How to complain to the Housing Ombudsman, step by step

Direct answer

The Housing Ombudsman Service is a free, independent service for tenants and leaseholders of social landlords (councils and housing associations). They investigate complaints about repairs, anti-social behaviour, tenancy issues, complaint handling and more. Before you can use them, you usually have to complete your landlord's own complaints process. Call them on 0300 111 3000 or go to housing-ombudsman.org.uk.

Key facts

• The Housing Ombudsman's 2021 report "Spotlight on damp and mould: it's not lifestyle" called on landlords to stop automatically blaming tenants' lifestyle for damp and mould. Housing Ombudsman, Spotlight on damp and mould
• The 2024 to 2025 English Housing Survey found about 9% of homes in England, around 2.3 million, had a category 1 (most serious) hazard under the HHSRS. In the private rented sector the figure was 10%. English Housing Survey 2024-25, GOV.UK

When the Housing Ombudsman is the right route

Use the Ombudsman if:

• Your landlord is a council, housing association or other social landlord registered with the Regulator of Social Housing.
• You have completed your landlord's two-stage complaints process (or your landlord has gone 8 weeks without resolving).
• The complaint is about how the landlord has dealt with you, not a court matter.

The Ombudsman cannot:

• Award large damages (their compensation guidelines run to hundreds or low thousands of pounds, not the larger sums a disrepair claim can produce).
• Decide on tenancy break-down or eviction cases that are at court.
• Look at private-landlord complaints (use The Property Ombudsman or Property Redress Scheme).
• Investigate complaints that are over 12 months old without a good reason.

Step 1, complete your landlord's complaints process

Most social landlords have a two-stage complaints process. You usually have to:

1. Submit a formal complaint to your landlord (stage 1).
2. Get a written stage 1 response.
3. Escalate to stage 2 if not satisfied.
4. Get a written stage 2 (final) response.

Each stage usually takes 10 to 20 working days. The whole process should be done within 8 weeks.

If your landlord takes more than 8 weeks without a stage 2 response, you can go to the Ombudsman without waiting any longer. See how to write a complaint letter.

Step 2, gather your evidence

You will need:

• Your complaint letters (both stages).
• The landlord's responses.
• All emails, letters, app messages and text messages with the landlord.
• Photos and videos of any problems.
• Repair reports and chase emails.
• A chronology (date-ordered list of what happened).
• Doctor's letters if anyone has been ill.
• Receipts for any costs you have paid.

Keep originals. Send copies. A clear chronology is the single most useful document.

Step 3, submit the complaint

You can complain to the Ombudsman:

• Online at housing-ombudsman.org.uk/residents (there is a form).
• By phone on 0300 111 3000 (open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm).
• By email to info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk.
• By post to PO Box 1484, Unit D, Preston, PR2 0ET.

The online form is fastest. It asks for your landlord, the complaint summary, what stage you are at, and the evidence.

Step 4, the Ombudsman assesses

The Ombudsman:

1. Acknowledges receipt, usually within a few working days.
2. Decides if they can investigate (the eligibility decision).
3. Asks both you and the landlord for any extra information.
4. Carries out an investigation.
5. Issues a written determination.

The whole investigation usually takes 6 to 9 months but can be longer for complex cases. The Ombudsman has been working to reduce wait times.

Step 5, the determination

The Ombudsman can find:

• No maladministration, the landlord acted reasonably.
• Service failure, minor wrong, often modest compensation ordered.
• Maladministration, significant wrong, larger compensation.
• Severe maladministration, serious wrong with major impact, biggest compensation.

The Ombudsman can order the landlord to:

• Apologise in writing.
• Pay compensation (usually £50 to a few thousand pounds).
• Carry out specific actions (repairs, training, policy changes).
• Report back within a set period.

Landlords almost always comply.

What if the Ombudsman finds against you

If the Ombudsman finds no maladministration, you can:

• Ask the Ombudsman for a review of the determination if you believe a procedural error was made.
• Pursue a disrepair claim through the courts if there are unresolved disrepair issues. Both routes can run in parallel and a disrepair claim usually produces larger compensation than an Ombudsman decision.

When to use a claim instead

The Ombudsman is good for getting the landlord to fix things and apologise. A disrepair claim is better when:

• The claim value is large.
• You have lived with serious disrepair for months or years.
• You have damaged belongings, health damage, or both.
• The landlord has lawyers.
• You want to force major works fast.

Both can run together. Call us free on 0800 030 4669 for the disrepair side.

How we can help

If you have completed the Ombudsman process or are running both, the disrepair claim covers compensation for the time you lived with the problem, plus damaged belongings and health impact. Call us free on 0800 030 4669.

Free call: 0800 030 4669 | Start your claim

Sources

• Housing Ombudsman Service
• Housing Act 1996 (legislation.gov.uk)