Industry News


LGA respond to announcement that 50 hotels will be closed to asylum seekers by January


Hotel closures have a direct impact on councils and local government wants to play an active role in working with Government on the decisions over which hotels are to close. Responding to the immigration


minister Robert Jenrick’s announcement that 50 hotels will be closed to asylum seekers by January, Councillor Shaun Davies, chair of the Local Government Association said: “Councils have a proud history of supporting humanitarian efforts and continue to work hard to protect and support refugees and help deliver a wide range of Government asylum and resettlement schemes. Councils share the Government’s ambitions to end hotel use for asylum seekers.” “We also need advance engagement


on what other alternatives, including large sites, will be opened up both for those leaving hotels and for ongoing new arrivals.” “Combined pressures from these many


schemes are growing on councils and there continues to be an issue across the refugee and asylum system. We need a joined-up approach across central and local government to the cumulative pressures on local services from all asylum and resettlement programmes.” “Tis needs to include urgent solutions


to our pressing housing needs in the short and the long term across all the schemes that welcome new arrivals to the UK.’ “Councils are becoming increasingly


concerned over the numbers of asylum seekers presenting as homeless which is likely to dramatically increase when Home Office accommodation is withdrawn as a result of the current clearance of the asylum backlog.’ “Given increased demand and the


acute shortage of housing available across the country, it will make it extremely challenging for those leaving accommodation to find affordable, long- term accommodation and there needs to be a joint and funded approach nationally, regionally and locally to manage the move on from asylum accommodation and avoid risks of destitution and street homelessness throughout the winter.”


Ombudsman’s Annual Complaints Review reveals a 323% rise in severe maladministration findings


T


he Housing Ombudsman’s Annual Complaints Review has revealed a sharp increase of severe maladministration


findings, as individual performance reports were published for 163 landlords where the Ombudsman made most findings. Together, they paint a challenging picture of


social housing complaints which has seen a huge spike due to poor property conditions, legislative changes, media attention and the inquest into the death of Awaab Ishak. Te review also reveals an increase in


maladministration findings where service requests were not handled reasonably and a decrease in findings of no fault. Combined this means more than half of findings were upheld for the first time. Te Annual Complaints Review provides


a unique and comprehensive assessment of complaints in social housing, including that the Ombudsman received over 5,000 complaints for the first time last year, a 28% increase on the previous year. Te Ombudsman has again written to


Chief Executives of landlords who have a maladministration rate of over 50% to bring urgent attention to the figures. Tere are 91 landlords with a maladministration rate above 50%, with 25 landlords being above 75%. Tis year the Ombudsman has also written to five


landlords who had no findings upheld, recognising their positive complaint handling approach. Te Review also looks at Complaint Handling


Failure Orders (CHFOs) and key issues for the first time. Te Ombudsman issued 146 CHFOs last year, mostly for failing to progress complaints in line with its Complaint Handling Code, with 73% of those being for landlords with over 10,000 homes. Most worryingly for the Ombudsman is the


overall trend in the sector, with a 323% increase in severe maladministration findings, a 40% increase in maladministration findings and 20% drop in no maladministration findings. In terms of what residents were complaining


about, property condition was once again the leading category, with the Ombudsman making almost 2,000 findings where the failure rate has increased dramatically from 39% to 54% this year. Te Ombudsman also found a 52% maladministration rate for health and safety complaints.


6 | HMMDecember/January 2024 | www.housingmmonline.co.uk Another key element of the Annual Complaints


Review is the regional data. Tis shows the South West with the lowest overall maladministration rate, as well as having a significantly lower maladministration rate on health & safety complaints. Te North East and Yorkshire has the lowest severe maladministration rate. London continues to be where the Ombudsman


makes most of its determinations, even accounting for the quantity of social homes in the region. It had the highest maladministration rate and accounted for 77 of the 130 severe maladministration findings last year. More positively were the results from landlord


and resident surveys completed by Resident Panels and landlords from across the country, Te results show an encouraging trend towards promotion of the complaints process, signposting to the Ombudsman and sharing learning from complaints. Residents also were more likely to believe that


complaints would make a difference compared to last year. Richard Blakeway, housing ombudsman, said:


“Our Annual Complaints Review provides a unique and sobering overview into social housing complaints in this country. While the statistics reflect a picture of poor practice, they also reflect the increased pressures we know that social landlords are facing with a combined housing and cost of living crisis.” “However, despite some notable efforts, what our


data shows is a fundamental gap between some of the services landlords deliver and the reasonable expectations of their residents. Too oſten residents with disabilities or mental health needs are falling between those gaps. Too oſten the basics not being done properly, with straightforward communication or record keeping being missed leading to problems becoming more severe. Tis is leading to residents being treated unfairly and experiencing financial detriment or losing the enjoyment of their home.” “As part of the Social Housing Regulation


Act our powers have increased as we will soon be issuing wider orders to help landlords improve their policy and practice in key areas where we see potential for repeated failings. Next year, we will also be looking at developing good practice under our Centre for Learning and strongly encourage governing bodies to consider the review and what further action they can take to improve the outcomes for their residents.”


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