How to Complain to the Housing Ombudsman

Who the Housing Ombudsman covers

The Housing Ombudsman is the free, independent service for complaints about social landlords. If you rent from a council or a housing association, you are covered.

• Council tenants and leaseholders

• Housing association tenants and leaseholders

• Shared owners of social housing

• Former tenants, for problems that arose during the tenancy

There are limits. The Ombudsman cannot look at:

• Complaints about a letting agent, which go to a separate redress scheme

• Anything that is already before the courts, or that a court has already decided

• Matters where it would be reasonable to expect you to take legal proceedings instead

Both of those limits matter, and are dealt with in full further down this page.

Step 1. Complain to your landlord first

The Ombudsman will not look at your case until your landlord has had a proper chance to put it right. The Complaint Handling Code requires every social landlord to run a complaints process with two stages and keep to published deadlines.

A landlord can extend a stage by up to 10 more working days, but only if it explains why and says when to expect the answer.

What to put in your complaint

Put it in writing and make it easy to follow:

• Every date you reported the problem, and how you reported it

• Every visit, missed appointment and broken promise

• Photographs of the disrepair, dated where you can

• The effect on your household, including any health problems

• Exactly what you want them to do, both the works and any compensation

If your landlord ignores you or misses these deadlines, you do not have to wait forever. You can take the complaint to the Ombudsman anyway. Unreasonable delay in handling a complaint is itself something the Ombudsman can find against your landlord.

Step 2. Take it to the Housing Ombudsman

Once you have the final response, you can complain through the Housing Ombudsman website, by post or by phone. Send them:

• Your landlord's final response letter

• A full timeline of the problem

• Copies of your correspondence

• Photographs and any medical evidence

• A clear statement of the outcome you are asking for

Time limit. Bring your complaint within 12 months of your landlord's final response.

You no longer have to wait eight weeks or go through an MP or a councillor first. That step, the old democratic filter, was removed in October 2022.

Step 3. The investigation

1. The Ombudsman checks that your complaint is one they can look at.

2. They ask your landlord for the full file: repair logs, complaint records and correspondence.

3. They measure your landlord's conduct against its own policies and the Complaint Handling Code.

4. They issue a determination with their findings and any orders.

Expect six to twelve months from submission to determination, longer for complicated cases. You do not need a solicitor and there is nothing to pay.

What the Ombudsman can order

Where a failure is found, the Ombudsman can order your landlord to:

• Carry out named repair works by a set deadline

• Apologise in writing

• Pay compensation

• Pay for an independent survey

• Review and change its policies and procedures

Those orders are binding, and the Ombudsman checks they are carried out.

How much compensation does the Housing Ombudsman award?

The Ombudsman works to its own remedies guidance. The figures below are payments for your landlord's failure, on the Ombudsman's own scale. They are not court awards and not a guide to what a housing disrepair claim is worth.

A court claim is calculated on an entirely different basis: general damages worked out as a share of the rent you paid for the whole time you lived with the problem, plus your actual losses on top. That is why the two routes produce very different figures on the same facts. Our guide to housing disrepair compensation explains the calculation.

Ombudsman or disrepair claim?

The two routes do different jobs. The Ombudsman judges how your landlord behaved. A housing disrepair claim is about the condition of your home and what living in it has cost you. Read the section under the table before you pick, because one route can close the other.

Can you do both?

Not on the same issue, once court proceedings are under way.

The Ombudsman will not investigate a matter that is before the courts, and can decline a complaint where it would be reasonable to expect you to go to court instead. In practice, issuing a housing disrepair claim will normally shut the Ombudsman out of the disrepair itself, though a separate complaint about how your landlord handled your complaint may still be looked at.

So the order you do things in matters. While you are still at the complaint stage, both doors are open. If a claim may be the better fit, take advice before committing to a long Ombudsman investigation. Our guide on suing your landlord sets out what going to court involves.

The Regulator of Social Housing

The Regulator is a separate body doing a different job. It oversees landlords as organisations rather than settling individual complaints, and enforces the consumer standards, including the Safety and Quality Standard.

Report your landlord to the Regulator where the failure is systemic and affects a lot of people, such as widespread damp across an estate, or a landlord repeatedly missing Awaab's Law deadlines. It will not get your own repair done.

Frequently asked questions

How do I complain to the Housing Ombudsman?

Finish your landlord's two stage complaints process first, get their final response, then submit your complaint to the Ombudsman online, by post or by phone within 12 months.

Is the Housing Ombudsman free?

Yes. There is no charge to tenants at any stage, and you do not need a solicitor.

How long does a Housing Ombudsman complaint take?

Usually six to twelve months from submission to determination, and longer for complex cases.

How much compensation does the Housing Ombudsman award?

Most awards fall between £100 and £600. Severe maladministration can bring £1,000 or more. These are the Ombudsman's own remedy levels, not a guide to what a court claim is worth.

Can I go to the Ombudsman and make a legal claim as well?

Not usually on the same issue. The Ombudsman will not investigate a matter that is already before the courts, so issuing a disrepair claim will normally close the Ombudsman route on that issue. Take advice before you choose.

What if my landlord ignores my complaint?

You can go to the Ombudsman without a final response if your landlord has missed its own deadlines or refused to deal with the complaint. Poor complaint handling is itself something the Ombudsman can find against your landlord.