East Devon housing department is criticised by Ombudsman for not dealing with complaints

East Devon District Council's dealing of complaints about its housing stock is among the worst in England.

That's the damning verdict of a report from the Local Government Ombudsman who has published figures illustrating maladministration in 89 per cent of the complaints made by social housing tenants to the council. 

The Ombudsman declares that the council has  'failed to comply with its legal obligations, its policies and procedures or unreasonably delayed in dealing with the matter'.  

That prompted a response from the council which says: "The total number of Housing Ombudsman complaints for the period 2021/22 was five and in four of those cases we let our tenants down – details of which can be openly found on EDDC's website – having been reported to our Cabinet.

"We accept the Ombudsman's findings and continue to take a learning approach to all outcomes.

"We recognise where the areas of improvement are for us, two key areas being improved communication with residents as well as improved record keeping. Both issues have been impacted by high levels of vacancies we have experienced in the housing team.

"We are reassured to note that the vast majority of housing complaints received (97%) during 2021/22 were resolved locally, indicating that our internal complaint procedure is working effectively in providing resolution and remedy for our residents at the earliest possible stage.

"That said, any finding of maladministration by the ombudsman is something that we need to learn from."