The housing watchdog has named East Devon District Council among the social landlords with the worst complaints records in England. 

The Housing Ombudsman has published figures showing that it found maladministration in 89 per cent of the complaints brought to it by social housing tenants in East Devon. 

This would mean the council had ‘failed to comply with its legal obligations, its policies and procedures or unreasonably delayed in dealing with the matter’.   

A spokesperson for East Devon District Council (EDDC) said the council accepts the Ombudsman’s findings and recognises where improvements are needed. He added that a very small number of complaints are taken to the Ombudsman, as the vast majority are resolved locally. 

A report on one of the East Devon cases brought to the Ombudsman, published in January 2022, found maladministration in EDDC’s handing of repairs to a resident’s property, and noted that there had been poor communication by the repairs team and its contractors. 

Another report, published in March, found maladministration in EDDC’s handling of the replacement of a kitchen in one of its properties, prior to the tenant moving in, and that there was service failure in the handling of complaints. 

The Ombudsman has written to EDDC, and all the other councils with a maladministration finding of more than 50 per cent, saying that ‘such a high rate of maladministration is concerning and for issues to occur across this proportion of findings suggests improvements could be made to prevent complaints’. 

A spokesperson for EDDC said: “The total number of Housing Ombudsman complaints for the period 2021/22 was five and in four of those cases we let our tenants down – details of which can be openly found on EDDC’s website – having been reported to our Cabinet.   

“We accept the Ombudsman’s findings and continue to take a learning approach to all outcomes.  

“We recognise where the areas of improvement are for us, two key areas being improved communication with residents as well as improved record keeping.  

“Both issues have been impacted by high levels of vacancies we have experienced in the housing team. We are reassured to note that the vast majority of housing complaints received (97 per cent) during 2021/22 were resolved locally, indicating that our internal complaint procedure is working effectively in providing resolution and remedy for our residents at the earliest possible stage.  

“That said, any finding of maladministration by the Ombudsman is something that we need to learn from”.