Housing Ombudsman urges landlords to be prepared for statutory Complaint Handling Code

The Housing Ombudsman has called on landlords to prepare for its Complaint Handling Code becoming statutory on 1 April 2024, adding that the Code would provide “a single, robust set of standards for complaints procedures to be accessible, fair and efficient”.

The call came as the Housing Ombudsman and the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman launched aligned Complaint Handling Codes.

The Housing Ombudsman said it would be under a legal duty to monitor compliance with its Code, “regardless of whether it receives individual complaints from residents about a landlord”.

For the first time, this means landlords will need to submit their self-assessment annually to the Ombudsman at the same time as their Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs).

For landlords with more than 1,000 homes this will be 30 June 2024. Those with under 1,000 homes will submit either 12 weeks after their financial year-end or the date of publication of TSMs on their website.

The self-assessment must also be published on landlords' websites so that residents are able to easily access it, the Housing Ombudsman said.

More than 600 individuals or organisations responded to its Code consultation, with strong support amongst residents and landlords for the provisions in the Code, the Housing Ombudsman noted.

“The Code is similar to the one which was first introduced almost four years ago but it is crucial that every landlord examines the final statutory Code to ensure its approach to complaints is compliant,” it added.

It said the statutory Code was being introduced at a time of high demand for redress, with another substantial rise in complaints to the Ombudsman over the previous year.

The Code aims to achieve earlier resolution of complaints by the landlord itself, and the Housing Ombudsman has produced new guidance and measures to help landlords with implementation.The Ombudsman’s Centre for Learning is also hosting a series of webinars on the statutory Code.

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said: “This statutory Code promotes a positive complaints culture across the social housing sector and ensures residents do not experience a postcode lottery in complaint handling.

“We welcome the positive engagement with the Code and its aims during our consultation, and it is crucial this is translated into action on ground. It is essential for landlords prepare for the statutory Code and this includes a robust self-assessment being submitted to the Ombudsman.”

He added: “We’ve also heard loud and clear through this consultation that there is a vital need to provide more resource to complaint handling staff at landlords and we are also committed to providing more opportunities through our Centre for Learning to help landlords implement the Code.

“The aim of the Code is to improve local complaint handling amidst us seeing yet again a huge rise in the volumes of complaints coming to us. Landlords should be using the Code to improve their complaint handling and reducing the number of complaints being upheld by us."

Blakeway said: “Unfortunately throughout our casework we are seeing poor complaint handling practices, from delays and lack of empathy to no responses at all.

“Landlords should see the release of this Code as an opportunity to reflect on their complaint handling and to make improvements where necessary to deliver better services to residents.”

The Housing Ombudsman and the LGSCO had consulted on a single Code in November 2023.

However, in response to the consultation, and to recognise the different legal powers the organisations hold, they produced two closely aligned Codes for complaint handling – one for council services outside of housing and one for landlords and housing authorities.

The Codes are based on unified principles and share many of the same approaches in key areas like response times. This approach follows that of the Scottish and Northern Irish Public Services Ombudsmen who have model procedures for different services under a set of unified principles.

Amerdeep Somal, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: “The Complaint Handling Codes mark an important step in improving standards and helping to give complaints management the priority status it deserves as part of local service delivery.

“We appreciate the feedback from the consultation and have come to a position of two individual codes that have a unified approach but recognise the different contexts in which our Ombudsman schemes work.”

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s Code has been launched with information to support councils which want to be early adopters.

In 2024 the LGSCO will invite a group of pilot local authorities to develop a good practice guide which will support councils to implement the Code.

“Councils should start to adopt the Code soon after this, if they haven’t already done so, and once it has incorporated learning from the local authority pilots, LGSCO will start considering use of the Code as part of its investigation processes,” it said.

Harry Rodd