Complaints
It is a statutory requirement to publish complaints made by customers who receive our housing services.
Our complaints policy sets out how we will respond to complaints from customers including the timescales for responding to those complaints.
Our service standard is to provide a full response to stage 1 complaints within 10 working days from receipt of a complaint and 20 working days from receipt of a request to escalate the complaint following stage 1.
| Overview of complaints received during 2023/24 | |
|---|---|
| Number of stage 1 complaints received | 231 |
| Percentage of stage 1 complaints per 1000 properties* | 36.51% |
| Number of stage 1 complaints responded to within 10 working days | 50.65 |
| Number of stage 2 complaints received | 26 |
| Percentage of stage 2 complaints per 1000 properties* | 4.11% |
| Number of stage 2 complaints responded to within 20 working days | 80.77 |
| Overview of reasons for complaints received during 2023/24 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Reason for complaint | Complaints Received | Percentage of complaints |
| No reason recorded | 41 | 17.7% |
| Customer care | 11 | 4.76% |
| Lack of service | 65 | 28.13% |
| Policy | 4 | 1.73% |
| Quality of service | 15 | 6.49% |
| Response time | 53 | 22.94% |
| Staff attitude | 10 | 4.32% |
| Other | 32 | 13.85% |
| Total (stage 1) | 231 | 88.75% |
| Total (stage 2) | 26 | 11.25% |
| Total number of complaints not accepted due to classified as service request | 26 | 11% |
Complaint Handling Code
The HOS published a new Complaint Handling Code in February 2024. The purpose of the code is to enable landlords to resolve complaints raised by their residents quickly and to use the learning from complaints to drive service improvements.
We are obliged by law to follow its requirements and as a result we have completed a new self-assessment against the Complaint Handling Code and an action plan to address any areas where we are not compliant. See full details of our self-assessment carried out in June 2024.
Part of the new statutory nature of the Code means that landlords are required to submit an annual report of their performance against the Code to ensure they are compliant.
Dates for submission by landlords have been aligned with the Regulator of Social Housing’s requirements for the publication and submission of the Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSM’s). That date being 30 June 2024
Annual Complaints Performance and Service Improvement Plan
MDC’s annual complaints and service improvement plan includes:
- the annual self-assessment against the Code to ensure their complaint handling policy remains in line with its requirements
- a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the landlord’s complaint handling performance - this must also include a summary of the types of complaints the landlord has refused to accept
- any findings of non-compliance with the Code by the Ombudsman
- the service improvements made as a result of the learning from complaints
- its actions following any annual report about the landlord’s performance from the Ombudsman
- its actions following any other relevant reports or publications produced by the Ombudsman in relation to the work of the landlord
The annual complaints performance and service improvement report was presented to Cabinet on 10 June 2024 and their response can be found at the forward of the report
Where to find more information on the complaints process
The Government’s ‘Make Things Right' (opens in new window) campaign aims to inform residents on how to raise complaints if they are unhappy with the service from their social housing provider.