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The Housing Ombudsman and the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) have launched their aligned Complaint Handling Codes which will result in best practice in complaint handling and ultimately better services for residents.
Following the Social Housing (Regulation) Act, the Housing Ombudsman’s Code will become statutory from 1 April 2024, providing a single, robust set of standards for complaints procedures to be accessible, fair and efficient.
There will be a legal duty placed on the Ombudsman to monitor compliance with the 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 over 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 must be published on their websites so that residents are able to easily access it.
More than 600 individuals or organisations responded to the Code consultation, with strong support amongst residents and landlords for the provisions in the Code. 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.
The statutory Code is 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 it has produced new guidance and measures to help landlords implement the Code, alongside the e-learning and support available through the Ombudsman’s Centre for Learning.
This includes an ongoing series of free webinars to give landlords the opportunity to hear more about the Code and to ask any questions.
You can read the full article, the new Code and Ric's statement on our website.
We are running FREE webinars for landlords via the Centre for Learning which will take place throughout February and March to help landlords navigate the changes in the new Code.
21 February (2pm-3pm) - Local authorities and ALMO
07 March (2pm-3pm) – Housing associations with over 1,000 homes
20 March (10am-11am) - Co-operatives
04 April (2pm-3pm) - Landlords with less than 1000 homes & Abbeyfields
You will be able to book onto a session via the Landlord Learning Hub from Monday 12 February.
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