Gentoo

The Housing Ombudsman investigates complaints about social landlords. When a landlord gets things wrong, it finds "service failure", "maladministration" or, for the most serious failings, "severe maladministration" — and its maladministration rate counts all three.^[4] The findings below concern Gentoo Group Limited.^[1]

The 2025-26 performance report. The Ombudsman recorded a maladministration rate of 50.0% for Gentoo — 13 of 26 findings, across 11 cases decided between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026.^[4] The national rate was 62%, and 52% for landlords of a similar size and type.^[4] None of Gentoo's findings was severe maladministration.^[4]

“The number of 'Mal' findings recorded for Gentoo Group Limited is 13, which gives the Maladministration rate of 50.0% (13 / 26).”^[4]

Housing Ombudsman Service, Landlord Performance Report 2025/2026 — Gentoo Group Limited (14 September 2026)

Where the findings fell. Responsive repairs was the largest category, with 11 findings, 8 of them maladministration or service failure. Complaint handling was the largest sub-category, with 8 findings.^[4]

Orders and compensation. The Ombudsman made 27 orders, including 14 to pay compensation, and 3 recommendations; its headline figure for compensation ordered or recommended is £3,881.^[4] Its compliance table records all 27 orders due in the year as met within three months.^[4]

Relative to its size. The Ombudsman received 2.1 cases per 1,000 Gentoo homes, against a median of 5.4 for landlords of a similar size and type.^[4]

Earlier years. The rate was 53% across 10 cases in 2023-24 and 71% across 18 cases in 2024-25. These are the figures shown in the 2025-26 report; the Ombudsman adjusted 2023-24 to leave out cases outside its jurisdiction or withdrawn.^[4]

A damp and mould case. In a decision dated 23 April 2025, the Ombudsman found "maladministration by the landlord in its handling of the resident's reports of damp and mould in the property".^[11] It ordered £831.36 in compensation, replacing Gentoo's earlier offer of £500. It found Gentoo had already offered reasonable redress for the family's temporary move to a hotel during the works.^[11]

“In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in its handling of the resident's reports of damp and mould in the property.”^[11]

Housing Ombudsman Service, Gentoo Group Limited (202417253) — Housing Ombudsman decision (23 April 2025, 202417253)

What tenants say, and what Gentoo says. In Gentoo's 2025-26 survey of its low-cost rental tenants, 77.7% of those who had a repair in the past year were satisfied with the repairs service, and 42.3% of those who had complained were satisfied with how it handled their complaint.^[5] Gentoo reports handling all its 2025-26 complaints within the Complaint Handling Code's timescales, some extended by agreement, and says each Ombudsman determination is reviewed with senior leaders and reported to its board.^[12]

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) is the government body that checks social landlords meet required standards. It grades landlords in three ways, and on each scale 1 is the strongest:^[1]

• consumer (C1 to C4) — the homes and services tenants receive;
• governance (G1 to G4) — how well the landlord is run;
• viability (V1 to V4) — its finances.

Gentoo's consumer grade is C1. The regulator gave it after an inspection completed in August 2024: "Our judgement is that overall the landlord is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards."^[1] It found that Gentoo provides "an effective, efficient and timely repairs service", and that Gentoo had identified problems with repairs where building management is outsourced and was working to improve them.^[1]

Governance G1, viability V2. A stability check in December 2025 left both grades unchanged.^[1] For governance: "Our judgement is that the landlord meets our governance requirements."^[1] For viability, the second-strongest grade: "It has the financial capacity to deal with a reasonable range of adverse scenarios but needs to manage material risks to ensure continued compliance."^[1] The regulator said Gentoo's plans for significant short-term investment in its existing homes restrict the capacity it has to respond to a wide range of financial risks.^[1]

“Our judgement is that the landlord meets our governance requirements.”^[1]

Regulator of Social Housing (GOV.UK), Gentoo Group Limited (L4313) - Regulatory Judgement: 17 December 2025 (17 December 2025)

“It has the financial capacity to deal with a reasonable range of adverse scenarios but needs to manage material risks to ensure continued compliance.”^[1]

Regulator of Social Housing (GOV.UK), Gentoo Group Limited (L4313) - Regulatory Judgement: 17 December 2025 (17 December 2025)

The consumer grade was not re-checked in December. A stability check looks at governance and finances only, so the C1 still rests on the August 2024 inspection.^[1]

No regulatory notice. There is no regulatory notice — a formal published finding of a breach — currently in force against Gentoo; the regulator's page for it lists only its judgements.^[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, Gentoo 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 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, housing associations included, to investigate hazards such as damp and mould and make homes safe — the disrepair page sets them out.^[13]

Safety checks. Gentoo must also meet health and safety duties for its homes, such as gas and electrical safety checks.

Complaint handling. Gentoo must handle complaints under the Housing Ombudsman's Complaint Handling Code, through a two-stage process with set response times — the disrepair page explains how to use it.^[9]

Gentoo's own repair timescales. Gentoo sorts repairs into priorities, each with a published response time — from emergency repairs through to planned work — which the disrepair page lists.^[18]

Where to report and complain. Report a repair to Gentoo by phone or, for some repairs, through My Gentoo, and complain through the complaints page on gentoogroup.com.^[9]