Skip to content
Date updated: 21/10/2024

We do our best to provide great services, but there’s always room for improvement. We value your comments and suggestions to help us provide better services. You can also tell us if we are doing something well, it lets us when you are receiving good service.

If you have a complaint regarding Housing services, please let us know and we will do our best to resolve the issue. We want to learn from our mistakes, and prevent similar problems in the future.

Report an issue for the first time

If you are reporting something for the first time, we need an opportunity to resolve it before you submit a complaint. Rather than making a complaint that can take time to progress, you can first report a problem and we can begin resolving the issue immediately. 

You can report issues such as:

  • estate cleansing
  • missed communication
  • missing signage
  • graffiti
  • fly tipping
  • anti-social behaviour (including noise nuisance) 
  • communal repairs

You can report any repairs or issues in communal areas directly to the Repairs Service Desk, or to your Estate Office team.

Complaints

If we have not been able to resolve your issue, you can make an formal complaint.

For full details of how our complaints process works, including how to make a complaint and what we can accept as a complaint, please view our Complaints Policy below. Further resources are also available at the bottom of this page.

Information you need to provide when making a complaint

We would like to know:

  • what the complaint is about
  • the date the problem occurred or you became aware of it
  • what you think the Housing Services Team have done wrong
  • what you think the Housing Services Team should do to put things right

Help us to help you by providing any relevant dates, names of staff and copies of relevant letters or other documents to support your complaint.

Where to submit a complaint

Email the Housing Complaints Team

By phone 020 7606 3030

By post
Housing Complaints Team
Barbican Estate Office
3 Lauderdale Place
London EC2Y 8EN

Make a complaint

A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service given or the action, or lack of action, taken by the City’s staff in responding to a customer request or enquiry. Examples of a complaint can include where the complainant believes staff have:

  • failed to do something that should have been done
  • failed to meet service standards
  • treated a resident rudely or unfairly

Complaints need to be made within six months of the event which caused the complaint.

We will take every reasonable step to resolve a complaint, whilst acting within our policies, procedures and statutory (legal) duties.

  • A request for services, information or an explanation will not be treated as a complaint – staff will first be given the opportunity to respond to the request or enquiry and to follow required procedures
  • Complaints about other residents or neighbour disputes – these are managed via our Anti-social Behaviour Policy
  • Formal service charge disputes – which are dealt with under a separate legal process called the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber)
  • Appeals against allocations or tenancy decisions – these are managed under appeals processes
  • Disagreement with a City of London policy or procedure. We encourage comments and feedback on our policies via consultation processes and will take comments received into account when policies are reviewed
  • Requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) 2000. Information on how to make a FOI request can be found on the City of London Access to Information webpage
  • Requests for information that the City of London may hold about you, your home and tenancy and other personal information. This is classed as a Subject Access Request (SAR). Please refer to the City of London access to information web page for further information
  • Any issue that has previously been addressed through the Housing Service’s formal Complaint’s Policy
  • We do not accept complaints where the resident has started legal proceedings or has previously taken the matter to court or tribunal

The Housing Ombudsman Service is set up by law to look at complaints about housing organisations. The Housing Ombudsman resolve disputes involving tenants and leaseholders of social landlords and  voluntary members (private landlords and letting agents who are committed to good service for their tenants).

Residents can contact the Housing Ombudsman Service at any stage of a complaint.

Contact the Housing Ombudsman

By phone: 0300 111 3000

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman look at individual complaints about councils and all adult social care providers. They are a free service that investigate complaints in a fair and independent way.

Contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

By phone: 0300 061 0614

The Housing Ombudsman Service published in a new Complaints Handling Code in July 2020, setting out good practice that will allow landlords to respond to complaints effectively and fairly.

Self-assessment

Landlords have been asked to self-assess against the Complaints Code to ensure compliance and publish the results.

Refer to our Noise Nuisance leaflet for information on what we can investigate and act upon, and how you should go about recording and reporting noise problems on your estate.

What we can do to help

Estate staff will keep a record of all reports of noise but can only take action on noise complaints where the local authority can investigate, gather evidence and independently witness unreasonable noise levels from your home, this can be done using the noise monitoring app (The Noise App). We can accept anonymous complaints but this does limit what we may be able to do to help. 

What we do not investigate

Everyday living noise is not regarded as anti-social behaviour, even if this does cause a disturbance. Everyday living noise could include, but is not limited to, noise from washing machines, moving furniture, doors opening and closing, vacuuming and DIY work, children playing (with the exception of riding play equipment, such as bikes and scooters, indoors). We will not investigate these claims unless the noise is at unreasonable hours and persistent. We ask that residents have consideration for neighbours in terms of levels of noise created in their homes.

Complaints Policy PDF (200KB)
Date submitted: 9/11/20
Making a Housing Complaint PDF (1.5MB)
Information for residents on the complaints process, who to speak to if you are unhappy with a service and how to submit a formal complaint.
Date submitted: 21/09/22
Making a Housing Complaint - Short Version PDF (200KB)
A shortened, easily readable version of our 'Making a Housing Complaint' booklet including how the process works and key contacts
Date submitted: 16/10/24
Complaints Performance & Service Improvement Report 23-24 PDF (700KB)
Date submitted: 28/06/24
Housing Self-Assessment 23-24 PDF (400KB)
Date submitted: 28/06/24
Complaint Performance Report - Member Response PDF (80KB)
Date submitted: 28/06/24
Complaint Handling Code PDF (256KB)
Date submitted: 30/12/20
Noise Nuisance Leaflet PDF (600KB)
Date submitted: 7/12/21

Say thank you, or give a compliment

We are always happy to hear that our staff are doing a great job. We make sure they know when someone is pleased, as this makes their hard work worthwhile.

We welcome your feedback including thank-yous and compliments on our services, as these help us to improve all service areas going forward.

Say thank you or give a compliment

Contact the Performance team

Email the Housing Performance Team

By phone 020 7606 3030

By post
Housing Complaints Team
Barbican Estate Office
3 Lauderdale Place
London EC2Y 8EN