Complaints

Stage one

• You make a complaint to us
• The person you contact takes responsibility for trying to resolve your complaint there and then
• If they can't help – they immediately pass it to the right team to resolve
• You receive acknowledgement of your complaint by the end of the next working day 
• You receive a resolution within ten working days or 20 working days if an extension is required

You have the right to ask us to escalate your complaint to stage two if you're not happy with the resolution we offer at stage one. However, you cannot ask to escalate before you have received a stage one response.

Stage two

• You explain why you don't agree with our stage one decision
• You tell us what you want us to do to put it right
• We review your complaint and our initial decision
• You receive a resolution within 20 working days or 40 working days if an extension is required

You can also contact the Housing Ombudsman Service, at any time, for advice on your complaints. However, they normally require you to follow our two-stage complaint process before they will undertake their investigation.

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 allegedly not being able to deal with the issues effectively, this would now be recorded and managed as a complaint alongside the antisocial behaviour case.

Call us on 0300 456 9996.

You can contact the Housing Ombudsman Service at any time for advice. However, they normally require you to follow our two-stage process before they will investigate your complaint.

• 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 make things right campaign sets out how social housing residents should be able to complain to their landlord. Find out more about the campaign on the government’s website.