Complaints. No one wants them to happen, and no one wants to have to deal with them.
But last year (2023-2024) the Housing Ombudsman1 received over 5,000 complaints and made 21,740 orders for social landlords to put things right for their residents, representing a more than threefold increase compared to the previous year.
The Annual Complaints Review revealed an increase in maladministration across the board, with 73% of all decisions resulting in this finding due to the landlord not following its legal requirements, policy or process.
As Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, put it2: “These figures are another stark reminder of the scale of the housing emergency and the urgent need for landlords to improve essential services and some living conditions.”
He emphasised “this could be avoided with more investment into existing homes, improved systems and technology and stronger service management.”
Coupled with the many stories circulating about Housing Associations being held to account for their handling complaints and high-profile cases resulting in new regulation like Awaab’s Law, there are clearly challenges not being addressed by the sector.
While the new standards and inspection programme from the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has gone some way to standardising and addressing tenant satisfaction it’s crucial for Social Housing providers to take on the challenge themselves.
As Fiona MacGregor, chief executive of the RSH said: “Social landlords must keep tenants safe in their homes, listen to what they say and put things right when needed. We are introducing new standards to drive improvements in social housing, and we will actively inspect landlords to check they are meeting them.”
Re-framing the challenge
This rise in complaints to the Ombudsman, introduction of new RSH standards, and notable high-profile cases has led to many Housing Associations sensibly reviewing their complaints procedures.
Ensuring internal complaints processes are robust, fair, and effective is an important step in avoiding an escalation to the Ombudsman.
But is it enough?
Complaints, even at an internal level, are costly in terms of time, energy, and resource.
Rather than focusing on handling complaints better, Housing Associations should be taking a step back and doing everything they can to prevent them.
When customers complain it’s usually the result of a problem not being solved. And in the majority of cases there will have been multiple opportunities to resolve the problem before it escalated.
If someone has reached the point of complaining, it’s usually an emotional decision. They have gone beyond simply looking for their needs to be met and are seeking validation, to communicate their frustration, or to right a perceived wrong.
Prevention is better than cure
So how can we get better at improving our Ccustomer’s experience to reduce complaints?
We need a focus on culture, empowerment and trust, ownership and learning. It can be useful to look at this through the lenses of: people, policies and procedures, and partnership.
People
A complaint might appear to be about a roof leak, a shared space, or an electrical fault, but really at the core of the issue is people. The customer and those who have (or have not) dealt with the problem.
What to consider:
- Is the customer the focus? From the first report of any problem to the final resolution, every stage of the process needs to be considered from the customer’s perspective.
- Have call-handling staff been adequately trained? Staff need the tools, the confidence, and the time to ask the right questions and manage expectations.
- Are you using emotional intelligence? There’s a psychology to issue management. For example, attribution theory shows that when something goes wrong people will look for an external action or person to blame, confirmation bias means customers are looking for information that reinforces their prior belief, and blame theory tells us that once they have had a negative experience it’s very difficult for the customer to change their mind. There will also be all kinds of personal values and beliefs at play when a customer has a problem.
- Are maintenance teams and contractors supported? While not customer service staff it’s key for frontline tradespeople to be skilled in managing customers. They need to be aligned with the culture, values, and expectations of the team.
- Do staff feel empowered? People need to feel confident, equipped, and trusted to analyse what’s happening, why it’s happening, and to be able to put it right. With the support networks there to call on if they need back up.
- Are past experiences taken into account? Customers aren’t numbers and problems don’t exist in isolation. If they have had a bad experience with a member of staff, another problem unresolved, or a current complaint this information needs to be accessible and shared.
Policies and procedures
Good problem management needs clear policies and procedures. When you have a consistent pathway to resolution – with enough flexibility to empower informed case-by-case decision making – you have the best chance of avoiding complaints.
What to consider:
- Is the process fair and consistent? Issues can arise when services delivered seem unfair and inconsistent, for example if one resident is given a new kitchen and another isn’t without a real reason why it’s likely to cause problems. Expectations need to be managed and reasoning considered.
- Are there blockers to progress? Unnecessary delays can lead to frustration and anger, if there are parts of the process causing hold-ups these need to be streamlined. And if there is a delay it should be policy to communicate progress to the customer.
- Are you asking too much from the customer? If someone is waiting for a resolution but is being constantly asked for what appears to be surplus – and sometimes duplicate – information it can lead to an erosion of confidence and trust. And the process should be as simple as possible for the customer, no complex or manual forms.
- Is there a lack of clarity? Vague and unclear requests can confuse the customer and result in delays. If they aren’t sure what information is needed from them for their problem to be diagnosed for example, it could lead to misdiagnosis or the wrong contractor being sent out.
- Are you learning from every issue? Each time someone raises a problem it’s an opportunity to stop it from happening again. Complaints will be recorded but not always the smaller problems. Developing a process for tracking every problem and the outcome will give invaluable insight into how to stop it occurring again.
Partnerships
Many complaints are complex because what started as a simple issue evolves into a much bigger problem and encompasses multiple departments. Even in large organisations this can be mitigated through good communication and strong collaboration.
What to consider:
- Are your processes aligned? There needs to be consistent recording of information and regular and transparent sharing between teams – internally and externally. Customers feel frustrated if they have to tell the same thing to multiple people.
- Are your systems aligned? A culture of collaboration goes beyond individuals, the systems to record, track, and resolve issues need to talk to each other too. Whether it’s the CRM, job tracking, or repair logging systems they need to come together to provide a collective overview.
- Are managers protecting budgets? If departments are under pressure to curb spending it can lead to ‘pillar to post’ experiences where managers prioritise their bottom line over accountability – and customers experience the frustration of being passed around various teams.
- Are external contractors part of the team? Customers often won’t differentiate between internal staff and sub-contractors. It’s vital that these contractors sign up to being the face and voice of your organisation too. Operating with the same value, integrity, and accountability.
Taking control and laying the right foundations
In the housing sector complaints will always be a hot topic and high-profile cases will continue to be newsworthy.
But by looking at the culture of the organisation, ensuring staff get the right training, and laying the foundations for consistent customer service, you can stop the vast majority of potential problems in their tracks.
About the author:
Simon Bernstein is a Housing Association Coach & Trainer specialising in customer experience and leadership. He has over 20 years’ experience helping Housing Associations to develop, create and embed a culture which is built around delivering excellence of customer experience at its core.