Housing Ombudsman Service
A free, independent service set up by law. If you rent or own a share of a home from a council, housing association or other social landlord in England, and the landlord has not put a problem right, you can complain to the Ombudsman. It looks at things like repairs, property condition, charges and antisocial behaviour.
Good to know
Complain to your landlord first: you must finish its two-stage complaint process before the Ombudsman can help. Your landlord must reply within set times: 10 working days at stage 1 and 20 working days at stage 2. You have 12 months from its stage 2 reply to bring the complaint. If your landlord does not reply, the Ombudsman can help you get a response. New complaints go through the online form or the phone line, not email. In Wales, contact the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales on 0300 790 0203.
Before you call
Have ready
- your landlord’s stage 2 reply, which is its final answer to your complaint
- a copy of the complaint you made to your landlord
- what went wrong, what you think your landlord should have done, and what it should do to put things right
They may ask
- about you, your landlord and the details of your complaint
They can
- ask your landlord to reply if it is not following its own complaint process, and issue a Complaint Handling Failure Notice if it does not
- investigate complaints about things like property condition and repairs, rent and service charges, and antisocial behaviour affecting your home
- take your complaint if you are a tenant, leaseholder or shared owner of a social landlord
They cannot
- take a new complaint by email
- investigate before it has your landlord’s stage 2 response, unless it is helping you get a response
- help if you live in Wales or Scotland: it only deals with social housing in England
It is currently taking up to 20 working days to reply to new enquiries sent through the online form. You do not need to chase it, and you do not need to send supporting papers until it asks for them.
In the emergency guides: I got an eviction notice or court papers → · My home is unsafe and my landlord won't fix it →
- Phone
- 0300 111 3000
- Website
- https://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk
- Hours
- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 9am to 5pm. Thursday, 9am to 3.30pm.
- Coverage
- England
- Languages
- English
- Last checked
- October 10, 2026
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