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Compliments and complaints

We are committed to providing our customers with exceptional high-quality services.

From April 2024 to 31 March 2025, the Group logged 1,015 complaints and 232 compliments.

These figures include our independent living, general needs and RWP supported living tenants, Progress Lifeline, Progress Futures, Progress Living, shared ownership, supported housing and leasehold customers.

Please note: Other reports and figures, ie our annual review of complaints, may show different figures as this includes complaints related to low-cost rental accommodation as defined within the Tenant Satisfaction Measures.

We are members of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme and carry out an annual self-assessment  to ensure compliance with the Housing Ombudsman's Complaint Handling Code and to learn from customer feedback to improve our services.

Learn more about the Housing Ombudsman Service on their website.

Below is a summary of how well we manage and learn from complaints and the learning outcomes identified as part of the process.

How we are doing | 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025

We love hearing from you, whether good or bad, as the feedback helps us to learn and improve our services.

From 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, we logged: 

  • 1,015 complaints – 497 were resolved at the first point of contact 
  • 232 compliments  

You said, we did… 

Time taken to repair

Two damp and mould operatives have been employed to triage and treat damp and mould risks, and in addition, the Group can now utilise the services of a targeted repairs contractor. Focus will be applied to category 1 and 2 hazard repairs as well as damp and mould major repairs. This will allow additional focus on day-to-day repair orders, reducing the time to wait for a repair.

Employee handling

Complaints for this area cover a broad range of issues such as colleagues’ attitude and communication and examples around how colleagues have attempted to access properties. Individual matters are addressed with colleagues in line with our policy and procedures. This has also been supported by our ongoing delivery and promotion of our in-house customer service style framework, RAMP (R – Resolve issues, A – Adapt our service, M – Make it easy, P – Proactive communication). Due to the broad range of examples, however, the Customer Feedback Team has been tasked to review this area to assess for common themes that can be translated into further actionable insights.

Communication

Building upon the success of the development and roll-out of the Group’s customer service style framework, RAMP, further training has been developed specifically targeted at heads of service and managers in relation to improving communication during the handling of complaints. The training will form part of the Group’s mandatory learning for appropriate roles and will provide guidance and support on achieving early resolution to complaints and adherence to the Housing Ombudsman's Complaint Handling Code.

Compliments 

"Please pass on my thanks and gratitude to the operatives that recently fitted my new boiler and radiators. They were quick, efficient and tidy. Being elderly they showed kindness and made sure I was ok throughout the two days. Thank you for everything"

Customer called to advise she was over the moon with a housing officer. The housing officer arranged to have all tree cutting done and the customer said it looks wonderful and it has made them so happy.

Two operatives fitted a radiator in bedroom where there wasn’t one installed. The tenant said she is made up now they have a heat source in the bedroom and the two operatives have done a great job, and were polite, clean and tidy, so she gave them an ice cream.

A tenant called to specifically praise the work of an inspector. The tenant said he investigated every corner of the property and went above and beyond. The tenant was impressed with the inspector speaking in plain English and making things easy for her to understand. The tenant said she has never met anybody in her life who puts so much effort into their work, and if she was a paying customer, she would have paid double the price!

A tenant had a joiner, electrician and a heating engineer attend. He wanted us to know they were all polite, very good at their job and all round great people to have in his home.

"A member from the Tenancy Sustainability Team made me feel at ease, he took time to go through everything with a fine tooth comb. The speed and professionalism was excellent. I can’t thank him enough."

"Please could you pass on our grateful thanks and appreciation to the new cleaners, who attended for the first time this week, R&F Facilities. The communal areas smell amazing and you can really tell the difference. The building is fresh and properly cleaned for the first time in four years we have lived here."

"Thanks again to a customer support officer for going above and beyond!"

Annual complaints performance for 2024/25

Status: getting better

Overall, we received fewer complaints last year than in the year before.

Changing how we deliver some of our repairs has helped us to improve satisfaction with our repair service. 

Number of complaints received  2023/24  2024/25  2024/25
TSM data**
Stage 1: First point of contact resolution  291 497

429

Stage one 854 518 328
Stage two 53 65 36

*The totals do not include the Stage twos as the complaint has already been included in the Stage one figures.

**TSM data relates to our Low Cost Rental accommodation units only. All other data relates to all complaints received by the Group. 

Status: needs improvement

We aim to respond to all stage one complaints within 10 working days.

In 2024/25, we have responded better to complaints. 

We have introduced two dedicated complaints officers, a training programme and a central log for tracking complaints. 

Stage one complaints  2023/24  2024/25 2024/25 TSM data 
Percentage stage one complaints responded to within the timescale 90.7%  98.9%  99.6% 

Status: getting better

We aim to respond to all stage two complaints within 20 working days.

In 2024/25, we improved our performance in responding to complaints at stage two.   

Stage two complaints  2023/24  2024/25 2024/25 TSM data 
Percentage stage two complaints responded to within the timescale 81.1%  95.2%  86.1% 

15 cases were referred to the Housing Ombudsman (HO) in 2024/25. 

 

Date logged with HO 

HO findings 

March 2024 

No determination – offer of redress made and accepted prior to investigation

April 2024

No maladministration found 

May 2024 

Referred back to the Group as triggered Stage 2 and then complaint closed

 

 maladministration found 

June 2024

 No determination – outside of Housing Ombudsman jurisdiction

 

 Investigation ongoing

September 2024

 Investigation ongoing

October 2024

 Investigation ongoing

January 2025 X2

 Investigation ongoing

March 2025 X5

 Investigation ongoing

Stage 1

The Group got it wrong on 762 out of 1,015 stage one complaints logged, which equated to 75% of Stage 1 complaints.

The Group got it right on 251 out of 1,015 stage one complaints, which equated to 25% of stage one complaints.

Stage 2

The Group got it wrong on 36 out of 65 stage two complaints, which equated to 55%.

The Group got it right on 23 out of 65 stage two complaints, which equated to 35%.

Following consultation with tenants, our new policy now defines the outcomes of complaints as either ‘got it wrong’, where we uphold a complaint, and we ‘got it right’, where we do not uphold a complaint.

  1. The time we take to complete a repair
  2. Employee handling - how we interact with you
  3. Communication - how we keep you updated about requests, such as your repairs or when you report issues such as anti-social behaviour.

There are no complaints that the Group has refused to accept within the reporting period.

We have a service improvement plan that uses insights from complaints performance to identify ways to improve - and to keep us on track. 

Our service improvement plan is monitored, and we report on it every quarter to the Executive Board, tenants, and NED leads

You can read the plan below.

We always aim to provide tenants and customers with the best possible service, but we recognise that we don’t always get things right.

As a board, it is extremely important for us to receive information about how we are performing and to hear directly from tenants and customers. We receive regular reports and hear from tenants through the Tenants Voice – Improving Services group reporting and their scrutiny reviews. This year, we also approved the introduction of two Tenant Committees with a defined purpose:  

  • to hear the tenant and customer voice
  • to shape, influence and review service delivery and performance based on tenant experiences when compared alongside outcome measures e.g. key performance indicators and tenant satisfaction measures (TSM), with a focus on continuous improvement
  • to recommend/report to the board how the tenants voice can be heard through insight and engagement activity to influence the Strategic Plan

We have reviewed the annual complaints performance report and self-assessment (against the Housing Ombudsman's Complaints Handling Code). 

The Group received 71.2 complaints per 1,000 homes as our published TSM figure, down from 87.7 from last year.

During this year, a lot of activity has been undertaken to ensure that we continuously improve services to tenants and to hear the voice of customers. This has been done through:  

  • following consultation, the Group’s Complaints, Feedback and Redress Policy was updated.
  • an audit was completed on complaints and we received a risk assurance rating of ‘substantial’
  • the Customer Feedback Team is now stable with two ongoing complaints resolution officers who support the majority of the teams with their complaints and supporting customers directly as their point of contact
  • tenants are invited to the quarterly learning from complaints forum.

Looking forward: our priorities

Housing Ombudsman Code

Communication

Time taken to resolve

Learning from complaints

Our service improvement plan

We have a service improvement plan that uses insights from complaints performance to identify ways to improve - and to keep us on track. 

Our service improvement plan is monitored, and we report on it every quarter to the Executive Board, tenants, and NED leads

This is what we are focusing on in 2025.

What we are going to do

Continue to support colleagues to see feedback as a positive opportunity to listen, learn, and improve services.

How we are going to do it

  • continue quarterly learning from complaint forums for colleagues to share how they have listened, understood, and acted on lessons learnt from complaints with invitation to customers to attend
  • make sure we log and learn from feedback at the first point of contact
  • create a new way of monitoring and reviewing service requests
  • make sure that we include standard wording advising of the complaints process in all customer satisfaction surveys
  • roll out training for all complaint handlers.

What we are going to do

Make sure all our communications relating to complaints are consistent.

How we are going to do it

  • for the complaint resolution officers to continue to coordinate communications relating to complaints across the majority of teams
  • support positive commutation through the complaints training to all colleagues who deal with stage one and stage two complaints 
  • continue surveys to check how satisfied you are with how we managed your complaint

What we are going to do

Improve how we report on complaints so we get a better understanding of what we need to do.

 How are we going to do it

  • improve the way we categorise complaints to help understand trends better
  • improve how we report to our Executive Team and the board
  • develop a more user-friendly way of reporting to our Tenant Committees

What we are going to do

Make sure all information on our websites and in our leaflets relating to complaints is up-to-date.

How we are going to do it

Review the information we have about complaints on our website and leaflets.

What we are going to do

Resolve more complaints at the first point of contact.

How we are going to do it

Make sure that our colleagues fully understand the difference between a service request, when you are unhappy about something, and when we need to take it further.  

Oversight by the board

At the heart of our complaints handling process is exceptional customer experience and satisfaction. Our board has two dedicated complaints leads responsible for understanding and addressing complaints to achieve this.

The current board members with responsibility for complaints are Elaine Johnstone and Neil Townsend.

Elaine and Neil work with Tammy Bradley, Executive Director (Operations, Services, and Support), our corporate lead for complaints, consumer standards, and property health and safety.

Tammy’s role is to ensure that our approach to complaints is clear, simple, and accessible for tenants and customers and that any complaints are dealt with promptly, politely, and fairly.

You said, we did

We understand how important it is that you receive clear and consistent communications and how frustrating it can be to feel that you are not being updated on the progress of any report or request.

We have launched a new programme to get everyone in our organisation on board with what a great customer experience feels like and how they can contribute to delivering it. This will include training, briefings and regular check-ins.

 

We understand that when you need a repair, you want it completed quickly and to a high standard. We have reviewed how we deliver our repair service and have seen significant improvement in repair times and satisfaction with this service.

We have introduced two new complaint resolution officers to improve how we manage complaints and keep you up to date on progress.