Good Practice consultation launches today – find out how you can take part

Consultation launched on Housing Ombudsman’s proposed approach to Good Practice

The Housing Ombudsman has launched a consultation for social housing landlords on its proposed approach for issuing Good Practice and potential topics.

The Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 gives the Ombudsman the power to issue guidance to scheme members on good practice in the carrying on of housing activities covered by the Scheme.

The overarching aim of Good Practice is to drive improvements in housing provision through learning from complaints. The Ombudsman’s proposed approach is to encourage all landlords to self-assess at the point of issue rather than wait for a complaint about the topic area and an order from the Ombudsman to do so.

The Ombudsman is clear that Good Practice is not best practice and there may be entirely justifiable reasons a landlord feels unable to implement it – the purpose of the self-assessment is to record those reasons and for them to be scrutinised by the governing body.

The consultation seeks feedback on the Ombudsman’s principles of good practice and proposed approach to delivering good practice.

The Ombudsman is also seeking feedback on potential topics for the first Good Practice, which includes:

• making an effective apology
• deciding on appropriate levels of compensation
• effective complaint handling during merger or stock transfer
• effective root cause analysis of complaints
• knowledge and information management

Good Practice Consultation – What we are proposing and how to have your say