Ombudsman urges social landlords to prioritise complaint handling

The Housing Ombudsman has released its latest complaint handling report, highlighting the need for social housing landlords to prioritise a positive complaints culture.

While 95% of landlords surveyed found that the statutory Complaint Handling Code has helped embed a positive culture, the report also reveals some worrying trends.

It says that a significant number of landlords have been issued with Complaint Handling Failure Orders (CHFOs), indicating a failure to comply with the Code.

Some landlords have even received multiple CHFOs, raising serious concerns about their approach to resident complaints.

‘Not just about ticking a box’

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said: “Good complaint handling is not just about ticking a box or meeting statutory obligations.

“Whilst essential this is done, landlords must adopt an ethical complaint handling stance, which looks at the person behind the complaint and understands the impact the situation can have when services fall short.

“There is also the need for increased scrutiny and oversight by governing bodies are how complaints are approached.”

He added: ““I have been encouraged to see a significant improvement in approaches in recent years, but most landlords still have work to do to embed a positive complaint culture with residents and build confidence in their procedures. Landlords must also go further apply lessons from complaints to prevent them, as well as using complaints to test its culture.”

Landlords’ engagement with the Code

The latest report from the Housing Ombudsman expands on previous quarterly Complaint Handling Failure Order (CHFO) reports and it now includes information on landlords’ engagement with the Code.

A big portion of the report focuses on the Ombudsman’s review of how the sector promotes a positive complaints culture.

It highlights examples of good practice, such as landlords who have used previous maladministration decisions to improve their policies and practices, and those who have been transparent about their performance by publicly sharing annual reports.

Despite these positive examples, the report also reveals a concerning trend of repeated CHFOs with several landlords appearing multiple times – some with more than one CHFO in the first quarter of the year. These landlords include:

• Soho Housing Association
• L&Q
• Haringey Council
• Harrow Council
• Warwick District Council
• Hexagon Housing Association
• A2Dominion Housing Group
• Southwark Council
• Newham Council
• Lewisham Council.

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