Investigation launched into housing association with 89% maladministration rate

A housing regulator has launched a special investigation into a housing association with a maladministration rate of almost 90 per cent.

Wandle Housing, which runs more than 7,000 homes across nine South London boroughs,  has a maladministration rate of 89 per cent, which is judged to be comparatively high for its size.

The housing association provides homes for rent – both social and affordable – as well as shared ownership, outright sale, and supported housing.

The Housing Ombudsman will prepare a report on Wandle Housing as part of its investigation.

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said: “We are seeing a high maladministration rate with this landlord, which is of cause for concern.

“Following the investigation we will engage with the landlord and discuss our learning recommendations, and publish these in a report highlighting any issues we have identified in the cases investigated.”

The report aims to understand the issues facing the organisation and recommend how to prevent future failings, as well as exploring whether complaints are indicative of wider failure.

Anne Waterhouse, chief executive of Wandle Housing, admitted that the groups complaint handling “hasn’t been what our residents deserve”, and said staff were “committed to putting this right”.

She said: “We already have a project group established to look at some of the causes of our poor performance in complaint handling.

“We want to learn and improve from complaints, and look forward to working with our customers and the Ombudsman to show them what we’ve started to put in place.”

The Housing Ombudsman’s special investigation report follows a similar investigation carried out into Lewisham council in July after finding failings in 85 per cent of cases related to the local authority in a year.

Pictured top: Wandle Housing headquarters in Blackfriars Road (Picture: Google Street View)