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Housing Ombudsman publishes new Complaint Handling Code
The Housing Ombudsman has published a new Complaint Handling Code which will see it take action against landlords failing to deal properly with tenants’ grievances.
Part of beefed-up powers for the dispute resolution service approved by the government in March, the new code is intended to promote speedier redress and greater consistency in complaints procedures across the sector.
It also places emphasis on learning from complaints to improve services, with members of the scheme now required to review issues or trends arising from complaint handling at least once a year and discuss this in their annual reports.
This information will then be used to inform annual landlord performance reports published on the ombudsman’s website.
Landlords have been told to complete a self-assessment of their compliance with the new code by 31 December 2020 and publish the outcome.
Complaint handling failure orders will be issued against non-compliant landlords, either relating to an individual case or wider complaint handling policies.
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The ombudsman will begin publishing the names of landlords issued with complaint handling failure orders and the reasons for the orders, sharing this information with the Regulator of Social Housing.
The orders will be introduced from the start of 2021, with guidance published today.
Housing ombudsman Richard Blakeway said: “An effective complaints process will help to create a positive complaint handling culture, benefitting both landlord staff and residents.
“Complaints should have an important strategic role within landlord organisations, providing vital intelligence on their health, performance and reputation.
“On that basis, we hope the code is welcomed by the sector as a tool for supporting excellence.”
Under the new code, residents must also be given easy access to their landlord’s complaints handling procedure and be made aware of their right to contact the ombudsman.
Mr Blakeway said it responds to resident concerns “about the consistency and accessibility of complaint procedures”.
Jenny Osbourne, chief executive of tenant engagement service Tpas, said the new code is “another step forward in ensuring tenants know what they can rightly expect when they have a complaint with their landlord”.
Gavin Smart, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing, said the code “should strengthen the ombudsman’s ability to resolve complaints, improve transparency for all and help individual landlords and the sector as a whole, learn from landlords’ experiences of handling complaints”.
Housing associations and council landlords are legally required to be members of the Housing Ombudsman scheme, while some private landlords are voluntary members.
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