Leeds City Council

The Housing Ombudsman investigates complaints about social landlords. When it finds a landlord got things wrong, it makes a finding of "maladministration" — or "severe maladministration" for the most serious failings. A less serious failing is recorded as "service failure".

The 2025-26 performance report. The Ombudsman decided 60 Leeds City Council cases between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026, not counting cases outside its jurisdiction or withdrawn.^[3] Its rate was 58%: 74 of the 128 findings it counted, including service failure — 38 maladministration and 36 service failure, none of them severe.^[3] That compares with the national rate of 62% and the 70% for landlords of a similar size and type.^[3]

What the findings were about. Repairs drew the most findings, 54, with 70% upheld — below the national rate of 72% for that category.^[3] Managing relations — the Ombudsman's category for how a landlord deals with its residents — followed, with 39 findings and 44% upheld against 57% nationally, and anti-social behaviour had 11 findings, 82% upheld against 66% nationally.^[3] Complaint handling was the most common sub-category, with 32 findings; damp and mould, and leaks, had 10 each.^[3]

Orders, compensation and compliance. The Ombudsman made 148 orders and 41 recommendations, and no complaint handling failure orders.^[3] Compensation ordered or recommended came to £17,507.^[3] The report records all 148 orders due in the year as complied with within three months.^[3]

How the picture has moved. On the Ombudsman's restated figures in the 2025-26 report, Leeds' rate was 74% across 50 decided cases in 2023-24 and 64% across 47 in 2024-25.^[3] From October 2025 the Ombudsman started examining complaint handling in every case it investigated, which it says affects how this year's rates compare with previous years.^[7]

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) is the government body that checks social landlords meet required standards for safe, decent homes. Since 2024 it has been inspecting social landlords and giving each a consumer grade from C1 (the strongest) to C4.

A first grade of C2. On 25 March 2026 the RSH published its first regulatory judgement on Leeds City Council and gave it a consumer standards grade of C2.^[1] That means it found weaknesses and said improvement was needed, though not the most serious concerns.^[1] The judgement covers the council's roughly 52,000 social housing homes.^[1]

What the regulator found. The RSH said Leeds did not have complete and up-to-date information on the condition of some of its tenants' homes, with outstanding surveys due to be completed by August 2027.^[1] The council reported that 9% of its homes did not meet the Decent Homes Standard at December 2025.^[1] The regulator found 9% had overdue electrical tests, which the council said was mainly because it could not get access.^[1] It also said the way Leeds monitored surveys on its PFI-managed homes did not give enough assurance, and the council has since taken those surveys on itself.^[1]

What the regulator noted in the council's favour. The same judgement found Leeds took a proactive approach to identifying and dealing with damp and mould.^[1] At the time of the inspection, 93% of non-emergency repairs and 95% of emergency repairs were completed on time.^[1] The regulator said the council needed to make it easier for tenants to find its service standards and performance, particularly on its website.^[1]

No separate regulatory notice. The C2 judgement is the council's only current RSH publication — there is no separate regulatory notice on its record as at October 2026.^[1]

What the grade means for your home. A C2 grade is about standards across the council's stock as a whole, not the state of any one home. It does not decide anything about disrepair in an individual home: if yours has damp, mould, a leak or an unfixed repair, your rights are separate and still apply.^[1]

Whatever a landlord's track record, its legal duties are the same.

Repairs. Under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, Leeds City Council must keep the structure and exterior of your home in repair — the roof, walls, windows and doors — and keep the installations for heating, hot water, gas, electricity, water and sanitation in proper working order. This applies to almost every council tenancy and cannot be signed away in a tenancy agreement.

Fitness for human habitation. Under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 (section 9A of the 1985 Act), your home must also be fit to live in — free from serious hazards, including damp and mould that could harm your health.

Awaab's Law. Awaab's Law now sets legally binding timescales for social landlords, including councils, to investigate hazards such as damp and mould and make homes safe — the disrepair page sets them out.^[8]

Leeds' own repair timescales. The council sorts repairs into priorities and publishes target response times — the disrepair page lists them.^[11]

Reporting repairs and housing complaints. Report a repair to Leeds City Council online or by phone, and make a housing complaint through its two-stage complaints process — the disrepair page sets out both.^[11][12]