ARTICLE
15 January 2025

Housing Ombudsman's New Power To Issue Good Practice Will Focus On Relationship Management

D
Devonshires

Contributor

Based in the City of London for over 150 years, Devonshires is a leading practice providing high-quality, accessible and value-for-money services to domestic and international clients, including developers, local authorities, housing associations and financial services firms. The practice focuses on building strong, long-lasting relationships in order to achieve outstanding results based on practical advice. The foundation of its success is its commitment to people, both its own and those working for its clients. The firm ensures its staff have access to high-quality training and fosters ‘one to one’ connections between its solicitors and clients.

The firm acts on a broad range of matters including projects, property and real estate, securitisation, construction, housing management, commercial litigation, employment, banking, corporate work, and governance. The practice is a leader in social housing, including working on many development projects nationwide and helping to draft legislation.

Good Practice is a power introduced by the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 and has been developed through consultation with residents and landlords.
United Kingdom Real Estate and Construction

Good Practice is a power introduced by the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 and has been developed through consultation with residents and landlords. It will provide examples of where landlords have got things right. The Housing Ombudsman released a consultation at the beginning of 2024 asking for views on possible topics to cover in Good Practice publications and, following 163 responses, it was decided that the first edition will focus on managing relations with residents. This first guidance will be released later in 2025.

The guidance will look at maintaining effective relationships and restoring relationships which have broken down. The Housing Ombudsman's press release of 9 January comments that The Grenfell Tower Inquiry report brought into stark focus the tragic impact this can have, with 'relations increasingly characterised by distrust, dislike, personal antagonism and anger... The result was a toxic atmosphere fuelled by mistrust on both sides.'

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman; "Good practice will be a valuable tool for landlords to test approaches and improve using the insights of complaints. As with all learning from complaints, the right culture and behaviours will produce the greatest benefits rather than a tick-box exercise".

The consultation responsestates; "Good Practice guidance aims to establish a framework to help the landlord problem solve in a challenging area that causes complaints. It will come with a recommendation that landlords pro-actively self-assess against it and develop improvement plans... What it will not do is provide a 'copy and paste' policy for landlords drafted by the Ombudsman".

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

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