How we're performing on customer complaints

Every year, the Housing Ombudsman reviews how housing providers across the country handle customer complaints. The latest report shows that Aster is performing better than many – and continuing to learn and improve from your feedback.

During 2024/25, the Ombudsman made 34 decisions about Aster cases, leading to 81 findings in total. Where the Ombudsman found something had gone wrong, our maladministration rate – where the Ombudsman found something had gone wrong that we hadn’t put right – was 50%, noticeably better than the national average of 71%, and 64% for similar sized housing associations.

Importantly, in every case where the Ombudsman asked us to take action – such as paying compensation, improving a process, or providing staff training – we responded fully and on time.

The Housing Ombudsman report the top 3 findings by category nationally:

• Property condition – including damp, mould, leaks and heating issues. Maladministration National average of 74% - Aster 53%
• How complaints were handled – such as delays or communication problems. Maladministration National average of 81% - Aster 54%
• Anti-social behaviour (ASB) – often where communication or record-keeping could be improved. Maladministration National average of 61% - Aster 50%

These are common challenges across the housing sector, and we’re already taking steps to make things better. We’ve introduced early inspections and better data to tackle damp and mould, refreshed our complaints approach to make it easier to raise and resolve issues, and we’re improving our ASB casework tools to help us act faster.

While we’re pleased to see positive results in this year’s report, we know there’s always more to do. We’re committed to listening, learning and improving, so that every customer feels heard and supported when they raise a concern.

You can read the full Housing Ombudsman Landlord Performance Report for Aster Group (2024/25) on the Housing Ombudsman’s website.