Welcome
The Housing Ombudsman Service is set up by law to look at complaints about registered providers of social housing, for example housing associations, and other landlords, managers, and agents. Our service is free, independent and impartial.
If you think your landlord has provided a poor service or managed your home badly, we can look at your complaint. We can also advise landlords on how to manage an effective complaints procedure.
Please contact us if you want guidance, a complaints form or more information about the Service, or to find out whether your landlord is registered with us (you can also search the Members’ directory on the right). We will be happy to discuss your problem with you.
Please use the menu on the left to find out more about us. Each page has a Relevant documents section on the right hand side, you may read these online or download; please contact us if you have any problem accessing them. If you need other documents from us please read the Freedom of information section.
For versions of our leaflet other than in English please go to Other languages and formats in the Complainants and advisers section.
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Localism Act, Single Housing Ombudsman, and Complaints Reform
The Localism Act, now enacted,
will change the jurisdiction of the Housing Ombudsman as well as the way social
housing complaints are handled, with effect from 1 April 2013. The main
provisions of the Act are:
A single mandatory Ombudsman. Local housing authorities will become
‘registered providers’, which is the legal status of housing associations and
other bodies registered with the regulator of social housing. As a
result, complaints against local authorities in their role as social landlords
(as well as in respect of their ownership and management of leasehold housing)
will, from 1 April 2013 onwards, be considered by the Housing Ombudsman. These
complaints are currently in the remit of the three Commissioners for Local
Administration in England (the Local Government Ombudsmen). These provisions
also allow for joint work between the HO and LGO when necessary. Other
landlords or managing agents will continue to join the Housing Ombudsman
voluntarily.
A power for the Ombudsman to enforce his decisions. The Secretary
of State will have the ability to enable the Housing Ombudsman to apply to a
court to have his determinations enforced when necessary.
A new role for MPs, Councillors, and Tenant Panels. Tenants of
registered providers will be able to request that their complaints be considered
by a ‘designated person’ once they complete the internal procedure of their
landlord. Such a person can be an MP, a local Councillor, or a recognised
Tenant Panel. The designated person may help resolve the complaint directly,
may refer the complaint to the Ombudsman, or may decline doing either. In the latter case the complainant may
approach the Ombudsman for his consideration of the complaint. The
complainant may also approach the Ombudsman directly if more than eight weeks
have elapsed since the completion of the internal procedure of the landlord,
without the need to approach a designated person first.
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The Housing Ombudsman has
published a business plan to implement the provisions in the Act which affect
the way his Service will operate. This plan supports the strategy to
ensure that the Service continues to deliver its mission in support of
impartial dispute resolution in housing – and its values in working with others
to increase trust in dispute resolution and to improve landlord and tenant
relations.
The Act has completed its
passage in Parliament and received Royal Assent to become law. In the
meantime, the Housing Ombudsman Service is already working with the Department
for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) to assist in the implementation of
the government’s reform. We are holding discussions with a range of
stakeholders who will be directly or indirectly affected by the reform –
tenants, social landlords, councillors, national and regional housing bodies,
and so on. We are also taking part in meetings led by the DCLG to oversee the
regulatory transition between the Tenant Services Authorities and the Homes and
Communities Agency, and other institutional changes in the funding and
supervision of social housing, which will also have a bearing on the way
complaints are processed in the future. In addition, we are holding regular
bilateral discussions with the LGO to manage the transfer to us of their
responsibility for dealing with housing complaints.
It is, at present, too early for
tenants, landlords, and designated persons to start to put these provisions
into practice. We hope to continue to work closely with stakeholders so that we
can develop a common understanding and approach to complaint handling in the
future framework. We will produce a set of dispute resolution principles
which can be shared by everyone involved with housing complaints. These principles
will inform both the activities at local level and our own future work, be it
in the way we consider complaints ourselves or in the provision of guidance and
support to tenants, landlords, designated persons, and others.
If you have any questions or comments about the reform of complaint management
contact us at support@housing-ombudsman.org.uk. Please do
not use this email address for other issues; if you have a question about a
specific complaint write to info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk.