Hounslow 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 The Ombudsman decided 41 Hounslow cases in 2025/26, excluding cases outside its jurisdiction or withdrawn.^[3] Its rate counts service failure as well as maladministration: 61 of the 91 findings it counted — 3 severe maladministration, 36 maladministration and 22 service failure — a rate of 67%.^[3] That compares with a national rate of 62% and 70% for landlords of a similar size and type.^[3]

What the findings were about. Repairs was the largest category, with 35 findings and an 80% rate, against 72% nationally and 78% for council landlords. "Managing relations" came next, with 34 findings and a 56% rate, against 57% nationally and 69% for council landlords.^[3] Complaint handling was the most common sub-category, with 27 findings; damp and mould had 7.^[3]

Orders and compensation. The Ombudsman made 129 orders, and records every one due in the year as complied with. It issued one complaint handling failure order. Compensation ordered or recommended came to £17,695, almost all of it ordered.^[3]

The trend. The Ombudsman's figures put the council's rate at 67% across 9 decided cases in 2023/24 and 84% across 13 in 2024/25.^[3] 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.^[4]

A severe damp and mould case. In October 2025 the Ombudsman found severe maladministration in how the council handled a secure tenant's reports of damp and mould. It found repairs took 199 working days from the first visit, and found no record that several recommended works were raised. The resident told it the damp and mould was still present.^[5] The council had offered £250. The Ombudsman ordered £1,400 in total, including that offer, plus an apology from a senior manager, a surveyor's inspection and a start on the works.^[5]

What tenants say. In the council's own 2025/26 survey, 69.0% of tenants surveyed were satisfied with its overall service.^[6] Among tenants who said they had complained in the last 12 months, 36.0% were satisfied with its approach to complaints handling.^[6]

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 landlords and giving each one it inspects a consumer grade from C1 (the strongest) to C4.

Hounslow has a C2 grade. In a judgement published on 29 October 2025, the regulator gave Hounslow Council a C2, the second-highest grade and the first it had issued for the council.^[1] It followed an inspection completed in October 2025 as part of the regulator's planned inspection programme.^[1]

What the regulator found. It named weaknesses in the Safety and Quality Standard and the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard.^[1] In particular, it found:

• the council had surveyed around half its homes in the last five years, and reported that around 96% met the Decent Homes Standard
• it was meeting its legal health and safety obligations overall, but had overdue fire, water and electrical remedial actions to complete
• it needed to report health and safety performance, including smoke and carbon monoxide alarm installations, so councillors and tenants could oversee it
• performance information needed to be more accessible to tenants, and tenants needed support to lead scrutiny.^[1]

It also found the council was delivering "an effective, efficient and timely repairs service", and was now broadly meeting its complaint response targets after a deterioration the year before.^[1] The council's own figures for the full 2025/26 year show 64.1% of stage 1 and 71.7% of stage 2 complaints answered within the Ombudsman's code timescales.^[6]

The regulator said the council "provided evidence of the plans already in progress to complete remedial works and to improve its reporting".^[1]

“During the inspection, LB Hounslow provided evidence of the plans already in progress to complete remedial works and to improve its reporting.”^[1]

Regulator of Social Housing, London Borough of Hounslow (00AT) Regulatory Judgement: 29 October 2025 (29 October 2025)

The council's response. The council said it was already taking forward an improvement plan, including completing overdue safety remedial actions and sharing performance information better with tenants and councillors.^[8] It reports that the share of its homes not meeting the Decent Homes Standard was 1.8% in 2025/26. That is its own figure.^[6]

What the grade means for your home. The grade is about the council's systems across all its homes, not the state of any one home. If your home has damp, mould, a leak or an unfixed repair, your rights are separate and still apply.

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, Hounslow 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.

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]

Hounslow's own published repair timescales. The council publishes target times for emergency, urgent, routine and complex repairs — the disrepair page lists them.^[12]

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