Quick answer
To complain to the Housing Ombudsman about a social landlord, first exhaust the landlord’s two-stage complaints procedure. Once you have the landlord’s final (stage two) response, you have 12 months to refer the complaint, using the Ombudsman’s online form. The landlord must be a member of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme. The service is free for residents.
Last reviewed: June 2026 · For use in England & Wales · eLitigant is a Community Interest Company (No. 16566612), not a law firm. Always check the current official form on GOV.UK before you file, and sign the statement of truth yourself.
① Draft it from scratch
Upload your correspondence, Stage 1 and Stage 2 responses, photos and medical notes. Chris builds the chronology, maps the failings to the Complaint Handling Code and statute, and drafts the complaint.
② Check the draft you’ve written
Already started your complaint? Upload it and Chris reviews it against the Ombudsman’s expectations — tightening the failings, the harm and the remedies you ask for.
③ Had a Stage 1 or Stage 2 response — respond
Run the landlord’s response by Chris to plan your escalation, including the eight-week escape hatch when the landlord stalls.
Your landlord is a council or housing association. The repair has been outstanding for months. The complaint has been closed without a resolution. Someone in the complaints team keeps repeating the word “reasonable” about a timeline that is manifestly not.
The Housing Ombudsman is free, statutory, and — since the 2023 Social Housing (Regulation) Act — sharper than it has been in decades. A well-drafted complaint produces findings of maladministration, compensation orders, and orders for repair. Badly drafted complaints produce polite rejections.
Who the Ombudsman covers
Social housing tenants and leaseholders: local authority tenants, housing association tenants, shared-ownership leaseholders. Private tenants use The Property Ombudsman or the Property Redress Scheme. Homeless applicants use the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
The two-stage rule
Before the Ombudsman investigates, you must have exhausted the landlord’s internal complaints procedure. Under the Complaint Handling Code:
- Stage 1 — response within 10 working days
- Stage 2 — response within 20 working days
If the landlord fails to respond within eight weeks at either stage, you can escalate to the Ombudsman directly. This is the eight-week escape hatch — use it when the landlord stalls.
How to structure your complaint (the Litigant Standard)
1. A clear factual chronology
Date-stamped events in order. “14 January 2026 — first report of damp to ground-floor bedroom. 28 January 2026 — contractor attended, no action taken. 11 February 2026 — second report. 3 March 2026 — Stage 1 complaint lodged.”
2. The specific failures
Against the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code and the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (for repair obligations). Not “they were slow.” Say “the landlord failed to comply with its repair obligation under s.11 LTA 1985 and breached paragraphs 4.1 and 5.3 of the Complaint Handling Code by [specific act or omission].”
3. The harm caused
Medical evidence if available. Child’s asthma inhaler usage. Time off work. Cost of temporary accommodation. Impact on mental health — a GP letter confirming this is worth its weight.
4. What you want
Be specific. Apology is not enough. Ask for:
- A finding of severe maladministration (not just service failure)
- A binding order for the outstanding work with a deadline
- Compensation in line with the Ombudsman’s Remedies Guidance — cite the bands
- A policy review order if systemic failings are shown
5. Evidence bundle
Every email, every text, every call note, every photograph. Paginate it. Reference exhibits in the complaint by number.
The Spotlight reports — use them as ammunition
The Ombudsman’s Spotlight on damp and mould (2021), Spotlight on attitudes, respect and rights (2022), and Spotlight on noise (2022) reports set expectations landlords are measured against. Cite the relevant Spotlight. Quote the findings that apply to your case. The Ombudsman’s own reports are its own yardstick.
Awaab’s Law
Following the death of Awaab Ishak, the government introduced statutory deadlines for damp and mould repairs in social housing. If your complaint concerns damp and mould, cite Awaab’s Law requirements — 14-day investigation, defined repair timelines, duty to rehouse if the property is unsafe. Landlords ignoring these are not in a grey area. They are in breach.
What the Ombudsman can do
- Find maladministration (service failure, maladministration, or severe maladministration)
- Order apology and compensation
- Order the landlord to do specific work by a deadline
- Publish the finding on the Ombudsman’s website
- Refer systemic failings to the Regulator of Social Housing
What it cannot do
It is not a court. It does not award damages for personal injury — that is a disrepair claim under Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, which Chris also drafts. Run both if the case warrants.
Can Chris draft your Housing Ombudsman complaint?
Yes. Upload your correspondence, your Stage 1 and Stage 2 responses, photographs, medical notes. Chris builds the chronology, maps the failings to the Complaint Handling Code and relevant statute, cites the applicable Spotlight report, and drafts the complaint to the standard the Ombudsman’s casework team expects. You review every line. You sign. You submit.
Prepare to win. Plan not to fail.
The Ombudsman reads thousands of complaints. Most are emotional, chronological, and ignored. The ones that produce orders read like legal submissions. Chris drafts legal submissions.
Related Court Forms & Guides
- Housing Disrepair Claim
- Awaab’s Law Complaint
- Local Government Ombudsman (LGSCO) Complaint
- Energy Ombudsman Complaint
- Pensions Ombudsman Complaint
- Rent Repayment Order
- Civil Court Forms Index
Frequently asked questions
Who can use the Housing Ombudsman?
Social housing tenants and leaseholders — local authority tenants, housing association tenants and shared-ownership leaseholders. Private tenants use The Property Ombudsman or the Property Redress Scheme, and homeless applicants use the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
Do I have to complain to my landlord first?
Yes. Before the Ombudsman investigates, you must have exhausted the landlord’s internal complaints procedure. Under the Complaint Handling Code there is a Stage 1 response (within 10 working days) and a Stage 2 response (within 20 working days).
What if my landlord just ignores my complaint?
If the landlord fails to respond within eight weeks at either stage, you can escalate to the Ombudsman directly. This is the eight-week escape hatch — use it when the landlord stalls.
How should a winning complaint be structured?
Around five elements: a clear date-stamped factual chronology; the specific failures mapped to the Complaint Handling Code and statute (such as repair obligations under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985); the harm caused, with medical evidence where available; what you want, including a finding of severe maladministration, a binding order with a deadline and compensation in line with the Ombudsman’s Remedies Guidance; and a paginated evidence bundle.
What can the Ombudsman do — and not do?
It can find maladministration, order an apology and compensation, order specific work by a deadline, publish the finding and refer systemic failings to the Regulator of Social Housing. It is not a court and does not award damages for personal injury — that is a disrepair claim under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, which Chris also drafts.
What if my complaint is about damp and mould?
Cite the relevant Ombudsman Spotlight reports and Awaab’s Law requirements — the statutory deadlines for damp and mould repairs in social housing introduced following the death of Awaab Ishak — as the yardstick the landlord is measured against.
Build a complaint the Ombudsman’s casework team takes seriously
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Related guides: Housing disrepair claims · N244 application notice · All civil court forms
Most people arrive for one document.
Formal paperwork rarely arrives on its own. Next time it might be a letter to a landlord, a complaint to a company, a form to apply for something, or an official letter that needs a careful reply.
Whatever formal letter, complaint, application or correspondence comes next, Chris helps you prepare it from your own details, to a professional standard, in plain steps you stay in control of the whole way through.
So when the next one lands, you’ll know exactly where to start — bring it to Chris.
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