Making a complaint

Contact us to let us know you’d like to make a complaint. You can do this using the online form below, or through any of our usual contact channels.

Following your complaint, it may need investigating more thoroughly. in this case it will be passed onto our Complaints and Feedback team who will then make contact with you to discuss your complaint and support you through the first stage of our process.

If your complaint has been passed onto our Complaints and Feedback team, they will carry out an investigation with the information you have provided and keep you informed during the process. They’ll do this as quickly as they can and aim to make sure you have a decision and response within ten working days.*

*Sometimes due to unforeseen circumstances a complaint may take longer to investigate, and in these circumstances we will let you know and keep you updated.

Once a decision has been made, we will contact you to discuss the outcome, which will also give you the opportunity to ask questions and understand the decision made.

If you are not satisfied with the decision made as part of your Stage 1 complaint, you are able to ask for the complaint to be looked at again in Stage 2 of our complaints process.

The Housing Ombudsman service is there throughout the lifetime of your complaint and if you feel you need further help and guidance on your complaint,

The Housing Ombudsman will support complaint resolutions between you and us and will formally investigate a complaint once you have completed our complaints process fully. We will co-operate fully with all requests from the Housing Ombudsman to support them in their findings and comply with the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code.

To contact them, see below

Address:
Housing Ombudsman Service
PO Box 1484
Unit D
Preston
PR2 0ET

Telephone:
0300 1113000

Email:
info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk

Online:
Online complaint form

Our quarterly performance

2025/2026

• April – May 2026
• January – March 2026
• October – December 2025
• July – September 2025
• April – June 2025
• January – March 2025

Complaint Performance and Service Improvement Report 

• Appendix 1 – Complaint Handling Data
• Appendix 1a – Complaint Handing Data
• Appendix 2 – HO Determination Summary 25-26
• Appendix 3 – Housing Ombudsman Self Assessment 25-26
• Appendix 5 – Complainant demographic
• Appendix 5a – Full Tenant Demographic

Housing Ombudsman self-assessment compliance report
All recommendations have been amended in the complaints policy. On 26 June 2026 the Housing Ombudsman confirmed our policy is fully compliant with the Housing Ombudsman complaint handling Code, ensuring that our complaints services deliver the highest standards to our customers. 

Response from our Board

Matt Sugden, Board Member Responsible for Complaints response

As Member Responsible for Complaints, I welcome this annual Complaint Performance and Service Improvement Report and the assurance it provides on Ongo’s approach to complaint handling, learning, and service improvement.

The report shows that Ongo remains compliant with the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code and continues to treat complaints as an important source of learning. I am pleased to see strong performance against complaint handling timescales and evidence that tenant feedback, complaint learning and Ombudsman findings are being used to drive further improvement in the services we provide. Most importantly, complaints help us understand where tenants have not received the service they should expect, and we are committed to using that feedback to put things right, to learn, and to utilise this knowledge to prevent similar issues happening again.

Whilst it is positive that customer satisfaction with complaint handling has continued to improve, we recognise that satisfaction remains lower than we would want it to be. The board have set clear targets against this for continued improvement and continue to monitor our improvements in this area. I recognise that repairs continue to be the largest area of complaint, particularly around appointments, repeat contact and communication. These are important issues for our tenants, and the board have utilised this feedback to inform additional investment into this key area. I am encouraged by the continued improvements already made across the repairs service, during 2025/26. Work in progress has reduced significantly from 6,258 to 3,178 cases, representing a 49.2% reduction, demonstrating improved efficiency and a stronger focus on resolving repairs more quickly for customers. Performance has also improved in key service measures, with emergency repairs completed within target increasing from 83.9% to 86.8% and right first-time performance improving from 81.4% to 83.1%. These results provide assurance that the improvement programme is delivering positive outcomes for customers and reflect a strong commitment to continuous service improvement.

By actively engaging with our Community Voice and our Customer Property Panel we have co designed our new repairs customer Journey by utilising learning from complaints and customer feedback we are confident that this will lead to an improved customer experience. I expect continued focus on improving the repairs experience, strengthening communication, and resolving issues as early as possible. Tenants should feel listened to, kept informed and confident that when something goes wrong, Ongo will respond clearly, fairly and without unnecessary delay.

I welcome the involvement of the Tenant Complaint Panel in scrutinising complaints and contributing to the annual self-assessment. This helps ensure tenant voice is reflected in how Ongo reviews its performance and identifies improvements. I also support the further work identified in the report to improve access to the complaints process, particularly for older tenants, tenants with vulnerabilities and customers who may need reasonable adjustments. It is important that every tenant knows how to raise a complaint, feels able to do so, and can get support in a way that works for them.

The report is open about areas where further improvement is needed, including Stage 2 escalation, learning from Ombudsman determinations, repairs-related complaints, and the quality of demographic data. The introduction of the new Service Improvement Forum, which provides a dedicated mechanism for reviewing customer feedback, complaints, and service performance insights. The forum will strengthen organisational learning by ensuring that customer feedback is systematically considered, actions are tracked through to completion, and learning from Housing Ombudsman decisions is embedded across services. This approach will support a positive complaint culture, promote continuous improvement, and help ensure that services continue to evolve in response to customer needs and regulatory expectations.

Overall, I am satisfied that Ongo has appropriate arrangements in place to comply with the Complaint Handling Code, monitor complaint performance, learn from service failure, and improve outcomes for tenants. More importantly the report demonstrates that Ongo is improving in the right direction, with positive progress already being made and a clear focus on further strengthening services. Looking ahead to 2026/27, the focus will be on sustaining and embedding the improvements achieved to date, with continued emphasis on improving customer outcomes, increasing right first-time performance, and ensuring learning from customer feedback and complaints drives service delivery. A key priority will also be the further embedding of the neighbourhood model, enabling more proactive, locally focused services that strengthen relationships with customers and support the delivery of consistently high-quality services. It is great to see the Customer voice being used to deliver improvements across all services.

In April 2024 the Complaint Handling Code, which sets out good practice to allow landlords to respond to complaints effectively and fairly, became a regulatory requirement. We are committed to ensuring we follow and comply with this code.

Our annual self-assessment against the code has been completed and reviewed by members of our Complaints Panel, and a copy of this can be found here. This will be submitted to the Housing Ombudsman.

The panel is made up of volunteers who focus on how Ongo handles complaints.

Their purpose is to drive change across the business and raise standards for tenants and customers who use the complaints service. The panel achieve this by quality-checking all aspects of complaint handling and performance, analysing and understanding themes for complaints, and spotlighting areas for further scrutiny.

Using example case studies, they identify themes and trends to assess whether procedures have been followed or require changing. In addition to this the panel provides their comments on the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code and monitors the self-assessment to ensure we are compliant when dealing with complaints.

The panel meetings take place for two/three hours every three months.

Click here to find out more and sign up.

Find our Complaints Policy here.

Find our Complaints Procedure here.