A watchdog has published a list revealing the social housing landlords in Wales that get the most complaints. In just six months, one housing association racked up more than one complaint for every 10 tenants, according to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales.
The ombudsman’s data names Merthyr Valleys Homes (109.09 complaints per 1,000 tenants), Pontypridd-based Trivallis (93.22) and Bridgend-based Valleys to Coast Housing (80.89) as the social landlords with the most complaints in the first half of the 2024/25 financial year. At the other end of the scale, Wales & West Housing Association received just 5.92 complaints per 1,000 tenants.
Social landlords provide homes capped at rent levels set by the Welsh Government. Some 71% of the recorded complaints were to do with repairs or maintenance – including damp and mould. No other single category accounted for more than a 5% share. Here is the full list of social housing providers ranked by rate of complaints:
- Merthyr Valleys Homes: 109.09 (complaints per 1,000 tenants)
- Trivallis: 93.22
- Valleys to Coast Housing: 80.89
- Newport City Homes: 65
- Merthyr Tydfil Housing Association Ltd: 60
- Linc Cymru Housing Association: 51.2
- Newydd Housing Association: 46.8
- Taff Housing Association: 39
- Hafod Housing Association: 30.75
- RHA (Rhondda Housing Association): 27
- Cardiff Community Housing Association: 26.4
- Pobl: 25.36
- Cartrefi Conwy: 21.8
- North Wales Housing: 20
- United Welsh Housing Association: 18
- Adra: 17.13
- Melin Homes Ltd: 17
- Cynon Taf Community Housing Group: 12.8
- Bron Afon Community Housing Ltd: 12.5
- Barcud: 10.67
- First Choice Housing Association: 10
- Wales & West Housing Association: 5.92
- Average across social landlords in Wales: 32.21
When it came to the five landlords with the highest rates of complaints, the proportion of complaints that they upheld varied widely. Merthyr Valleys Homes upheld 60.78% of complaints, Trivallis a whopping 93.05%, Valleys to Coast Housing 65.05%, Newport City Homes 45.6% and Merthyr Tydfil Housing Association Ltd 52.94%.
The ombudsman says its data covers nearly 250,000 social tenants across Wales. On average their landlords closed around 80% of complaints within the timescales set under their policies — which can be 20 working days at most. They upheld almost 60% of complaints themselves. Just 168 complaints (4.71%) were referred to the ombudsman which then intervened in 22% of those cases.
Public services ombudsman for Wales, Michelle Morris, said: “This is the first time we have published data on social housing in Wales, and this is especially to ensure tenants have access to good housing and that issues are promptly and properly resolved. We are proud that our work on complaints standards means that nearly 250,000 social tenants now benefit from improved complaint handling. This data, alongside information which public bodies hold themselves, should be an important tool in improving services for people across Wales.”
Merthyr Valleys Homes has a total of 1,100 tenants. WalesOnline has asked the housing association for its response to topping the list for highest rate of complaints.