The Housing Ombudsman (the independent public body that looks at complaints within the social housing sector) introduced a new statutory Complaint Handling Code in 2024 to ensure that all complaints from leaseholders and tenants are handled promptly, effectively and fairly.
We carried out a self-assessment against the requirements of the code.
It is important that we know as soon as possible when things have not gone well, so that we can investigate what happened and take action to put things right if needed. Feedback also allows us to continually learn and improve.
It is important that we know as soon as possible when things have not gone well, so that we can investigate what happened and take action to put things right if needed. Feedback also allows us to continually learn and improve.
There are several ways you can give us feedback:
- Online: www.norwich.gov.uk/complaints
- Email: mailto:listening@norwich.gov.uk
- In writing: Norwich City Council, City Hall, St Peter’s Street, Norwich, NR2 1NH
- In person to a member of staff or contractors, or by completing and returning satisfaction surveys.
More information on making a complaint
The Government’s Make Things Right campaign aims to inform residents on how to raise complaints if they are unhappy with the service from their social housing provider.
We also have lots of information on our website, including how to contact the Ombudsman.
Housing complaint reports
We have published a report of our complaint performance and service improvement in 2023/24.
- Number of stage 1 complaints received – 1,187
- Percentage responded to within the Housing Ombudsman timeframe – 45%
- Number of stage 2 complaints received – 191
- Percentage responded to within the Housing Ombudsman timeframes – 65%
- Nature of highest volume of housing complaints received 2023/24:
Nature of highest volume of housing complaints received 2023/24:
| Nature of complaint | Complaints received |
|---|---|
| Responsive repairs | 45% |
| Tenancy and neighbourhood issues | 12% |
| Contractors | 10% |
Learning from complaints
As a way of making sure that Norwich City Council continues to learn from complaints, a new quarterly review process was implemented in 2023.
This process enables senior managers to meet regularly to review the quality of compliant handling, to ensure timely responses are being provided and to share learning from cases.
Our aim is to improve the complaint process so issues are dealt with as quickly and efficiently as possible and at the same time learn from our mistakes so we constantly improve.
Here are some examples of the learning points for us from complaints received during 2023/24:
- We have changed our rent arrears recovery procedure to ensure we balance the debt recovery with any personal circumstances and particularly in cases of domestic abuse.
- We ensure we have requested waste and recycling bins ahead of your tenancy starting.
- We have simplified our charging structure for garages.
- We have reminded officers to always show ID when visiting and to use headed paper to reassure residents that our letters are genuine.
