{"id":251,"date":"2025-11-14T06:15:32","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T06:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/housing-law-wales\/?p=251"},"modified":"2025-11-13T16:40:50","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T16:40:50","slug":"the-psow-acts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/housing-law-wales\/the-psow-acts\/","title":{"rendered":"The PSOW acts …"},"content":{"rendered":"

I know it may seem like I have a bit of a downer on the PSOW (see past blogs).\u00a0 It’s not because I don’t think it’s a really important institution – indeed, quite the opposite.\u00a0 I think it’s a vital part of the make-up of housing; and, as important, housing rights<\/em> and their enforcement.\u00a0 The PSOW has the power to do amazing things which will impact on the life chances and lives of all residents.\u00a0 That’s so much more than a law case or a lawyer or anything else can do.<\/p>\n

That is because Ombuds generally have the power to conduct proactive investigations of services offered by landlords or a landlord, alongside what might be termed their “small claims” role.\u00a0 These can be complex and contentious, particularly when they single out individual landlords, or raise issues which are beyond the scope of landlord services.\u00a0 There is quite a lot of research on these institutions.\u00a0 Not wishing to big myself up, but I have an interest in this area, and a paper going to come out at some point next year on the stigmatisation of social landlords through these processes.\u00a0 But, of interest, HM Treasury announced a review of the Financial Ombudsman Service<\/a> earlier this year citing concerns about it becoming a quasi regulator, which is what (arguably) Ombuds are doing in this proactive role (I have another paper under review about that issue).<\/p>\n

Anyway, this blog is not supposed to be a self-publicity arena, but to discuss what is going on in Wales.\u00a0 And, following last week’s pretty scathing reports on Trivallis (about which I was also pretty critical – the reports, I mean), the PSOW has launched a consultation<\/a> on whether to conduct an “own initiative” investigation into whether social landlords “are appropriately responding to reports and concerns relating to disrepair, with a focus on damp and mould, taking into consideration the needs of vulnerable tenants”.\u00a0 The web address for the consultation is here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There surely can be only one answer to this.\u00a0 The Consultation closes on 8th December.\u00a0 The numerical basis for the consultation appears slight – 79 early interventions in 2024-5 and four reports – but the real basis (to me) is the effects these issues have on already vulnerable housed populations.\u00a0 You can reply as follows (copied from the website):<\/p>\n