Disabled tenants ignored by social landlords, report reveals

A new report by the Housing Ombudsman has exposed the widespread failure of social landlords to make reasonable adjustments for their disabled tenants.

The report, entitled Relationship of Equals, is based on more than 1,663 responses from social residents, landlords and advocacy services, such as Citizens Advice.

It found 58% of respondents identified as having a disability, but only 19% of them said a landlord had carried out reasonable alterations.

However, 68% of disabled residents said their landlord hadn’t made any adjustments, including the installation of adaptions and aids, even though they had requested them.

Just 5% of disabled residents said they had not informed their landlord of their needs or had not asked for any adjustments.

‘Most serious findings point to unfairness’

Richard Blakeway, the Housing Ombudsman, said: “The evidence from our most serious findings points to unfairness in the way that requests and complaints from vulnerable residents can be handled, albeit in most cases I believe this is unintended.

“In our call for evidence, 68% of residents said their landlord had not made reasonable adjustments for additional needs when asked.”

He added: “Our report examines how and why vulnerable residents can go unheard.

“Too often in our casework, residents’ vulnerabilities are missed, or the response is inappropriate.

“Disrepair in homes or anti-social behaviour in neighbourhoods is creating – or exacerbating – vulnerabilities.”

Poor communication between social landlords and their tenants

The report highlights the poor communication and trust between social landlords and their tenants, especially on complaints, repairs and policies.

More than half of the residents gave their landlords a rating of one out of five for communication.

In contrast, most tenants rated their landlords for communication between three and five.

Implement a new vulnerability strategy

The Housing Ombudsman is urging the government to implement a vulnerability strategy, which would include a new legal definition of vulnerability and a new system for assessing and reviewing it.

The report also recommends that social landlords should offer training on issues such as dementia, mental health, sight and hearing loss, customer care and learning disabilities.

The Ombudsman said it had made changes to its policies and guidance from the research to support its formal investigations and to ensure equality and human rights for all parties involved.

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