Complaints

Here's how it works:

Stage one

• you make a complaint
• the person you contact will try to help resolve it
• if they can't, they'll immediately pass it to the right team
• we'll acknowledge your complaint within five working days
• we aim to give you a resolution within 10 to 15 working days from the date we acknowledge your complaint

If you’re not happy with our resolution, you can ask us to escalate your complaint to Stage two, but only after Stage one is complete.

Stage two

If you still feel the issue hasn’t been resolved:

• it helps us to put things right if you explain why you disagree with our stage one decision
• you tell us what you want us to do to put it right
• we'll review your complaint and our initial decision
• you'll receive a resolution within 20 to 25 working days from the date we acknowledge that your complaint has been escalated to stage two

You can also contact the Housing Ombudsman Service at any time for advice on your complaint. However, they usually expect you to complete our two-stage complaint process first.

We accept complaints from residents, shared owners, leaseholders, or anyone directly impacted by our services. We also accept complaints from someone acting on behalf of a resident.

If we’re approached by an elected official, like a Member of Parliament or local councillor, on behalf of a resident about a complaint that we’re not aware of, we’ll manage this as a new complaint. If the elected official makes an enquiry with us on behalf of a resident, this will be managed outside of our complaint process.

We comply with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code, which requires us to distinguish the difference between a service request (a request for us to manage a new issue) and service failure (where we have failed to deliver a service satisfactorily despite being aware of an issue).

If you contact us for the first time about something that isn’t working properly in your home or is affecting your ability to live in your home peacefully, we’ll manage this as a service request and either get your issue fixed or support you to address the issue.

If you contact us because we’ve repeatedly let you down by not delivering the level of service we said we would and getting your issue fixed, we will manage this as a complaint.

Example 1 (service request): A resident calls us to complain about a leaky tap. We will manage this as a service request and follow the appropriate process to get the tap fixed. This issue will not be recorded and managed as a complaint.

Example 2 (service request): A resident calls us to complain about a noisy neighbour. We will manage this as a service request by supporting the resident to report this as antisocial behaviour and guiding them on the appropriate steps to address the issue. This will not be recorded and managed as a complaint.

Example 3 (complaint): A resident calls us to complain that despite numerous visits, their tap is still leaking. As we have failed to deal with the issue, this will be now recorded and managed as a complaint.

Example 4 (complaint): A resident calls us to complain that despite numerous reports of antisocial behaviour, they feel we’re not managing the case well. As the call is about us not being able to deal with the issues effectively, this would now be recorded and managed as a complaint alongside the antisocial behaviour case.

• Address: Housing Ombudsman Service, PO Box 1484, Unit D, Preston, PR2 0ET
• Email the Housing Ombudsman
• Visit the Housing Ombudsman website
• Telephone: 0300 111 3000

The government’s Make Things Right campaign helps social housing residents understand their right to complain.