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Annual housing complaints handling report 2024 to 2025
As Cabinet Member for Housing and the Member Responsible for Complaints, I am pleased to present this statement on our annual self-assessment against the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code.
This is the governing body’s second annual self-assessment since the requirement was introduced in 2024, and I’m pleased to report that since 2023 to 2024, complaints related to repairs, maintenance, and property improvements have decreased by 12% — from 80% to 68% of all housing-related complaints. This reduction reflects the significant improvements we’ve made to our repairs service in the past year.
I have reviewed the 2024 to 2025 Annual Housing Complaints Report and Self-Assessment in detail, and I am satisfied that it provides a transparent and honest reflection of our performance in handling housing complaints. The report shows that we received 832 Stage 1 complaints, with 50% upheld or partially upheld.
I recognise areas where improvement is needed. Of the complaints escalated to Stage 2 (16%), only 59% were responded to within the target of 20 working days, although this is a 10% improvement on the previous year’s performance, we want to see further improvements in this area.
The top areas of complaint—property condition (68%), anti-social behaviour (2%), and staff conduct (8.4%)—reflect the challenges many residents face. I am reassured that service improvements have already been identified, including clearer leaseholder consultation processes, an updated rent arrears policy for vulnerable tenants, and enhanced responses to fire safety and damp/mould issues.
In preparing this statement, I have taken into account the comments and feedback from the Audit, Standards & General-Purpose Committee. Their scrutiny has been invaluable in ensuring our self-assessment is robust and that our improvement actions are appropriately targeted.
I am committed to ensuring that our complaints handling continues to improve and remains aligned with the expectations of the Housing Ombudsman’s Code. We will continue to learn from complaints, engage with residents, and strengthen our services to better meet their needs.
Councillor Gill Williams
Cabinet Member for Housing and Member Responsible for Complaint