A Richmond housing provider has been featured in the Housing Ombudsman's latest 'Learning from Severe Maladministration' report, which focuses on the 'Big 6' building safety compliance areas.

Richmond Housing Partnership (RHP) is among 16 landlords mentioned in the March 2025 report, which highlights tenant complaints related to asbestos, fire safety, water, gas, electrics, and lifts.

In one case, RHP was found guilty of severe maladministration for failing to address electrical safety issues for 17 months.

The resident repeatedly reported faults, including fire risks, but the landlord failed to take timely action.

Inspections were delayed, records were poor, and findings were inconsistent say The Housing Ombudsman.

The issues remained unresolved, prompting an order for further inspection.

In its learning from this case, the landlord says it has reviewed its internal processes and implemented changes to improve its approach, making sure it continues to learn and enhance services for the future.

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said: "Every property manager will know the importance of complying with the 'Big 6' health and safety issues. 

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"While we know areas such as gas safety compliance are high, these cases show the human impact of key obligations not being fulfilled to individuals.  

"Complaints can be an early warning sign of any problems and provide valuable insight to improve services. 

"Concerningly, these cases show issues remaining unresolved for months or even years, despite many of them requiring emergency repairs.

"And the impact on a household can be profound, with some landlords doing too little to recognise the poor conditions some residents have been left to live in. 

"These complaints can also provide vital intelligence for boards to seek assurance that failings in policy, process or systems won't be repeated and for the executive to deconstruct the case to learn lessons.

"This includes weaknesses in knowledge and information management.  

"I would urge landlords to engage in the lessons in this report and test themselves against them.

"There is much to be proud of in the sector's approach to safety, but it must not be complacent because compliance rates are high in certain areas." 

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A spokesperson from RHP told Nub News: "We prioritise the safety and security of our residents above all else and are sorry for the time taken to resolve the issues in this case.

"We have worked with the customer to address their concerns, including completing an electrical inspection, ordering new doors, and taking action to tackle damp and mould in their home.

"In addition, we have reviewed our internal processes and implemented changes to improve our approach, ensuring we continue to learn and enhance our services for the future."

The Housing Ombudsman Service is an independent service for social housing tenants that investigate and resolve complaints between residents and landlords.

To read the full report click here.