How we learn from complaints and getting it wrong | Tenant news

Sometimes things don’t go as planned with our services and homes and when that happens, we listen to your concerns, learn from the situation, and make improvements.

Our complaints process is available to help tenants who feel we haven’t met their expectations.

Share your feedback

While we try to resolve issues before they become complaints, we encourage tenants to speak up if something isn’t right.

If you have something to share with us, you can use the feedback form on our website.

We are also part of the Housing Ombudsman Service, an independent organisation that reviews complaints if a tenant is still unhappy after going through our process.

We work closely with the Ombudsman and use its feedback to improve our services.

Handling complaints

Feedback from our tenants is an opportunity for us to improve by not only fixing the immediate issue, but also take the time to understand what went wrong and why.

We offer various ways for tenants to share their views, such as focus groups, local scheme meetings and the Scrutiny Panel.

To further improve how we handle complaints, we aim to:

• Reinforce the importance of tenant consent before contacting support workers
• Ensure tenants are consulted before making any improvements to communal areas
• Consider tenants’ access needs when carrying out repairs in communal spaces.

We’ve also recruited a Customer Services Resolution Officer and an Anti-Social Behaviour Officer to uphold national standards in complaint handling.

Find out how you can get involved and share your views on our services and performance. 

Improving repairs

Repairs are the most frequent source of tenant complaints. In the first half of 2024, 36 repair-related complaints were received, making up 70% of all complaints.

We hear you, so we’re working on strengthening our repairs and maintenance service with the help of a dedicated Director of Assets and an additional surveyor. We are committed to ensuring repairs are carried out efficiently, delays are tracked, and tenants are kept informed.

We’ve also introduced enhanced software for our new gas contractors to record access requirements, and help ensure repairs are scheduled at convenient times for tenants.

Moving forward

We will continue to improve our services and keep you involved through our Neighbourhood Plans, which we aim to roll out to all tenants in this financial year.

For more information, visit www.habinteg.org.uk/learning-from-getting-it-wrong.

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