Southampton City Council Housing Complaints Annual Performance and Service Development Report 2024-2025

An annual update of the complaints process, key facts and figures

The report is written in the context of obligations under the Code and the Social Housing Regulator which both came into effect from April 2024. It is written to give tenants an annual update of the complaints process and some of the key facts and figures.

This report relates to complaints received regarding Southampton City Council’s (SCC) Housing Services between April 2024 – March 2025 as well as a look forward to how we are looking to learn and improve. Data includes complaints from or relating to council properties and tenants and also those complaints received regarding Allocations, Homelessness, City Telecare, and Leaseholder services which are not under the jurisdiction of the Housing Ombudsman and may not have been submitted by Southampton City Council housing tenants or regarding SCC properties.

Under section 8.1 of the Code, the Council in its role as a social housing landlord must produce an ‘Annual Complaints Performance and Service Improvement Report’ for scrutiny and challenge, which must include:

• an annual self-assessment against the Housing Ombudsman Code to ensure our complaint handling policy remains in line with their requirements. A self-assessment of our adherence to the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code can be found on Housing complaints.
• a qualitative and quantitative analysis of our complaint handling performance, which must include a summary of the types of complaints we have 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.
• any annual report about the landlord’s performance from the Ombudsman; and
• any other relevant reports or publications produced by the Ombudsman in relation to the work of the landlord. In addition, section 8.2 of the Code states that the annual complaints performance and service improvement report must be reported to the landlord’s governing body (or equivalent) and published on the on the section of its website relating to complaints. The governing body’s response to the report must be published alongside this.

Accessibility

Customers can access the complaints service across multiple channels including:

• Online at ‘How to make a complaint’ (southampton.gov.uk)
• By telephone on 023 8083 3006
• In person by talking to a member of staff at any of our Council venues
• In writing. Addresses can be found online
• Completing a paper complaint form which are available at council offices, libraries and larger housing schemes.
• By email via mytenancy@southampton.gov.uk 

In line with the Code, social media should not be used to make a complaint. If a customer makes contact to complain in person, or by phone, they will be directed to either complete the complaints online form or a member of staff will offer to complete the complaints online form on their behalf. This is to ensure that there is a full audit trail of information captured to allow the Council to follow the Complaints Procedure, to conduct a thorough investigation and to provide a full response to the complainant.

Self-assessment

The full self-assessment against the Code is available on our website. Below is a summary. We have noted potential enhancements but assess ourselves as compliant.

Summary of complaint volumes and outcomes

The Council has a two-stage complaint system. This is aligned with the Housing Ombudsman requirements.

Important: The data below has been produced from internal quarterly reports and represents all complaints received within each of these quarters and their current position within the complaints process at the end of each quarter. In the future, we plan to run a report over the whole reporting year to ensure closer accuracy. It is anticipated that the new IT system will be able to produce this reporting going forward and SCC are actively working with the software supplier to achieve this.

Overview

The Council has a two-stage complaint system. This is aligned with the Housing Ombudsman requirements.

Important: The data below has been produced from internal quarterly reports and represents all complaints received within each of these quarters and their current position within the complaints process at the end of each quarter. In the future, we plan to run a report over the whole reporting year to ensure closer accuracy. It is anticipated that the new IT system will be able to produce this reporting going forward and SCC are actively working with the software supplier to achieve this. Please also note that the following complaints information covers the complete range of housing services Southampton City Council are involved with, which is wider than the issues the Housing Ombudsman concentrate on.

Stage 1 (last year's figures in brackets for comparison)

• Complaint volume – 299 received (329)
• 60 % closed within the timescale of 10 working days (or within agreed extension times) the current Housing Ombudsman standard. Please note this target timescale has changed and last year the target timescale was 20 working days, so the comparison is against a different standard. (66.2%)
• 18% ‘not upheld’- No service failures were identified. (33.5%)
• 42% upheld- We got it wrong and will learn from it (46.9%)
• 17% partially upheld- Some service failures were identified (13.9%)
• 2% unclear outcome (5.6%)
• There were no complaints recorded as refused, neither this year, nor last year. We do assess all complaints to decide if they are out of jurisdiction or service requests.
• These figures were calculated quarterly so they were never complete as a number of complaints remained open at the time of review and there was no process to check them later on. Since that time the IT system has closed with a new one implemented so figures are not readily available, and we do not have an accurate record of percentage upheld.

Escalated to Stage 2

• Complaint volume – Total 46 Housing (tenant/leaseholder) related Stage 2 complaints. (68). 15.4% of complaints escalated to stage 2 (20%)
• 100% resolved within 20 working day target (or within agreed time extension)
• 18 (39%) not upheld
• 12 (26%) partially upheld
• 12 (26% upheld
• 2 complaints were withdrawn and 2 had no further action (9%).

Stage 1 Complaint by department

Stage 1 complaints frequently involve multiple reasons. The most common reasons for complaints are listed below, with last year’s figures provided in brackets for reference:

• 64% of complaints were attributed to Housing Operations Department including repairs (70%):
  
  • 22% of complaints mention wait time for repair appointment (19%)
  • 9% of complaints mention multiple appointments required to complete repairs (14%)
  • 9% of complaints mention standard of repair (9%)
• 19 % of complaints were about Housing Management including Local Housing Offices (19%):
• >1% of complaints mention cleanliness of communal areas (4%)
• 6% of complaints mention antisocial behaviour (4%)
• 4% of complaints mention neighbourhood conditions (2%)
• 4% of complaints were about Allocations (4%)
• The remainder of the complaints were regarding other areas of the business such as Homelessness, Shared Ownership, Leasehold & Right To Buy, and Customer Payments & Debt.

Complaints progressed to Stage 2 according to department

• Housing repairs = 20 complaints
• Housing Investment/ Ops (Local Housing Office or tenancy related) = 17 complaints
• Housing Allocations = 1 complaints
• Leaseholders = 4 complaints
• Supported Housing = 3 complaints
• Homelessness = 1 complaints

Complaints escalated to the Housing Ombudsman Service

The Council signposts tenants to the Housing Ombudsman Service if they remain dissatisfied after the Stage 2 response. The latest Housing Ombudsman annual report (2024/25) can be found at Landlords Archive.

The Council is not notified of the number of complaints referred to the Housing Ombudsman versus those they decide to investigate. However, the following facts are available: -

• Our maladministration rate is 88%. This compares to a Local Authority average of 80%. Please see page 6 of the report to define how this rate is determined.
• The Housing Ombudsman received 21 complaints regarding Southampton City Council’s housing department in 2024-2025, and upheld 6 of them, including
  
  • Complaint regarding underfloor heating not working, resulting in an apology to the resident and compensation paid.
  • Complaint regarding damp and mould in a new build property, resulting in an apology to the resident and compensation paid.
  • Complaint regarding misuse of disabled parking bays at a housing complex, resulting in an apology, compensation and a change of parking options
  • Complaint regarding anti-social behaviour from neighbours, resulting in an apology to the resident and compensation paid.
  • Complaint regarding leaks and disrepairs to a property, resulting in an apology to the resident and compensation paid.
  • Complaint regarding Housing repairs and damp, resulting in compensation.
• In total we are ordered to pay £5,793 by the Housing Ombudsman

Learning from complaints

Complaints provide important insights into underlying issues and areas for improvement. The number of complaints does not fully reflect internal attitudes or customer perceptions of the complaint process. We aim to understand how complaints and responses affect people so we can apply practical lessons, implement changes, and enhance experiences. Valuable lessons can arise both from upheld complaints and cases where no fault was found but improvements are still identified.

Service improvements made so far

Improvements made to date:

• Our complaints policy has been reviewed in line with Housing Ombudsman recommendations (received in July 2025) and is currently moving through the internal approval process with a view to publishing the revised updated policy in September 2025.
• As a result of the annual self-assessment undertaken against the Housing Ombudsman code a number of gaps in service have been identified and put right. These include
  
  • A more defined policy wording of what constitutes a complaint
  • Aligning the timeliness of complaint investigations to the Housing Ombudsman Code
• A “Remedies Guidance” document has been developed to ensure a consistent approach in how we put our tenants back in the position they were in before the complaint was raised.
• Staff have been required to complete new training modules which were linked to Housing Ombudsman resources.
• Introduced improvements to the “Housing Complaints Review Panel” providing links and review of cases by tenants.
• A single point of contact has been appointed to review processes and ensure learning for complaint handling is disseminated across housing departments. Specifically, the early work will concentrate on how easy it is to access the council to record a complaint, and to improve internal processes to ensure that complaints are acknowledged and investigated in the timelines set out by the Housing Ombudsman.
• Creation of complaints handling process documents to ensure consistency of approach to complaint handling
• Introduction of a new complaint management IT system (May ’25)
• Complaints data shared as part of the tenant performance information dashboard. Click here to view.
• Housing repairs have appointed (In August) a Major Works Contractor to assist with the repairs backlog. The targets here include a 100% compliance on gas safety, reduction in the number of void properties requiring work and a reduction in the backlog of repairs. To add context, in the 2024-2025 reporting period Southampton City Council received over 40,000 requests for repairs.
• Housing repairs have also amended a policy regarding heating for any tenant classed as vulnerable to ensure a timelier response.

Learning identified from complaints

• To further develop staff training to ensure
  
  • better quality complaint handling is achieved at Stage 1 and
  • that use of complaints data should be welcomed to improve service delivery.
• Improve internal process of dealing with complaints when
  
  • a complaint has been directed to the wrong department, to ensure it is directed to the correct team promptly and,
  • a complaint is made across different council departments to aid efficiency.
• Establish and implement a mechanism to provide tenants with regular updates regarding any work expected to extend beyond a specified timeframe for completion.
• Delivery of automated complaint reporting by ensuring all teams and relevant staff are on the new IT system.
• Increase the accessibility of complaints. Making sure customers know they can complain and making it easier for them to do so
  
  • Reviewing the paper complaint form and ensuring it is readily available
  • delivering a communication plan which see regular information shared over multiple channels on what a complaint is, why complaints are important and how to complain

To ensure compliance with the Housing Ombudsman code

• Improve our complaint response to acknowledge all incoming complaints within 5 working days and complete the stage 1 response within 10 working days (or correctly extend if appropriate)
• Improve communication with the complainant if an investigation will take longer than 10 working days to complete and an extension is needed
• Improve coordination of complaint responses when the complaint spans multiple council departments, to identify a complaint investigator lead who will complete the internal liaison.

Learning identified from self-assessment

• Develop a template for circumstances when a “complaint” fits better into another process such as ongoing legal proceedings.
• Redraft the online and word copy of our template letters to include the Stage of the complaint, and the “complaint definition” to better inform tenants what we are investigating as part of the complaint.
• Ensure that the “access” to our complaints system is not restricted to those that have access to the internet. Review the hard copy complaint form and ensure it is available and ensure other channels to report such as telephone or telling a staff member ensure the complaint is recorded.

Learning identified from internal governance processes

• Develop a monthly meeting between Housing Departments to identify consistent ways to work and highlight repetitive issues to improve complaint handling.
• Develop an internal audit of complaints to improve quality of complaint handling and remain tenant focused.
• Improved benchmarking with comparator landlords to learn why they are performing better with their complaint handling.
• Develop our communication plan ensuring we take account of our customers voices and keeping our staff updated.

What does it mean?

Not upheld - No service failures were identified

Partially upheld – Some service failures were identified

Upheld – We got it wrong and will learn from it

Maladministration - A formal decision by the Ombudsman that a landlord has failed to do something, done something it shouldn’t have or, in the Ombudsman’s opinion has delayed unreasonably

Maladministration rate - percentage of formal complaints where the Ombudsman found the landlord responsible for maladministration (ranging from service failure to severe maladministration) out of the total complaints reviewed that weren't withdrawn or found outside the Ombudsman's jurisdiction.