Housing Ombudsman: Standards
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the average waiting time was for cases handled by the Housing Ombudsman in each of the last five years.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook
The average waiting time for cases handled by the Housing Ombudsman in each of the last five financial years is:
Determined Cases Average Months to Determine
2021/22 2,238 5
2022/23 2,371 6
2023/24 4,908 11
2024/25 6,115 7
2025/26 8,791 8
The current oldest case is 22 months since it formally entered the Ombudsman's jurisdiction for investigation. The Service expects no case to be older than 18 months by 31st March 2027.
The caseworker-to-complaint ratio within the Housing Ombudsman service is 39:1.
The backlog of cases that exceed 12 months since they formally entered the Ombudsman's jurisdiction for investigation is set out below.
Backlog of Unresolved Cases
2023/24 283
2024/25 0
2025/26 2,458
Current 2,235
The proportion of complaints which were resolved within target timeframes in each of the last five is below.
Determined Within: 6 Months 12 Months
2022/23 N/A 100%
2023/24 54% 87%
2023/24 18% 62%
2024/25 46% 89%
2025/26 53% 78%
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