Tenant to Receive Almost £3k Compensation After Ombudsman Rules Maladministration by Thirteen Housing Group

Its said to be one of the highest payouts this year, as the Teesside Based Landlord comes under scrutiny over repairs.

13th August 2025

Teesside's Largest Private Landlord has been ordered to pay nearly £3k in compensation to a tenant, after the Housing Ombudsman found the landlord’s handling of both urgent structural repairs was 'inadequate'...

The ruling reportedly comes on top of the £1,800 that Thirteen Housing Group Ltd had already reportedly offered the resident, meaning the total payout due now exceeds £2,900.

The property had been found to be suffering subsidence

The resident, who's lived in the same 3-bedroom home since 1987, first reported a large wall crack back in May 2021, where an operative raised concerns that the damage could be due to subsidence.

The Ombudsman discovered that It took Thirteen Housing Group nine months for a surveyor to visit the tenants property, with another 10 months then passing before an independent inspection was arranged & More than three years after the initial report, the repairs were found to be still incomplete, with the investigation also revealing that poor fittings to a rear door and structural faults with wall ties, made the home cold and uncomfortable.

The Ombudsman ruled that Thirteen Housing Group, which manages around 37,000 homes across the country had failed to:

• Meet legal obligations under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 to repair the property’s structure within a reasonable timeframe.

  
  

• Keep the resident informed, instead offering vague assurances and no clear timescales.

  
  

• Act on its own learning from earlier complaint stages.

  
  

• Take responsibility for delays, instead blaming contractor and staffing issues.

  
  

The report described the landlord’s approach as dismissive, particularly when labelling the repairs as merely “cosmetic” despite clear evidence of ongoing structural defects at the property.

The Impact

The Ombudsman in its report said that the delays had a significant impact on the resident’s enjoyment of his home and garden, leaving the property in a state of disrepair for over 3½ years, As a result, the Ombudsman ordered Thirteen Housing Group to pay the tenant £906.36 for distress, inconvenience, and disruption caused by the repair delays, as well as £200 for failures in complaint handling. In addition to the financial element the ombudsman ordered Thirteen to issue a formal apology to the tenant, as well as completing a detailed works schedule, overseen by a dedicated surveyor, with clear start and completion dates.

It led to the Ombudsman ruling that the tenant be paid £1,106.36, Plus an existing landlord offer of £1,800, bringing the Total compensation payable: £2,906.36

Teesside landlord sees its complaints numbers of repairs skyrocket.

The Teesside & Durham Post reported only recently that Teesside Landlords Thirteen Housing Group Ltd saw its complaints figures rise dramatically, many of these regarding disrepair claims made by tenants. This is despite the landlord turning over hundreds of millions of pounds & generating significant financial reserves, with calls for the business to be brought back under Ltd company status & be removed from its so called charitable status after it revealed again that Thirteen paid Zero Corporation Tax for the most recent financial year.

The Ombudsman’s findings send a strong message to housing corporations that long delays, poor communication, and failure to take ownership of repairs will not be tolerated. For the tenant involved, the decision not only secures compensation but also guarantees that long-promised works will now finally be carried out — with Thirteen Housing Group now under strict orders to see them through.