Analysis of performance data submitted by 132 social landlords to Housemark’s July 2026 Monthly Pulse survey reveals that median landlords are now resolving between 97% and 98% of complaints within target timescales, compared with around 84% before the introduction of the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code in April 2024

However, satisfaction with complaint handling has increased by just 1.5 percentage points to a median of 37%, making it one of the least improved tenant perception measures.

Housemark’s Pulse data analysis found that recorded complaint volumes across the UK have increased by 90% since April 2023.

The research also uncovered a significant gap between the complaints residents believe they have made and those landlords formally record. Analysis of 2024/25 Tenant Satisfaction Measures returns found that landlords reported 53.5 Stage 1 complaints per 1,000 homes at the median.

However, if every resident who reported making a formal complaint in perception surveys had made a recorded complaint, the equivalent figure would be 261 complaints per 1,000 homes, representing a difference of almost 500%.

The report also highlights growing complaint escalation rates. Housemark’s TSM early findings for 2025/26 for England show Stage 1 complaints increased by 11.6% compared with the previous year, while Stage 2 complaints increased by 32.9%, suggesting residents are increasingly willing to pursue complaints when they feel underlying issues have not been resolved.

Despite rising complaint volumes and escalations, landlords have continued to improve performance. The proportion of landlords achieving more than 95% compliance against complaint handling timescales has risen from 28% in April 2023 to 64% in June 2026.

Jonathan Cox, chief data officer at Housemark, said: “Over the past three years, the social housing sector in England has fundamentally transformed the way it handles complaints

“Landlords are dealing with significantly higher complaint volumes while delivering stronger performance against complaint handling timescales than ever before. However, residents judge complaint services on much more than speed alone.

“The most successful organisations will be those using complaints as a source of insight, turning resident feedback into learning, service improvement and better outcomes.”

Other findings from Housemark’s latest Monthly Pulse include:

• Specialist complaints and contact centre staffing increased by 144% in the two years to 2024/25.
• The cost of specialist complaints and contact centre functions increased by 124% compared with 2022/23, reaching an average of £71 per property in 2024/25.
• Only 3% of landlords report having mastered complaints insight, while almost half describe themselves as still developing their approach.
• Top-performing C1 landlords have a smaller gap between resident-reported complaints and formally recorded complaints than lower-rated organisations.