Hull City 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 9 Hull City Council cases in 2025/26.^[1] Its rate counts service failure as well as maladministration: 9 of the 15 findings within its jurisdiction — 5 maladministration and 4 service failure, none severe — a rate of 60%.^[1] That compares with a national rate of 62% and 70% for landlords of a similar size and type.^[1] The Ombudsman received 2.2 cases about the council per 1,000 of its homes, against a median of 5.2 for landlords of a similar size and type.^[1]

What the findings were about. Repairs were the largest category, with 8 findings and a rate of 63%, against 72% nationally.^[1] All 3 of its findings about damp and mould were maladministration. Complaint handling was the most common sub-category, with 4 findings.^[1]

Orders and compensation. The Ombudsman made 18 orders and 4 recommendations. Every order that fell due during 2025/26 is recorded as complied with. It ordered £2,375 in compensation and recommended a further £250.^[1]

The trend. With so few cases, the rate moves a long way from year to year. The Ombudsman's report puts the council's rate at 86% across 3 decided cases in 2023/24, and 67% across 4 in 2024/25.^[1] From October 2025 the Ombudsman began examining complaint handling in every case it investigated, which it says affects how this year's rates compare with previous years.^[4]

Damp, mould and subsidence. The disrepair page describes two 2025/26 decisions about damp and mould in the homes of secure tenants, one of them also about subsidence.^[5][6]

“there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s damp and mould concerns, and associated repairs.”^[5]

Housing Ombudsman, Kingston upon Hull City Council (202451024) (26 August 2025, 202451024)

“Maladministration in the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of damp and mould.”^[6]

Housing Ombudsman, Kingston upon Hull City Council (202537227) (26 March 2026, 202537227)

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 larger landlords in turn, giving each a consumer grade from C1 (the strongest) to C4 once it has inspected them.

No grade and no published judgement yet. The regulator has not published a consumer standards grade for Hull City Council. Its list of published judgements has no entry for the council, and it has issued no regulatory notice about it.^[7] In October 2025 the council said it had not yet been inspected and did not know when its inspection would happen. Council officers told its tenants' forum in April 2026 that it still had not been inspected.^[9] This is the position as at the date this page was last checked, and may change.

What the council reports. Every social landlord publishes tenant satisfaction measures each year. In its 2025/26 survey, 43.33% of tenants who said they had complained were satisfied with how the complaint was handled.^[3] The council's figures also record that 8% of its homes did not meet the Decent Homes Standard.^[3] These are the council's own figures. It sets them beside the regulator's national median figures for councils in 2024/25: 31.3% for complaint handling satisfaction, and 3.2% of homes not meeting the standard.^[3]

The council's own account. In its 2025/26 annual report, the council says that in recent years it was not carrying out the required number of home condition surveys. It says it has now surveyed about 40% of its homes in two years, and expects to reach 70% by the end of March 2027.^[2] It has also set up a Service Improvement Board, including the chair or deputy chair of its tenants' forum, to track its work against the regulator's standards.^[11]

What no grade means for your home. A grade is about a landlord's systems across all its homes, not the state of any one home. With or without one, your rights over damp, mould, leaks and unfixed repairs are the same.

Whatever a landlord's track record, its legal duties are the same — and they are strong. Repairs to the council's homes are carried out by its partner company, Kingstown Works, and several specialist contractors.^[12]

Repairs. Under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, Hull City 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.^[14]

Hull's own repair targets. The council sorts repairs into emergency, urgent and non-emergency jobs and publishes target times for each — the disrepair page lists them.^[17]

Where to report and complain. Tenants can report non-urgent repairs through the council's myHousing app (opens in new tab) and complain through its online feedback form (opens in new tab). The disrepair page gives the emergency line and the council's two-stage complaints process.^[12][21]