Making a complaint

The Housing Ombudsman (the independent public body that looks at complaints within the social housing sector) introduced a new Complaint Handling Code in 2020 to make sure that all complaints made by council tenants and leaseholders are handled effectively and fairly. This code was further strengthened early this year and we have recently reviewed our Housing Complaints Policy to comply with this.

It is important that we know as soon as possible when things have not gone well, so that we can investigate what happened and take action to put things right if needed. Complaints also help us to learn and improve the service we provide.

We use the Housing Ombudsman’s definition of a complaint which is:

 “An expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service, actions or lack of action by the landlord, its own staff, or those acting on its behalf, affecting a resident or group of residents.”

 You do not have to use the word complaint for it to be treated as one. If you express any dissatisfaction to us, we will give you the choice to make a complaint.

 You can make a complaint to us in any of the following ways:

Ø   by filling in our Complaints form, which is available on our website and on request from any member of staff;

Ø   by raising it with any member of our staff

Ø   by emailing councilhousingcomplaints@tendringdc.gov.uk

Ø   by phoning 01255 686868 or the direct number of the team you have been dealing with; or

Ø   by visiting our Reception at Pier Avenue in Clacton, which is open Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 10am to 1pm

 
You can find out more by reading our Housing Complaints Policy

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Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code self-assessment

The Housing Ombudsman's Complaint Handling Code sets out good practice for how landlords handle complaints.

The purpose of the Code is to enable landlords to resolve complaints raised by their residents quickly and to learn from complaints to drive service improvements. It alsoaims to help to create a positive complaint handling culture amongst staff and residents.

The Code sets out specific requirements for landlords that will allow them to respond to complaints effectively and fairly.

You can read more about this code on the Housing Ombudsman’s website

The Housing Ombudsman expects landlords to carry out a yearly self-assessment to make sure they are complying with the code.

You can read out self-assessment here

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Annual complaints and service improvement report

We are also required to produce an annual report showing how we have performed in handling complaints and setting out how we have and intend to learn from the complaints we have received.

You can read this report here.

This report was presented to the Council’s Cabinet in May 2024 and their response was as follows:

We thank Councillor Baker for presenting this report to Cabinet today. We fully endorse everything that he has said and warmly welcome the content of the report and its recommendations.

 As a Cabinet we recognise the importance of providing good quality housing and that responding to complaints forms an important part of that service.

 We fully support and adopt the Housing Ombudsman’s revised complaint handling code and are committed to high quality complaint handling. It is important that we learn from all complaints and provide a positive response.

 We support Councillor Baker, as Housing Portfolio Holder, taking on responsibility for housing complaints and he will ensure that we as a Cabinet receive regular information and updates on complaints, in particular, what they tell us about our housing service, what we have learnt from them and what we have done to put things right.

 It is notable that the number of complaints received has been increasing and that is something that will be explored over the coming months to see what we can do better as part of a programme of continuous improvement for our housing service.”

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