Richard Blakeway says 474% increase in complaints to his office in last five years points to risk of ‘social disquiet’
The housing ombudsman has warned “simmering anger at poor housing conditions” could boil over into social tension as his office recorded a 474% increase in complaints about substandard living conditions since 2019/20.
Richard Blakeway, the housing ombudsman for England, said repairs were now the single biggest driver of complaints his office deals with, accounting for 45% of its workload.
“Without change we effectively risk the managed decline of one of the largest provisions of social housing in Europe,” he said. “To replace these homes would take more than 60 years at recent building rates.”
He said it was “neither fanciful nor alarmist” to suggest the growing anger at housing conditions could become “social disquiet”, saying the “shock of Grenfell Tower and Awaab Ishak’s death resonate still”.
“I travel across the country to different public meetings and there is a sense of people feeling invisible, of voices not being heard, their issues not being taken seriously, a lack of respect and dignity in the way in which residents have been treated. It is leading to a really serious fracturing of trust, which in some cases is irreparable,” he said.
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Guardian article continues at https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/may/29/housing-ombudsman-for-england-warns-of-simmering-anger-over-living-conditions