How will you investigate my complaint?
On this page
- We check if we can consider the complaint
- We explore if a resolution is possible
- We investigate the complaint
- What happens once the investigation is complete?
- What findings can the Ombudsman make?
- What evidence will you use to investigate my complaint?
- How long does an investigation with the Housing Ombudsman take?
- What can you tell my landlord to do?
- What if I do not agree with the Ombudsman’s decision?
- Bring a complaint to the Housing Ombudsman Service
Step 1
We check if we can consider the complaint
Once we receive your complaint and confirm it has completed the landlord’s complaint process, we pass it to our triage team for review. The team will make a decsion about whether the issues raised in the complaint fall under our remit to consider – this is known as our jurisdiction. The Housing Ombudsman considers complaints where, in the Ombudsman's opinion, the actions or omissions of a member landlord have affected the resident in respect of their application for or occupation of a property.
We will always aim to tell you as soon as possible if the issues you are raising should be referred to a different Ombudsman or organisation.
If we can consider the issues raised in your complaint, we will contact the landlord and request any information we need to start our investigation.
We cannot consider complaints about every housing issue. For example, a homelessness application or housing allocations under the duty of a local authority would be for the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman to consider.
Step 2
We explore if a resolution is possible
Where possible we will work with you and your landlord to help you reach an agreement fairly and quickly, without the time it takes to complete a full investigation.
We use our expertise in resolving complaints to explore options for the landlord to put things right.
If you and your landlord agree a resolution, we will set out the agreed terms in writing, also known as a determination and follow up with you and the landlord to check that all the agreed actions have been completed before we close the case.
Step 3
We investigate the complaint
If we cannot resolve the complaint in early resolution or we decide that it requires a full investigation, the Dispute Resolution team will complete a formal investigation.
The purpose of our investigation is to assess whether a landlord has acted fairly and whether its actions were reasonable, taking all the circumstances of the case into account.
The Ombudsman's investigation seeks to establish whether the landlord has been responsible for maladministration (which includes findings of service failure, maladministration and severe maladministration). This may include, but not exclusively, circumstances where the member:
- failed to comply with any relevant legal obligations or relevant codes of practice
- did not apply its own policies and/or procedures
- delayed unreasonably in dealing with the matter
- behaved unfairly, unreasonably or incompetently; or
- treated the resident personally in a heavy-handed, unsympathetic or inappropriate manner
What happens once the investigation is complete?
Once an investigation is complete, we send a determination letter and investigation report to the resident and/or representative and the landlord. The report sets out:
- the complaint issues we investigated
- the background to the case
- the evidence we have used in assessing the case
- any findings and decisions made and the reasoning behind it
- what actions the landlord should take to put things right (orders or recommendations)
What findings can the Ombudsman make?
The purpose of our investigation is to assess whether the landlord responded appropriately and decide whether its actions were fair and reasonable, taking all the circumstances of the case into account.
We investigate the complaint based on the evidence available to us and make a finding. There are eight possible findings the Ombudsman can make.
Where the Ombudsman’s consideration of a complaint finds evidence of maladministration the Ombudsman may order the member to take steps to put things right.
What evidence will you use to investigate my complaint?
Our investigations are based on the evidence available to us.
We will ask the landlord for:
- a copy of the lease or tenancy agreement
- relevant policies and procedure
- copies of complaints and response and other relevant correspondence
- notes, surveys, reports, and other records relevant to the case
We may also ask you to provide information such as a copy of your original complaint or correspondence to the landlord that is relevant to the complaint we have accepted for investigation.
How long does an investigation with the Housing Ombudsman take?
We are really busy right now and currently receiving an extremely high number of enquiries to the service. We are working towards all investigations being completed within 12 months from the date the case is accepted for investigation, with high-risk cases determined within 6 months.
Between 2022-23 the demand for our service doubled. Since then, we’ve gone through a process of increasing our resources to meet unprecedented rises in demand. We’ve made some real progress and in 2023-24 we issued more than twice the number of determinations than the year before, however, we are still seeing a significant increase in the number of cases coming to us.
We are sorry things are taking longer than we would like and appreciate your patience during this busy time.
What can you tell my landlord to do?
Depending on the outcome of the investigation, we may set out orders and recommendations to the landlord in our report to put things right.
This could mean telling the landlord to:
- pay compensation
- apologise
- review its policies and procedures
- complete any outstanding repairs
Orders aim to put things right to resolve the individual complaint and landlords are obliged to follow our orders.
Recommendations are made where wider learning or improvement could improve housing services across the landlord for the benefit of other residents.
We will work with you and your landlord to make sure that it carries out the orders and recommendations we make to it to put things right. This could mean we ask for evidence from you and the landlord that it has completed a repair or paid compensation to you within the timescale given by the Ombudsman.
Remedies
This key topic page explores the variety of orders that we can make to put things right.
Find out about compensation, ordering a repair to be undertaken or a survey to be completed, as well as apologies and reviews of policy.
What if I do not agree with the Ombudsman’s decision?
If you do not agree with a decision made by the Ombudsman, you can request a review.
Requesting a review
You can ask us to review our decision on your complaint if:
- you have new facts or evidence which may have a bearing on our original decision
- you are challenging the facts or evidence on which we relied when making our decision
We will not be able to review our decision about your complaint because you disagree with our decision or have a different view to us. The review will be of our decision, it does not mean that we will look at your original complaint again.
A review request must be made within 3 weeks of the determination being made.
Bring a complaint to the Housing Ombudsman Service
Our online complaint form
Before you can bring a complaint about your landlord to the Housing Ombudsman Service, we will need to ask you some more information.
Our online complaint form will ask you for information about you and your landlord and the details of your complaint.