If you've experienced help or had especially good service, you can compliment our staff.  Just fill in the form and let us know.

Online compliment form

We aim to provide good-quality, cost-effective services but recognise that, at times, things can go wrong. If they do, we need to know so we can put them right and learn from them.

Definition of a complaint - An expression of dissatisfaction about the quality of service, however made, about the standard of service, actions or lack of action by Winchester City Council, its employees, or contractors, affecting an individual resident or group of residents.

The word ‘complaint’ does not have to be used for a complaint to be identified and treated as one.

Below we explain the procedures available to you if you consider that we have failed:

• to provide a service
• to be courteous
• in our standard of work
• in our administration of procedures
• to adhere to our rules or regulations
• to provide you with correct information
• to treat you fairly and promptly

The best way to sort out a problem is by raising the issue with the person you have been dealing with or their immediate line manager.  This is called local resolution. At this stage, we think those people who deliver the service are best placed to resolve an issue.

We can usually sort out mistakes and misunderstandings quickly and informally at this stage.

If you have been unable to resolve your complaint at the informal stage or unsuccessfully via the standard repairs feedback process  then you can move to the next stage as set out below:

Stage one

• To raise a formal complaint please fill in the online complaints form and you will be given a reference number for your complaint.
• You can also request a printed copy of the complaints form from our Customer Service Center by telephone on 01962 840 222.
• Directly to an officer of the council
• Via social media - Facebook and Twitter
• In writing to Winchester City Council, Colebrook Street, Winchester, Hants, SO23 9LJ

We will acknowledge your complaint within five working days, then investigate and respond within ten working days.

Stage two

• If you feel that your complaint has not been resolved at stage one, you can contact the Chief Executive Office at complaints@winchester.gov.uk with the reference number you were given at stage one.  You will receive a response within ten working days.

If you have been through all stages of our complaints procedure and feel your complaint has still not been resolved, you can ask the  Housing Ombudsman to review your complaint.  Please see further information and contact details for each of these free services below.

As soon as court action is indicated, threatened or initiated, the council will suspend its response to a complaint until a legal process commenced or a decision is determined.

The Housing Ombudsman makes the final decision on disputes between residents and member landlords. The Ombudsman decisions are independent, impartial and fair.  They also support effective landlord-tenant dispute resolution by others, including landlords themselves, and promote positive change in the housing sector.

The service is free to use

The Housing Ombudsman service is there throughout the lifetime of your complaint and if you feel you need further help and guidance on your complaint, and is free to use.

The Housing ombudsman will support complaint resolutions between you and us and will formally investigate a complaint. We will co-operate fully with all requests from the Housing ombudsman to support them in their findings and comply with the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code.

The Housing Ombudsman Service aims to provide a fair and effective way of dealing with complaints against member landlords from their tenants. The service will try to remedy the situation by either asking the landlord to change their way of working or offering financial redress.

If you have been through all stages of the complaints procedure and remain dissatisfied with the response or at any stage you feel we have not handled your complaint in line with our policy, you can ask the Housing Ombudsman and they may be able to investigate how we dealt with the matter.

You can contact the Housing Ombudsman Service by:

• Filling out an online complaint form: 
• Calling the service on 0300 111 3000
• Emailing info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk 
• Writing to: Housing Ombudsman Service, PO Box 1484, Unit D, Preston, PR2 0ET

The Housing Ombudsman launched The Complaint Handling Code in July 2020, and a further update in April 2022, which will hopefully result in best practice in complaint handling and ultimately better services for our residents.

Following the Social Housing (Regulation) Act, the Housing Ombudsman’s Code will become statutory from 1st April 2024, providing a single, robust set of standards for complaints procedures to be accessible, fair, and efficient.

There will be a legal duty placed on the ombudsman to monitor compliance with the code, regardless of whether it receives individual complaints from residents about a landlord. For the first time, this means landlords will need to submit their self-assessment annually to the ombudsman at the same time as their Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs).  We will need to submit this by the 30 June 2024. Compliance in policy with the Complaint Handling Code is required by 1 April 2024, and publish this on our website

This statutory code promotes a positive complaints culture across the social housing sector and ensures residents do not experience a postcode lottery in complaint handling.   We see the release of this code as an opportunity to reflect on our complaint handling and to make improvements where necessary to deliver better services to residents.

You can access the Complaints Handling Code on the Housing Ombudsman website.

The Housing Ombudsman website also contains a useful series of short videos on making a complaint about council housing.

The Housing Ombudsman are a free and impartial dispute resolution service that investigates complaints from residents and leaseholders of member landlords (housing associations and local authorities), as well as for our voluntary members (private landlords and letting agents).

Their vision is to improve residents’ lives and landlords’ services through housing complaints.

We aim to offer a good customer experience and a good standard of service at all times. If you have recently made a complaint to the Housing Team we would like to know about your experience.   As part of our commitment to continuous improvement, we ask our customers to complete a short survey, to tell us if the handling of their complaint was completed to their satisfaction and help us to improve our services.

Click here ^{(pdf, 262kb)} for our 2023/24 performance on complaints and here ^{(pdf, 221kb)} for the Housing Ombudsman outcomes for 2023/24.  Full Complaints and improvements annual report can be found here ^{(pdf, 222kb)} for 2023/24

If you would like to be involved in working with us to improve services and help us learn from complaints, contact our Tenant Involvement team by emailing tenantpartnership@winchester.gov.uk or calling 0800 716 987.

The ‘Make Things Right’ campaign aims to ensure more social housing residents who need support know how to make a complaint.

The Government has set out a Charter for Social Housing Providers including expectations in the way that complaints are handled. More information about the Charter and guidance for customers can be found in the Social Housing Complaints Campaign.

If you have any particular needs which affect how you are able to use or be involved in our services or how you would like to receive information for example translation, interpreters, Braille, audio tape, large print, or sign language - please contact the Customer Service Centre either by:
Phone: 01962 840 222
Email: customerservice@winchester.gov.uk

For more information, you can read our Accessibility Statement.