The Housing Ombudsman’s (HOS) updated Compensation Guidance, A New Era for Housing Compensation: Clearer Standards, Fairer Outcomes, was published on 3 February 2026 and takes effect from 1 April 2026. It marks a fundamental shift in how compensation is assessed and awarded in response to social housing complaints.

Historically, the HOS has avoided prescribing fixed levels of compensation, instead relying on broad principles. Many social landlords have either not set out specific figures in their own complaints/compensation policies, or if they have done so, now need to review them in light of this Guidance. This updated Guidance sets out 

• When compensation will be ordered,
• How appropriate sums are to be calculated
• Some defined sums for e.g. loss of heating
• How landlords’ own compensation offers are assessed within its casework. 

Designed to promote fairness and consistency, the Guidance aims to ensure both HOS‑ordered remedies and landlord offers align with transparent, principled decision‑making. 

The new guidance aims to end uncertainty surrounding compensation. The HOS has also introduced ‘specific compensation orders’. The Guidance sets out defined levels of compensation for particular types of service failure, such as 

• loss of heating - £15 per day for complete loss or £8per  day for loss of one service (heating OR hot water)
• loss of power - £10 per day for complete loss or £10 per week for loss of lighting only
• missed appointments - £15 per missed appointment  

It will obviously be difficult for social landlords to justify offering less. 

The Guidance makes reference to the HOS’ recent ‘severe maladministration report’. This highlighted serious issues across the sector, including: landlords offering nominal or delayed compensation, residents waiting months or even years for meaningful compensation, and substantial discrepancies between landlord offers and HOS ordered amounts. By setting clearer expectations, the Guidance states it seeks to reduce these discrepancies and encourage early, fair resolutions.

The HOS’s position remains that compensation is restorative and is in no way intended to punish landlords. The goal is to put residents back into the position they would have been in had maladministration not occurred. The structured ranges are therefore intended to bring “coherence, fairness and proportionality”.

Social housing landlords should review and align their internal complaints and compensation policies to ensure they reflect the HOS’s new approach from 1 April 2026. 

For further queries or for assistance with complaints policy reviews, contact Helen Tucker.