When to get help from the Housing Ombudsman
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When to get help from us
We are fair and impartial. We look at complaints about social housing providers and housing organisations that join our Scheme. Our service is free for residents.
We can consider complaints about the actions or omissions of a landlord that affect you living in or applying for a home.
The Housing Ombudsman Scheme (the Scheme) explains:
- what complaints we can consider
- how we look at complaints
- when a resident or landlord can ask us to review a decision
You can bring a complaint to us if you have completed your landlord's complaint process and your issues remain unresolved.
Complain to your landlord
You must first tell your landlord if something goes wrong. Complaints give landlords the chance to put things right and learn from their mistakes, so the same issues do not happen again.
Our helpful resident support guides explain how your landlord should respond to a report you make to it.
If you are unhappy with how your landlord has handled a request or report you have made to it, you can make a complaint.
Find out how to complain to your landlord
Your landlord must have a 2-stage complaint procedure and reply to a complaint in set timescales.
Our Complaint Handling Code sets out these timescales.
Stage 1
Your landlord must acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days of receiving it.
Your landlord must send you a written response within 10 working days of acknowledging your complaint.
Stage 2
Your landlord must acknowledge your request to escalate within 5 working days of receiving it.
Your landlord must send you a written response within 20 working days of acknowledging your escalation request.
Help if your landlord does not respond to you
If your landlord does not follow these timescales, we can help you get a response.
If we have evidence your landlord is not following its procedure, we will ask it to respond to you. If your landlord does not respond to our request, we will issue a Complaint Handling Failure Notice and ask you if you would like to progress your case for investigation.
Please use our online form to upload a copy of the complaint you made to your landlord so that we can decide how best to help you.
Bring your complaint to us for investigation
You can bring your complaint to us if your landlord has not resolved your issues through its complaint procedure.
Tell us:
- what went wrong and what you think your landlord should have done
- what your landlord should do to put things right
We need your landlord's stage 2 response before we can help. This is your landlord's final answer to your complaint.
You have 12 months from your landlord's stage 2 response to refer your complaint to us. We are unlikely to investigate complaints you refer after this deadline, unless you have good reasons for the delay.
Next steps in your complaint
Bring a complaint to us
Our online complaint form asks you for information about you, your landlord, and the details of your complaint.
How we investigate your complaint
Find out about the stages of investigation, from enquiry to review.