Housing complaints
This page sets out our process for housing complaints.
To begin this process, read how to make a complaint.
Stage one
Once received, your complaint will be reviewed and acknowledged within 5 working days.
Then, within 10 working days of the acknowledgement being sent, your complaint will be investigated by a member of staff from the service you complained about. Our complaints team will track your complaint.
If you are not happy with the response, you may ask that it be escalated. You must ask for this no later than 28 calendar days from our initial reply.
Stage two
When you ask for your complaint to be escalated you must explain why. The response you received at stage 1 will tell you how to do this.
Once received, your request will be reviewed and acknowledged within 5 working days.
Then, within 20 working days of the acknowledgement being sent, your complaint will be investigated by an officer of our Complaints team. 'Working days' are Monday to Friday excluding public holidays.
Housing Ombudsman
If you are still not satisfied after receiving your stage 2 response, you can refer the matter directly to the Housing Ombudsman. They will usually only consider complaints if our complaints system has been exhausted. Complaints managed by the Housing Ombudsman will be investigated in 2 stages, as set-out within the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code.
Complaints about housing services, where the council is the landlord, will be managed by the Housing Ombudsman. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigates complaints about allocations, homelessness and private sector housing.
Housing Service Resident Panel & working groups
The Housing Service Resident Panel plays a vital role in ensuring tenant voices are heard and services are improved. Panel members are council tenants who have applied to work alongside our housing teams to improve services and make sure residents have a say.
We also have a complaint’s working group that brings together residents and the complaints service to collaborate, share knowledge and perspective in the development of service improvements.
If you are interested in joining the panel or working group and would like to know more, contact our engagement team at residentengagement@thurrock.gov.uk or call 01375 652 652.
Self-assessment
The Housing Ombudsman asks all landlords to complete and publish a self-assessment of their compliance with the Complaints Handling Code. Our self-assessment is published below.