A Tale Of Two Reports
Recently, GreenSquareAccord published their annual report. I published a different version, a residents version of this report stating that too often the headline numbers didn’t tell the whole story. I said behind every percentage point and performance figure are real people still facing unanswered calls, delayed repairs, and unresolved complaints.
I criticised it for being a slick bit of design full of PR spin, but failing to focus on the actual needs of residents’ genuine lived experience. A glossy piece of PR. And this is what we’re used to with GreenSquareAccord: spin over substance, smoke and mirrors, optics over truth. But let’s not just take my word for it, let’s look at what the Housing Ombudsman have to report.
Whilst GreenSquareAccord have gone as far as to describe my content as “AI slop” that shouldn’t be allowed to exist on LinkedIn and other channels, I think that says more about their fear of scrutiny than it does about my work. Dismissing criticism instead of engaging with it is exactly the problem. There are plenty of people who can see there must be both sides to the story, and rather than being dismissive, the challenge is to actually deal with the content and the facts — something we now know, from their own comments, that GreenSquareAccord don’t do.
I call them out for it, and somewhere in the middle must lie the truth. And I’d like to think that people who read my blogs and posts, and who are aware of GreenSquareAccord and the issues they face, understand that there has to be some sort of middle ground between the two: the way I and many other residents who are vocal online see it, the way GreenSquareAccord publish it, and somewhere in the middle, the truth.
Well, as luck would have it, the Housing Ombudsman has published their annual reports. And if we focus on GreenSquareAccord, we can clearly see that this is, as the title of this blog shows, a tale of two reports.
What Do We Mean by Maladministration?
The word gets bandied around a lot, especially in Ombudsman reports. But what does it actually mean? What does it mean to you as a resident — and what does it mean to a housing association when they’re called out for it?
Severe Maladministration
To a resident: This means the landlord has failed you in a way that is not just inconvenient, but potentially dangerous or deeply damaging. Imagine reporting a fire risk or a heating breakdown in winter, and instead of urgent action you’re met with delay, denial, or no response at all. That’s severe maladministration — when failings put safety, health, or basic living conditions at risk.
To a housing association: It’s the Ombudsman effectively saying: you’ve committed a serious breach of duty. Severe maladministration findings are rare, but they are damning.
GreenSquareAccord example: In 2024/25, they were found to have committed severe maladministration in 5% of cases, including cases relating to damp and mould and heating failures.
Maladministration
To a resident: Think of a repair that drags on for months, complaints that vanish into the ether, or promised actions that never materialise. It’s more than poor service — it’s a failure to act reasonably, fairly, or in line with policy.
To a housing association: This means the Ombudsman has found they didn’t just fall short, they failed in their legal and procedural duties.
GreenSquareAccord example: Over half of all complaint-handling cases — 54% — were found to involve maladministration.
Service Failure
To a resident: Service failure is when things go wrong but perhaps not on the scale of full maladministration. For example, a repair takes longer than expected, or communication breaks down, but it’s put right eventually without serious harm.
To a housing association: It’s the Ombudsman acknowledging mistakes, but at a lower level. Still, it’s a black mark — it shows residents weren’t properly served, and processes weren’t good enough.
GreenSquareAccord example: 18% of findings were service failures, such as delays in repairs or poor communication, often resolved only after Ombudsman intervention.
In Simple Terms
When the Ombudsman talks about maladministration, they’re looking at whether a landlord has acted fairly, reasonably, and in line with its responsibilities.
Severe maladministration = serious or dangerous failings.
Maladministration = clear failures of duty or fairness.
Service failure = things went wrong, but at a lower level of severity.
For GreenSquareAccord, the 2024/25 Ombudsman figures show:
51% maladministration rate overall.
100% maladministration rate in health and safety cases.
Compensation of more than £22,500 ordered.
That’s what maladministration means in practice: not jargon, but real failures that left residents waiting, unsafe, or out of pocket.
Complaints Handling – Spin vs Reality
In the GreenSquareAccord Annual Report, they claimed 5,132 complaints were logged in 2024/25. They presented this as evidence that they were listening more closely and improving, pointing to fewer Housing Ombudsman determinations as proof that their new complaints process was working.
I called them out on this. I said it was spin over substance — glossy promises that sound good on paper but don’t match the lived experience of residents, who still face delays, dismissals, and frustration. I stated that seven years ago, in Ruth Cooke’s first year as CEO, the same commitments were made: better complaints handling, faster response times, improved accountability. Almost seven years on, it’s the same pledge recycled. This isn’t progress. It’s damage control dressed up as continuous improvement.
And the Housing Ombudsman’s figures back this up. Between April 2024 and March 2025:
54% maladministration rate in complaints handling.
Complaint handling made up one of the largest categories of failure, with more than half of cases upheld against GreenSquareAccord.
Delays in escalating or responding to complaints were the single most common issue, flagged in eight separate cases.
So what does this tell us? Complaints aren’t being dealt with properly. They’re being lost in the system. Over half of residents who go through the process don’t get a fair resolution, and many others give up before their case even reaches the Ombudsman.
GreenSquareAccord present the numbers as proof of improvement. The Ombudsman’s findings show the opposite: systemic failure to listen, to act, and to resolve.
Repairs and Property Condition – Spin Over Substance
In their Annual Report, GreenSquareAccord claimed that repairs are “an improving picture.” They highlight 87,859 repairs completed, 90% customer satisfaction, and faster turnaround times, with the average job taking 15 days instead of 20. On paper, it looks like a success story — more repairs, completed quicker, with residents supposedly more satisfied.
But when we step away from the PR gloss and look at what the Housing Ombudsman actually found, the picture is very different. Between April 2024 and March 2025:
44% maladministration rate in property condition cases.
Leaks, damp and mould were the single biggest issue, with eight separate findings, including severe maladministration.
Heating and hot water failures came up in three findings, again showing residents left without essential services.
Fire safety appeared in two cases, both upheld as maladministration.
Even service charges, which fund communal services like grounds maintenance, were judged to have a 50% maladministration rate.
These are not small oversights. They are repeated failings in the very areas residents consistently say matter most: safe homes, working heating, timely repairs, and fair charges.
And then there is the lived experience. In my own Residents’ Report, I published comments from tenants who described being left chasing repairs endlessly, jobs not completed properly, and a system that seemed to wear people down rather than fix their problems.
These are, in many cases, vulnerable residents — older people, families with young children, those living with disabilities — who felt especially exposed, with basic needs like heating and damp-free homes left unresolved.
So when GreenSquareAccord talk about 90% satisfaction, we have to ask: satisfaction for who? Because the Ombudsman’s numbers and residents’ voices both tell a very different story. Repairs aren’t an improving picture. They’re one of the landlord’s most consistent failings — glossed over in the annual report, but exposed in Ombudsman rulings and lived experience.
Health and Safety – Compliance or Complacency?
In its Annual Report, GreenSquareAccord claims near-perfect compliance: 99.9% gas safety, 98.9% electrical safety, and 100% fire risk assessments completed. These figures present a picture of a landlord meeting all of its legal obligations.
But the Housing Ombudsman’s findings for 2024/25 paint a very different picture. In every single health and safety case investigated, GreenSquareAccord was found at fault. The Ombudsman recorded a 100% maladministration rate in safety-related complaints, including two fire safety cases, both upheld against the landlord. That is not near-perfect compliance.
Then there is the resident experience. In my block, our fire risk assessment was delayed; known issues weren’t addressed until after I requested the document, and it was only sent once last-minute remedial work had been carried out. We also faced emergency lighting failures, where it took three separate calls before anyone came out — and ultimately only after I escalated the issue publicly and copied in the local fire brigade.
The Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) for Maureen Christian House, where I live, shows how this gap plays out in practice. The FRA noted:
Compartmentation issues (mineral wool barriers not confirmed as providing adequate resistance until June 2025).
External wall risks — requiring a specialist survey, still open at the time of reporting.
Fire doors needing repairs and replacement, with remedial work completed only in mid-2025.
Inappropriate fire-stopping with expanding foam, later rectified in May 2025.
Flat entrance doors only confirmed as compliant FD30s in April 2025.
In other words, the FRA highlighted multiple weaknesses requiring action, some of which were delayed or incomplete, even while GreenSquareAccord claimed 100% compliance.
Meanwhile, GreenSquareAccord have promoted their involvement in Gas Safety Week, holding staff workshops on carbon monoxide, gas leaks, and unsafe installations. While awareness is positive, it raises questions: why are frontline teams only now being “trained” in spotting gas leaks — one of the most basic duties in keeping homes safe?
So when GreenSquareAccord talk about compliance in the high 90s, the Ombudsman’s findings and lived examples tell us something else: residents are left waiting, safety-critical issues drag on, and investigations show systemic failure. This isn’t just about numbers — this is about people’s lives.
Compensation and Orders – A Slap on the Wrist
In their Annual Report, GreenSquareAccord don’t mention the compensation they’ve been ordered to pay. Why would they. But the Housing Ombudsman’s landlord report makes it clear: in 2024/25, £22,500 in compensation was ordered, spread across 45 individual orders in just 18 determinations.
To GreenSquareAccord, this is pocket change. Their CEO comes from a finance background, and the culture is one where money on the books and access to funding matter most. £22,500 doesn’t even scratch the surface. It won’t trouble the end-of-year accounts, and it won’t force systemic change.
And that’s part of the problem. These payouts don’t reflect the seriousness of the issues being investigated — safety failures, delayed repairs, lost complaints. For residents who have endured months of stress, disruption, or risk, the amounts are little more than symbolic.
If the financial penalties were higher — if, for example, a resident received a full year’s service charges back when a complaint was upheld — housing associations might think harder about the cost of failure. As it stands, many residents simply give up. There is little incentive to keep pushing a complaint through a long, draining process when the outcome is, at best, a token cheque.
So we’re left with a cycle: GreenSquareAccord continue to fail residents, the Ombudsman orders compensation that barely registers on the balance sheet, and the scale of the problem never makes it into the glossy annual reports.
Conclusion
When you place GreenSquareAccord’s Annual Report next to the Housing Ombudsman’s landlord report, you see two completely different stories.
On complaints handling, GSA say their new processes are working, yet the Ombudsman found a 54% maladministration rate in this area — showing complaints still being delayed, dismissed, or lost.
On repairs and property condition, GSA claim 90% satisfaction and faster turnaround times, yet Ombudsman findings show 44% maladministration, with damp, mould, heating, and fire safety consistently among the worst failings.
On health and safety, GSA boast about near-perfect compliance, yet the Ombudsman found a 100% maladministration rate in safety cases, including fire safety — every case investigated was upheld against them.
On compensation, GSA are silent, but Ombudsman records show £22,500 ordered in payouts. To a finance-driven organisation, this is little more than a slap on the wrist.
Together, these contradictions show what residents already know: GSA’s glossy PR reports are spin over substance. The figures that matter most — those published by the Housing Ombudsman — reveal systemic failings hidden behind selective compliance claims and feel-good design.
This really is a tale of two reports: one written to reassure investors and tick boxes, the other exposing the lived reality of residents.
I currently have my own large complaint going through GreenSquareAccord’s complaint process. Some of you will be aware of it. The Stage 2 response is due on the 6th of October, and there’s been no indication yet that it may be delayed — so as it stands, the 6th of October is still the deadline. Once I have their Stage 2 response, I will no doubt be raising multiple issues with the Housing Ombudsman and other governing bodies.
I’ll bring you up to date. I will be sharing as I go to make sure that transparency is there: the steps, the stages, and the action I’ll be taking. Stay tuned.
