Unveiled information in the dataset
The Housing Ombudsman Service (HOS) and consultancy firm Campbell Tickell have introduced two significant metrics to assess the performance of housing landlords - the Maladministration Rate (MalRate) and the Campbell Tickell Incidence Rate. These metrics, while different in nature, offer valuable insights into the quality of service provision and complaints handling.
The MalRate, as reported by the HOS, measures the rate at which landlords are found to have mishandled or poorly managed complaints or service delivery issues. It identifies landlords with higher levels of maladministration in complaints about housing services, such as leaks, disability adaptations, leaseholder complaints, and disrepair problems.
On the other hand, the Campbell Tickell Incidence Rate is a specific industry metric used to quantify the incidence of complaints or failures (such as repair backlogs or compliance breaches) relative to landlord stock or tenants. It serves as a benchmark to assess and compare landlord performance on operational and service delivery incidents.
In practice, a high incidence rate combined with a high maladministration rate suggests systemic issues in landlord service delivery and complaint management. However, discrepancies between the two may highlight gaps either in operational failures or in how complaints are resolved or escalated.
Unfortunately, the correlation between the CT Incidence Rate and the HOS MalRate is weaker than expected. This could be due to the shortcomings of the CT Incidence Rate, as a low incidence rate could indicate weaker awareness of and poorer signposting to the HOS by a landlord, rather than lower overall service quality.
Despite these shortcomings, the CT Incidence Rate provides a sharper focus on those organizations where the HOS has identified a higher proportion of a landlord's homes and residents to be experiencing a poor quality of service. Campbell Tickell has developed the CT Incidence Rate to calibrate performance to the scale of the landlord.
The HOS data, with its focus on complaints handling and service failures, provides a rich source of insights into the quality of both service provision and complaints handling. However, an opportunity to highlight both good and poor performance has been missed, as the HOS data does not calibrate complaints data by landlord scale.
In conclusion, understanding both the HOS MalRate and the Campbell Tickell Incidence Rate offers a comprehensive view of landlord performance. These metrics, when used together, can help identify areas for improvement and drive accountability within the housing sector.
[1] Source: Housing Ombudsman Service and Campbell Tickell official websites.
- Investors should pay close attention to the HOS MalRate and Campbell Tickell Incidence Rate when evaluating potential real-estate investment opportunities in the housing sector, as these metrics offer valuable insights into the quality of service provision and complaints handling by landlords, which can impact property value and tenant satisfaction.
- The housing finance industry can benefit from the combined use of the HOS MalRate and Campbell Tickell Incidence Rate, as these metrics can highlight systemic issues in landlord service delivery and complaint management, potentially leading to increased scrutiny, regulatory action, and increased costs for affected organizations.
