Make a comment, complaint, compliment or suggestion.

SLH believe that our customers have a right to be heard, listened to, understood and treated with respect. We work hard to be open and accessible to everyone.

We welcome feedback from our customers, including complaints and compliments and carry out regular transactional and perception customer satisfaction surveys. We also provide wider opportunities for our customers to provide feedback, shape and influence service provision, be involved in decision making and hold us to account.

A service request is a request from a resident to SLH requiring action to be taken to put something right. Service requests are not complaints, but must be recorded, monitored and reviewed regularly.

A complaint is defined as ‘an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service, actions or lack of action by the landlord, its own staff, or those acting on its behalf, affecting a resident or group of residents.’ A customer does not have to use the word ‘complaint’ for it to be treated as a complaint. A complaint that is submitted via a third party or representative will be handled in line with this policy. Customers will be given the choice if they wish to make a complaint, if they are unhappy about our services.

SLH have a two stage complaints process.

Summary of our Complaints Procedure

At the completion of each stage of the complaints process we will write to the
customer advising them of the following:

a. the complaint stage;

b. the complaint definition;

c. the decision on the complaint;

d. the reasons for any decisions made;

e. the details of any remedy offered to put things right;

f. details of any outstanding actions; and

g. details of how to escalate the matter if the individual is not satisfied with the response.

As part of the complaint policy the customer shall be given a fair opportunity to:
• set out their position
• comment on any adverse findings before a final decision is made

At anytime in the process a customer can contact the Housing Ombudsman Service for advice. Once the Complaint’s Policy has been exhausted, customers have the right to refer the complaint to the Housing Ombudsman Service, of which SLH is a member.

Further information is available at Contact us: Housing Ombudsman Service (housing-ombudsman.org.uk) or call on 0300 111 3000 or write to Housing Ombudsman Service, PO Box 1484, Unit D, Preston, PR2 0ET.

A copy of the Complaints Policy is available to review.

 

The Housing Ombudsman Service (HOS) Complaint Handling Code

The Board of Management approved self assessment against the revised Housing Ombudsman Service Complaint Handling Code in March 2024, in line with the Code and you can find it here – Complaint Handling Code Self-assessment form 2024-25.

Annual Complaints & Service Improvement Report

The Board of Management approved the annual report on complaints.  To see more details on this click on the following link – SLH Annual Complaints & Service Improvement Report 2023/24.

SLH Board of Management comments

We believe that our customers have a right to be heard, listened to, understood and treated with respect. We welcome feedback from our customers, including complaints and compliments and carry out regular transactional and perception customer satisfaction surveys. We also provide wider opportunities for our customers to provide feedback, shape and influence service provision, be involved in decision making and hold us to account. The Board has reviewed the self-assessment and service improvement report and has received assurance this is a true reflection of the SLH complaint handling.

This year the Board has:

  • received regular updates on the volume, categories and outcomes of complaints and complaint handling performance through quarterly KPI reporting. We have also considered issues and themes arising and actions taken to resolve complaints and service improvements planned to address wider themes,
  • appointed a Board Member to the role of Member Responsible for Complaints (MRC) to support a positive complaint handling culture, who meets regularly with officers to review complaints, complaint handling and insights to inform discussions at Board meetings and to help scrutinise and challenge self-assessment and service improvement report,
  • considered and approved an updated Complaints Policy and Unacceptable Behaviour Policy, informed by the Housing Ombudsman Service requirements and guidance and following customer consultation,
  • considered and approved an updated self-assessment against the revised Housing Ombudsman Service Complaints Handling Code
  • considered the outcome of our first TSM customer satisfaction perception survey in the context of wider customer feedback to ensure we have appropriate channels and reporting in place to ensure we hear the voice of our customers and take customer feedback into account when setting priorities, budgets and objectives for 2024/25.

 

Feedback Form

To provide your feedback on our services please complete the form below. Any requests will be sent directly to our customer service team who will respond within 5 working days.

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    Everyone deserves a safe and secure home.

    If you live in social housing and you have an issue with your home or your landlord, there are ways to make things right.

    There is information on the Make it Right website on how to follow the 3-step process to resolve any instances quickly.