GreenSquareAccord Under ‘Special Investigation’
The Housing Ombudsman contacted me last week via email whilst I was holidaying in Scotland, asking for feedback on my landlord, GreenSquareAccord, and to share the link with other residents. This was to support the Housing Ombudsman in completing their special investigation into GreenSquareAccord. Resident feedback would help them understand the attitudes, responses, and handling of complaints by GreenSquareAccord.
While we can speculate on what instigated this investigation—and there is much we can infer from what I have shared on this resident support site—I suspect it may have something to do with their complaint handling.
According to the Housing Ombudsman, the investigation could be related to any of the following:
A policy weakness
Service failures across multiple service areas or geographical areas
Repeated points of service failure
Failure to learn from complaints
Lack of oversight and governance to identify or act on repeated issues
I have been highlighting examples of weak procedures, and sometimes the absence of procedures, since 2016. A search through the Housing Ombudsman website also shows repeated issues indicating a clear inability to learn from complaints.
The merger, as admitted by CEO Ruth Cooke in her response to the Housing Ombudsman finding six severe maladministration cases—the touchstone for this special investigation—has been a disaster. She described it as:
... ongoing challenges we faced following our merger in April 2021, when we were still agreeing on a single process for handling complaints and bringing together a complex set of policies and procedures across our operational services.
Ruth Cooke
So, they tick all the boxes outlined by the Housing Ombudsman, and it is clear that a special investigation is warranted.
When I received the email asking for feedback and to share it with others, I jumped at the chance and shared it widely across my network. However, it appears that the Housing Ombudsman jumped the gun a little. As we know, the team at GreenSquareAccord constantly checks my social media feeds for any mention of them, hoping to find something their legal team can use against me. When they saw my call for support, they immediately contacted the Housing Ombudsman and requested the posts be removed.
The Housing Ombudsman contacted me to explain the error, and as soon as I found a spot in Scotland with decent Wi-Fi, I removed the posts, agreeing that I could re-share them once the Housing Ombudsman had met with GreenSquareAccord later that day. This I duly did the following day.
Housing Ombudsman's New Panel
The Housing Ombudsman has created a new resident panel aimed at supporting them in identifying problematic landlords. Naturally, there are some teething issues, as to be expected with any new initiative.
I am concerned that the survey doesn’t ask any validating questions to establish who is completing it, likely due to GDPR regulations. However, knowing the lengths GreenSquareAccord will go to manage their reputation, I imagine they might be completing these forms as well in an effort to uphold their narrative.
That said, I am confident that the Housing Ombudsman will remove multiple responses from the same IP address. I suspect these responses are just an attempt to add some flavor to the facts already established by the Housing Ombudsman.
I was surprised to receive some vocal pushback from residents within my own network, claiming the Housing Ombudsman wasn’t up to the task.
I have a different opinion. I found the Housing Ombudsman to be thorough in their investigation. Although it took a long time, their findings were fair.
The Housing Ombudsman has undergone a rapid growth spurt, so some missteps are bound to occur along the way. They, too, are on a journey to reshape a sector that has largely fallen short. As residents and landlords, we must work with them to ensure homes meet the simple remit of being warm, safe, and dry.
Conclusion
I fully support the Housing Ombudsman and am delighted by their special investigation into GreenSquareAccord. This much-needed external pressure and oversight will hopefully force the Board at GreenSquareAccord to address these ongoing issues and push them into a new direction—one that is focused on improvements and customer focus.
The investigation marks a significant step forward in holding GreenSquareAccord accountable for their shortcomings. It brings hope that the persistent issues we've faced as residents will finally be addressed. The Housing Ombudsman’s efforts to listen to resident feedback and act on it are commendable and give us a voice in shaping the future of our housing conditions.
With the spotlight on GreenSquareAccord, there is now a real opportunity for meaningful change. This external scrutiny must force the Board to act decisively, no longer allowing them to overlook or dismiss the problems at hand. We must seize this moment to work collaboratively with the Housing Ombudsman, ensuring that our homes meet the basic but crucial standards of being warm, safe, and dry.
Let’s hope this investigation leads to a more transparent, responsive, and resident-focused GreenSquareAccord, ultimately improving the quality of life for all its residents. By holding the Board accountable, we can push for the necessary changes that will ensure a better, more secure living environment for everyone.