Anchor

The Housing Ombudsman is the independent body that investigates complaints about social landlords. When it finds a landlord got things wrong, it makes a finding of "maladministration" — or "severe maladministration" for the most serious failings. The findings below concern Anchor Hanover Group, the housing association this page is about.^[1]

The 2025-26 performance report. The Ombudsman's report on Anchor counts 19 cases decided between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026, leaving aside those outside its jurisdiction or withdrawn. It recorded a maladministration rate of 55.0% for Anchor — 22 of 40 findings, a count that includes service failure.^[3] The national rate was 62%, the rate for landlords of a similar size and type 60%, and the rate for housing associations 53%.^[3]

“The number of 'Mal' findings recorded for Anchor Hanover Group is 22, which gives the Maladministration rate of 55.0% (22 / 40).”^[3]

Housing Ombudsman Service, Landlord Performance Report 2025/2026 – Anchor Hanover Group (15 September 2026)

Severity, orders and compensation. One finding was severe maladministration, in estate management, and complaint handling was the most common sub-category.^[3] The Ombudsman made 49 orders, and its report shows £5,490 in compensation ordered or recommended. Anchor complied with every order due in the year within three months.^[3]

Fewer cases for its size, and earlier rates. In 2025-26 the Ombudsman received 3.9 cases per 1,000 Anchor homes, against a median of 12.8 for landlords of a similar size and type.^[3] The same report gives Anchor's rate as 68% across 15 cases in 2023-24, and 58% across 17 cases in 2024-25. Its 2023-24 case count is restated on the current basis.^[3]

In individual cases. In September 2025 the Ombudsman found maladministration in how Anchor handled communal cleaning and maintenance at a retirement block, and a leaseholder's use of the communal garden. It ordered £500 in compensation.^[5] In June 2025 it found maladministration over delayed tree and drainage works on an estate.^[6] In a July 2025 heating case, it found that the £550 Anchor had offered through its own complaints process was reasonable redress, provided it is paid.^[7]

What residents say, and Anchor's response. In Anchor's preliminary 2025-26 survey, 85.8% of renting residents who had a repair were satisfied with the repairs service. In its low-cost home ownership homes, such as shared ownership, 60.2% of residents surveyed were satisfied overall.^[4] Anchor's board says complaints rose significantly, particularly about repairs, and that complaint handling performance and satisfaction declined. It says it supports Anchor's ongoing Complaints Transformation Action Plan.^[8]

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) is the government body that checks social landlords meet required standards. It grades consumer standards — the homes and services tenants get — from C1 (the strongest) to C4. It separately grades governance (G1 to G4) and financial viability (V1 to V4).

Anchor's consumer grade is C3. The grade followed a self-referral Anchor made in December 2024. The regulator set it in February 2025 and confirmed it in its judgement of 25 June 2025: "Our judgement is that there are serious failings in the landlord delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and significant improvement is needed."^[1]

What Anchor reported to the regulator. Anchor's self-referral showed that over a third of its homes had no current satisfactory electrical safety report, with a significant backlog of electrical remedial work. Its own internal audit found it did not understand the condition of its homes well enough, and its records on damp and mould were incomplete and unreliable.^[1]

A governance downgrade to G3. The June 2025 judgement moved governance from G1 to G3: "Our judgement is that the landlord does not meet our governance requirements. There are issues of serious regulatory concern and in agreement with us the landlord is working to improve its position."^[1] The regulator found too little evidence of a robust risk and control framework. It also recorded that Anchor was working positively with it and had begun the improvements, including key appointments.^[1] Viability stayed at V1, the strongest grade.^[1]

“Our judgement is that the landlord does not meet our governance requirements. There are issues of serious regulatory concern and in agreement with us the landlord is working to improve its position.”^[1]

Regulator of Social Housing (GOV.UK), Anchor Hanover Group (LH4095) - Regulatory Judgement: 25 June 2025 (25 June 2025)

What Anchor says it has done. Anchor says the regulator agreed its improvement plan in October 2025. By its own figures, 99.33% of its homes had up-to-date electrical certificates at 31 March 2026. It says it has addressed the backlog it reported, apart from a small number of homes, and is surveying the condition of every home.^[9]

No regulatory notice. There is no regulatory notice — a formal published finding of a breach — in force against Anchor; the regulator's page lists only its judgement.^[2] Grades can change when the regulator reviews a landlord; the June 2025 judgement is the latest.^[2]

A housing association's repair duties are just as strong as a council's — and they do not depend on its track record.

Repairs. Under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, Anchor must keep the structure and exterior of a rented home in repair — the roof, walls, windows and doors — and keep the installations for heating, hot water, gas, electricity, water and sanitation in proper working order. This cannot be signed away in a tenancy agreement.

Fitness for human habitation. Under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 (section 9A of the 1985 Act), a rented home must also be fit to live in — free from serious hazards, including damp and mould that could harm health.

Awaab's Law. Awaab's Law now sets legally binding timescales for social landlords, housing associations included, to investigate hazards such as damp and mould and make homes safe — the disrepair page sets them out.^[10]

Safety checks. The regulator's Safety and Quality Standard requires Anchor to meet every legal health and safety requirement for its homes and communal areas, and to carry out the actions that required safety assessments identify in good time.^[1]

If you own your home on a lease. Anchor sells retirement homes on a lease and through shared ownership, as well as renting them.^[13] For owners, the lease sets out which repairs Anchor is responsible for, and different rules apply — the disrepair page explains them.

Anchor's own repair timescales. Anchor sorts repairs into three priorities, each with a published target time, which the disrepair page lists.^[14]

Where to report and complain. Report a repair to your local manager or to Anchor's repairs desk, and complain through its two-stage process to its Customer Relations team.^[8][14]