The Housing Ombudsman has published its Insight Report for the period from July to September 2022. The report sets out findings from data and individual cases and shows a 9% increase in the number of enquiries and complaints received by the Ombudsman compared with the previous quarter.
The Ombudsman received 6,729 enquiries and complaints (2,252 enquiries and 4,477 complaints) in the quarter to September. The number of enquires increased by 8% from 1,848 in the quarter to June, with the number of complaints increasing by 2.7% from 4,161.
Property condition accounted for 41% of the complaints that the Ombudsman received during the period compared with 40% in the previous quarter, followed by complaint handling again at 16% and then anti-social behaviour on 13% compared with 12% in the previous quarter.
Of the determinations made by the Ombudsman during the quarter:
- A finding of maladministration, partial maladministration or severe maladministration, was made in 55% of cases, up from 48% in the previous quarter and
- The Ombudsman determined that the landlord had made reasonable redress where service failure or maladministration had been identified in 13% of cases, compared with 15% in the previous quarter.
The Ombudsman issued 819 orders and recommendations (572 orders and 247 recommendations) during the period, compared with 1,370 (805 orders and 565 recommendations) in the previous quarter. In total 559 cases resulted in compensation being awarded to residents.