Ombudsman corner

By Richard Blakeway, the Housing Ombudsman

Strong record keeping practices are core to good services and will be the focus of a future systemic investigation by the Housing Ombudsman, with the aim of making recommendations and sharing learning across the social housing sector.

As part of our routine fortnightly publication of casework, we recently highlighted decisions where issues with record keeping was a significant feature. They show the human consequences of poor record keeping, as well as the organisational consequences. These cases included our first case to be published involving a joint investigation into two landlords and two sets of orders, using new powers in our scheme.

This investigation involved two landlords and two sets of orders for Plymouth Community Homes (PCH) and Guinness (ref 202012435). We found that PCH gave misinformation about the residents’ tenancy before and after a mutual exchange so they thought they had Preserved Right to Buy.

We also highlighted a finding of maladministration for L&Q (ref 201916247) for its record keeping and complaint handling. The landlord failed to keep robust records in a complaint about the end of a resident’s tenancy and his deposit following a bereavement which led to additional distress and inconvenience.

Another investigation concerned Stonewater (ref 201915252) and redress for reports of an inadequate water supply, rent arrears and its complaint handling. We found maladministration for the landlord’s repeated failure to open a complaint over more than two years so there was no record to keep track of events.

The final case highlighted involved Dudley Council (ref 202015427) concerning major works and a resident’s request for additional information. The landlord acknowledged it hadn’t notified leaseholders when it became apparent that the work would result in additional costs. We found the landlord had offered a reasonable remedy for its acknowledged failures by reducing its charges and recommended that it review the case to identify where it can improve communication and record keeping with respect to major works carried out at leasehold properties.

Our searchable online casebook now totals more than 2,000 decisions, and there are many others that involve record keeping, as well as other valuable learning.

The poor practice some landlord services can be a can be a direct result of poor information and intelligence and landlords need to be more alert to the the risks. There will be few landlords we have investigated where, at some point, poor records and information have not resulted in maladministration. Inadequate record keeping has also been repeatedly identified in Spotlight reports, from cladding to damp, as a driver of poor service.

This is a systemic, sector-wide issue. Governing bodies should be asking ‘how good is our record keeping’ and if the response is ‘good’ they should be troubled because it’s possible the landlord may not know how bad it is.

There are real benefits for services by getting record keeping right, as our investigation will seek to demonstrate, with best practice and recommendations to support landlords. Our aim is to publish the Spotlight report next year.