Complaints issued against a Norfolk council have risen by a quarter with problems over housing topping the list.
Damp, mould and issues with repairs are among the main reasons formal complaints were made against Great Yarmouth Borough Council last year.
In total, there were 292 complaints that progressed in 2024 to stage one - that is the level that triggers an investigation by a team leader or manager.
This is a 25pc increase from 233 complaints received during 2023 and 2024.
Of these, 45 were escalated to the next level of severity while only four resulted in investigations by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO).
This resulted in two being upheld, which led to compensation being paid to complainants.
One case resulted in an individual being awarded £150 and triggered a review after the complainant was placed in the wrong band on the housing register.
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He argued he should have been granted higher priority and said the council did not deal with his complaints properly, which he says damaged his family life and affected his health.
A second upheld complaint related to a man with a disability claiming his application for housing was not processed correctly, resulting in him missing out on housing for 12 months.
He claimed the council "discriminated against him based on his disability and issued a biased and unfair response to his complaint".
Because of this, it resulted in his family remaining in an unsuitable, overcrowded private rental home that caused distress and worsened his physical and mental health problems.
The LGSCO ruled that the council should apologise for the failures and pay £450 for the distress caused.
It also demanded the authority review all of the properties it has allocated since October 2022 that could have been suitable for the complainant.
The Housing Ombudsman also awarded £2,850 in compensation to GYBC's housing tenants last year.
But overall, the LGCSO's annual review showed improvements to the council's housing services, which included creating tenants' forums to "encourage engagement".
Following the findings, a spokesman for GYBC said: "We are sorry when people are unhappy with council services and our teams work hard to explain how we operate and take the actions we do.
‘’The council always aims to deal with complaints promptly and effectively. Detailed recording and analysis of complaints means we are continually able to focus on improving the quality of services which we provide.
"We set high standards and our residents can have continued confidence that if something is unsatisfactory, their complaint will be handled in accordance with the council’s corporate complaints and compliments policy."
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