Notting Hill Genesis

The Housing Ombudsman is the independent body that 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.

The 2025-26 rate. The Ombudsman's latest report on NHG covers 261 cases it decided ("determinations") from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026. As it set out the rate: "The number of 'Mal' findings recorded for Notting Hill Genesis is 375, which gives the Maladministration rate of 54.8% (375 / 684)." That is below the national rate of 62% and the 60% for landlords of a similar size and type.^[1] Relative to its size, though, NHG had more findings than similar landlords. It had 6.2 maladministration findings per 1,000 homes, against medians of 3.5 for similar landlords and 1.5 for all landlords.^[1]

“The number of 'Mal' findings recorded for Notting Hill Genesis is 375, which gives the Maladministration rate of 54.8% (375 / 684).”^[1]

Housing Ombudsman Service, Landlord Performance Report 2025/2026 – Notting Hill Genesis (15 September 2026)

Severity and repairs. Thirteen findings were severe, 10 of them about responsive repairs.^[1] Within repairs, condensation, damp and mould drew 50 findings, 3 of them severe.^[1]

Orders and compensation. The Ombudsman made 768 orders, and the report's headline compensation figure for the year is £227,348.^[1]

Earlier years. The report restates NHG's rate as 62% for 2023-24 and 67% for 2024-25.^[1] The 2025-26 rate does not compare directly with earlier years, because from October 2025 the Ombudsman examined complaint handling in every case.^[1]

A further investigation, now closed. The Ombudsman opened a further investigation into NHG over an increased maladministration rate. It also cited £194,006 of compensation ordered in a 12-month period. Its casework showed failings in repairs, complaint handling, support for vulnerable residents and communication.^[6] In October 2025 it said it had closed the investigation because NHG was taking steps to address these themes and its rate was reducing. It said it would continue to monitor NHG's performance.^[6]

Individual decisions. In a decision published on 26 September 2025, the Ombudsman found severe maladministration. It concerned NHG's handling of damp and mould and a bathroom-floor repair.^[7] In three further decisions across 2024 and 2025, it found maladministration in NHG's handling of damp and mould, complaints and record keeping.^[8][9][10]

What NHG says it has done. NHG says it received 10,258 stage 1 complaints in 2025-26. It says it answered 93.9% of them within the Ombudsman's timescales, up from 65.3% the year before.^[11]

What tenants say. In NHG's own 2025-26 survey, 23% of residents across every tenure who had complained were satisfied with complaint handling.^[5]

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) is the government body that checks social landlords meet required standards for safe, decent homes. It grades landlords on the consumer standards from C1 (the strongest) to C4.

Notting Hill Genesis's grade is C3. In a judgement published on 27 November 2024, following an inspection, the regulator graded Notting Hill Genesis C3: "There are serious failings in the landlord delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and significant improvement is needed."^[3]

A governance downgrade. The same judgement downgraded NHG's governance rating to G3. The regulator found serious concerns and said significant improvement was needed in NHG's business planning and risk-and-control framework.^[4] It graded NHG V2 for financial viability: NHG met the viability requirements. The regulator said headroom on its most demanding covenant was low and its financial exposures had to be carefully managed.^[3]

What the judgement found. The regulator found that:

• NHG had a backlog of over 2,000 fire-remediation actions from fire-risk assessments. They were being completed faster, but the number overdue was high, some by at least twelve months.^[3]
• Just over 50% of its homes had had a survey in the last five years. That limits assurance that they meet the Decent Homes Standard, the government's minimum standard for social housing.^[3]
• NHG was not meeting its own timescales for repairs, maintenance and planned improvements, which had helped create a repairs backlog.^[3]

What NHG says it has done. NHG says the regulator agreed its compliance plan, made up of 11 workstreams, in April 2025.^[12] It says the plan aims to regain compliance with the governance and consumer standards. Its quarterly updates say it had surveyed 88.2% of its homes in the last five years by the end of March 2026.^[12] They say it had 428 overdue fire-risk actions at the end of June 2026. That is NHG's own count, not the same measure as the regulator's backlog figure.^[12] It reports that 99.6% of its low-cost rental homes met the Decent Homes Standard in 2025-26. That is its own figure, not an independently confirmed measure of decency.^[5]

No regulatory notice. There is no regulatory notice — a formal published finding of a breach — in force against NHG. The regulator's publication page lists only its judgement.^[13] Grades are reviewed from time to time and may change, so the judgement date is the one that matters.

A housing association's repair duties are just as strong as a council's — and they do not depend on its track record.

Repairs. Under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, Notting Hill Genesis 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 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, housing associations included, to investigate hazards such as damp and mould and make homes safe — the disrepair page sets them out.^[14]

Safety checks. NHG must also meet health and safety duties for its homes, such as gas, electrical and fire safety checks.

Notting Hill Genesis's own published repair timescales. NHG publishes target times for emergency and routine repairs — the disrepair page lists them.^[17]

Complaint handling and where to report. NHG must handle complaints under the Housing Ombudsman's Complaint Handling Code.^[18] Report a repair through NHG's report-a-repair page (opens in new tab), and complain through its two-stage process on its complaints page (opens in new tab).^[17][18]