2.Main Content
Housing Ombudsman Service
This page contains information about the Housing Ombudsman Service, including:
What it does
Advantages and disadvantages
Which complaints are eligible and which are not?
Cost
Timescale
Procedure
Outcomes
What it does
The Housing Ombudsman Service (HOS) deals with disputes affecting tenants and their housing providers. It is a statutory service that has jurisdiction over all registered social landlords (such as housing associations) in England, covering more than 2,000 landlords. Some private landlords and management agents are also members on a voluntary basis.
HOS does not cover public sector housing (council tenancies); these disputes are covered by the Local Government Ombudsman. Social landlords in Scotland are covered by the Scottish Public Services Ombud. No ombudsman scheme covers housing association tenants in Northern Ireland, although the Department for Social Development has responsibility for housing associations. A complaint about the way the department handled a complaint can go to the Northern Ireland Ombudsman. In Wales, complaints about social landlords are dealt with by the Public Services Ombud for Wales.
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Advantages
- it is independent of the organisations that are the subjects of complaints
- it is confidential for individuals
- it is free
- it can persuade housing organisations to resolve complaints and disputes amicably
- it is possible to get a thorough investigation - to find out what happened
- several dispute resolution options are available, including mediation, adjudication and arbitration
- a wide range of remedies is possible
- it can influence good practice and procedures for housing providers
Disadvantages
- Many private sector landlords are not members of the scheme
- You have to go all the way through the landlord’s own complaints procedure before complaining to the ombudsman
- It can take time to get a decision – the average time taken to get a final determination in 2007 was 26 weeks, though mediation and adjudication can be arranged more promptly, and at no extra cost
- There's a chance of not getting your complaint investigated if the ombudsman considers that the case does not merit it
The ombudsman is not an advocate for complainants and will not act on their behalf. But it is not on the side of the landlords either. The HOS investigates complaints independently. At the end of the day the aims of the service are to provide a remedy for individual complainants, and also to influence good practice by housing providers. So it is sometimes as important to the ombudsman to find nothing has gone wrong as it is to find that something has gone wrong.
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Which complaints and disputes are eligible and which are not?
HOS will consider complaints about a landlord's or a manager's failure to do something they should have done, or action on something they shouldn't have done. In 2007 the majority of complaints were about:
- repairs – 32%
- the way landlords deal with concerns about anti-social behaviour – 18%
- allocations and transfers – 12%
- charges – 10%
HOS will not consider complaints about:
- disagreeing with the landlord's decision when it is properly made
- disputes between neighbours (although it can look at how the landlord handled the dispute)
- complaints that rent or service charge levels are too high
- complaints from someone other than the tenant involved, unless it is an authorised representative
This means that you can’t complain to the HOS about a housing association tenant if you are a homeowner, or a council tenant living nearby. However, the HOS staff will try to give you information about where to go for help if they cannot help you directly.
The HOS does not consider disputes that it believes would be better dealt with by a court or tribunal, or those that are about to go to a court or tribunal. This means that you can't apply to court and complain to the ombudsman at the same time. If you complain to the ombudsman and are unhappy with the result, you can still take the case to court later.
You must start your complaint with the landlord’s internal complaints procedure. A large proportion of complaints that go to the Housing Ombudsman are sent back to be dealt with by the landlord, because the person complaining has not tried this first. However if a complainant has difficulty using the internal complaints procedure, or if the procedure seems to be taking too long, you can tell the HOS about it. HOS staff can decide to accept a complaint before it has reached the final stage.
You must complain to the landlord within 12 months of becoming aware of the problem.
You must approach the ombudsman within 12 months of reaching the final stage of the landlord's complaints procedure.
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Cost
The service is free to tenants. If you are eligible, you can get Legal Aid for advice in preparing a complaint.
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Timescale
All complaints get some preliminary investigation and an initial response within three weeks. At this stage you will be told whether HOS will investigate the complaint, and what it is proposing to do. The time taken to get an outcome from HOS depends on what type of resolution method is used:
- for mediations and "paper-only" adjudications, about 80% are resolved within two months
- for arbitrations, most are resolved within four months
- on average, cases that are investigated get a final determination within 26 weeks
- 98% of cases are closed within one year
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Procedure
Complaints can be submitted on the service's complaint form, by email, through its website or by letter. In special circumstances, they can be made on the phone, and HOS staff will complete the complaint form with the complainant over the phone. If the complainant has difficulty completing the complaint form, they can ask an adviser or family member to make the complaint. There is a place on the form to indicate that that person has been given authority to act on the complainant's behalf.
In addition to investigations, the service uses a number of ADR methods to resolve complaints and disputes, including local settlement (a kind of conciliation), mediation, arbitration and adjudication. These are described below.
Local settlement:
Once a complaint has been accepted by HOS, a copy of the complaint is sent to the landlord for comment. The first stage is an attempt at local settlement: HOS tries to negotiate a settlement between the complainant and the landlord.
Adjudication:
HOS can offer the parties an Adjudication with or without a face-to-face hearing. This is a quick method to handle disputes that are not technically complex and for which there is no need to carry out extensive enquiries or gather substantial information.
Mediation:
HOS can recommend Mediation, which needs to be agreed by both parties. The mediation is provided by an independent, impartial mediator who will help the parties reach their own, non-binding agreement that resolves the dispute. HOS mediators are provided by the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR). There is no extra cost for mediations under HOS.
Arbitration:
Where HOS recommends Arbitration, both parties will need to agree to it. In arbitration, an impartial, independent arbitrator hears both sides of the case and makes a decision that is binding on both parties. The arbitrator will be selected from HOS's panel of trained arbitrators, who are members of IDRS. HOS covers the fees for the arbitrator and related expenses such as expert opinions.
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Outcomes
Only 15% of the complaints investigated by HOS resulted in a finding of maladministration in 2007. The ombudsman can order a wide range of remedies such as an apology, compensation, or a change in policy or procedure.
In a further 18% of cases in 2007, although no maladministration was found, the HOS recommended some form of remedy or compensation for the complainant.
Generally, compensation levels are lower than in the county court. The principal role of the ombudsman is, whenever possible, to put the individual back in the position he or she was in before things went wrong. This means that high levels of compensation to punish the landlord are not awarded. The most common factors taken into account when setting compensation levels are:
- time taken to resolve the problem
- difficulties faced by the complainant
- undue delay
- disruption to household, particularly in relation to disrepair
- landlord mishandling of complaints
The range of awards across all the above factors is between £25 and £3,000, although higher awards have been made.
The HOS can also order changes in policy and procedure – for example, training for staff – that can help to prevent the problem recurring.
The HOS publishes summaries of cases in its annual report and on its website; they do not name the complainant but may name the landlord involved.
Member organisations are expected to comply with the ombudsman's orders and follow his recommendations, and nearly all do. If they refuse, the ombudsman has the power to force landlords to publish their refusal.
There is no appeal against the ombudsman's decisions, though it is possible to apply for a judicial review of the HOS procedure. Complainants who are unhappy with the outcome can still go to court.
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November 2008
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