Housing Ombudsman publishes business plan 2023-24

The Housing Ombudsman has published its business plan for 2023-24.

The business plan covers the second year of the Ombudsman’s 2022-25 corporate plan, which will continue to deliver an independent, visible and proactive service for social housing residents and landlords.

It is set within the context of the inquest into the tragic and preventable death of Awaab Ishak. The period following the inquest led to a surge in enquiries and complaints to the service which has been handling unprecedented volumes of casework since 2021-22. The cost-of-living crisis, economic pressures and heightened media coverage are also expected to lead to more complaints during 2023-24.

With the progression of the Social Housing Regulation Bill through parliament and our Complaint Handling Code becoming statutory, the Ombudsman has significantly increased its growth forecasts above original assumptions, and it now expects to deliver over 10,000 investigations in 2023-24, a four-fold rise.

Another key aspect of this year’s business plan is the delivery of the Ombudsman’s Centre for Learning, which encourages operational learning for landlords as they look to navigate a changing landscape.

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said: “Recent events in the sector mean the Ombudsman has never had such significance: both in setting standards for local complaint handling, resolving individual disputes and promoting learning from complaints to improve services.

“The cases we are handling are more complex and this is reflected in the tenfold increase in severe maladministration findings. We are ordering more remedies to put things right – from repairs to apologies – alongside some significant compensation awards.

“The unabated demand for independent dispute resolution and engagement with our work will require a step-change in resources and approach to support landlords in delivering service change and prevent complaints from arising. We are grateful to all those who responded to our consultation on the business plan.”

The business plan was approved by the Secretary of State following a consultation with landlords, residents and other stakeholders which gave very positive support for the plans.