What is the Housing Ombudsman?
The Housing Ombudsman Service is an independent body that looks at complaints about social landlords — councils and housing associations. It considers how a landlord has handled an issue against recognised standards, including the Complaint Handling Code, and can make findings where a landlord has failed to act reasonably.
When can you go to the Ombudsman?
In most cases you need to have completed your landlord's internal complaints process first. That usually means going through both stages of the landlord's formal complaint procedure and receiving their final response. Keeping a full record throughout means you can move to the Ombudsman without delay once that process is complete.
What the Ombudsman looks at
- How and when you reported the problem.
- How the landlord responded at each stage.
- Whether the landlord followed its own procedures and the Complaint Handling Code.
- The impact on you and your household, including any vulnerability.
- The evidence supporting your account.
Preparing your evidence pack
The Ombudsman works from evidence. The stronger and more organised your record, the easier it is for an investigator to understand what happened and when. A good referral typically includes a clear timeline, your complaint history, copies of communications, photographs, and any health or vulnerability context.
From the very first sign of a problem, keep your own records. Save photographs, note the dates, record any health impacts, keep every message from your landlord, and build a clear timeline. Storing everything in one place — a Housing Issue Case File — is what turns scattered notes into a record that is easy to follow and hard to ignore.
Why an organised case helps your referral
A disorganised bundle of forwarded emails and loose photographs makes an investigator's job harder and your case weaker. An organised evidence pack — with a timeline, an evidence register and a communication log — presents your case clearly and professionally, and shows that you have engaged seriously with the process.
This is exactly what a Housing Issue Case File is designed to produce: a single, structured record you can draw on when you make your referral.