Tenants invited to join national group

Frank from Harefield and Vicky-Lee from Bassett have been accepted onto the Housing Ombudsman Resident Panel which is made up of around 100 tenants and leaseholders from across the country. They will represent the views and experiences of social housing residents and offer valuable feedback to the Housing Ombudsman (an independent public body that looks impartially at complaints within the social housing sector).

The new panel has been established to provide an opportunity for residents to share experiences of how complaints are handled by their landlord. The panel will meet online twice a year and will help in the work of the Housing Ombudsman in setting standards for ensuring complaints processes are fair and that landlords learn from mistakes.

Vicky-Lee says she got involved because she felt it was important to have a say: “This is an important opportunity, as tenants, to make our voices heard. The panel will help make sure authorities are held to account for their actions and that tenants are listened to.”

As we reported in the April issue of Tenants’ Link, we have recently been making improvements to our complaints service using recommendations from the Housing Ombudsman. We want to ensure any housing complaints are handled effectively and fairly, and that our tenants and leaseholders receive the best possible service if things do go wrong. Check online for details about our complaints process if you need to tell us if there is something you are unhappy with so we can put it right.