How to complain about your landlord, and what has to happen next

A complaint is not a repair report that you have made angrily. It is a separate process with its own stages and its own clock, and starting it is the thing that turns "we are chasing it" into a deadline somebody can be held to.

What counts as a complaint#Link to this section, What counts as a complaint

Broadly: an expression of dissatisfaction about something a landlord did, failed to do, or took too long over — including the conduct of its staff and of contractors working for it. You do not have to use the word "complaint", you do not have to write it in any particular form, and you do not have to be certain you are right.

The one distinction that matters in practice: the first time you report a repair, most landlords treat that as a service request rather than a complaint. It becomes a complaint when the repair does not happen, happens badly, or nobody tells you what is going on. That is not a way of putting you off — it is the point at which the complaints clock starts, so it is worth being clear about which one you are making.

The two stages, and the deadlines on each#Link to this section, The two stages, and the deadlines on each

The Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code became statutory on 1 April 2024, under the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, and it sets a single two-stage process. These are its time limits, and they are working days:

• Stage 1 must be acknowledged within 5 working days of the landlord receiving it.
• The stage 1 response is due within 10 working days of that acknowledgement.
• Stage 1 can be extended by no more than a further 10 working days, and only with a good reason that is explained to you.
• If you ask to escalate, stage 2 must be acknowledged within 5 working days of your request.
• The stage 2 response is due within 20 working days of that acknowledgement.
• Stage 2 can be extended by no more than a further 20 working days, again only with a good reason that is explained.

Landlords covered by the Code also have to publish an annual complaints performance and service improvement report, including a self-assessment against the Code, scrutinised and challenged by their own governing body. That document is public, and it is one of the more useful things to read about a landlord before you deal with one.

The Code has been statutory since April 2024. We have not been able to confirm whether a substantively revised version has been issued since, so the structure and the six limits above are the ones the 2024 Code sets, and you should check the current version on the Housing Ombudsman’s own site before relying on a date.

Writing a complaint that is hard to mishandle#Link to this section, Writing a complaint that is hard to mishandle

1. Say it is a complaint, in the first line. Ask for it to be logged at stage 1 and ask for the reference.
2. Put the dates in. When you first reported it, who you spoke to, what you were told, what happened after. Dates are what a complaint is made of.
3. Describe the effect, not only the fault. "The boiler is broken" is a repair. "There has been no hot water for three weeks and my daughter has eczema" is a complaint.
4. Say what you want to happen. The repair, an apology, a change to how something is handled, being moved while the work is done. A complaint with no requested outcome gets an answer with no outcome in it.
5. Say if you need the process adjusted — a different format, more time, someone to support you, contact by letter rather than by phone. That is a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act 2010, not a favour.
6. Keep a copy of everything, and send it by a route that leaves a record.

Who the Code binds, and who can investigate#Link to this section, Who the Code binds, and who can investigate

This is where most advice about complaints stops being accurate, so here it is plainly.

• Membership of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme is compulsory for social landlords — housing associations and local authorities registered, or formerly registered, with the Regulator of Social Housing. For them, the Code is statutory and the Ombudsman monitors compliance whether or not anyone complains.
• Private landlords and managing agents may join the scheme voluntarily. If they do, the Code and the annual self-assessment become conditions of their membership.
• If your landlord is not a member, the Housing Ombudsman cannot investigate your complaint about them. That is not a judgement on the complaint; it is the limit of the scheme.
• The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 creates a new ombudsman for the private rented sector, and membership will be mandatory for private landlords with assured tenancies. It is not operating yet — the government’s roadmap indicates mandatory membership by 2028.

Bluebell is a private supported housing provider, not a social landlord. We do not claim membership of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme on this page, and you should not assume it: if we hold one, the certificate is the thing that proves it, and it would be published. What we do run is a complaints process built on the Code’s two-stage structure and its timescales, and it is set out in our complaints policy.

When a deadline passes#Link to this section, When a deadline passes

A missed deadline is itself a complaint, and it is worth saying so in writing on the day it is missed. Ask for the response, ask why it is late, and ask for the extension to be explained — because an extension without a good reason given to you is a breach of the Code in its own right.

If the landlord’s process is finished and you are not satisfied, or the landlord has stalled it, the next step is the ombudsman scheme your landlord belongs to — which, as above, is not every landlord. For conditions in the property there is a second route that does not depend on the complaints process at all: your council’s environmental health team can inspect the property under Part 1 of the Housing Act 2004 and enforce against the landlord directly.

If it is urgent, this is the wrong process#Link to this section, If it is urgent, this is the wrong process

A complaint is a process for putting something right afterwards. If someone is at risk right now — a fire safety failure, a gas smell, a threat to someone’s safety — that is a call, not a form. The ways to reach us are on the residents page, and if anyone is in immediate danger the number is 999.