Waltham Forest 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.

A closed further investigation into repairs. In October 2025 the Ombudsman reported that it had closed a "further investigation" into Waltham Forest Council — the process it used to call a special investigation. It said poor handling of complaints and repairs, "particularly leaks, damp and mould, were consistent themes" in its casework, alongside delays in issuing complaint responses and, in some letters, a dismissive tone. The Ombudsman closed the investigation after the council provided a Housing Complaints Improvement Plan to track delivery through 2025/26.^[3]

A place in the damp-and-mould cohort, and an individual case. In October 2024 the Ombudsman named Waltham Forest among the landlords with severe maladministration findings for damp and mould.^[2] In one determination, on 12 December 2023, it found severe maladministration in the council's response to damp and mould, and maladministration in an 11-month delay to window repairs; it also found the council had not had due regard to its Equality Act 2010 duties when planning the works. It ordered compensation, an apology and a review of contractor management.^[5]

“The failures in the landlord's response to the damp and mould amount to severe maladministration.”^[5]

Housing Ombudsman Service, Waltham Forest Council (202217685) — decision (12 December 2023, 202217685)

What the council says it is doing. The council says a comprehensive improvement action plan is under way — a Housing Transformation Programme begun in January 2023, a new online repairs portal launched in May 2025, and, following the Ombudsman's investigation, revised complaint handling.^[3][6]

Waltham Forest's consumer grade is C2. In its judgement of 30 April 2025 — the council's first grading — the Regulator of Social Housing found weaknesses in the provision of an effective, efficient and timely repairs and maintenance service, and a number of homes failing to meet the Decent Homes Standard, the government's minimum standard for social housing. It also recorded strengths, including good health and safety compliance, and saw evidence of the plans the council had in place to bring its homes up to standard.^[1]

The regulator checks whether social landlords meet standards for safe, decent homes. Its consumer grades run from C1 (the strongest) to C4; a C2 means it has identified some weaknesses and needs improvement.^[1]

The council's own figures. Its Tenant Satisfaction Measures put the share of homes not meeting the Decent Homes Standard at 13.1% in 2025/26, down from 19% the year before.^[4] Over the same period, tenants' satisfaction with the repairs service rose from 63% to 67%, while satisfaction with complaint handling stayed low, at around one in five.^[4]

No separate regulatory notice. When last checked, the regulator's publications page listed only the April 2025 grading, with no separate regulatory notice or other enforcement publication. Grades may change after further review.^[7]

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, Waltham Forest Council 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 council 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, including councils, to investigate and fix emergency hazards and dangerous damp and mould, and Waltham Forest publishes its own commitment to meeting them. The disrepair page sets out those timescales and what they mean for you.^[8][11]

Safety and complaints. The council must also meet its gas, electrical and fire-safety duties, and handle complaints under the Housing Ombudsman's Complaint Handling Code. Where a repair is not done, the disrepair page explains how to complain and escalate.