Housing Ombudsman Decisions: How to Find & Read Them

Housing Ombudsman decisions are public documents. Every determination the Ombudsman publishes is available under the Open Government Licence, and Landlord Record indexes them all. Our database currently holds 16,224 published determinations — the full set of outcomes, orders and compensation awards you can search and filter. — Landlord Record analysis of Housing Ombudsman decisions (OGL v3.0)

If you want to know whether a landlord has been found at fault, what orders were made, or how much compensation was awarded, the published decisions are the authoritative source. This guide explains how to find them, how to read each section, and what the findings mean in practice.

Why published decisions matter

The Housing Ombudsman Service is an independent dispute-resolution body that investigates complaints about social landlords in England. When it completes an investigation, it issues a determination that sets out the facts, the Ombudsman's assessment of the landlord's handling, and any orders the landlord must follow. These determinations are a matter of public record because they show how landlords are performing and what remedies residents have received.

For residents, reading a decision about your own landlord can help you understand how it handles complaints and whether past failings have been formally identified. If you are considering making a complaint yourself, seeing how the Ombudsman has treated similar cases can give you a clearer idea of what to expect and what information to provide. For researchers, journalists and policymakers, the decisions provide a structured picture of complaint trends across the social housing sector — from damp and mould to anti-social behaviour, financial disputes and estate management.

Published decisions also create accountability. When a landlord knows its determinations are public, there is a stronger incentive to comply with the Ombudsman's orders and to improve its complaint handling. For residents, this transparency means you can see whether a landlord has a pattern of the same failing — for example, repeated delays in repairs or consistent failures to handle anti-social behaviour — rather than relying on a single anecdote.

That is why Landlord Record organises every decision into a searchable database with filters for landlord, complaint category, outcome and theme. Rather than reading decisions one by one on the Ombudsman's website, you can compare landlords, spot patterns, and find the specific determinations that are relevant to you.

How to search our decisions database

Our decisions database is designed to make the full index of published determinations easy to search. You can filter by landlord name, complaint category, outcome — such as maladministration, partial maladministration or severe maladministration — and date range. Each result card shows the case reference, landlord name, decision date, and a plain-English summary of the complaint so you can quickly see whether a decision is relevant before opening it.

If you already know which landlord you are interested in, the landlords page lists every social landlord with published decisions. Click a landlord to open its profile, where you will see every published decision involving that landlord, the outcomes breakdown, and any compensation ordered. This is often the fastest way to check whether a landlord has a history of adverse findings or repeated complaints in a particular area such as repairs or complaint handling.

You can also use the thematic filters to find decisions about specific issues. Complaint categories include responsive repairs, health and safety, estate management, anti-social behaviour, financial matters, information management, moving and buying, occupancy rights, planned works, and landlord-resident relations. Because every decision is tagged with categories and themes, you can narrow your search to the topics that matter most to you.

How to read a determination

A Housing Ombudsman determination follows a standard structure. Once you know what each section does, you can move through a decision quickly and find the information you need. Here is a section-by-section guide.

Case reference and parties

The top of the decision names the landlord and gives a case reference (for example, 2023/123456). This is the unique identifier for the determination. The decision date tells you when the Ombudsman reached its conclusion. Some decisions also list the resident's tenure type, which can matter because different obligations apply to different tenancies. The source URL links back to the original document on the Housing Ombudsman website.

Complaint summary

This section sets out what the resident complained about and the background to the case. Typical complaints include repairs that were not done within a reasonable time, anti-social behaviour that was not handled properly, disputes over service charges or rent, problems with damp and mould, or failures in the landlord's own complaint handling. The summary gives you the context you need before reading the findings.

Findings (outcomes)

The Ombudsman breaks the complaint into separate "heads" — individual issues within the overall complaint — and reaches an outcome for each one. The outcomes tell you whether the landlord got things wrong and, if so, how seriously. The main outcomes are:

• No maladministration — the landlord acted reasonably and in line with its obligations on that complaint head.
• Maladministration — the landlord failed to meet its obligations and that failure adversely affected the resident.
• Partial maladministration — only part of the landlord's handling fell short, or the impact on the resident was more limited.
• Severe maladministration — the most serious finding, reserved for prolonged failures, repeated failings, or a significant adverse impact on the resident.

A single decision can contain several outcomes. The landlord may have acted reasonably on one complaint head but failed on another. For a full explanation of each outcome, see our guide on what is maladministration .

Orders

Where the Ombudsman finds maladministration (including partial or severe), it makes orders the landlord must comply with. These commonly include an apology, financial compensation, completing outstanding repairs or another specific action, reviewing a policy, changing a process, and providing staff training. The Ombudsman monitors whether landlords comply with its orders and can take further action if they do not.

Compensation

If compensation is ordered, the decision states the amount and what it is for. The Ombudsman applies its published remedies guidance, weighing the severity and duration of the failing and the impact on the resident — including distress, inconvenience and time and trouble. Compensation is not automatic, and there is no fixed tariff. The amount reflects the particular facts of the case. See our compensation guide for more on how awards are decided and how to read the indicative ranges.

What the findings mean

The outcome of each complaint head is the core of the decision. It tells you whether the Ombudsman found a failing, and if so, how serious it was. When you read a decision, pay attention to the balance of outcomes: a landlord may have been found at fault on some complaint heads but not others. This matters because it shows you where the landlord's weaknesses lie — and whether those weaknesses are repeated across multiple decisions.

Severe maladministration is the strongest adverse finding. It usually reflects a prolonged failure, repeated failings across a single complaint, or a significant impact on the resident's health, safety or wellbeing. Landlords with multiple severe findings appear in our severe maladministration league table , which ranks landlords by the number of severe findings in our index.

Remember that maladministration is an administrative finding about the landlord's handling of a complaint. It is not a criminal conviction and it is not the same as a court judgment. The Ombudsman's role is to put things right between the resident and the landlord, not to punish. Its findings are based on the evidence before it and on the standards set out in its Scheme and Complaint Handling Code.

Using decisions to support your own complaint

If you are preparing your own complaint, reading past decisions can help you understand what the Ombudsman looks for and how it describes failings. Look for decisions with similar facts to your case — for example, the same category of complaint or the same landlord. Note the evidence the resident provided, how the Ombudsman framed the failing, and what orders were made.

You do not need to quote decisions in your complaint, but being aware of the Ombudsman's approach can help you present your evidence clearly. The Ombudsman decides each complaint on its own facts, so past decisions do not guarantee any outcome. They are a guide to the process and the standards the Ombudsman applies, not a precedent in the legal sense.

Data and methodology

Landlord Record indexes every published Housing Ombudsman determination and extracts structured data: outcomes, categories, orders, compensation and themes. Our methodology is documented on the data page. All figures are derived from the Ombudsman's published decisions under the Open Government Licence.

Sources

• Housing Ombudsman Service — official determinations, Complaint Handling Code and remedies guidance.
• legislation.gov.uk — UK housing and landlord-tenant legislation.
• gov.uk — government guidance on social housing and tenant rights.

Reviewed against Housing Ombudsman published guidance.