The Housing Ombudsman's latest Duty to Monitor report highlights a simple but important message: compliance is about more than having the right policy. Landlords must be able to demonstrate that complaint handling works effectively in practice. 

Complaint handling must work in practice

The Ombudsman found recurring issues with:

• Missing complaint response timescales
• Poor complaint definition at the outset
• Weak Stage 2 reviews
• Delays caused by waiting for actions to be completed before issuing responses
• Failure to evidence learning from complaints

Key action: Review complaint workflows, strengthen quality assurance and ensure Stage 2 reviews provide meaningful scrutiny. 

Remove barriers to complaints

Some landlords continue to:

• Use narrow definitions of complaints
• Treat complaints as service requests
• Fail to recognise dissatisfaction as a complaint
• Create unnecessary barriers to escalation

Key action: Ensure staff understand the Complaint Handling Code and that residents can easily access and escalate complaints without needing to justify why. 

Landlords remain responsible for contractors

The report highlights weaknesses in oversight of contractors, managing agents and TMOs. Residents should not have to navigate multiple complaint procedures and accountability always remains with the landlord. 

Key action: Regularly review third-party complaint handling arrangements and ensure contracts require compliance with the Complaint Handling Code. 

Governance matters

The Ombudsman urges landlords to use annual submissions as an assurance tool rather than a tick-box exercise and focus on:

• Effective board and MRC scrutiny
• Consistent complaint handling across the organisation
• Clear ownership and accountability
• Demonstrating learning and service improvement

Final thought