Barnet Council

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, or "service failure" for a lesser one.

The 2024-25 performance report. The Ombudsman's landlord performance report for Barnet covers cases decided — "determinations" — between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025: 20 determinations producing 33 findings, of which 32 counted toward the rate. Of those, 25 were upheld — 14 as maladministration, 11 as service failure, none severe — a rate of 78%, against a national rate of 71% and 80% for landlords of a similar size and type.^[3] The biggest failure area was the condition of people's homes, with 17 findings and a 71% rate on that category; complaints handling produced 8 findings at an 88% rate, on a small base.^[3] Across the year the Ombudsman made 54 orders, and the council complied with every one it assessed — 53 of 53 — within three months, paying £8,405 in compensation.^[3] The Ombudsman's own restated figures show the rate climbing over three years, from 63% in 2022-23 to 56% in 2023-24 to this year's high.^[3]

A case that went badly wrong. The report above found no severe maladministration in its year. But in a report on severe maladministration published in October 2025, the Ombudsman featured a Barnet case decided after that year closed: the council "delayed dealing with damp and mould, despite children with asthma living in the home," cancelling multiple works and missing appointments, and only chasing repairs "when it was responding to a complaint."^[5] In its decision, made on 31 July 2025, the Ombudsman found severe maladministration in how the council handled the damp and mould — first reported in November 2022 — and ordered £1,450 in further compensation, on top of £130 already offered.^[5] Damp and mould is Barnet's most common disrepair theme at the Ombudsman: further decisions in June and October 2025 also found maladministration over damp, mould and leaks, and a third, published in November 2025, found the council had handled a damp and mould complaint poorly and could not produce its final response.^[7]

What tenants say. In the same 2024/25 measures, 62.8% of tenants said they were satisfied with the repairs service — well above the 25.7% satisfied with how complaints are handled, cited in the key facts above.^[4]

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) is the government body that checks social landlords meet required standards for safe, decent homes. Since 2024 the RSH has been inspecting social landlords and giving each a consumer grade from C1 (the strongest) to C4.

Barnet's grade is C1. In a judgement published on 29 October 2025 — the first time the regulator had graded the council under the new consumer regime — the Regulator of Social Housing gave Barnet Council its strongest consumer grade, C1: "Our judgement is that overall the landlord is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards."^[1]

“Our judgement is that overall the landlord is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards.”^[1]

— Regulator of Social Housing, London Borough of Barnet (00AC) - Regulatory Judgement: 29 October 2025 (29 October 2025)

What the judgement found. The regulator said the council "provided evidence that overall, it is delivering an effective repairs service", that "97% of its homes meet the Decent Homes Standard (DHS)", and that it "has demonstrated that it is taking all reasonable steps to comply with statutory health and safety requirements".^[1] It also found the council "addresses complaints fairly, promptly and effectively", and noted its stock is managed by its arm's-length company, Barnet Homes.^[1]

No regulatory notice in force. As at the date this page was last checked, the Regulator of Social Housing has no regulatory notice — a formal published finding of a breach — in force against Barnet; the C1 judgement is the only regulatory publication for the council.^[2] Regulatory grades are reviewed from time to time and may change — the date above is the one that matters.

A top grade and a record with real failings — can both be true? On this page you have seen two things that seem to pull in opposite directions: the regulator's strongest consumer grade, and the Housing Ombudsman record described above, including a damp-and-mould case later found to be severe.^[1][3][5] Both are real, and they measure different things. The regulator inspected the whole housing service — around 9,200 homes — and judged that, overall, it is delivering the required outcomes.^[1] The Housing Ombudsman only sees the individual disputes that reach it, and when it looked at Barnet's, it upheld most of what it examined and, in one case, found the council's handling of damp and mould severely wrong.^[3][5] A service judged to be working overall can still fail an individual home. If a reported problem is not being fixed, the C1 changes nothing about your rights — the free Housing Ombudsman route above is open whatever grade your landlord holds.

Whatever a landlord's track record, its legal duties are the same — and they are strong.

Repairs. Under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, Barnet Council must keep the structure and exterior of your 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 applies to almost every council tenancy and cannot be signed away in a tenancy agreement.

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

Awaab's Law. Awaab's Law now sets legally binding timescales for social landlords to investigate hazards such as damp and mould and make homes safe — the disrepair page sets them out.^[9]

Barnet's own repairs service — run by Barnet Homes. Day-to-day repairs in Barnet's council homes are carried out by Barnet Homes on the council's behalf; the council remains your landlord.^[1] Barnet Homes sorts repairs by priority and publishes target times for each — the disrepair page sets them out, along with how the service performed against them.^[12]

If the council misses these kinds of timescales after you have reported a problem, the topic pages below explain what you can do next.