Peabody

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.

The 2024-25 performance report. The Ombudsman's most recent landlord performance report for Peabody Trust, covering cases decided between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, records 229 determinations producing 552 findings, with a maladministration rate of 68% — against a national rate of 71% and 69% for landlords of a similar size and type.^[4] Thirty-four findings were severe maladministration.^[4] On property condition — the type of complaint most relevant to disrepair — Peabody's rate was 79%, against 73% nationally; within that, the leaks, damp and mould sub-category accounted for 79 findings, 16 of them severe.^[4] The Ombudsman also issued 4 complaint handling failure orders against Peabody during the year, and recorded £251,497 in compensation across the year's cases.^[4]

An independent review of long delays. In one of its first "wider orders" — used to require a landlord to look beyond a single case — the Ombudsman directed Peabody to commission an independent review of how it moves residents out of their homes during repairs. Reported in August 2024, the review found that 180 residents had been decanted for damp and mould since February 2021, six of them for more than 300 days, and that Peabody had "acted without empathy and effective communication"; it made 31 recommendations.^[2] Peabody's chief executive, Ian McDermott, said of the case that triggered the review: "We didn't give this resident the level of service we're striving for and we're very sorry we let her down."^[2]

A special report from the Catalyst era. Some Peabody residents were, until recently, tenants of Catalyst Housing, a Peabody subsidiary from April 2022 that was fully amalgamated into Peabody Trust in April 2023.^[5] In March 2023 the Ombudsman published a special report on Catalyst covering 13 cases arising from complaints made in 2020/21, before it joined Peabody; it found maladministration in 28 of 31 findings — a rate of 90% — and ordered payments of more than £12,000. It concluded Catalyst "routinely failed to recognise formal complaints and treat them as such".^[7] These failings pre-date Peabody's management, but the residents affected are Peabody Trust tenants today; Catalyst apologised in a statement printed in the report.^[7]

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) is the government body that checks social landlords meet required standards for safe, decent homes. Since 2024 the RSH has been inspecting social landlords and giving each a consumer grade from C1 (the strongest) to C4.

Peabody's grade is C2. In its judgement published on 29 April 2026 — noting "This is the first time we have issued a consumer grade in relation to this landlord" — the regulator graded Peabody Trust C2 for consumer standards: "There are some weaknesses in the landlord delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and improvement is needed."^[1]

What the regulator found on repairs and damp and mould. The judgement said the inspection "found weaknesses in the provision of an effective, efficient and timely repairs and maintenance service", and that "more work is required for the repairs service to meet Peabody's own targets on timeliness, including on emergency and priority repairs, to reduce cancellations and improve tenant satisfaction". On damp and mould, it said "some improvement is needed to ensure that target timescales are met, and that remedial works are carried out in a timely manner".^[1] If you are living with unresolved damp, mould or disrepair in a Peabody home, those findings speak directly to your situation.

The rest of the picture. The same judgement graded Peabody G1 for governance — the regulator's top governance grade, meaning it considers Peabody meets its governance requirements — and V2 for financial viability, which the regulator linked to "significant investment in existing homes and an increased disposal programme", adding: "Peabody therefore has reduced capacity to respond to adverse events."^[1] On complaints, the regulator recorded that Peabody "has taken action to improve its complaints performance" and must continue that work "to ensure that complaints are addressed fairly, effectively and promptly".^[1] Regulatory grades are reviewed from time to time and may change — the date above is the one that matters.

Where the homes stand. In the Regulator of Social Housing's published figures for 2024-25, 0.1% of Peabody's homes did not meet the Decent Homes Standard — the government's minimum standard for social housing — and Peabody reported £431 million invested in keeping homes safe and warm that year, including £71 million on building safety.^[3][8]

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, Peabody 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.^[9]

Peabody's own published repair timescales. Peabody's Responsive Repairs Policy sets target times for its repairs service, and a separate policy covers damp, mould and condensation — the disrepair page lists the figures and who they apply to.^[12][13]

Where to report and complain. Report a repair through Peabody's contact channels, and complain through its process at peabody.org.uk/contact-us/make-a-complaint/how-we-deal-with-complaints.^[14]