| SPOTLIGHT |
The Housing Ombudsman has revealed a significant reduction in the number of complaint handling failure orders (CHFOs) it has issued.
The Ombudsman said 25 landlords that had an order in the last period did not receive one this time.
The Ombudsman argued that this showed how CHFOs can be effective in helping landlords target areas for improvement.
However, eight landlords did receive orders in both periods.
The CHFO report includes case examples to support improvement, including compliance with the orders.
As of 1 April 2024, all landlords will have to adhere to the new provisions in the Complaint Handling Code.
Whilst there are minimal changes for the landlords who are already compliant, the Ombudsman is urging all landlords to be reviewing the new Code in readiness and ensuring self-assessments are submitted on time.
On the back of this report, the Ombudsman has written to the landlords with more than one non-complaint CHFO.
The landlords that did not comply with its orders were:
The Ombudsman also engaged with 27 landlords to help ensure their complaints policy was compliant with the Code, following issues seen in complaints. This is the most in any quarter.
Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said: “These orders help landlords to identify where action is necessary to improve complaint handling, and with most landlords this appears to be successful. Ultimately, this helps complaints to be resolved earlier by the landlord itself, which is essential given the continued rise in complaints."
The Ombudsman added: “As the Complaint Handling Code becomes statutory in less than two weeks’ time, we are urging landlords to read this report, and its predecessors, to ensure that complaint handling compliance is seen in practice as well as policy.
“This will form a key part of our Duty to Monitor work, where we will not just take the landlord’s word in their self-assessment if our casework is saying otherwise."
Blakeway stressed the importance of landlords assessing their complaints procedure as the Code becomes statutory. This also means ensuring relevant complaints teams have the resources and leverage within the landlord to do its job and to ensure there is fairness for residents when making a complaint.
Harry Rodd
