You can make a complaint in a number of ways:
- Email - complaints@saffronhousing.co.uk
- Telephone - 01508 532000
- Online – via our website form by clicking here
- Social Media - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
- Talk to one of us in person
- Letter - Saffron Barn, Swan Lane, Long Stratton, NR15 2XP
The Housing Ombudsman Service (HOS), a free, independent and impartial service who are set up by law to look at complaints about housing organisations, can also be contacted at any time for advice, whether you have an open complaint or not. To visit the HOS website click here.
Make Things Right
Everyone deserves a home that is safe, secure, and well maintained.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has recently launched a new campaign called ‘Make Things Right’.
They have written to all social housing landlords, including Saffron, to ask for their support in promoting the campaign which aims to improve the quality of social housing by making sure tenants are aware of their rights and know how to complain.
As your landlord, we are responsible for fixing issues, including damp and mould, leaks, broken locks or changes you need to your home if you are disabled.
We can also help with Anti-Social Behaviour, like noisy neighbours.
It is important you know the steps to take to get an issue fixed.
Step 1. Report it to Saffron. Then, if it is not fixed...
Step 2. Complain through Saffron’s complaint process, and if you’re not happy with the final response from your landlord...
Step 3. Escalate your complaint to the Housing Ombudsman.
Advice about contacting the Housing Ombudsman
The Housing Ombudsman is impartial, will investigate fairly and can order us to take action.
Once the Housing Ombudsman has ruled against a landlord, they must show they are taking action within 6-8 weeks.
Last year, the Housing Ombudsman ordered landlords to pay over £1m in compensation to residents.
For more information about your rights, please visit the government’s website by clicking here.
What to expect
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We can receive a service feedback request in the following ways:
- Online
- Email
- Phone
- Letter
- Social media -
Rapid resolution
We will offer a rapid resolution where we can resolve issues “there and then”. Even if we resolve your concerns at this early stage with just a few convenient and timely actions, we will capture your feedback so we can learn and improve our services.
For more complex cases it is more appropriate that they are investigated at stage 1 of our complaint procedure. If we can’t find a rapid resolution we will escalate your concerns to stage 1.
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Stage 1
Our independent Complaints Team will investigate and respond to your concerns in writing. In normal circumstances we will respond to your complaint within 10 working days from the date the complaint is acknowledged.
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Stage 2
If you do not think we have resolved your complaint at stage 1 it can be escalated to stage 2. The complaint will be assigned to a manager who has not previously being involved in the complaint and they will provide you with Saffron’s final response within 20 working days of the stage 2 acknowledgment date. Another manager will be assigned to independently review the complaint and provide their findings to the lead investigator for inclusion in the stage 2 response.
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Housing Ombudsman Service
If you remain unhappy with our handling of your complaint it can be referred to the Housing Ombudsman Service for their review and adjudication. You can do this as soon as we have sent you a complaint closure letter; the HOS can be contacted at any time for advice.
Our compliments and complaints policy has recently been reviewed and amended to ensure compliance with the Housing Ombudsman Service’s Complaint Handling Code, 2024. The revised policy incorporates all changes to the 2024 Complaints Handling Code and a self-assessment against the new policy has been completed confirming the new policy as compliant. The new complaints and compliments policy will be uploaded to our website shortly and the Complaints and Feedback Team are administrating complaints in line with the new code requirements.
How we deal with complaints
Every year, or when we make any changes to our complaints procedure, we are required to complete and publish a Self-Assessment against the Housing Ombudsman's Code of Conduct.
Click here for our most recent self-assessment completed in March 2024.
We want to make the complaint process easy to access and hassle free. That is why our staff are trained emphasising the key principles of good complaint handling; to make sure we capture feedback consistently and most importantly, to demonstrate that we are learning from complaints.
Complaint outcomes
We always like to hear from tenants and gaining their feedback allows us to see where we are doing things well or perhaps where we can improve.
We have some feedback from complaints we have received and the actions we have taken as a result.
Find out moreOur record
Here are the average number of working days we have taken to respond to all complaints.
Our target is to respond within 10 working days.
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6.6 days
April to June 2023
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10 days
July to September 2023
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6.8 days
October to December 2023
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8.4 days
January to March 2024
If you need the above information in a different format such as an accessible PDF or braille, email info@saffronhousing.co.uk or call 01508 532000..
We also offer INTRAN, which provides interpreting and translation services for people who are deaf, hard of hearing or who do not have English as a first language. To arrange support with INTRAN please contact a member of the Customer Contact Team on 01508 532000 or at info@saffronhousing.co.uk. Find out more by clicking here.