Housing Ombudsman calls for ‘single vision of fair compensation’ across the sector 

We have released our latest ‘learning from severe maladministration’ report. The report focuses on compensation awards. 

It is accompanied by new compensation guidance setting out the key principles for a fair approach to compensation, make clear expectations and encourage consistency. This guidance will be effective from 1 April 2026. 

We engaged with landlords and residents to produce this guidance. We spoke to landlords about their experiences through our landlord forums. We took residents comments from our Resident Panel and our casework to feed into the final document. 

The report is split into 3 sections: 

• the first looks at landlord’s not applying their own compensation policies correctly
• the second section looks at when landlords increase the compensation after its stage 2 response
• the final section examined the difference between our orders and the landlord’s offer 

In each case, our compensation is not punitive or regulatory fine but seeks to put residents back in the position they would’ve been had service failings not happened. 

The landlords mentioned in this report are: 

• Basildon Council
• Clarion
• Cornwall Council
• Freebridge Community Housing
• Hexagon Housing Association
• Home Group
• Hyde Housing Association
• Karibu Community Homes
• L&Q
• London Borough of Haringey
• London Borough of Kingston
• London Borough of Lambeth
• London Borough of Southwark
• Peabody
• Riverside
• Stonewater