How To Make A Complaint

Reasons to make formal complaints to your landlord may include poor repairs and maintenance, issues with communal areas, health and safety issues, customer service issues and antisocial behaviour. If for instance you have put in a repair report and your landlord has not fixed the issue within a month, submitting a formal complaint is an option.  MTVH says “We aim to complete them [i.e. repairs] within 28 days of them being put onto our system”.  The other landlords are less specific. 

Complaints processes vary according to landlord.

Bear in mind that:

  • Generally you can only put in a complaint for an issue that has occurred in the last six months, so please act promptly.
  • Gather evidence, to support your complaint. This is vital. Evidence can include emails, paperwork, receipts, computer and phone records, attendance records and photos.
  • On the complaint submission, make sure to add all relevant dates and reference supporting evidence. Be clear about how the issue you are complaining about is impacting on the people in your household. Give details of any extra cost you have incurrred.
  • Stages 1 and 2 are the consecutive internal stages through which landlords deal with complaints. Make sure that your complaint is logged as a) a ‘stage 1’ and, if it proceeds beyond ‘stage 1’, as b) a ‘stage 2’ complaint. The outcome letters from your landlord should clearly state that.
  • Outcome letters will typically state the stage the complaint has reached, the decision that has been made on it, the rationale for the decision, details of remedy/resolution and details of any further actions.
  • Stage 1 outcome letters should provide details of how to escalate to stage 2, if the complainant is unhappy with the stage 1 outcome.
  • The final option, if you have exhausted your landlord’s complaints processes and issues remain unresolved, is escalation to the Housing Ombudsman. This must happen within 12 months of your landlord issuing the stage 2 response.
  • You may wish to seek the advice of a solicitor, your MP or a local councillor before escalating to the Housing Ombudsman . You can contact your MP and councillors here. Unfortunately we can’t recommend a specific solicitor

Please ask for compensation. In 2021 MTVH residents in Williams House won £250 compensation per household after persistent complaints about poor lift service .  The compensation policies are

Nobody in the residents association is a property lawyer. The above is not legal advice