Complaints and compliments

Complaints

Sometimes things don’t go quite right or as well as they should. If you’re unhappy with any aspect of our services, please tell us so we can put things right.

If you need us to provide a service or fix a problem, please report it and we will take action to resolve your service request. If you’re not happy with the standard of service provided, you can enter our complaint process as outlined below.

Make a complaint

Complaints Performance

Our latest Complaints Performance and Service Improvement Report is available to read in the ‘Complaints Performance Reports’ downloads section.

Terminology explained
To help understand our reports, here are the meanings of some of the terms used:

• Service request – a request from a customer requiring action to provide a service or fix a problem when reported
• Complaint – an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service, actions or lack of action by Salix Homes, its own staff, or those acting on its behalf, affecting a resident or group of residents.
• Upheld – we have found to be at fault in some way
• Housing Ombudsman Service – an independent, impartial, and free service for social housing residents, to investigate complaints and resolve disputes involving the tenants and leaseholders of social landlords.
• Maladministration – a failure to carry out our duties properly and fully
• Overturned – a change in decision or outcome
• Determination – decision or outcome
• Compensation – something awarded to recognise loss, damage or a problem
• Member Responsible for Complaints (MRC) – responsible for ensuring that complaint handling drives service improvement for residents and learning and business improvement for the organisation. Their role is to champion a positive complaint handling culture, seeking assurances that complaints are being managed, change is happening and customers are being heard through the process.

Board and Customer Committee responses

Our Customer Committee approved the complaints report at their meeting on 6 May 2025 and said:

“We are pleased with Salix Homes’ approach to handling complaints and feel confident in their compliance with the Complaint Handling Code. It is encouraging that customers have multiple ways to submit complaints, making our complaints process accessible to everyone. Complaints performance is regularly shared with us and allows us to influence service delivery and ensure that Salix Homes learns from customer feedback.”

Charlotte Haines, Chair of Customer Committee and Board Member

Our Board approved the complaints report at their meeting on 24 June 2025 and said:

“We have scrutinised Salix Homes’ complaints handling performance and been provided with robust assurance that Salix Homes is continuing to meet the requirements set out by the Housing Ombudsman in their Complaint Handling Code.

As with other housing providers, the Board has noted an increase in the volume of complaints this year, demonstrating that customers are aware of how to raise a complaint and indicating that there are no barriers preventing customers from sharing their experiences of our service.

The Board is pleased with the improvements in complaint handling performance following the creation of a centralised and dedicated Complaints Team, and recognises the important work undertaken to ensure a positive complaint handling culture is prioritised and embedded across the organisation. Most importantly, the Board is assured that Salix Homes takes complaints feedback seriously and has formal processes in place to ensure that learning from complaints is recorded, tracked, shared, and implemented across the organisation to improve the experience of its customers.

We remain committed to scrutinising our services to continuously improve the customer experience.”

Ahmed Malek, Board Member Responsible for Complaints

Social housing issue? Know your rights, know how to complain

Everyone deserves a home that is safe, secure, and well maintained. If you live in social housing, your landlord is responsible for fixing issues including damp and mould, leaks, broken locks or changes you need to your home if you’re disabled. They can also help with anti-social behaviour, like noisy neighbours.

Know the steps to get an issue fixed.

1. Report it to your landlord. Then, if it is not fixed…
2. Complain through your landlord’s complaint process, and if you’re not happy with the final response from your landlord…
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 your landlord to take action.

Once the Housing Ombudsman has ruled against a landlord, they must show they are taking action within 6-8 weeks.

Know your rights:

• Download the government’s information leaflet
• Visit www.gov.uk/social-housing