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About the Housing Ombudsman Service

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What does the Housing Ombudsman Service do?

We provide a free, independent, and impartial service to investigate complaints and resolve disputes involving the tenants and leaseholders of social landlords, including local authorities, housing associations, ALMOs (arm’s length management organisations), co-operatives and Abbeyfield. We also have voluntary members (private landlords and letting agents) that have signed up to the Scheme.  

Check if your landlord is a member

What complaints can the Housing Ombudsman consider?

We investigate complaints from residents about landlord’s housing management – for example, property condition and repairs, charges, complaint handling and how a landlord is responding to antisocial behaviour that is affecting a resident in their home.  

Which Ombudsman for social housing complaints

We work with the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO), the New Homes Ombudsman, and the Regulator of Social Housing, under a Memorandum of Understanding, to agree a common approach to collaborative working.  

Find out who we work with

When can I bring a complaint to the Ombudsman?

We only investigate complaints when the complaint issues have been raised and investigated by a landlord through its dedicated complaint procedure and a final response provided. Or where we are satisfied that the resident has raised the issues and there has been failure by the landlord in its complaint handling.

When to get help from the Housing Ombudsman

What power does the Housing Ombudsman have?

Members of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme must comply with the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code which aims to achieve best practice in complaint handling.  

The Complaint Handling Code became statutory on 1 April 2024, meaning that landlords are obliged by law to follow the requirements set out in the Code. 

The Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 places a duty on the Housing Ombudsman to monitor compliance with the statutory Complaint Handling Code. This means that the Housing Ombudsman is required to ensure that all landlords meet the standards set out in the Code for complaint handling, regardless of their size and operating model. 

The Ombudsman has the power to make orders to landlords, this might mean ordering the landlord to apologise, carry out works or pay financial compensation.  

The Complaint Handling Code

What is an Ombudsman?

An Ombudsman is an independent service that investigates and resolves complaints. Ombudsman schemes are impartial in their investigations – so they don’t take sides. They make decisions based on what is fair. 

As well as providing redress for an individual, an Ombudsman also identifies any systemic issues and provides feedback to help improve services and complaint handling.  

Find out more about the role of an Ombudsman

Is the Housing Ombudsman Service free to use?

The service is free for residents to use. Our work is funded by annual landlord subscription fees. 

Who is the Housing Ombudsman?

The Housing Ombudsman is Richard Blakeway who was appointed on 1 September 2019.

Which organisation regulates the social housing sector? 

The Regulator of Social Housing regulates the social housing sector. Although we have different functions to the Regulator, we do work closely with them and have a Memorandum of Understanding which sets out how we do this. For more information see our page on how we work with others.

Which organisation regulates the Housing Ombudsman? 

The Housing Ombudsman is independent of national or local government. We have a sponsoring government department; the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). We also conduct a quarterly independent review of our service complaints, which monitors our performance and gives recommendations for improvements.