Which Ombudsman for social housing complaints?

This page sets out the social housing complaint categories that should be referred to either the Housing Ombudsman or the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

The Housing Ombudsman Service

The Housing Ombudsman is responsible for all complaints about social housing. This includes complaints about a local authority's or Arms Length Management Organisation's (ALMOs) relationship as landlord to its tenants or leaseholders. The Housing Ombudsman also looks at complaints about housing associations.

Complaints referred to the Housing Ombudsman

Unless stated otherwise the Housing Ombudsman considers complaints about housing associations and local housing authorities.

Main issue	Things the Housing Ombudsman investigates
Leasehold services	shared ownership and sales processes for leasehold properties owned by housing associations shared ownership stair-casing for properties owned by housing associations full ownership and sales processes for leasehold properties owned by housing associations right to buy and right to acquire for tenants of housing associations repair responsibilities under the lease mortgage rescue schemes leasehold services provided by the landlord
Moving to a property	delay in repairs before a property can be let transfer applications that are outside Housing Act 1996 Part 6 type of tenancy offered mutual exchange decision to renew a fixed tenancy decants (including those that are dealt with via (the local housing authority's) allocation policy) mobility schemes
Rent and service charges	rent or service charges - please note we are not able to look at the level of rent or service changes - such a complaint may fall under the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) Property Chamber
Occupancy rights	terms and conditions of occupancy rights succession assignment ending a tenancy (for example notice periods) abandonment of property
Property condition – repairs and improvements	condition of the property when first let (eg void works) responsive repairs planned maintenance or cyclical works improvement works carried out by landlord or tenant rechargeable repairs delay or failure to provide permission for disabled adaptations that have been recommended by the Council adaptation works by a member landlord where a Council has not been involved minor adaptations works carried out by a member landlord
Tenant behaviour	anti-social behaviour noise nuisance harassment
Estate management	cleaning or repairs of communal areas boundary issues grounds maintenance parking linked to occupancy agreement parking use of communal areas
Complaint handling	the landlord’s handling of a complaint in their complaint process, including delays
Compensation	home loss or disturbance payments improvements carried out by the tenant payment for damage to property or tenants' belongings discretionary payments

Helpful Links

A guide to Ombudsman offices in the UK (pdf) ( pdf, 2.41 MB)

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman considers complaints about local authorities’ wider housing activities, for example in discharging their statutory duties in homelessness. There are areas where there may appear to be some over-lap between the jurisdiction of the 2 Ombudsmen. We are both able to conduct joint investigations, and work under a Memorandum of Understanding.

Complaints referred to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

Unless stated otherwise the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman considers complaints about local authorities.

Main issue	Things the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigates
Housing allocations under Housing Act 1996 Part 6	Applications for re-housing that meet the reasonable preference criteria (dealt with by the local housing authority or any other body acting on its behalf, which could include a housing association). Includes complaints about: Assessment of such applications, the award of points, banding or a decision that the application does not qualify for reasonable preference Operation of choice based lettings schemes and about the suitability of accommodation offered under those schemes. See fact sheets on housing transfers and housing applications
Homelessness under Housing Act 1996 Part 7	applications for assistance under the homelessness legislation (dealt with by the local housing authority or any other body acting on its behalf, which could include a housing association). Includes complaints about: homelessness advice and homelessness prevention activities how applications are dealt with and decisions about eligibility for and allocation of interim and temporary accommodation the condition or suitability of temporary accommodation See fact sheet on homelessness applications.
General housing advice	general advice from the local authority about housing options handling of reports from tenants of private landlords about unlawful eviction, harassment, disrepair and other matters
Housing benefit	handling of applications for housing benefit
Housing improvement grants	applications for mandatory and discretionary housing improvement grants. Includes complaints about: advice and information about adaptions and grants for all housing tenures assessment for adaptations by or on behalf of a council processing of and decisions about grant applications, including eligibility and entitlement schedules of works, payment of grants and completion of works within timescales See fact sheet on housing adaptations for people with disabilities.
Anti-social behaviour	actions/decisions to tackle anti-social behaviour except those taken by the council as a landlord
Noise nuisance	reports of statutory noise and other nuisance to environmental health services actions/decisions made by Environmental Health Services
Sale or disposal of land on housing estates	applications or requests to buy parcels of land owned by local authorities sales processes for properties owned by local authorities right to buy and right to acquire for tenants of local authorities requests from local authority tenants or leaseholders to purchase extensions such as hall/loft/basement space
Planning and building control at properties owned by a social landlord	applications for planning permission planning enforcement applications and enforcement under the building regulations
Adult social care	delivery of adult social care services, including that done by registered social landlords

Joint investigations

We sometimes see cases where there may be some overlap between which Ombudsman should look at a complaint about housing. In some cases, we can conduct joint investigations and have a Memorandum of Understanding.

If you have a complaint about housing and are not sure which is the right Ombudsman to refer the complaint to after reading the information on this page, you can ask your landlord or contact us for more information. Your landlord should supply details for the correct Ombudsman in its final response to you at the last stage of its complaint process.

In some cases, we may decide to do a joint investigation if a complaint is about both local authority and housing services and the issues brought to us are so closely linked that we need to investigate both services at the same time. Before we do a joint investigation, we will let the resident and the council know. We will ask the resident for their permission for us to jointly investigate their complaint.

Joint investigations are carried out on the Ombudsman's discretion and not for every case where a resident has complained about the actions of the council as a local authority and as a landlord, or just because a resident has requested one.

What is a Memorandum of Understanding?

The Localism Act 2011 introduced changes to what housing complaints the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) and the Housing Ombudsman will investigate. As a result of this the two organisations drew up a joint agreement, also known as a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to set out each Ombudsman’s role and what housing related complaints should be referred to each service.

On this page, we have set out what housing issues are for the Housing Ombudsman to consider and what complaint issues should be referred to the Local Government Ombudsman.

MoU between the Housing Ombudsman and the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

MoU between the Housing Ombudsman and the New Homes Ombudsman

MoU between the Housing Ombudsman and the Regulator of Social Housing

Which countries can use the Housing Ombudsman?

The Housing Ombudsman deals with complaints about social housing in England.

Social housing complaints Wales

If you want to complain about social housing in Wales, contact Public Services Ombudsman for Wales:

Public Services Ombudsman for Wales
1 Ffordd yr Hen Gae
Pencoed
CF35 5LJ

0300 790 0203

ask@ombudsman.wales

You can find more information about social housing complaints in Wales on the Welsh Government website Make a complaint about your council house or housing association home | GOV.WALES.

Social housing complaints Scotland

If you aren't happy with your social landlord and the service they're providing, there are a number of steps you can take.

Visit the Scottish Housing Regulator website for more information on what to do, including:

asking your social landlord for their complaints policy
the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman
identifying significant performance failures
whistleblowing about a social landlord

Social housing complaints Northern Ireland

The Northern Ireland Public Service Ombudsman can look into complaints about social housing organisations, such as the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. They check whether organisations acted properly in the way they handled your request or dealt with your complaint.

How to make a complaint | NIPSO