Redbridge 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 17 Redbridge cases in 2025/26. Its rate counts service failure too: 33 of the 37 findings — 3 severe maladministration, 20 maladministration and 10 service failure — a rate of 89%.^[1] That compares with a national rate of 62% and 67% for landlords of a similar size and type.^[1]

What the findings were about. "Managing relations" was the largest category, with 16 findings and an 88% rate, against 57% nationally and 69% for council landlords. On repairs, all 11 findings were failings, 2 of them severe, against 72% nationally and 78% for council landlords.^[1] Damp and mould accounted for 3 findings and leaks for 3; each had one severe finding. Complaint handling was the most common sub-category, with 14 findings.^[1]

Orders and compensation. The Ombudsman made 69 orders on cases it decided in 2025/26, and records all 69 orders that fell due in the year as complied with. It issued 3 complaint handling failure orders. Compensation ordered or recommended came to £12,638, almost all of it ordered.^[1]

The trend. The Ombudsman's figures put the council's rate at 90% across 11 decided cases in 2023/24 and 91% across 12 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.^[7]

What tenants say. In the council's own 2025/26 survey, 68.5% of tenants who responded were satisfied with its overall housing service.^[6] Among tenants who said they had complained in the last 12 months, 22.7% were satisfied with how complaints were handled.^[6] The council says "the complaints process needs to be clearer and quicker", and that it is changing it.^[9]

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

No grade yet, and a notice in place. The regulator has not published a consumer standards grade for Redbridge Council. Its only published decision on the council is a regulatory notice — a formal finding of a breach — and it shows no update or withdrawal.^[2] This is the position as at the date this page was last checked, and may change.

The 2022 regulatory notice. The council referred itself to the regulator in June 2022, after finding it had not completed electrical safety checks on every home that needed one.^[2] On 28 September 2022 the regulator found it in breach of the Home Standard, with the potential for serious detriment to tenants. Its investigation found:

• more than 3,000 overdue fire door replacements
• almost 200 communal areas and 2,000 homes without a current electrical safety report
• over 450 communal areas not assessed for whether they needed an asbestos survey
• more than 160 blocks without a current water safety risk assessment.^[2]

The council's response. The regulator recorded that the council "has started to put in place a programme to rectify these failures", and decided not to take enforcement action at that stage.^[2] The council's tenant satisfaction measures for 2025/26 report that 99.8% of its homes had all required fire risk assessments, and 100% had all required asbestos surveys and water safety risk assessments.^[6] It also reports that 3.8% of its homes did not meet the Decent Homes Standard, down from 15.1% in 2023/24.^[6] These are the council's own figures.

“LB Redbridge has started to put in place a programme to rectify these failures and has assured the regulator that it is taking action to remedy the breach of standard. The regulator will therefore not take enforcement action at this stage.”^[2]

Regulator of Social Housing, Regulatory Notice: London Borough of Redbridge (28 September 2022) (28 September 2022)

What the notice means for your home. The notice 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, Redbridge 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.^[10]

Redbridge's own published repair timescales. The council publishes target times for emergency, urgent and routine repairs — the disrepair page lists them.^[13]

Where to report and complain. Tenants report repairs through the council's repairs website (opens in new tab) and complain through its online complaint form (opens in new tab). The disrepair page gives the repair phone lines and the council's two-stage complaints process.^[13][15]