Norwich 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 27 Norwich City Council cases in 2025/26.^[3] Its rate counts service failure as well as maladministration: 39 of the 52 findings it counted — 1 severe maladministration, 24 maladministration and 14 service failure — a rate of 75%.^[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.^[3]

• Repairs: 19 findings, an 84% rate, against 72% nationally and 78% for council landlords
• "Managing relations": 20 findings, an 80% rate, against 57% nationally and 69% for council landlords
• Anti-social behaviour: 6 findings, a 50% rate, below both
• Complaint handling was the most common sub-category, with 17 findings; leaks had 5, and damp and mould 4, including the severe finding.^[3]

Orders and compensation. The Ombudsman made 79 orders and 7 recommendations, and records every order due in the year as complied with. Compensation ordered or recommended came to £11,218.^[3]

The trend. The Ombudsman's figures put the council's rate at 84% across 14 decided cases in 2023/24 and 83% across 23 in 2024/25.^[3] From October 2025 the Ombudsman started examining complaint handling in every case it investigated, which it says affects how the 2025/26 rates compare with previous years.^[6]

A further investigation, now concluded. The Ombudsman opened a further investigation, its first and lightest stage of wider scrutiny, because of the council's 84% rate in 2023/24 and a sharp rise in complaints referred to it. In the cases it reviewed it saw issues with risk assessment, poor knowledge and information management, poor communication with residents, and failings in complaint handling. By June 2026 it listed the investigation as concluded, and said it would keep monitoring the council's performance.^[7] The council's learning statement, published alongside, apologises to the residents affected and says it has added quality checks to every complaint response and a new repairs scheduling system.^[7]

The council's response. In its own 2025/26 complaints report, the council says complaints about its housing fell by 27.3% on 2024/25, and severe maladministration findings fell from 6 in 2024/25 to 1 in 2025/26.^[8] It says the cases the Ombudsman decided that year were referred between September 2023 and September 2025.^[8]

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.

Norwich has a C1 grade. In a judgement published on 15 April 2026, the regulator gave Norwich City Council a C1, the highest grade and the first it had issued for the council.^[1] It followed an inspection completed in April 2026 as part of the regulator's planned inspection programme.^[1]

What the regulator found. It concluded that overall the council is delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards.^[1] In particular, it found:

• the council reports that 99.6% of its homes meet the Decent Homes Standard
• emergency repairs are consistently done within target, and routine repairs have improved
• it has a proactive approach to damp and mould, with a dedicated team
• a large fire door replacement programme is under way in its homes
• its new tenant scrutiny arrangements are at an early stage.^[1]

On complaints, the regulator said: "We gained assurance that Norwich CC addresses complaints fairly, promptly and effectively."^[1]

“We gained assurance that Norwich CC addresses complaints fairly, promptly and effectively.”^[1]

Regulator of Social Housing, Norwich City Council (33UG) - Regulatory Judgement: 15 April 2026 (15 April 2026)

What the council reports. For 2025/26 the council reports that all required gas safety checks and fire risk assessments had been carried out.^[4] Among tenants who said they had complained in the last 12 months, 30.0% were satisfied with its approach to complaints handling.^[4] These are the council's own figures, not the regulator's.

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 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, Norwich 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.^[9]

Norwich's own published repair timescales. The council's repairs handbook sets target times for emergency, urgent and routine repairs — 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]