Media attention is often focussed on landlords in the private rented sector (PRS) when it comes to their treatment of tenants housed in poor conditions. But the facts are now telling a different story, showing that it is far worse in the social housing sector. In other words, the gamekeeper (councils) is a worse culprit than the poacher!
According to a new report from the Housing Ombudsman, complaints about substandard living conditions in social housing in England are over five times higher than they were five years ago.
Recently obtained data shows that complaints in the social housing sector are significantly higher than those in the private rented sector (PRS), both in absolute terms and proportionately - the private sector has considerably more households under management. The social housing sector has a much bigger problem than does the PRS.
Much of the UK’s social housing stock is decades old. Much of it was built post war. A great deal of it with a 1960s style economy building system of housing: towers and high-rise blocks, flat roofs, asbestos, thin uninsulated walls, all built with materials and designs which have proven to be poor at retaining heat, handling moisture and lacking effective ventilation.
Consequently, damp and mould are rife in this type of housing. The government’s own data shows that millions of social homes in England fail the Decent Homes Standard. Damp, moisture and black mould caused mainly through poor insulation and ventilation - often exacerbated by how tenants are handling moisture - are especially prevalent in homes with low-income tenants and families, where fuel poverty adds to the problem.
In its latest report, Richard Blakeway, the Housing Ombudsman has said that the tenant-landlord relationship (with councils and housing associations) and the poor housing conditions that socially housed tenants are living in, risks "simmering anger" turning into "social disquiet".
According to Mr Blakeway, England risks "managed decline" of social housing often with asbestos, electrical and fire safety issues, pest control problems and leaks, and with damp and mould among the most serious of the complaints. These issues are what the housing watchdog says it receives in complaints – See 29 May 2025 press release: “Housing Ombudsman calls for national tenant body and funding review as it reveals 474% surge in repair complaints”
This most recent report from the Housing Ombudsman deals with the disputes arising between social housing tenant residents and social housing landlord providers in England. It says that the general condition of social housing, combined with the length of time it takes for repairs to get done, is leading to a “breakdown in trust.”
Cash strapped councils, aging housing stock, building and maintenance skill shortages, rapidly rising materials shortages, these says Mr Blakeway, speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, are the key issues: "You put all that together and you end up with a perfect storm and that's what's presenting in our case work. That is not sustainable,” he said.
The death of a tenant’s child, Awaab Ishak, in a Rochdale social housing flat in 2020 prompted the then Housing secretary Michael Gove to introduce landmark legislation which is set to impact the PRS as well as social housing. The measure threatens the legality of the state of these many of these properties, with all the resource and financial implications that implies for councils and housing association providers.
Awaab’s Law requires clear timeframes for the investigation and resolution of complaints about damp and mould, the guidance being 14 days maximum for an initial assessment, 7 days for repair work to be carried out, and a follow-up within a further 14 days.
The regulations mandate transparency and accountability from social housing providers who must record their actions, report on compliance, and face penalties for failures. These regulations are likely to stretch the providers to their limits; they are not discretionary, they’re a statutory requirement, enforceable by the regulator and courts. It’s perhaps optimist to think that providers will succeed in meeting these stringent requirements when they were already falling under the previous less stringent regime.
The chances are that many of them won’t cope, they won’t stand a chance of bringing their housing stock up to a Decent Homes Standard within a reasonable timescale without a huge capital investment and serious systemic reform.
Many local councils in England are facing severe financial difficulties, some are even on the edge of bankruptcy. The problem is due to a combination of factors, including rising costs coupled with reduced government funding and increased demand for mandatory services like special educational needs and social care. Several councils have already issued Section 114 notices (effectively declaring themselves bankrupt), while others are warning that they may need to do so soon.
Social housing providers (councils and housing associations) manage housing on a large scale which puts them at a disadvantage to most small-scale private landlords with small manageable estates and housing generally of an older better built housing stock, though many still need a lot of work to bring them up to EPC level “C” standard.
Social providers are going to need large capital funding to carry out large-scale retrofitting including insulation, ventilation, waterproofing. In the past, schemes like the Decent Homes Programme brough many social homes out of disrepair, but then the money ran out. Restarting and expanding such programmes will be essential if the state is serious about all social housing complying with Awaab’s Law.
There’s a new Ofsted-style regime of inspections of housing providers, but inspections and enforcement without funding simply leads to providers “gaming” the system, providing quick cosmetic temporary fixes rather than bottoming necessary quality repairs.
Many providers are outsourcing repairs, finding the cheapest contractors which results in long delays, use of cheap materials and shoddy workmanship. Some councils are bringing services back in-house which helps - Hackney Council and some others are recorded as doing this - a move that gives more control over quality and response times.
But unlike private landlords, who often respond quickly to requests for repairs and breakdowns, often outside of working hours, councils and housing associations are reliant on workers and contractors responding in time and always within working hours.
The use of smart technology (humidity sensors, damp monitors), a relatively cheap solution that can flag up problems before they become too serious lethal, will probably become more common in the social sector and in the private housing sectors when the Renters’ Rights Bill (RRB) becomes law.
In the short-term more pain is inevitable. Complaints about social housing have been flooding in because social tenants know their rights while their poor housing conditions have been ignored for decades. This same will likely happen when the RRB is passed for private landlords.
In the medium term, providers need to get their act together or face more and more court cases, fines, and public scandal. Long-term, success will depend on government funding and systemic change within the social housing provider organisations. Without this commitment Awaabs law, like many other housing laws, will not get effectively enforced through lack of council resources.
£9 billion was spent on repairs in 2023/24, but fundamental issues persist, leading to over £3.4 million in compensation paid in 2024/25. The Housing Ombudsman has warned of a "simmering anger" among social housing tenants due to unresolved issues, emphasizing the risk of social unrest if conditions do not improve.
The Housing Ombudsman has called for a comprehensive overhaul of the sector, including better funding, a predictive maintenance strategy, and the establishment of a national tenant body.
The National Housing Federation, which represents England's housing associations, told the BBC that quality and safety of homes was their "top priority", and that the social housing sector was spending record sums on repairs and maintenance.
Chief executive Kate Henderson had said:
"Crippling cuts to social housing over many years have exacerbated quality issues, as the ombudsman recognises, and only an increase in funding can address this over the long-term." Overcrowding is a "significant contributor" to issues such as damp and mould, she said.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said that "everybody has the right to a safe place to live" – something, he says is "absolutely central" to his government's work on housing.
A Ministry of Housing spokesperson has said in a statement:
"Everyone deserves to live in a safe, secure home and despite the situation we have inherited, we are taking decisive action to make this a reality. “We will clamp down on damp, mould and other hazards in social homes by bringing in Awaab's Law for the social rented sector from October, while we will also introduce a competence and conduct standard for the social rented sector to ensure staff have the right skills, knowledge and experience to do their jobs effectively."
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