Housing Ombudsman accuses G15 housing association of “repeated failings” on repairs, complaints and service charge enquiries

A special investigation by the Housing Ombudsman into social landlord Hyde has found repeated failings in repairs, complaint handling and how the housing association responded to residents’ enquiries about service charges.

The investigation was prompted by Hyde’s 10 severe maladministration findings and a high overall maladministration rate, including in areas such as repairs (94%) and damp and mould (100%).

Between April 2023 and June 2024, the Ombudsman made 137 determinations, with 353 findings, contributing to an overall maladministration rate of 82%.

The Ombudsman noted that Hyde had engaged extensively as part of the investigation and had taken action to make improvements.

The report set out three key areas for the landlord to improve in – complaint handling, repairs and service charges – and made a series of recommendations to help it achieve that.

In relation to complaint handling, the Ombudsman said the intention of its Code had been “skewed” in Hyde’s policy towards the landlord’s own choice and control, rather than the residents’ choice.

There was a failure to escalate complaints with the Ombudsman intervening in 25 out of 44 cases to ask the landlord to accept or progress the complaint.

The Ombudsman suggested that Hyde’s issues in this area stemmed from under-funding its complaints team and complaints being held whilst delayed repairs were taking place.

The report recommended that the landlord ensure its complaints policy is in line with the Code and it takes learning from the Ombudsman’s determinations seriously to identify the root cause of complaints.

Turning to repairs, the Ombudsman discovered a significant amount of cases with unreasonable delays, mainly caused by poor knowledge exchange with repairs contractors, missed or otherwise ineffective appointments, and a failure to manage or oversee contractors’ work.

The report recommended that Hyde review the causes of its wasted appointments and create an action plan seeking to minimise these, as well as update its damp and mould policies and procedures.

In relation to service charges, the Ombudsman noted that Hyde experiences peaks in service charge enquiries twice per year, in response to it sending out information at set times.

The report has recommended it makes its policies clear and consistent about when a service charge enquiry becomes a complaint, including appropriate signposting to the complaints procedure, as well as making sure its systems and processes are effective so that residents receive timely and sufficiently detailed answers to their enquiries.

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said: “The timing of this investigation provides a valuable opportunity for the landlord to further establish an open, positive complaint handling culture throughout what is a growing organisation.

“Our investigation shows that residents have experienced the same problems repeatedly over several years, but the landlord was initially slow to recognise and respond to these.

“Problems within repairs and maintenance, in particular the management and monitoring of contractors, had consequences across other teams which meant residents received poor service from more than one part of the landlord. The landlord was complacent about delays in numerous areas of its service.”

Blakeway added: “More recently, there have been encouraging steps. Action has been taken on delays in three service areas, there has been a focus on better communication with residents, and recognition of the need to improve the adequacy of redress offered. These actions are welcome.

“However, as the landlord has noted, and our more recent investigations highlight, there is still some way to go, and we will work with the landlord to help reach the ambitious goals it has set itself.”

Andy Hulme, Group Chief Executive Officer of Hyde Housing Association, said: “We recognise that historically we haven’t always met some of our customer’s expectations, and we apologise to those customers where we could have done things better. We know the impact this can have and are committed to learning from these experiences to ensure we do better in the future.

“While challenges remain for charities like Hyde, this report recognises our ambition to continue evolving and improving our services. We will continue to deliver homes and communities that meet the highest standards.”

He added: “We’re also supporting customers online to help them manage their homes more conveniently, alongside the launch of our new Customer Service Centre and digital offering, which is enabling our colleagues to resolve around nine in ten customer enquiries at the first point of contact.

“To ensure timely resolutions, we’ve also doubled the number of colleagues handling complaints and brought our repair service in-house. As a result, most customers now receive their repairs in around three days and customer satisfaction with our repairs teams is sector leading at over 95%.

“We’ve engaged with the Housing Ombudsman Service throughout this process, sharing extensive information about the changes we’ve made. We value timely actionable insights and remain committed to engaging with the thriving communities that we serve.”

Harry Rodd