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Housing Landlord Services customer complaints policy

1.0 Introduction

1.1 North Northamptonshire welcomes feedback on the services it provides for its tenants. Feedback is key in helping the council develop and improve the services it offers. We are committed to delivering our services to a high standard and are guided by our values:

  • Customer-focused
  • Respectful
  • Efficient
  • Supportive
  • Trustworthy

We want tenants to share their ideas on how we can do things better. Let us know when we’re doing things well, so we continue to do so. Tell us when things have gone wrong so we can put things right. Feedback helps us learn and build modern public services to support our community.

2.0 Scope

2.1 This policy sets out how we will respond to comments, compliments, and complaints about the services we provide in our capacity as a social landlord.

2.2 This policy does not apply to everything we do. Some decisions and services are out of scope of this policy because they fall under statutory regulations or other policies including:

  • complaints about the conduct of Senior Officers are dealt with by the Chief Executive Officer
  • complaints about the conduct of the Chief Executive Officer are dealt with by the Monitoring Officer
  • complaints about the conduct of a Councillor are dealt with by the Monitoring Officer

2.3 Other matters out of scope of this policy include:

  • complaints about compensation for matters other than complaint handling under this policy
  • decisions subject to appeals, for example
    - statutory homeless reviews requested under section 202 of the Housing Act 1996
    - homeless application reviews requested under part 6 of the Housing Act 1996
  • recharge fees for repairs
  • planning consultation responses
  • expressions of dissatisfaction made through a survey
  • matters under consideration by courts or tribunals
  • matters subject to legal action
  • matters for insurance claims
  • matters not related to the actions or decisions of the council or anybody acting on its behalf
  • political comments
  • matters raised by Members of Parliament (MPs) are responded to directly
  • matters raised by Councillors are responded to directly
  • matters raised by employees which fall under internal policy
  • matters subject to internal disciplinary or grievance procedures
  • HR Recruitment complaints
  • complaints already concluded under this policy
  • complaints on matters which an Ombudsman Service has concluded no fault to the council

3.0 Policy outcomes

3.1 This policy supports the council’s key commitment to delivering modern public services. From time to time there are occasions when our service falls short of expectations. It will explain how to provide feedback and how we will handle your complaint. It has been developed using the complaint handling code of practice of the Housing Ombudsman Service. The complaint handling code sets out the best practice in dealing with complaints to achieve a better service for residents.

4.0 The policy

What is feedback and how it can be made

4.1 A comment is feedback about a service or a suggestion about how we can improve it or do it differently. You will receive an acknowledgement for your comment and if further information is required you will be contacted.

4.2 A compliment is feedback when you think we’ve done something well. You will receive an acknowledgement for your compliment and if further information is required you will be contacted.

4.3 A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service, actions or lack of action by the landlord, its own staff, or those acting on its behalf, affecting a resident or group of residents.

4.4 A service request is a request from a resident to the landlord requiring action to be taken to put something right. Service requests are not complaints, but will be recorded, monitored and reviewed regularly. Action to address a service request will not stop if a complaint is raised about the issue while action is still on-going. You can contact us online, by telephone, in writing or in person to submit a service request. If you submit a service request as a comment, compliment, or complaint it will be acknowledged and recorded and forwarded to the service for resolution in line with the policies and processes applicable to the service being requested.

4.5 Where a resident expresses dissatisfaction they will be given the choice to make a complaint under this policy, the word complaint is not required to be used in the expression of dissatisfaction for it to be treated as a complaint.

4.6 Comments, compliments and complaints may be made on someone else's behalf with their written consent and will be handled in line with this policy.

4.7 Anonymous comments, compliments or complaints may be made, however, we may not be able to respond to them and a complaint may not be able to be investigated without enough information to search our records.

4.8 Please contact us as soon as practically possible about the matter you wish to raise. Unless a complaint is excluded on other grounds set out in this policy, we will accept complaints raised within 12 months of the issue occurring or of you becoming aware of the issue. Complaints raised outside of the 12-month time limit will be considered on individual merit. If we do not accept your complaint, you will be provided with the reasons why and you will have the right to ask the Housing Ombudsman to review that decision.

4.9 Comments, compliments, complaints may be made in a variety of ways to ensure accessibility. The quickest way is to submit this on our website. You can also submit a complaint in writing, via email, by telephone or in person at our offices. We will ask if adjustments are required and if so, we will endeavor to ensure reasonable adjustments are made.

How complaints will be handled

4.10 Within 5 working days of receiving your complaint we will acknowledge and log your complaint. We will contact you to set out our understanding of your complaint and the outcomes you are seeking. We will advise you if there are any aspects of your complaint which we are not responsible for. If any aspect of the complaint is unclear, you will be asked for clarification.

4.10.1 A written response will be provided within 10 working days of your complaint being acknowledged.

4.10.2 If a response cannot be provided within 10 working days, we will contact you with an explanation of why and agree with you suitable intervals for keeping you informed about your complaint. Any extension will not exceed a further 10 working days. If the extended timescale exceeds a further 10 working days, you have the right to approach the Housing Ombudsman and we will provide you with contact details for the Ombudsman Service.

4.10.3 If further related matters are raised about the complaint while it is still being investigated, these will be incorporated and responded to unless it unreasonably delays the response.

4.10.4 Our response to you will set out the issues investigated, the background to the case, the evidence used in assessing the case, the reasons for the findings or decisions made. If we identify we did something wrong, we will explain what went wrong and why and what we will do to put things right.

4.10.5 A response will be provided to you when the answer is known and not when outstanding actions are completed. If there are outstanding actions you will be provided with arrangements for updates on these outstanding actions. You will be provided with details of how to escalate your complaint should you not be satisfied with the response and you will be provided with the Housing Ombudsman’s contact details.

4.10.6 If you remain dissatisfied with the response you can ask for your complaint to be looked at again, this should be done immediately or as soon as reasonably practical. Any new matters raised after the response has been issued will be treated as a new complaint.

What happens if you ask for the complaint to be looked at again

4.11 Within 5 working days of receiving your request we will acknowledge and log your complaint. We will contact you to set out our understanding of your complaint and the outcomes you are seeking. We will advise you if there are any aspects of your complaint which we are not responsible for. If any aspect of the complaint is unclear, you will be asked for clarification.

4.11.1 Your request for a review will be investigated by a different officer.

4.11.2 A written response will be provided within 20 working days of your complaint being acknowledged.

4.11.3 If a response cannot be provided within 20 working days, we will contact you with an explanation of why and agree with you suitable intervals for keeping you informed about your complaint. Any extension will not exceed a further 20 working days. If the extended timescale exceeds a further 20 working days, you have the right to approach the Housing Ombudsman and we will provide you with contact details for the Housing Ombudsman Service.

4.11.4 Our response to you will set out the issues investigated, the background to the case, the evidence used in assessing the case, the reasons for the findings or decisions made. If we identify we did something wrong, we will explain what went wrong and why and what we will do to put things right.

4.11.5 A response will be provided to you when the answer is known and not when outstanding actions are completed. If there are outstanding actions you will be provided with arrangements for updates on these outstanding actions. You will be provided with details of how to escalate your complaint should you not be satisfied with the response and you will be provided with the Housing Ombudsman’s contact details.

4.11.6 This response, once provided to you, will conclude the council’s complaint procedure and be the final response to your complaint.

4.11.7 If you remain dissatisfied with the response you have received, you can raise the matter with the Housing Ombudsman Service, this should be done immediately or as soon as reasonably practical.

4.11.8 You can complain directly to the Housing Ombudsman Service within 12 months of receiving the final response to your complaint.  

Unacceptable behaviour

4.12. We appreciate that sometimes upset can cause people to act of character in unacceptable ways. We aim to deal with feedback, including complaints empathetically. However, sometimes behaviours can cross the line of what is acceptable, and unacceptable behaviour will be managed under the council’s Unacceptable Customer Behaviour Policy.

5.0 Considerations

5.1 Consultation

There is no consultation requirement associated with this update to policy.

5.2 Equality Implications

The council is fully committed to treating people fairly and understands its statutory duties under the Equality Act (2010). The equality implications have been considered. This policy has positive implications for several protected groups. It has been written in an inclusive manner to ensure ease of understanding by the widest possible audience.  It has been written in plain English to ensure ease of translation.

We want to ensure our services are accessible for our customers to provide feedback. We will ensure a variety of access methods are available to customers. We will monitor and evaluate our processes to ensure that they continue to be accessible to our customers. We will seek to accommodate reasonable adjustments and preferred methods of contact. Where a complaint has equality implications, the equality team will be notified to advise accordingly.

5.3 Health Assessments and inequalities

After consideration, there are positive health implications arising from this procedure. This policy will help to support health and wellbeing. The policy clearly sets out how the council will use feedback to improve services and address dissatisfaction, providing assurance of outcomes. This assurance on how matters will be handled should help reduce anxiety arising from dissatisfaction when things go wrong.

5.4 Climate Impact

After consideration, there are no climate implications arising from this procedure. This policy has no overall impact on energy consumption and resource utilisation of council resources. It will not increase overall demand for this service. Low resource accessibility options such as digital mitigate resource expenditure on more manual methods of contact.

5.5 Community Impact

After consideration, there are no community implications arising from this procedure.

5.6 Crime and Disorder Impact

After consideration, there are no crime and disorder implications arising from this procedure.

5.7 Data Protection Implications

After consideration, there are no data protection implications arising from this procedure. Full details on how the council handles personal data can be found on our data protection and privacy information page.

5.8 Legal and Governance

After consideration, there are no legal implications arising from this procedure.

5.9 Resources and Financial

After consideration, there are no financial and resource implications arising from this procedure.

5.10 Risk

After consideration, there are no significant risks, positive or adverse arising from this procedure.

Last updated 15 June 2026