12 November 2024
Ombudsman urges landlords to ‘test complaints against your culture’ in latest complaint handling report
The Housing Ombudsman has produced its first complaint handling report since its Complaint Handling Code was placed on a statutory footing, showing 95% of landlords have found that the Code has helped to embed a positive complaint handling culture.
92% found that the Code has helped them provide a more consistent approach to complaint handling.
The report comes just a week after sharing its Annual Complaints Review, which provides an overview of all 2023-24 complaint trends from the Ombudsman and the publication of 271 individual landlord performance reports.
The report expands on the previous quarterly Complaint Handling Failure Order (CHFO) reports to include information on landlords’ engagement with the Code, as well as continuing to publish CHFOs issued. This includes landlord non-compliance with the Code.
Most of the report is dedicated to insights from the Ombudsman’s review of sector approaches to promoting a positive complaints culture.
The Ombudsman has highlighted examples of good practice from the submissions, including a landlord that used a previous severe maladministration decision to overhaul its policies and practice in-line with the Code, and a landlord that went above and beyond to publicise its annual report transparently to residents.
However, while there is learning shared in this report, there is still a high number of Complaint Handling Failure Orders issued.
There are some landlords now that appear frequently in this report and several with more than one CHFO in the first quarter of this year, including:
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Soho Housing Association
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L&Q
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Haringey Council
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Harrow Council
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Warwick District Council
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Hexagon Housing Association
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A2Dominion Housing Group
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Southwark Council
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Newham Council
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Lewisham Council
There are several landlords that did not comply with the CHFO, forcing further action to remedy the situation for the resident. These included:
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