Teesside Landlord Thirteen Housing Group Sees a 40% INCREASE in Tenant Complaints....
- teessidetoday
- Jul 5
- 3 min read
The Teesside based Private Housing Provider who claims to provide 'social housing' and has failed to pay any corporation tax in the UK has seen the number of complaints skyrocket in the space of a year....
5th July 2025
A Teesside Housing Provider that continues to dodge paying Corporation Taxes has seen the number of Tenant complaints skyrocket.
Thirteen Housing Group’s latest 2023/24 Annual Complaints and Service Improvement Report paints a concerning picture for tenants living across the North East, where, despite the corporate spin about “valuing customer feedback,” the hard data reveals a sharp increase in dissatisfaction, particularly around core services such as repairs, mould, communication, and even basic professionalism.
Complaints Skyrocket: A 40% Rise in Stage 1 Complaints
The most glaring statistic in the report is said to be the 40% increase in Stage 1 complaints, rising from 986 in 2022/23 to 1,634 in 2023/24. Stage 2 complaints — typically escalations following unresolved issues — surged by a massive 66.25%, jumping from 54 to 160, with critics claiming it's a clear signal that something is deeply broken in Thirteen’s Housing Groups service delivery methods.
The Housing Group offers a list of excuses for the dramatic rise — from government campaigns to increased awareness of complaint channels. However some campaigners claim tenants aren’t making complaints simply because they know how to complain; they’re complaining because they’ve been let down.
Most Complaints Point to Incompetence, Not Misunderstanding
The top root causes of complaints suggest signs of systemic neglect, with complaints including :
Damage to property: 375 claims
Excessive delays: 518 combined complaints (timescales + delay in service)
Poor communication: 124 complaints about being left in the dark
Substandard service/work: 180 complaints
Damp and mould issues: Still a top concern, despite years of warnings and national scrutiny
Damp, Mould and Repairs Still Driving Tenant Misery
Incredibly, repairs — especially damp and mould — continue to be the number one issue for Thirteen tenants. After years of public outrage, parliamentary scrutiny, and promises of change, the Group admits that poor response times and poor communication are still rife.
Thirteen Housing Group in their report responded to this by claiming they're hiring more staff and creating dedicated teams to deal with the issue.
Ombudsman Finds ‘Maladministration’ in 50% of Cases Reviewed
Out of 10 complaints investigated by the Housing Ombudsman, its claimed 5 were found to involve maladministration — a shocking figure that speaks to how many residents are said to be having concerns dismissed or mismanaged until an external watchdog steps in.
The remaining outcomes:
1 further case of service failure
3 with no maladministration
1 outside jurisdiction
This means 60% of cases reviewed by the Ombudsman resulted in criticism of Thirteen’s service — a damming indictment of a landlord supposedly focused on “continuous improvement.”
Poor Customer Service Behind 96% of Complaints
The department responsible for frontline interactions — repairs, housing management, and contact teams — is where its claimed 1,313 of the 1,634 complaints originated. Suggesting widespread failings in the very place tenants most need support.
Whether it's unanswered calls, missed appointments, or failed repair jobs, the service that Thirteen tenants rely on most is the one most consistently failing them..
Communication Failures Top Feedback Complaints
Thirteen logged 3,962 pieces of customer feedback, with communication cited 1,627 times as a point of dissatisfaction. Again, the story is familiar: tenants said to be left in the dark, forced to chase updates, or ghosted altogether, with critics saying it’s a fundamental breach of trust.
Thirteen Housing Group’s own report confirms what tenants across Hartlepool and the North East already know: the service is simply getting worse, not better. More complaints, more delays, more unresolved issues — and more excuses.
For a business that recorded yet another surplus in its financial accounts for the most recent year posted online, its claimed that standards across the board are slipping as the business focuses on a more national approach, something that many tenants were not wanting of a supposedly 'local landlord' focusing on properties for local people. Perhaps more concerning is that whilst the business records significant wealth, that 'wealth' has not translated into any benefits to the UK economy in the form of Corporation Tax, with the private landlord supposedly utalising it so called community benefit Ltd company status to sidestep what could have been a considerable tax bill for the financial year depriving the country of revenue for things such as the NHS, transport & defence, with calls for the landlord to be stripped of its so called charitable status & brought back into the 'real world'...
