Housing complaints
This page sets out our process for housing complaints.
To begin this process, read how to make a complaint.
Stage one
Once your complaint is received it will be reviewed, logged and acknowledged by the complaints team within 5 working days.
The Complaint acknowledgement we send you you will include:
- Our understanding of your complaint
- Our understanding of the outcomes you are seeking, or a request for you to advise us of the outcomes you are seeking if this is not clear
- Aspects of the complaint we are responsible for and any that are out of scope
Then within 10 days of days of the acknowledgement being sent, your complaint will be investigated by a member of staff from the service you made a complaint about. Our complaints team will track your complaint.
Any additional complaints raised during the investigation into your complaint will be into the stage one response, if it has not already been issued. Any new issues that are unrelated to the original complaint or would unreasonably delay the response will be logged as a new complaint.
Where a response to a complaint cannot be provided within the timeframe, the Council will agree suitable intervals with you for keeping you updated about the progress of your complaint.
Where an extension is required to allow us to answer a complaint in full, this must be no longer than 10 working days without good reason. Should an extension be needed, we will contact you and explain the reasons for this and the expected timeframe for a response.
A complaint response will be provided to you when the answer is known, not when any outstanding actions are completed. Outstanding actions are tracked and actioned promptly, with updates provided to you as appropriate.
A decision will be made to either uphold or close the complaint with no further action required.
If the complaint is upheld or closed, you will receive confirmation of the outcome within 10 working day.
If you are not happy with the response, you may ask for it to be escalated to stage two of the complaint process. You should request for the complaint to be escalated with 28 days of the initial reply. However, if you are unable to escalate your complaint during this timeframe, we may use our discretion to escalate your complaint to stage two.
Stage two
When you ask for your complaint to be escalated to stage two it would help us if you explained the reasons for this. However, if you do not provide us with a reason, we will make reasonable efforts to understand why you remain dissatisfied.
You must explain why you wish to escalate the complaint to a stage two. The response at stage one will explain how to escalate your complaint to stage two.
Your request will be reviewed, logged and acknowledged within 5 working days.
The Complaint acknowledgement we send you you will include:
- Our understanding of your complaint
- Our understanding of the outcomes you are seeking, or a request for you to advise us of the outcomes you are seeking if this is not clear
- Aspects of the complaint we are responsible for and any that are out of scope
Then within 20 days of days of the acknowledgement being sent, your complaint will be investigated by a member of staff from the Complaints team and a response provided to you.
Where a response to a complaint cannot be provided within the timeframe, the Council will agree suitable intervals with you for keeping you updated about the progress of your complaint.
Where an extension is required to allow us to answer a complaint in full, this must be no longer than 20 working days without good reason. Should an extension be needed, we will contact you and explain the reasons for this and the expected timeframe for a response.
A complaint response will be provided to you when the answer is known, not when any outstanding actions are completed. Outstanding actions are tracked and actioned promptly, with updates provided to you as appropriate.
Housing Ombudsman
If you are still not satisfied after receiving your stage two response, you can refer the matter directly to the Housing Ombudsman. They will only consider your complaint after you have been through stage one and two of Thurrock Council’s complaints process.
Complaints managed by the Housing Ombudsman will be investigated in two stages, as set-out within the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code.
Complaints about housing services, where the council is the landlord, will be managed by the Housing Ombudsman.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigates complaints about allocations, homelessness and private sector housing.
Housing Service Resident Panel & working groups
The Housing Service Resident Panel plays a vital role in ensuring tenant voices are heard and services are improved. Panel members are council tenants who have applied to work alongside our housing teams to improve services and make sure residents have a say.
We also have a complaint’s working group that brings together residents and the complaints service to collaborate, share knowledge and perspective in the development of service improvements.
If you are interested in joining the panel or working group and would like to know more, contact our engagement team at residentengagement@thurrock.gov.uk or call 01375 652 652.
Self-assessment
The Housing Ombudsman asks all landlords to complete and publish a self-assessment of their compliance with the Complaints Handling Code. Our self-assessment is published below.