Housing Ombudsman Annual Review 2025-26: What the Figures Mean for Tenants

More Complaints, More Cases, Fewer Upheld. But Not Fewer Problems

The overall uphold rate fell from 71% in 2024-25 to 62% in 2025-26. That sounds like things are getting better, but the picture is more complicated.

The volume of upheld findings rose by 22% to 12,485. The Ombudsman investigated nearly 2,000 more cases than the previous year. Two things explain the falling percentage. First, from October 2025 the Ombudsman started examining complaints handling in every case it investigated, not just when the tenant specifically complained about it. That added a new category of finding which, when upheld, tends to attract lower compensation than repairs failures and which dragged the overall uphold rate down. Without complaints handling findings, the repairs-focused uphold rate would be 65%.

Second, the proportion of reasonable redress findings rose from 13% to 20%. Reasonable redress means the landlord had already put things right before the Ombudsman completed its investigation. A rising redress rate suggests some landlords are getting better at resolving complaints before they escalate, even if the underlying problems are still occurring at similar rates.

The headline figure of 62% should not discourage a tenant with a genuine repairs complaint. For repairs specifically, the uphold rate was 72%.

Repairs: Still the Biggest Problem

80% of all cases the Ombudsman determined in 2025-26 contained a finding about responsive repairs. That has been a consistent figure across recent years. Repairs are where most complaints arise, and where most failures occur.

The most serious findings, severe maladministration, are concentrated in repairs. Of 470 severe maladministration findings across the whole sector, 355 (75%) were in the responsive repairs category. When things go seriously wrong for tenants, repairs are almost always involved.

The Ombudsman identified five recurring failures in the most serious repairs cases:

• No person-centred approach: The landlord failed to consider who was living in the property and what impact delays had on them.
• Poor communication: Tenants were left to chase for updates.
• Inadequate record keeping: Landlords could not show what they had done or when.
• No risk assessment: Even where vulnerability was known.
• Failure to consider temporary solutions: While waiting for major works.

These are the same failures that come up consistently in the Ombudsman's case-by-case reports. They are also the failures most likely to be resolved if the tenant has built a clear, organised evidence file showing what was reported, when, and what happened in response.

Damp, Mould, and Leaks: The Highest-Risk Categories

34% of all repairs complaints in 2025-26 concerned condensation, damp and mould. A further 23% concerned leaks. Together, these two categories account for over half of all repairs complaints the Ombudsman investigates, and both are upheld at over 75%.

Damp and mould had a severe maladministration rate of 8%. Leaks were at 7%. Both figures are substantially higher than the overall severe maladministration rate of 2% across all categories. This tells a clear story: when landlords fail on damp, mould, and leaks, the failures tend to be serious.

The compensation figures reflect this. Damp and mould attracted the highest total compensation of any repairs subcategory at £1.1 million in 2025-26. Leaks attracted the highest average compensation per case within repairs at £827, compared to an overall repairs average of £623 and an all-category average of £703.

In 34 cases, the Ombudsman ordered more than £5,000 in compensation. 74% of those high-value cases related to responsive repairs.

Window Disrepair: An Emerging Area

One of the new complaint categories added in 2025-26 was windows. 283 findings were made in this category, and the results stand out. Windows had the highest uphold rate of any repairs subcategory at 80%, and the highest severe maladministration rate at 10%, meaning one in ten window complaints resulted in the most serious possible finding.

The Ombudsman's learning from these cases identified three recurring themes: failure to consider vulnerable households, deferring repairs because major works are planned, and poor management of routine repairs leading to delays.

Window disrepair that makes a home cold, damp, or insecure is a genuine landlord responsibility and one the Ombudsman is increasingly treating seriously.

Council Tenants Versus Housing Association Tenants

There is a consistent and significant gap between the uphold rates for different types of landlord.

Local authority tenants had their complaints upheld at 72% in 2025-26. Housing association tenants were upheld at 59%. The gap has remained at around 13 percentage points for two consecutive years.

The Ombudsman's explanation is that housing associations offer reasonable redress more frequently. 24% of housing association findings were reasonable redress, compared to 10% for local authorities. This suggests that housing association tenants' problems are being resolved through the complaints process more often before they reach the Ombudsman, rather than that housing associations make fewer mistakes.

For tenants of local authority landlords, the data suggests a particularly strong case for escalating complaints that are not resolved locally.

London had the highest complaint rate of any region, and the highest severe maladministration rate at 3%. Ageing stock and overcrowding are cited as likely contributing factors.

Awaab's Law: Early Signals

Awaab's Law came into force on 27 October 2025, requiring social landlords in England to respond to emergency hazards within 24 hours and to investigate significant damp and mould within 10 working days. The law applies to all council and housing association landlords.

Cases under Awaab's Law are beginning to reach the Ombudsman for investigation. The 2025-26 report notes these cases are being monitored. Early indications from cases determined in 2026-27 suggest that some landlord teams are struggling to reliably identify when a case falls under Awaab's Law and to respond within the required timescales.

For tenants, this matters. A landlord that misses an Awaab's Law deadline after being notified of a problem is in breach of a legal obligation. That breach is itself evidence that can support a complaint or a disrepair claim.

What This Means in Practice

The 2025-26 data supports several practical conclusions for tenants.

If you have a repairs complaint, particularly about damp, mould, leaks, or window disrepair, the evidence suggests these are the categories where the Ombudsman most consistently finds in tenants' favour. A well-documented complaint, showing what was reported, when the landlord was told, what they did, and what impact the failure had, gives a strong basis for escalation.

The rising reasonable redress rate also suggests that a formal complaint, before the Ombudsman is involved, is increasingly producing results. Making a written complaint to your landlord, and escalating it properly through their internal process, is still the first step the Ombudsman expects to see.

The Ombudsman ordered 2,236 repairs in 2025-26 alongside £4.8 million in compensation. These are not hypothetical outcomes. They are what the Ombudsman actually directed in real cases during the year.