The Ombudsman’s investigation revealed a 93% maladministration rate for complaint handling and 79% for property condition, significantly higher than the national average.

It found that GreenSquareAccord often failed to address the root causes of complaints, leading to delays, confusion, and inadequate compensation for residents. In some cases, residents waited years for essential repairs to be carried out.

Although GreenSquareAccord has acknowledged its failings and implemented some improvements, the Ombudsman insists further action is needed.

Key areas of concern include:

• Complaint Handling: The landlord’s processes were found to be inefficient and non-compliant with the Complaint Handling Code.
• Compensation: GreenSquareAccord often failed to offer appropriate compensation to residents.
• Policies and Procedures: Inadequate policies and a lack of staff training contributed to poor service delivery.
• Repairs: The landlord was slow to carry out repairs, failed to consider residents’ vulnerabilities, and did not communicate effectively.

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said: “The proactive engagement by GreenSquareAccord during this investigation exemplifies its commitment to continuous improvement and learning and to address the root causes of the service failures we found.

“The landlord’s merger was a significant factor in the deficiencies handling complaints, which the landlord has been open about, and it is clear more could have been done to prevent residents having this experience.

“The sector continues to consolidate at pace, and therefore landlords doing so must learn from the experience of this landlord and prioritise complaint handling.

“The landlord’s creation of new policies and procedures is encouraging, and should have a positive impact. But policy and procedure should not be viewed as something to be in place simply because there is a requirement for it to be, and the work involved to embed these changes is not be underestimated.

“The landlord will need to maintain the strong commitment from its leadership to achieve a positive complaints culture, combined with training and supporting its staff through the changes, together with strong quality assurance is in place before it begins to consider the changes successful.

“This report should serve as a catalyst for sector-wide change, promoting a culture of accountability and proactive service improvements, to the benefit of residents and improving the satisfaction with landlords.”