Michael Gove has announced a new Make Things Right campaign, which encourages social housing tenants to complain about substandard housing before escalating to the Housing Ombudsman
The new Make Things Right campaign is urging residents to make a complaint to their landlord in the first instance and then scalating to the Housing Ombudsman if they are unhappy with the landlord’s final response.
The new campaign follows the decision to protect social housing tenants, including time limits for landlords to investigate and fix damp and mould under Awaab’s Law and mandatory qualifications for social housing managers to make sure residents receive a quality service.
The campaign is funding training in London and the North West
The Make Things Right campaign is funding training in London and the North West in order to support more residents who have problems in their homes.
The Housing Secretary has also demanded answers from Lambeth Council about its failure to handle complaints, following a severe maladministration finding from the Housing Ombudsman earlier this month calling for radical improvements on damp and mould and complaint handling.
This comes a year after the publication of a special report into Lambeth following numerous complaint handling failure orders.
The campaign will run across England until the end of April and will give tenants key information about their rights, the responsibilities of their landlord, and advice about how to make a complaint.
‘Social housing tenants are being let down and ignored’
Housing secretary Michael Gove said: “Too many social housing tenants are being let down and ignored. This government is determined to stand up for them and give them a proper voice. They deserve a decent, safe and secure home, just like everybody else.
“So we are shining a light on rogue landlords that ignore their tenants time and again and allow families to live in disrepair.
“This campaign will make sure tenants know their rights and how to make a complaint – giving them the confidence to go to the Ombudsman and ensure action is taken.”
65% of social housing residents claim that landlord complaints are unsatisfactory
Out of 200 social housing residents across the country, 65% of members found that their experiences of raising complaints with their landlord had been unsatisfactory.
Key issues were:
- The time taken for complaints to be addressed and resolved
- Disrespectful conduct, lack of communication, or inaccuracy of information experienced during previous complaints process
- Lack of repercussions for landlords if residents are not taken seriously or complaints are not resolved satisfactorily
- Burden and complexity of the complaints process.
According to new figures from the English Housing Survey, almost a third of social renters considered making a complaint in 2020-21, but 27% chose not to due to lack of response.
Since October, it has been quicker and easier for residents to take complaints directly to the Housing Ombudsman, after the requirement for people to go to their MP or local councillor first and wait 8 weeks after completing the landlord’s process was removed.
The campaign urges landlords to tackle issues from damp to disrepair
Social housing campaigner, Kwajo Tweneboa, added: “What we’ve learnt is that social housing in the UK is far from where it should be, and tenants have been monumentally let down whilst enduring terrible living conditions.
“It’s clear things must change, this campaign is the start of that. The campaign makes clear that disrepair issues from damp and mould to collapsed ceilings must be fixed. Tenants have a right to complain and be listened to, treated with dignity, fairness and respect but most of all live in a house they can call a home.”
