Harlow 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 2025/26 performance report. The Ombudsman decided 12 Harlow cases in 2025/26, excluding cases outside its jurisdiction or withdrawn.^[1] Its rate counts service failure as well as maladministration: 20 of the 25 findings it counted — 2 severe maladministration, 12 maladministration and 6 service failure — a rate of 80%.^[1] That compares with a national rate of 62% and 70% for landlords of a similar size and type.^[1]

What the findings were about. Repairs was the largest category, with 11 findings and an 82% rate, against 72% nationally and 78% for council landlords. "Managing relations" had 9 findings and a 78% rate, against 57% nationally and 69% for council landlords.^[1] Complaint handling was the most common sub-category, with 8 findings; damp and mould had 3, one of them severe maladministration.^[1]

Orders and compensation. The Ombudsman made 41 orders and 10 recommendations, and records every order due in the year as complied with. It issued no complaint handling failure orders. Compensation ordered or recommended came to £6,580.^[1]

The trend. The Ombudsman's figures put the council's rate at 76% across 12 decided cases in 2023/24, as it now counts them, and 86% across 20 in 2024/25.^[1] From October 2025 the Ombudsman started examining complaint handling in every case it investigated, which it says affects how this year's rates compare with previous years.^[6]

Two severe findings in one case. In July 2025 the Ombudsman found severe maladministration in how the council handled a roof replacement, and the damp and mould in the tenant's flat. The tenant said the roof had been under temporary sheeting since 2020.^[7] The Ombudsman ordered an apology from the chief executive, £1,600 in compensation and a plan for keeping the tenant updated on the roof works.^[7] The council told the Ombudsman it had put the roof works out to tender in November 2024, and again in April 2025.^[7]

“As such we have found severe maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould.”^[7]

Housing Ombudsman, Harlow District Council (202432277) (30 July 2025, 202432277)

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) is the government body that checks social landlords meet required standards for safe, decent homes. It grades each landlord it assesses from C1 (the strongest) to C4.

A grade of C3. On 25 September 2024 the RSH gave Harlow Council a consumer standards grade of C3 — meaning serious failings were found and significant improvement is needed.^[2] It was the council's first grade, and it is still the only judgement on the regulator's page for the council.^[2] The judgement notes the council has 12 high-rise buildings.^[2]

What the regulator found. The judgement was about fire safety, under the standard for safe, quality homes. The council reported that it had carried out fire risk assessments for just over 20% of its tenants who live in blocks that need them.^[2] The regulator found over 500 overdue high-risk remedial actions and around 1,500 overdue medium-risk actions, more than 1,000 of them overdue for over 12 months.^[2] It also found a lack of oversight of key safety information.^[2]

What the council told the regulator. The judgement records that the council hired an external compliance consultant to draw up an improvement plan. It said oversight of safety information was now in place, and that it was completing the outstanding assessments, highest-risk blocks first.^[2] The regulator said it was not proposing to use its enforcement powers at that stage.^[2]

What the council reports now. For 2025/26 the council reports that:

• all required fire risk assessments had been carried out^[5]
• all required gas safety checks had been carried out^[5]
• 43.5% of homes had all required legionella risk assessments^[5]
• 7.3% of its homes did not meet the Decent Homes Standard.^[5]

Of the 1,200 tenants who answered its survey, 64.5% were satisfied with its overall service.^[5] Among those who said they had complained in the last 12 months, 31.4% were satisfied with how it handles complaints.^[5] These are the council's own figures, not the regulator's. Its fire safety page says it is reviewing all its fire risk assessments, and that you can ask for the one for your building.^[8]

What the grade means for your home. A grade is about a landlord's systems across all its homes, not the state of any one home. If yours has damp, mould, a leak or an unfixed repair, your rights are the same whatever the grade.

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, Harlow Council must keep the structure and exterior of your home in repair — the roof, walls, windows and doors. It must also 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.

Fire safety. As the landlord of blocks of flats, the council must regularly assess the risk of fire and take precautions against it.^[2]

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.^[9]

Harlow's own published repair timescales. The council sorts repairs into categories, each with a target time — the disrepair page lists them.^[12]

Where to report and complain. The disrepair page gives the council's repairs routes and its two-stage complaints process.^[13]