Housing Ombudsman Reviews 

Today 01 year since my councillor in Wandsworth town sent a complaint letter to the Housing Ombudsman ( HO) on my behalf.
I was told that the triage team would contact me to know more details about my case against a Housing association. Unfortunately, no one ever contacted me to know details of my case. I tried several times to call HO and each time they say something new. I was supposed to receive a phone call on 17/10/23 from one of their caseworkers, but no one rang nor left a voice message. I complained to them in July, but my email was never acknowledged nor replied to.
I wonder who they are helping, and who is financing them to do little work, if any!
I wonder if you share an annual report about the rising complaints against your services! Also I wonder who finances you to do very little

The highly paid dispute resolution managers at the housing ombudsman are absolutely useless. Completely misunderstood my evidence. Unable to form fair and accurate conclusions
Also seemed distracted by his dog barking in the background on calls. Waste of time from someone getting paid a lot to resolve very little. With the job title of dispute resolution manager, the job advert on indeed suggests a salary of over 51k which baffles me i have experienced total and utter incompetence

Found them very helpful and got the job done

My housing association Longhurst group has let us down by not complying with their own rules/ tenant have too many breeding cats covered in lice etc. i was going to make a complaint to the ombudsman but by the look of it we have more useless wasters again not doing their job

I suggest if you have complaint not use ombudsmen
7 years yes 7 years waiting for case
Its not independent or fair now they ignore emails lie on phone I'm going court instead in my case lawyers told me I can as it's in going
You can get fee exemption at court as this ombudsmen can be damaging you health they hate tenants set up to save landlord court costs I put one star as obliged but I rate them minus 5 star don't say you not been warned

One star too much for this shower don't help waste of space

I am disappointed with the housing ombudsman institution because Extremely delayed they don't care about residents The management is incompetent.

Extremely delayed. Still not allocated to an agent. Over a year and 4 months after the complaint.

The Housing ombudsman spent years telling me, a social housing tenant, to speak to the LA ombudsman re: my unliveable housing. The LA ombudsman did the same. For years, their response has been 'talk to the wall' while my wellbeing was being irreparably damaged.

Despite the so-called recent change in social housing law, they continue to embolden law-breaking councils who make the lives of vulnerable tenants unbearable.

Many of us simply can't fight councils' lies and unlike these perpetrators, we can't hide behind a legal team.

The housing ombudsman needs to be held to account for continuing to protect rogue councils.

Arrrgghhhh. The Housing Ombudsman has set a date by when an investigator will look into my complaint against my housing association. It will be getting on for 3 years since I lodged the complaint with them and getting on for 4 years since I lodged the complaint with my housing association who still have not repaired.

When I enquired why it takes so long, they open a complaint and extended the deadline a further 3 months. Their office is in Liverpool so best not mention their hopeless footie teams or my complaint will go into extra extra extra time.

I know that my housing association are no more than thinly disguised abusers, begining to believe that the ombudsman may be no different. Is Richard Blakeway a genuine person or just after......well I don't know what he's after?

Bad news if my eventual Investigator goes off on the sick and let's hope that I don't kick the bucket before then.

This has got to be one of the corrupt bodies I've had to deal with . They have never got back to me without me chasing them .they sided with my one housing. When in our block our gas meters is legally registered to the wrong flats . I paid someone else's bills for 7 years . I only found out this wasn't my gas meter when there was a gas leak . All the meters had to be switched off to find out which it was .

It's a fire hazard . However the housing ombudsman finds no reason to think they are at fault. They don't read the cases . I called and asked for a call back over over three years and they have only spoken to me when I've chased them . The other times they have ignored me . They now say they have no records of my calls. When strangely when I have called the receptionist has a record. I'm sure now this has been wiped clean .

My advise is do not buy a shared ownership and remember the number of complaints means u are only a number .

garden city homes , wythenshawe, manchester
property 5 years old and roof plastic panels all coming away, due to high winds??, max high wind recently has been 40mph , they will not repair as im shared ownership, a shocking organisation, now im looking to move house .

They’re pointless in existing, they will only side with the Housing Association you’re complaining about because they use their lies to make their decision. I had three investigations with the Housing Ombudsman and not one did they side with me. They will recommend for you to use Court etc. to be helped and agreed with so it’s either that or nothing.

I have been victimised by Sheffield council for MANY years. They ignore my letters and WON'T fullfil their LEGAL obligations as my landlord. I alerted them to an anti-social neighbour who has made my life a misery since 2019 and WILL NOT stop interfering in my life.

I am NOT at "risk" from this ELDERLY man but I live like like a prisoner and avoid this interfering busy-body for fear that I get provoked into doing something I'll regret. But we ALL have a limit and this man tests my patience beyond all endrance and he clearly hopes I'll turn violent which I DON'T want. Hence why I avoid him. But he WON'T avoid me. It is the council's responsibility to dal with these anti-social, nosey, interfering neighbours.

Been waiting since August 2022 for Sheffield council reply! Got ACKNOWLEDGEMENT from Housing Ombudsman saying I'll be contacted within 10 days. That's about 6-8 weeks ago! Pointless OMBUDSMAN service.
DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME CONTACTING THEM

What a waste of tax payers money!!!
I complained about my 86 year old mum being left with seriously dangerous and uneven paving stones for over 3 months at the entrance of her Places For People flat.
I had complained to Places For People several times without getting a response so I contacted the Ombudsman service.
Despite filling in forms online, sending photographs and sending more forms by post nothing was ever done.
I telephoned to get an update on her case weeks ago and I was advised that I would receive a call from a case handler within 5 days and I have heard nothing.
How could they leave an elderly person in such a dangerous situation without taking urgent action.
You should be ashamed of yourselves!!!!!

Whilst our complaint was upheld, with a judgement of severe maladministration for my Housing Association we have come to find it means absolutely nothing.
They (HA) still don't comply with judgement and recommendations and you are still left in an awful distressing unfixable siuation. Ombudsman seem unwilling or unable to do anything about it so I don't see the point at all. Compensation was awarded but we don't want compensation we want to be able to use our toilet or washing machine without constant blockages because of inproperly installed drainage systems in a new build property. The stress is unreal and Ombudsman have just made it worse, we have waited over a year for decision. Not kept updated when HA appealed decision and given extension after extension. Delays and stalling ultimately means they've been able to shirk responsibility. Service is a waste of time.

I cannot understand all the terrible reviews posted. My complaint is quite recent but the response and help I have received from this service is well above what I expected. As I have only just raised the complaint to a STAGE 2 I must wait for the response from Vivid before the ombudsman service can fully take it on. But I have had helpfull verbal and email advice about the steps I needed to take. From my experience I can only rate the organisation as excellent.
Another good service is REACH. They offer a 15min telephone service which you can book through their website. I got an appointment within a week and you can have as many calls as you like.

I submitted an extremely well documented complaint, endorsed by my MP, that clearly showed the housing association was failing to make provision for tenants to use an amenity for which we are charged - failing to implement parking management in a residential car park that is sited adjacent to a train station, a high street etc. etc. I even proposed a scheme that could be implemented for a mere pittance, and administered for a bare minimum of time. The ombudsman failed to uphold my complaint ???

This particular ombudsman service (?) is either totally unfit for purpose and/or their remit is in urgent need of radical reform.

The Minister for Housing should address this pressing issue without delay, 92% of reviewers cannot be wrong.

LONG-STANDING COMPLAINT AGAINST A
HOUSING ASSOCIATION.
My complaint against my housing association has been ongoing with The Housing Ombudsman Service since 2020 with no end in sight.
However, as I'd like to base my review on my own experience, I'd like The Service to please respond to my most recent communication of 16 December 2022 which should have received a response after 15 days but has not to date.

This is a very long review, yet really just a synopsis considering my six plus years of hell.
It involves noisy parties, car damaged, driveway blocking.
Even my other neighbour runs machines 24/7, and the environment won't help me.
I have been assaulted 4 times by younger males, and I'm actually 74 years old.

Police attended and simply listened to the harassers, and refused to watch my CCTV, then falsely arrested me, and locked me up.
The Police actually committed perjury on statements in a court trial, but they forgot about the CCTV cameras.
The judge found me Not Guilty.

Then an housing officer (friend of the police) issued me with a bogus warning notice.
These notices threaten eviction!
But he had also forgotten my CCTV and he had to retract his allegations.
Again a few weeks later he sent me another set of false accusations, but he didn't know that I had even more CCTV.
So he was forced to retract that one too, and I forced him to send a full apology.

A year later I had a phone call from another housing officer with a very distinguishable accent, and he sent another eviction warning.
I'd done nothing wrong, but he thought I'd taken down all my CCTV, but didn't know that I also carry a video camera.
He mistakenly sent me an eviction warning letter, and I couldn't believe it.
But then he made the mistake of phoning me again using a different accent, immediately I recognised the voice as the first housing officer.

So I then contacted the Ombudsman to find out if I was right, and I believe that I was, because I got someone to check the name.
And they discovered his name on FaceBook, and it was simply a friend of the original housing officers.
This was something I proved to the Ombudsman, but I'm sure that they already knew because instead of exposing him they simply blocked me from all contact with them.

My emails were blocked, my recorded letters were ignored, and 4 phone calls I made to them resulted in telling me that they would call me back.
They never did. I even tried the main Council, but they ignored 2 recorded letters.
It would be a waste of time phoning police, they don't like losing cases in court, and being exposed on websites.

I'm living next door to drug dealers, and the council ignore my evidence, and simply side with them.
One manager from the noise environment services was caught on my CCTV camera buying from them.
Which makes perfect sense to me as to why I've had to bear 24/7 machine noise with no help from them whatsoever.

Tory cabinet member Michael Gove needs to be updated, because he criticised Birmingham City Council (BCC).
And he recommends that people use the Ombudsman, but he's wrong, very wrong.
They now work together, and if they decide something is too tricky, they side with BCC.

I have now written to Michael Gove, and now I just wait.
These people work together, and there is definitely corruption within these systems!

The Council needs to be investigated, and the noise environment services needs closing down (Useless).
Then De-fund or shut down the Housing Ombudsman Service, (Also Useless).