In July 2020 The Housing Ombudsman published its Complaint Handling Code.
Within this was a requirement for landlords to complete regular self-assessments of their complaints process.
We have completed our first self-assessment and made it available to the public.
The Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code promotes the progressive use of complaints, providing a high-level framework to support effective handling and prevention alongside learning and development.
This Code ensures complaint handling data is being used consistently across landlord members and promotes engagement at different levels within a landlord and sets out expectations for boards or equivalent governance, senior executives and frontline staff.
The Ombudsman expects landlords to carry out regular self-assessment against the Code and take appropriate action to ensure their complaint handling is in line with the Code. This assessment should be completed by 31 December 2020.
The Ombudsman expects landlords to report the outcome of their self-assessment to their board members. In the case of local authorities, self-assessment outcomes should be reported to elected members.
The Ombudsman expects landlords to publish the outcome of their assessments.