Annual housing complaints report 2024 to 2025

This report sets out a summary of the complaints received by Ashfield District Council in relation to the delivery of its housing services that fall within the jurisdiction of the Housing Ombudsman Service during 2024 to 2025. These are broken down and analysed by stage, service, complainant’s ethnicity, compensation award and type. Customer feedback is also set out alongside the learning from complaints, along with any changes we have made to services following complaints received during 2024 to 2025.

2.1 Number of complaints

During 2024 to 2025 95 stage one complaints were received. The most complaints were received in November (14) and the least in May (5).

Volumes were broken down as follows:

• Quarter 1 – 21
• Quarter 2 – 22
• Quarter 3 – 27
• Quarter 4 – 25

We also received 19 stage two complaints.

Shown is a bar chart of the stage one complaints received during 2024 to 2025 by month (blue bar), number responded (orange bar) to in time and the average time taken to respond shown with an orange dotted line.

• document: Graph one - Stage one complaints
• document: Stage one complaints received 2024 to 2025 data table

Shown is a bar chart of the stage two complaints received during 2024 to 2025 by month (blue bar), number responded (orange bar) to in time and the average time taken to respond shown with an orange dotted line.

• document: Graph 2 – Stage 2 complaints
• document: Stage two complaints received during 2024 to 2025 data table

2.2 Performance

There has been a 75.9 percent increase in the number of stage one complaints received in 2024 to 2025, compared to the previous year which is the expected trend with the increased awareness of the housing complaints process and is in line with sector trends, showing increasing complaint volumes.

52.6 percent of the stage one complaints received in 2024 to 2025 were found to be upheld or partially upheld (0.07 percent more than 2023 to 2024).

In 2024 to 2025, stage one complaints took an average of 12.4 working days (1.7 days higher than 2023 to 2024), which is lower than the overall target of 15 working days.

The following graph compares stage one complaint volumes over the last 3 financial years.

• document: Graph 3 – Stage one complaint volumes over the last 3 financial years
• document: Stage one complaint comparison data table

Stage two complaints have increased by 90 percent, compared to the previous financial year, which can be expected, with increasing stage one complaint volumes. However, the proportion of complaints escalating to stage two remains relatively low at 20.0 percent.

The proportion of stage two complaints that have been upheld or partially upheld is 47.4 percent.

Stage two complaints took an average of 26.6 working days, from receipt to response, against a overall target of 25 working days.

The following graph compares stage two complaint volumes over the last 3 financial years.

• document: Graph 4 – Stage 2 complaint volumes over the last 3 financial years
• document: Stage two complaint comparison data table

2.3 Breakdown of stage one complaints/service requests by service area

• document: 2.3 Breakdown of stage one complaints or service requests by service area data table

86 percent of stage one complaints were responded to within Complaint Handling Code guidelines, which is a slight improvement on the previous financial year.

11 or 11.6 percent of the stage one complaints received required an extension to the usual response deadline, as permitted within the Complaint Handling Code.

2.4 Breakdown by stage of complaint

Stage One

• document: Breakdown by stage of complaint data table

Non-compliant stage one responses - (Complaint Handling Code timescales)

A list of complaints that were not responded to within complaint handling timescales, along with the reason why and the relevant department:

Assets

• Tenant - Sutton in Ashfield – Acknowledgement took longer than 5 working days

Community Safety

• Tenant - Sutton in Ashfield – Acknowledgement took longer than 5 working days
• Tenant - Sutton in Ashfield – Acknowledgement took longer than 5 working days
• Tenant - Kirkby in Ashfield – Acknowledgement took longer than 5 working days
• Tenant - Selston – Acknowledgement took longer than 5 working days

Housing Management

• Tenant - Sutton in Ashfield – Acknowledgement took longer than 5 working days
• Tenant - Sutton in Ashfield – Response out of time by 1 day
• Tenant - Sutton in Ashfield - Response out of time by 2 days
• Tenant - Hucknall – Response out of time by 3 days

Lettings

• Tenant - Kirkby in Ashfield – Acknowledgement took longer than 5 working days
• Tenant - Kirkby in Ashfield – Acknowledgement took longer than 5 working days

Responsive Repairs and Voids

• Tenant - Sutton in Ashfield - Acknowledgement took longer than 5 working days
• Tenant - Sutton in Ashfield – Acknowledgement took longer than 5 working days

As non-compliance with the requirements of the Code has been identified, these have been raised with the relevant department and advice given on how to achieve compliance. Compliance with the Code is closely monitored.

Complaints by type

The stage one complaints received within the financial year were broken down as follows:

• document: Complaints by type - Pie chart
• document: Stage one complaint by type data table

The percentage of complaints by type is shown in the data table document linked to, and is compared to the previous financial year. Green colouring denotes this year’s proportion is lower than last year and red denotes a higher proportion this year. The “Length of time taken” is the highest complaint reason and has seen the highest percentage change on the previous year. “Attitude or conduct of employee” has increased slightly in the current year and represents nearly a quarter of all complaints.

Stage Two

We received 19 stage two complaints in 2024 to 2025, nine of the stage two complaints were found to be partially upheld or upheld, 6 of which were found to be not upheld at stage one.

These 19 complaints are broken down as follows:

• Poor Workmanship – 3
• Length of time taken – 6
• Attitude or conduct of employee – 3
• Unhappy with the decision – 3
• State of property – 3
• Conduct of neighbour – 1

• document: Stage 2 complaints in 2024 to 2025

Non-compliant stage two responses – (Complaint Handling Code timescales)

• Tenant - Hucknall – response exceeded deadline
• Tenant - Selston – response exceeded deadline
• Tenant – Sutton in Ashfield – response exceeded deadline

As non-compliance with the requirements of the Code has been identified, these have been raised with the relevant department and advice given on how to achieve compliance. Compliance with the Code is closely monitored.

2.5 Proportion of complaints received that relates to leaks, floors or damp and mould

The Council’s handling of damp and mould cases within our housing stock presents a serious risk to both the Council and our tenants. The introduction of Awaab’s law, which places more stringent requirements on social housing landlords on how they handle and address reports of damp and mould within their housing stock. As a result, we monitor the number of complaints received which relate to this subject area, to assist with identifying patterns.

A higher proportion of stage one complaints which involve damp and mould were reported during 2024 to 2025 (36.8 percent) when compared to the previous financial year (20.37 percent) but fewer of the stage two complaints related to this area, 21.6 percent during 2024 to 2025 compare to 40 percent the previous year.

2.6 Breakdown of complaints by complainant’s ethnicity

The ethnicity of the complainant is monitored based on the information held in the council’s housing management system, at the time of making the complaint and is not collected as part of the complaints process, to avoid any allegations of bias. The breakdown continues to be relatively consistent with the tenant base.

• document: Stage one – Complainant’s ethnicity pie chart
• document: Stage one complainant's ethnicity data table

2.7 Compensation awards as part of complaint outcomes

A total of £1740.20 compensation was offered at stage one and a total of £4655.77 was offered at stage two to complainants, in compensation or ex-gratia payments, as a remedy for resolving the complaints during 2024 to 2025.

2.8 Not accepted

4 contacts through complaint channels (excluding those considered service requests) were not accepted through the complaints process, because of the exceptions set out within the Complaints and Compliments Policy.

2.9 Housing Ombudsman Complaints

During 2024 to 2025 1 new complaint was referred to the Housing Ombudsman Service for investigation. The Ombudsman concluded that the case did not fall within their remit.

One complaint remained with the Ombudsman for investigation, following a referral by a tenant in 2023 to 2024. In May 2024 we received notification that the Ombudsman had determined the following:

• 3 counts of maladministration (our handling of resident’s contact, handling of reports of anti-social behaviour, complaint handling)
• 1 count of no maladministration (reports of sub-letting)

The Ombudsman also made the following orders against us, which were complied with in line with the timescales set by the Ombudsman:

• Pay the resident compensation totalling £1500
• A senior manager carries out a comprehensive review of its policies and practices in dealing with reports of anti-social behaviour and vulnerable residents
• Report the findings of the review to the Ombudsman, along with a plan for implementing the change identified

A complaints satisfaction survey is sent to all stage one complainants as part of the resolution documentation for their complaint. We also provide complainants with the option to complete an online survey, where they can submit feedback about the process. Where surveys have not been returned, a follow-up text message is sent, where possible, to remind the complainant.

During 2024 to 2025 only 10 complainants have returned a completed satisfaction survey, which is a response rate of 10.5 percent, which is slightly higher than the previous financial year.

Low response rates and low rates of escalation to stage two/the Housing Ombudsman Service are considered as a positive.

In the spreadsheet link is a breakdown of the responses submitted by the survey respondents. The responses are relatively consistent with historical responses where the complainant is typically either very satisfied with the complaint handling and does not wish to escalate to the next stage or they are very dissatisfied with the complaint handling and wish to escalate to stage two.

• document: Customer feedback table

4.1 Actions from learning from complaints

We record any learning outcomes from complaints that require further action or changes to policy, process, or procedure.

A risk rating for each of the actions coming out of complaints is assigned to each action. This is based on the level of potential risk to the Authority/resident for not addressing the action and a future complaint relating to these actions occurring, which may result in a service failure or maladministration finding from the Housing Ombudsman.

From the complaints responded to during 2024-25, 101 learning outcomes were identified, to date 95 or 94% of which have all been implemented by service areas.

Complaint learning outcomes have increased by 146% compared to the last financial year.

A summary of the learning outcomes is as follows:

Percentage Implemented

A breakdown of the learning outcomes identified is as follows:

• Complaint responder at stage one to be reminded not to amend the desired outcome of the complaint between acknowledgement and response, without the explicit consent of the complainant.
• Officers to be reminded of the timescales for response contained in the Council’s Anti-Social Behaviour Policy and Procedure and respond to complainants accordingly.
• Where action (untidy garden) is not concluded, and the matter resolved, officers are to be reminded of the need to diarise actions to follow up cases to either conclude the action requested has been completed by the tenant or to escalate the case in line with the procedure.
• Officers to be reminded to respond to email communication from tenants within 5 working days with either an acknowledgement or to advise the tenant of the next action.
• The Tenancy Services Team Leader to conduct regular (monthly) reviews of live ASB cases to ensure that cases are followed up and progressing.
• Housing Operations section to acknowledge permission requests to manage tenants’ expectations
• Call centre officers to be reminded that complaints can be taken over the telephone, reminded of the requirements under the Reasonable Adjustments Policy and to maintain a professional approach when dealing with customers
• Assets officers to be reminded to attempt to resolve claims for compensation as quickly as possible, subject to provision of supporting information from the claimant
• Housing Officers to be reminded to ensure they are clear as to the address ASB complainants are alleging are the home of perpetrators. Once the address is clarified Housing Officers must check the tenure of the property and whether or not it is a Council tenancy and take the appropriate action
• Housing Inspectors to be reminded of the importance of raising the correct job and the need to advise tenants their belongings need to be moved prior to work on an inspection.
• Operatives to be reminded to advise the tenant If rubbish is left after work is complete, it will be collected in due course
• A repairs operative to receive further training around sealing baths, where quadrant is in situ
• Housing Management officers to be reminded of the importance of responding to calls and other contact left by tenants and where to where to send requests for additional lighting
• Housing Management officers to conduct a follow up visit for properties where the Goodwill Hedge/Tree cutting service has been provided, after 6 months to ensure the garden does not return to the previous poor condition
• The Council should consider other legal remedies (Community Protection Warning etc) to assist in enforcing tenancy conditions regarding gardens
• Consent to discuss a tenancy on a tenant’s behalf needs to be checked before speaking to next of kin/advocates.
• Records need to be added to CRM following all telephone contact and the information recorded on the CRM needs to include what action was taken etc
• Officers should not advise that a report was anonymous when an Officer has visited the property as this can create further issues e.g. neighbour disputes (when it may not be a neighbour)
• Officers should knock on the tenant’s door to enquire about the position of the garden if they are visiting
• Letters sent out to tenants should be accurate in terms of tenancy breaches
• Officers to be reminded not to give their own personal opinions to customers about others
• Officers should not assess for the Good Will Tree and Hedge Cutting Service over the telephone or pre-determine the outcome of the assessment before visiting the tenant and assessing the works/checking for eligibility
• Repairs inspections should be carried out within 30 working days
• Out of hours repairs service provider to be contacted address OOH call where call handler failed to diagnose repair as priority 1 and provide tenant empathy on the situation there were facing.
• Officers to be reminded to read enquiries in full before responding
• Surveyor reminded to contact line manager if they have queries in relation to scheduled appointments
• Lettings to notify Housing Management of any new lets during periods of formal consultation so a cross check can be made against data sources/letters before they are sent out
• Spreadsheets to be re-run so that data is as up to date as can be, where multiple consultation letters are being sent. Additional data checks need to be made on spreadsheets
• Community Safety Manager to be reminded to refer on complaints to the relevant department to deal with
• Officers in the Housing Management Department to be reminded that changes to the tenancy commencement date for new sign-ups cannot be amended by the Tenancy Services Manager or AD - Housing Management. The AD - Strategic Housing whose team signed up tenancies is the responsible officer who can make the decision to change a start date
• A point of contact needs to be agreed in the Repairs Department so that repairs complaints can be dealt with by one officer and tenants can have one point of contact.
• Officers in the Housing Management Department should advise tenants of the council’s complaints procedure, if issues are repeatedly being reported/have been forwarded over a period of time to another Department (and the tenant states they have not received a response)
• Officers in the Housing Management Team should be reminded to return calls if they promise to do so
• Officers in the Housing Management Team should not commit to Managers within their own departments resolving issues (which are not within their remit or responsibility) when they are not able to do so.
• Team Leader (Tenancy/Estates) to be reminded to follow up on issues that Officers have raised
• Officers to be reminded to change the effective date of a housing app when the banding changes.
• Officers to be reminded to fully read evidence submitted in support of re-housing, interpret and apply it correctly to the situation.
• Urgent parts to be ordered with fast-track delivery and the estimated time of arrival to be shared with the tenant
• Conduct of officer during specific telephone conversation to be discussed with them, to identify service improvement to tenants
• Lettings Officers to ensure they have an understanding of homeless applicants’ personal circumstances and make a reasonable and informed decision when deciding on suitability of a property
• Where untidy gardens are reported or discovered during visits/inspections, initial contact should be made with the tenant to ascertain what their intentions are with regard to the garden before commencing formal action
• Before contacting a tenant, Capita should be checked to ascertain whether there is any information recorded to suggest that the tenant or any members of the household are vulnerable
• Where available photographs of the condition of gardens when the property was let should be checked to ascertain whether the garden condition has improved since this time
• The Untidy Garden Procedure and the examples within it should be referred to, to make an assessment as to whether the garden should be dealt with as being “untidy”
• Notes of visits or inspections, including annual estate inspections, should be made in sufficient detail to support the need for formal action
• Where possible photographs should be taken of gardens where formal action may need to be taken
• Officers to be reminded to respond to tenants within the timescales set in the Untidy Gardens Procedure
• Officers should refrain from offering personal opinions or assumptions to tenants
• ASB procedure to be reviewed to consider including timescales for updating all parties on the outcome of an investigation
• Senior Repairs Technicians to discuss follow up works/issues from two separate complaints in Team Meeting
• Call Centre Team Leader to review appointment booking for shorter priority timescale jobs
• Housing Management Officers to be reminded of the importance of making accurate records of conversations and other communication with tenants
• Senior Repairs Technicians to ensure that issues are resolved in a timelier manner (issue with WC requiring repeated repairs visits)
• The termination of tenancy arrangements for current tenants who are transferring to either other Council property or being offered Housing Association tenancies should be clearly communicated by other officers that may have contact with a tenant prior to them moving home
• Housing Management Officers reminded to follow the relevant procedure that is appropriate to the issues that they are dealing with
• Housing Management Officers requesting Support colleagues to send letters on their behalf should check the contents before they are sent
• Housing Officer to ensure that future permission requests are handled in line with Council requirements/targets
• Spot checks of communal cleaning to take place to ensure cleaning carried out to a satisfactory standard
• Actions to be taken to ensure rough sleepers are not allowed access to the Court (Brookhill/Langton)
• The importance of the quality assurance checks and case management reviews of each officer to be raised in Community Safety Team’s management meeting
• Housing Management Officers to be reminded to act in line with ASB policies/procedures, particularly in relation to referrals to the Community Safety Team (vehicle nuisance on communal grounds)
• Operatives to be reminded to leave areas clean and tidy, when undertaking repairs
• The ‘Universal Credit Claim and Payment of your Rent’ letter to be amended to include a paragraph which advises that UC payments and payment dates may fluctuate, dependent on circumstances
• Housing Management Officers to be reminded to refer all cases where tenants are in arrears to a Money Management Advisor and as soon as possible and in a timely manner
• Housing Management Officers are to be reminded to ask tenants if they have any literacy or numeracy issues and these are to be recorded on the Housing Management System.
• Housing Management Officers are to be reminded that they don’t need tenants to request for information to be sent by email in writing and also need to consider a tenant’s vulnerabilities. They can take the request on the tenants’ behalf.
• Housing Management Officers should send non-standard letters to explain the position when repeat queries are made by tenants.
• Housing Management Officers should send statements where tenants dispute, they are in debt and letters (non-standard) should be drafted to provide explanations to tenants
• The Income Collection Procedures are to be updated to ensure learning outcomes are incorporated
• Assistant Director to discuss inaccuracies within stage one response letter the Manager
• Housing Management Officers are to be reminded of the importance of accurate and detailed notes
• Call Centre Officers to be reminded to ensure that all information is factually correct when speaking to tenants
• Call Centre Officers to be reminded to ensure they are polite and courteous and provide updates where necessary
• Housing Management Officers are to be reminded to ensure the tenancy agreement conditions and extracts from other documents are correct, when being “cut and pasted“ in to documents before sending to customers.
• Housing Management Officer are to be reminded that mutual exchange inspection records must include sufficient detail of “non-standard” improvements and/or alterations- including garden buildings.
• The wording of documents regarding permission for alterations is to be changed to more accurately explain the requirement for planning permission, in some cases, where fences may exceed 2m rather than 1800mm in height
• Responsive Repairs Manager to work with team to review procedures following reports of E119 error message on boilers
• Housing Management officers to be reminded to give their full name to customers, if requested.
• Income Team Officers to be reminded that when dealing with an arrears case where a DHP claim is pending, the progress of the claim should be checked with the internal Revenues and Benefits Team. This will also be included in the new Money Management Advice procedure.
• Income Team officers to be reminded that where there is an outcome of a DHP claim the decision should be communicated to the tenant.
• Disclaimer/wording to be added to ‘Installation of a gas/electric cooking appliance’ letter stating this is a discretionary service and that this could be withdrawn at any time.
• Acquisition of a more accessible temporary toilet solution for tenants with additional needs to be explored.
• Income Team Officers to be reminded to ask for vulnerability information and record this on the Capita system.
• Income Officers to be reminded to apply for Alternative Payment Arrangements asap, especially for tenant who may fit into tier 1 criteria
• Income Team Officers to be reminded to offer support as soon as a tenant goes into debt

4.2 Changes to complaints process

• The following changes have been made to the Council’s complaints process/policy during 2024 to 2025
• 01 April 2024 - Revised Complaints and Compliments Policy and Housing Complaints Procedure introduced to ensure compliance with the revised Complaint Handling Code
• 23 April 2024 - Accessibility disclaimer added to the Housing Complaints Procedure to facilitate uploading to the internal intranet
• 10 May 2024 - Letterhead templates amended to reflect change to Housing Ombudsman Service’s address and amendments to Strategic Leadership Team
• 6 December 2024 - Amendment to Housing Complaint Satisfaction Survey to reflect changes to telephone switchboard
• 11 December 2024 - Survey link amended in stage one response letter template and on survey form

Guidance and good practice on complaint handling published by the Ombudsman is routinely shared with senior leaders and consideration is given to the adaptation of service delivery, policies and procedures, including those relating to complaint handling, to reflect this.

The council’s Complaints and Compliments Policy and Housing Complaints Procedure has also been assessed against the requirements of the Housing Ombudsman Services’ Complaint Handling Code. Engaged tenants were involved in this process, as well as council officers. The council consider that our approach is fully compliant with the requirements of the code. 

The self-assessment and this performance information was reported to the council’s Cabinet, along with this report on 22 September 2025.

The self-assessment was approved and found to be reflective of the Council's approach to complaints. A copy of the self-assessment has been published on our website and can be found on 

• link: Housing complaints guide

The Council's Cabinet comments on this report can be found in:

• link: September 2025 Cabinet minutes

Along with publishing this information for our residents to review, we have also submitted it to the Housing Ombudsman Service, to enable them to monitor our compliance with their Complaint Handling Code.