New Video on Changes to Our Complaints Process Now Available!
We’re excited to announce the launch of our new video explaining the recent changes to our complaints process. These updates have been introduced as part of our ongoing commitment to improving services.
In April, the Social Housing (Regulation) Act came into effect, requiring us to monitor and report on a range of Tenant Satisfaction Measures. You may have noticed some of these measures in your recent National Residents’ Survey, which is part of our effort to better understand how we can improve our services and ensure your voice is heard.
As a result of this legislation, we’ve made important updates to the way we handle complaints. To help guide you through these changes, we’ve created a short, informative video that outlines what’s new and how the updated process works.
We encourage you to take a few minutes to watch the video and familiarise yourself with the revised complaints process. Your feedback and satisfaction are crucial to the improvements we’re making, and we want to ensure that you have all the tools and information you need.
Watch the video under the Resident Information section
If you would like to know more, please take a look in the Resident information section under Complaints
If you can’t access the website, please speak to your scheme manager for further information, or feel free to email us directly at feedback@housing21.org.uk.
You can contact the Housing Ombudsman for advice at any time, however they will ask that you have been through our complaints process if you would like them to take on a case for review. Their contact details are:
- 0300 111 3000 (9.15am – 5.15pm, Monday to Friday)
- Housing Ombudsman Service, PO Box 1484 Unit D Preston PR2 0ET
- info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk
- Contact us: Housing Ombudsman (housing-ombudsman.org.uk)
Residents’ Complaints Panel
Housing 21 is keen to learn from complaints, and in addition to our Residents’ Complaints Panel who regularly review complaints, we also have a group made up of managers from across the organisation.
They meet every two months and looks at:
- Themes coming out of complaints
- Reasons why complaints were not resolved at stage one of our complaints process
- Any complaints that have progressed to the Housing Ombudsman Service
- A deep dive into different services where residents have complained
- Reviewing support, guidance and training for our teams
Key discussions in the last meeting on 19 November 2024:
- There was some confusion from both residents and employees on what is classed as anti-social behaviour and what is a complaint. We will be introducing further guidance on how to make this distinction.
- We continued to see issues around communication, and we will be carrying out a deep dive into our approach to complaints in January 2025.
- Support for operational teams to respond to complaints from corporate colleagues and we will be seeking ‘Complaints Champions’ from all departments within Housing 21.
Outcomes from the meeting:
We are looking to review our overall approach, including training on complaints for employees which will be the focus of our next meeting and will be fed back to you.
We would love to see more of you on our Residents’ Complaints Panel. The panel is for residents to review how we handle complaints and look at how we could improve our response to make your experience better.
If you are interested in getting involved, please let your scheme manager or send an email to: strategicoperations@housing21.org.uk
Pam Mastrantonio
Managing Director of Retirement Living