Brent 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.

The 2025-26 performance report. The Ombudsman decided 25 Brent cases in 2025-26 (excluding cases outside its jurisdiction or withdrawn), producing 61 findings.^[4] Of the 57 findings counted for the rate, 35 were upheld against the council as maladministration — a rate of 61%.^[4] The rate counts severe maladministration, maladministration and service failure together; none of the upheld findings were severe maladministration, the most serious level.^[4]

That rate has fallen. On a comparable basis, Brent's maladministration rate was 92% in 2023-24 and 68% in 2024-25, so 2025-26 continues a downward trend.^[4] It is just below the national rate of 62%, and below the 70% rate for landlords of a similar size and type.^[4]

Responsive repairs was the largest category of complaint, with 24 findings, 71% of them upheld as maladministration (national 72%).^[4] Managing relations followed, with 20 findings, 65% upheld (national 57%).^[4] Across the year the Ombudsman made 75 orders and 23 recommendations, issued no complaint handling failure orders, and recorded £19,487 in compensation (ordered and recommended); every order with a target date that year was complied with on time.^[4]

What the council says. The council says it accepts the regulator's and the Ombudsman's findings and has apologised to tenants.^[5]

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

A grade of C3. On 28 May 2025 the RSH published a regulatory judgement giving Brent a consumer standards grade of C3 — meaning serious failings were found and significant improvement is needed.^[1] The judgement was about the Safety and Quality Standard, which covers the condition and safety of tenants' homes, and it followed the council's own self-referral in April 2025 over the quality and accuracy of its fire-safety data.^[1]

What the regulator found. The RSH said that although around 12,500 fire-risk-assessment actions had been recorded as closed in the previous year, evidence of completion was not available for many of them and some had not been done.^[1] It found the council's data on fire safety, smoke and carbon-monoxide safety, asbestos and water safety could not be reconciled, so the council could not be sure which legally required checks had been carried out.^[1] And while the council reported holding stock-condition data on 95% of its homes, almost half had no recorded survey.^[1] The judgement describes about 8,800 homes the council manages directly, plus around 4,000 leasehold homes in blocks it owns — a slightly different basis from the Housing Ombudsman's count.^[1]

What the council says it is doing. The council says it accepts the findings and has apologised to tenants for falling below the standards.^[5] It reports appointing building-safety specialists, carrying out a compliance audit across the core safety areas, running stock-condition surveys, and developing an improvement plan with the regulator.^[5] The regulator said it was not proposing to use its enforcement powers at that stage and would keep this under review.^[1]

What the grade means for your home. A C3 grade is about standards across the council's stock as a whole, not the state of any one home. It does not decide anything about disrepair in an individual home: if yours has damp, mould, a leak or an unfixed repair, your rights are separate and still apply.^[1]

Whatever a landlord's track record, its legal duties are the same.

Repairs. Under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, Brent 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 (section 9A of the 1985 Act), 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, including councils, to investigate hazards such as damp and mould and make homes safe — the disrepair page sets them out.^[6]

Brent's own repairs service. The council publishes an emergency-repairs target and books other repairs through its online tenant account — the disrepair page explains how it works.^[9]

Where to report and complain. Report a repair through the council's repairs line, and make a housing complaint through its two-stage complaints process.^[9][10]