Housing complaints
This page sets out our process for housing complaints.
To begin this process, read how to make a complaint.
If you make a complaint by email, you will be given a reference number and sent an acknowledgement. Complaints by phone will be taken by a call handler.
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.
Complaints managed by the Housing Ombudsman will be investigated in 2 stages, as set-out within the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code.
Stage 1
Your complaint will be investigated within 10 working days by a member of staff from the service you complained about. Our complaints team will track your complaint.
If you are not happy with the response, you may ask that it be escalated to stage 2. You must ask for this no later than 28 calendar days from our initial reply.
Stage 2
When you ask for your complaint to be escalated you must explain why. The response at stage 1 will tell you how to do this.
A senior officer in our complaints team will review your complaint and, if an investigation is needed, this will be completed within 20 working days.
If you are still not satisfied after receiving your stage 2 response, you can refer the matter directly to the Housing Ombudsman. The Housing Ombudsman will only consider complaints if our complaints system has been exhausted.
Excellence Panel
We work on housing-related matters with a panel of residents called an 'Excellence Panel'. This panel includes complaints sub-group, which meets regularly to discuss any changes in the complaints process and any significant complaints issues. Panel members also volunteer in local community hubs and help customers to access the complaints process.
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.