Housing Ombudsman Consults on 2026-27 Business Plan

UK Housing Ombudsman News

Published March 5th, 2026

Detected March 24th, 2026

Summary

The UK Housing Ombudsman has launched a consultation on its 2026-27 Business Plan, seeking feedback from landlords, residents, and the sector. The plan addresses record complaint volumes and proposes targets for case resolution times and efficiency improvements, alongside a potential membership fee increase.

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What changed

The UK Housing Ombudsman is consulting on its Business Plan for 2026-27, which outlines strategic priorities in response to a significant increase in complaint volumes, nearly 500% over five years. Key targets include determining 90% of high-risk cases within 4 months and 50% of all cases within 6 months, with a goal of no case older than 16 months. The plan also details a 3-year strategy for caseload reduction through faster case routing, improved landlord complaint handling, and increased efficiency, aiming for a further reduction in cost per case. A proposed membership fee increase from £8.03 to £10.56 per home, subject to consultation and approval, is also outlined.

Stakeholders, including landlords and residents, are invited to provide feedback on the proposed plan. The consultation period runs from March 5 to March 26, 2026. The proposed fee increase aims to fund support for members to prevent complaints escalating and to improve the Ombudsman's investigation and resolution capabilities. The Ombudsman emphasizes its commitment to reducing fees in the future but prioritizes responding to current demand and improving efficiency. The plan's success is contingent on consultation feedback and potential approval by the Secretary of State.

What to do next

Review the 2026-27 Business Plan consultation document
Submit feedback via the online survey by March 26, 2026

Source document (simplified)

News Press releases

Ombudsman consults on 2026-27 Business Plan for healthier homes, fairer services, and trusting relationships

5 March 2026

Ombudsman consults on 2026-27 Business Plan as complaint volumes reach record levels

Our 2026-27 Business Plan consultation is now open. We are seeking views from landlords, residents, and the wider sector on our strategic approach and priorities for the year ahead.

The consultation runs from Thursday 5 March to Thursday 26 March 2026. It is an opportunity to shape how the Ombudsman responds to record demand and supports earlier resolution of complaints.

We have seen an almost 500% rise in cases over 5 years, reaching over 13,000 cases in 2025-26. To respond to this demand, our Business Plan sets out clear targets for 2026-27:

90% of high-risk cases determined within 4 months
50% of cases determined within 6 months
no case older than 16 months at year end We have already reduced our cost per case by 27% since 2023-24 and we are targeting a further reduction in 2026-27. We complete over 800 investigations a month and are heading towards 1,000, with 30% more investigations completed in 2024-25 compared to the previous year.

The Business Plan also sets out a 3-year caseload reduction strategy focused on:

faster and more appropriate case routes
improved landlord complaint handling to prevent complaints escalating to the Ombudsman
reducing the age of the oldest open cases
increasing efficiency to lower the cost per case Subject to consultation and approval by the Secretary of State, the 2026-27 membership fee will rise from £8.03 to £10.56 per home from 1 April 2026. We have held our membership rate for 2 years despite an 87% rise in demand over this period.

We are using reserves and funds set aside from previous years to keep the increase as low as possible. We are committed to reducing the fee where we can in future years.

Business Plan 2026-27 consultation document (PDF)

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said: “ We recognise the enormous effort most social landlords have made to improve their approach to complaints over the last 6 years.

“Adopting the Complaint Handling Code, using complaints as an early indicator of wider issues, investing in their teams, strengthening governance — this is real and meaningful progress. Our Business Plan is designed to build on it.

“Our goal is to help landlords resolve more complaints within their own processes. Earlier resolution is better for residents, and it builds stronger, more trusting relationships between landlords and the people they serve.

“The fee increase is not something we have taken lightly. We held our rate for 2 years despite overwhelming demand and have driven down our cost per case significantly. We determined more than 9 8 0 cases last month, but we need to do more to ensure that complaints are responded to in a timely manner.

“The fee funds a wide range of support for members to prevent complaints escalating to us. This includes our Centre for Learning, which helps with complaint handling and tackling other key issues we see in our casework, to our independent investigation work which shares learning and provides recommendations for landlords to improve.

“Our ambition is to reduce fees within this corporate plan period. But right now, our focus is on responding to demand, improving our efficiency, and supporting landlords to do right by their residents.”