Ombudsman Struggles To Cope With Complaints Surge

The Housing Ombudsman has warned it may not be able to manage its casework following a surge in enquiries and complaints about social landlords over the last two years. The ombudsman revealed in its annual report that it responded to 16,337 complaints and enquiries in 2014/15. This is up from 12,782 the previous year and represents a 66% increase over two years.  The number of complaints about social landlords increased 10% year-on-year to 6,737. Of these, a total of 1,130 cases entered the Ombudsman’s formal remit to deal with a 31% increase on the previous year. The increase has led to a ‘key risk’ that the service will be unable to cope, the ombudsman warned. Download the report from the Ombudsman’s website.