Wandsworth Council

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, or "service failure" for a lesser one.

The 2025-26 performance report. The Ombudsman's landlord performance report for Wandsworth covers 33 cases decided — "determinations" — between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026. Its maladministration rate counts service failure as well as maladministration. It recorded a rate of 65% — 55 of 84 findings — against a national rate of 62% and 70% for landlords of a similar size and type. Those 55 were 1 severe maladministration, 31 maladministration and 23 service failure.^[1]

What the findings were about. The largest category was how the council dealt with residents — what the Ombudsman calls "managing relations" — with 30 findings and a 70% rate. Responsive repairs followed, with 25 findings and a 68% rate, against 72% nationally for that category.^[1] Complaint handling was the largest single sub-category, with 28 findings; from October 2025 the Ombudsman examined complaint handling in every case it investigated.^[1][6] The year's one severe finding was about planned works.^[1]

Orders and compliance. The Ombudsman made 111 orders and 2 complaint handling failure orders. The report records the council complying with all 111 orders due in the year within three months.^[1] Its compensation figure, ordered and recommended, is £17,752.^[1]

The trend. This year's rate is down from 82% across 25 determinations in 2024-25. The Ombudsman puts 2023-24 at 65% across 25, adjusted to compare with this year.^[1] The Ombudsman says that change affects how this year's rates compare with previous years.^[6]

Earlier severe findings. In a decision dated June 2023, the Ombudsman found severe maladministration in how the council handled damp and mould. It said the council "failed to react with appropriate urgency to the resident's reports despite the presence of a young child in the property and health concerns raised by her and her GP."^[7] In a leak case decided in January 2025, it again found severe maladministration, citing "failures over a significant period which have had a seriously detrimental impact on the resident."^[8]

“The landlord failed to react with appropriate urgency to the resident's reports despite the presence of a young child in the property and health concerns raised by her and her GP.”^[7]

Housing Ombudsman Service, Wandsworth Council (202201207) — decision (23 June 2023, 202201207)

“The landlord's cumulative failings are serious and constitute severe maladministration because of its failures over a significant period which have had a seriously detrimental impact on the resident.”^[8]

Housing Ombudsman Service, Wandsworth Council (202317965) — decision (7 January 2025, 202317965)

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

Wandsworth's grade is C3. In a judgement published on 26 February 2025, after the council's first inspection under the new consumer regime, the regulator graded Wandsworth Council C3. It said: "Our judgement is that there are serious failings in the landlord delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and significant improvement is needed."^[2]

What the judgement found. The regulator's serious concerns were about building safety and how well the council knew the condition of its homes. At the time of the inspection, "almost 80% of communal areas and around 40% of homes had not had an electrical safety test". There were also "almost 1,800 overdue fire safety remedial actions". None was categorised by the council as high risk, but all were more than 12 months overdue.^[2] The council had surveyed "just under 6.5% of its homes and 275 blocks" in 2022-23.^[2] The regulator found the council dealt effectively with anti-social behaviour, and said it was engaging constructively.^[2]

What the council has said and done. The regulator recorded that, after the inspection, 75% of communal areas and 70% of homes had had electrical tests.^[2] The council has published a 32-point improvement plan.^[9] It says it is surveying all its tenanted homes and blocks during 2026, and will then survey 20% of them each year.^[9] Its own 2025-26 figures show the share of homes not meeting the Decent Homes Standard rising from 4.5% to 10%, which it puts down mainly to those surveys.^[5]

No regulatory notice in force. As at the date this page was last checked, the Regulator of Social Housing has no regulatory notice — a formal published finding of a breach — in force against Wandsworth.^[3] Regulatory grades are reviewed from time to time and may change — the date above is the one that matters.

Whatever a landlord's track record, its legal duties are the same — and they are strong.

Repairs. Under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, Wandsworth 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, 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 to make homes safe — the disrepair page sets them out.^[10]

Safety and complaints. The council must also meet its gas, electrical and fire-safety duties, and handle complaints under the Housing Ombudsman's Complaint Handling Code. The disrepair page explains how to report a repair, the council's target times and how to complain.^[13][14]

The council manages its homes directly, not through an arm's-length company. Some are run day-to-day by a tenant or co-operative management organisation, whose complaints may follow a separate process. Where the council owns the home, it remains your landlord, and the duties above still apply.^[2]