Listening, learning and improving
We always aim to provide a great service, but we don’t always get it right. When things go wrong, we want to hear your complaint, have the chance to put things right quickly and learn from the experience.
Every complaint is a chance for us to learn and do better. Here’s what we’ve done this year to improve the service:
We’ve made sure complaints officers have more time to investigate and respond to concerns
Introduced a learning log to make us more accountable and ensure we take on board where we can improve
Set stronger quality checks on responses
Renewed our focus on learning and governance
In response to customer feedback, we’ve improved how we update you on the progress of your repairs
Refreshed our complaint letter templates following customer feedback to make these more accessible
Reviewed and updated our compensation guidance to make sure the payments we offer are in line with Housing Ombudsman guidance.
Our complaints annual report provides examples of how we have learnt and made changes off the back of Complaints we have received. You can read the whole report for 2025/26 here.
Hearing directly from the Ombudsman
The Housing Ombudsman investigates some escalated complaints to decide if any maladministration has happened, where a landlord has failed to meet their obligations, causing service failures or significant impacts on customers. They shared some positive feedback about a recent ‘no maladministration’ decision we received involving a particularly complex neighbour dispute.
The Ombudsman highlighted how quickly we responded to the customer, how we allocated a dedicated officer from the start, and how effectively we worked with the police and Environmental Health to understand the issues and reach a fair resolution.
They noted that we stayed in regular contact and only closed the case once the customer felt more settled. Even when interactions became difficult, the team continued to act professionally, fairly and with care.
Finally, we were pleased to continue building our relationship with the Ombudsman by hosting a virtual question and answer session, joined by over 100 customers and colleagues. The session provided insight into the Ombudsman’s role and reinforced the importance of fairness, respect and challenging stigma within social housing.
One of the most important parts of the discussion was about the stigma around social housing. The Ombudsman said it’s vital to challenge negative views and make sure customers are treated with respect and fairness.
You can read our Complaints Annual Report here.
I appreciate the effort you have put into the investigation. The recognition that things haven't gone well & the apologies. I am happy with the outcome, I feel like everything that I brought up has been answered and that the information is clear & considerate.
My sincere thanks to Robert for all the time and effort he has put into rectifying the issues, liaising with various teams on my behalf, and taking the time to talk with me to understand the impact of what has happened.
I am so appreciative and grateful of the time and effort that Tracey put into such a thoughtful and thorough investigation, diligently addressing all the concerns stated in my complaint and doing her best to resolve such matters.
Customer feedback
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