, the Housing Ombudsman plans to increase its membership fee from £8.03 to £10.56 per home from April 2026, subject to consultation approval and the Housing Secretary’s agreement. This is the first fee rise in two years.

Mr Blakeway explained the rationale: “We held our rate for two 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 supports a range of services aimed at preventing complaints from escalating, including the Centre for Learning, which assists landlords with complaint handling and addresses recurring issues identified through casework. Independent investigations also provide recommendations to improve landlord practices.

While the ambition is to reduce fees during the current corporate plan period, the immediate focus remains on meeting demand, improving efficiency, and supporting landlords in delivering better outcomes for residents.

Implications for UK Social Housing Landlords

For landlords and managing agents, these developments underline the growing importance of robust complaint handling procedures. Early resolution not only benefits residents but also helps maintain positive landlord-tenant relationships and reduces the risk of cases escalating to the Ombudsman.

Landlords should review their complaint management frameworks and consider how to align with the Complaint Handling Code and best practices promoted by the Ombudsman. Preparing for the membership fee increase is also advisable to ensure budgets reflect the forthcoming changes.

Context: Calls for Stronger Apologies and Accountability

This announcement follows recent calls for social housing landlords to issue stronger apologies to residents affected by service failures. The Ombudsman’s focus on complaint resolution and prevention aligns with wider efforts to improve accountability and resident experience in the sector.

Suggested internal link anchors

• social housing complaint resolution
• Housing Ombudsman business plan
• Complaint Handling Code
• social housing landlords
• complaint management
• membership fee increase
• resident relations
• case handling strategy
• Centre for Learning
• independent investigations

TLA update

TLA is launching a new Trusted Partners Hub in Q1 2026, featuring verified and approved service providers selected to support landlords, tenants, and property management businesses. We are inviting legal, trades, insurance, financial, mortgage, tenant screening, and other service providers to register their interest here: https://landlordassociation.org.uk/become-a-tla-service-partner/