New code puts complaint handling in the spotlight

New Code, new climate of scrutiny

The New Code promises to deliver a more prescriptive approach to complaint handling at a time of heightened public concern over the poor standard of social housing. This has led to an increase in both complaints and service requests. The HO will have new responsibilities to monitor complaints and, for the first time, will be able to intervene to assess social landlords, even when no complaints have been referred to them for investigation.

Landlords will also face more proactive consumer regulation from the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH). This includes Awaab’s Law, which aims to protect tenants from health hazards in the home, and a new requirement that will require housing managers and executives to be professionally trained.

What changes can we expect from the New Code?

There will be a new, two-stage complaints procedure. No informal complaints will be allowed, as these have led to delays and caused confusion for tenants in the past. Tenants will also not need to provide a reason to escalate a complaint to stage two.

Other key changes being introduced include:

• Landlords must accept complaints referred to them within 12 months of the issue occurring or when the individual became aware of it.
• Landlords must undertake and submit an annual self-assessment statement, signed off by their Board, to the HO at the same time as their Tenant Satisfaction Measures. Landlords with over 1,000 homes will have to submit their assessments by 30June 2024.
• RPs must have a Member Responsible for Complaints, as well as a senior officer who responds to complaints.  

The HO’s new duty to monitor complaints will enable it to triangulate self-assessment statements to see how landlords’ data compares with their own and other publicly available information. Where necessary, the HO will visit landlords and could invite tenants to share their experiences at a face-to-face meeting or respond to a call for evidence hosted on their website.

Preparing for the New Code

To help social landlords prepare for the New Code, the HO has provided a definition of a complaint, and clarified how it differs from a service request. Landlords should study this and make sure it is understood across its workforce. Employees will have to confirm with tenants whether their expression of dissatisfaction is a complaint or service request, as this will determine the handling process. For example, most complaints must be addressed within five working days.

To optimise responsiveness and complaint handling, landlords should aim to improve their record keeping with regard to all service requests, so they can see exactly when repair works are undertaken and when they are completed and signed off by the tenant. All employees should fully understand the new procedures for handling complaints and know how to respond to tenants whilst their complaints are live. Landlords should aim to instil a positive, complaint-handling culture. 

To encourage best practice, the Centre for Learning section of the HO’s website provides some useful guidance.

Key takeaways

Whilst the Complaint Handling Code will help to ensure that tenants’ complaints are logged and handled in a timely fashion, the changes will increase the burden on social landlords at a challenging time.

Below are a few key steps that will help social landlords to prepare:

• Conduct a full review of the existing complaint handling system – could it be improved?
• Review past records of complaints, service requests and repair works. What can be learned from them?
• Appoint a manager with responsibility for handling complaints and ensure that all managers and senior-level staff are trained.
• Take action to instil a positive complaint handling culture.

For more information, please contact Catherine Simpson.