Timeline for complaints

From 1 April 2024, the Housing Ombudsman's Complaint Handling Code, which Housing 21 must adhere to, means complaints can no longer be dealt with ‘informally’ and must follow the specified two-stage process. 

Stage one 

1. When a complaint is made, Housing 21 must acknowledge and acknowledge it as a stage one complaint within five days of it being raised 
2. Housing 21 must respond to the complaint within 10 working days of it being logged. In exceptional circumstances a 10-working day extension can be applied. When informing residents about an extension, contact details for the Ombudsman must also be provided 
3. Where residents raise additional complaints during the investigation, these must be incorporated into the stage one response if they are related and the response has not been issued. If the response has already been issued, the new issues are unrelated to the issues already being investigated or it would unreasonably delay the response, the new issues must be logged as a new complaint 
4. A response to the complaint must be sent to the resident when the outcome it decided – not when outstanding actions are completed. Any outstanding actions must be tracked and monitored and updates given to the resident 
5. The response must confirm the outcome in writing, using clear, plain language 
6. If the resident is not satisfied with all or part of the outcome, it can be escalated to stage two. The stage two investigation will not be led by the same Housing 21 employee  

Stage two

1. Housing 21 must acknowledge the stage two complaint within five working days of being escalated 
2. Housing 21 must respond to the stage two complaint within 20 working days of the complaint being logged. In exceptional circumstances a 20-working day extension can be applied. When informing residents about an extension, contact details for the Ombudsman must also be provided 
3. A response to the complaint must be sent to the resident when the outcome it decided – not when outstanding actions are completed. Any outstanding actions must be tracked and monitored and updates given to the resident 
4. The response must confirm the outcome in writing, using clear, plain language 
5. If the resident is still not satisfied, Housing 21 must provide details of how to escalate the matter to the Housing Ombudsman 

At the outcome of both stage one and stage complaints, the written decision must include information about: 

• the complaint stage  
• the complaint definition  
• the decision on the complaint 
• the reasons for any decisions made 
• the details of any remedy offered to put things right 
• details of any outstanding actions 

For a stage one complaint outcome, it must also include details of how to escalate the matter to stage two. 

For a stage two complaint outcome, it must also include details of how to escalate the issue to the Housing Ombudsman