Last updated: 28 September 2026

A clear, accessible and effective complaints policy is an essential part of delivering high-quality supported housing services. It provides residents with a safe and meaningful way to raise concerns when they feel that a service has not met their needs or expectations, and gives providers an opportunity to listen, respond and put things right.

Under the Social Housing Regulation Act 2023, from April 2024, all Registered Providers (RPs) of Social housing must comply with the ‘Consumer Standards’. These set clear expectations for RPs to deliver safe, high-quality homes, responsive services and listen to, and act on tenants’ concerns. For RPs, the Regulator of Social Housing’s ‘Transparency, Influence and Accountability’ standard requires complaints to be addressed fairly, effectively and promptly, and requires providers to ensure that their complaints approach is simple, accessible and publicised.

As the Act made compliance with the Housing Ombudsman's Complaint Handling Code mandatory, all registered providers must have a complaints process that meets the Code's requirements. This includes set timeframes for responding to complaints, clear escalation routes, and a requirement to self-assess against the Code annually and publish the results. Providers should ensure their complaints policies and processes are up to date and that staff understand the requirements, as the Housing Ombudsman can issue complaint handling failure orders where landlords are not complying.

What to include in your complaints policy and procedure

An effective supported housing complaints policy and procedure should include the following key elements:

  • A clear definition: what constitutes a complaint, and how this differs to a service request, safeguarding concerns, and other forms of feedback.
  • Accessible routes for making a complaint: a variety of options on how to make a complaint e.g., verbally, in writing, online, with support from an advocate.
  • A clear process: a transparent procedure on how complaints are acknowledged, investigated and responded to. For Registered Providers, the process should be in line with the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code, including its requirements concerning stages, response timescales, extensions and the information to be provided to residents.
  • Fair and impartial investigations: objective investigations conducted by someone with sufficient authority and competence which establish what happened, consider the evidence, and acknowledge the individual’s experience.
  • Appropriate actions: where a complaint highlights a service failure, appropriate action must be taken by the provider, which may include an apology, practical action, or compensation, depending on the nature of the complaint.
  • Protection from disadvantage: the policy and procedure must clearly state that making a complaint will not negatively affect the individual’s accommodation or support.
  • Recording and monitoring of complaints: details of how complaints are recorded, and the detail needed e.g., the nature of the complaint, investigations, the outcome, and wider learning.

Good practice for supporting individuals to submit complaints

  • Make your complaints process accessible: use plain English, provide translation services where necessary, consider different learning needs e.g., consider making a flow chart to clearly show the complaints process.
  • Provide support throughout the complaints process: consider whether an individual requires assistance to understand the process, provide evidence, and attend meetings. Explain the role of an advocate and offer this option.
  • Be transparent: ensure the individual understands how their complaint will be handled, who is responsible for investigating it, what they can expect as a response, and what they can do if they’re not happy with the outcome.
  • Involve residents in developing your complaints process: listen to residents’ views on how they want their voices heard, and the ways in which they feel safe to communicate concerns.

Pre-complaints: providing opportunities for early resolution

Not every concern raised by a resident needs to become a formal complaint. Often, concerns can be resolved quickly which can prevent issues from escalating. However, early resolution should not be used to discourage, delay, or prevent an individual from making a formal complaint if this is what they wish to do. For Registered Providers, the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code requires landlords to recognise the distinction between a service request and a complaint and states that a complaint must be raised when a resident expresses dissatisfaction with the response to their service request.

What is a pre-complaints process?

A pre-complaints process should involve a set of opportunities for early resolution, rather than an additional stage in the formal complaints procedure. For example, an individual may report a maintenance issue, a problem with communal facilities, or an issue with staff conduct. A pre-complaints process should have the following steps:

  • Listen to the resident and acknowledge their concern, establishing what the individual needs to put the matter right
  • If the issue can be resolved quickly, staff should take immediate practical action
  • Apologise where appropriate, for example, if the service has failed to fulfil its duties
  • Where an issue cannot be resolved immediately, agree a clear action plan and timescales
  • Once the service has taken action, staff should confirm with the resident that the matter is resolved or whether further action is required.

Remember, early resolution should always be offered alongside, rather than instead of, access to the formal complaints process.

Case Study: Your Place

Your Place provides supported accommodation for more than 150 residents in the London Borough of Newham. When the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code became statutory in 2024, we took a fresh look at how we handle complaints. As a small provider, our challenge was to strengthen compliance without losing the personal approach residents value, so we simplified the process and built the Code into everyday practice.

What changed in practice

  • We moved from four stages to a simpler two-stage process with early resolution built in. Residents are clearly informed that they can contact the Housing Ombudsman at any stage.
  • We introduced clear timescales and stronger action tracking to help us respond promptly, resolve underlying issues, and ensure agreed actions are completed.
  • We clarified the difference between complaints and service requests, refreshed our forms and correspondence, and trained staff to recognise dissatisfaction even when residents do not use the word “complaint”. Recognising concerns and capturing information early helps investigations start promptly.

Early conversations and the human touch

In supported accommodation, concerns often arise informally. With staff available around the clock, residents can be helped to access the right route.

Early resolution can solve straightforward issues quickly, but it must never delay or obstruct a formal complaint. Informal problem-solving should support resident choice, not replace accountability.

Our monthly resident forum, “Meeting Place”, provides another route for raising lower-level concerns. In a service where more than 150 residents share communal facilities, issues can be raised and reported back through a “you said, we did” approach. The forum complements rather than replaces the complaints process, helping identify recurring issues before concerns escalate.

Managers and the Frontline Services Sub-committee review complaints quarterly to identify recurring themes, delayed actions and wider service lessons.

Room to grow

The Code has given us stronger foundations; our next priority is accessibility. We work in one of London’s most diverse boroughs, and many residents speak English as an additional language and often with limited English comprehension. The process must be easy to understand both on paper and in day-to-day conversations.

We recognise that our response times and follow-up have not always met expectations. Staff absence, urgent resident needs and competing responsibilities can affect delivery. Increasingly detailed, AI-assisted complaints can also add complexity to investigations.

Greater awareness of the Housing Ombudsman’s role has led some residents to contact it before completing our internal process. Where cases are referred back to us, resolution can take longer. We therefore plan to appoint a dedicated manager to monitor timescales and actions, strengthen accountability and support continuous improvement.

For us, three practical lessons stand out:

  1. Build compliance into existing service relationships, rather than creating a separate process that feels like an add-on.
  2. Resolve concerns early where possible, while keeping the formal route clear and unobstructed.
  3. Use complaint data and resident forums together to identify problems, track action and show what changed.

Example Complaints Policies

Your Place’s Complaints Policy can be accessed here.

Transform Housing and Support have also kindly shared their Complaints Policy, which can be accessed here.

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