What We've Learned From Complaints - March Update

Every month, we look closely at the complaints and service requests we receive from customers. This helps us spot problems and make things better.

Here’s what we found in March:

How many complaints did we get in March?

• We had 38 Stage 1 complaints
• We had 3 Stage 2 complaints (this is when someone isn’t happy with how their Stage 1 complaint was handled)
• We also had 28 service requests (these are things we can sort out quickly without needing a formal complaint)

The number of complaints logged during March was significantly higher than March last year (20), this is consistent with what we have experienced during 2025/26.

The most common issues raised by customers were:

• Missed appointments and work not completed

Every missed appointment is subject to a £25 compensation payment to the customer, this is then recharged to the contractor who failed to attend the scheduled appointment.

How quickly did we respond?

• On average, we replied to complaints in 3 working days in March
• So far this year, the average is 4 working days, which meets the required timescales from the Housing Ombudsman (10 working days)

Were people happy with how we handled their complaint?

We didn’t receive any responses in March to our transactional satisfaction survey for complaints and our satisfaction rate currently remains at 88.2% for the year to date.

Compensation

• We paid out £2769.99 in compensation in March
• That brings the total so far this year to £32,683.32

Your Voice customers told us that we needed to be more consistent in our approach to paying compensation. We have reviewed these processes and are confident that this is now happening.

Did we reject any complaints?

No – we accepted all complaints in March and for the year so far.

Learning from March

In March, the main themes across both service requests and complaints were incomplete works, the quality of repairs, and delays in completion, particularly involving our main contractors.

We’re using this feedback to:

• Prioritise improvements in completion times, quality of work, and reducing unfinished repairs
• Strengthen contractor performance management, especially where delays or quality concerns are identified
• Work closely with contractors to address resourcing and responsiveness, including improving communication and completion times
• Challenge missed service standards, including response times and follow-up actions
• Enhance how we record and analyse complaints and service requests so trends are identified and acted on earlier
• Escalate more quickly where performance falls below expected standards
• Improve communication with customers, particularly where repairs are delayed or require multiple visits

We are using this insight to drive improvements in contractor performance, quality assurance, and overall service delivery, with a clear focus on getting repairs completed on time and right first time.

Complaints and service requests provide valuable insight and help us improve services for all customers. If something has gone wrong, please let us know so we can put it right and learn from it.

You can find out more about our complaints process, access our complaints policy or make a complaint by clicking here.