A complaint is defined by the Housing Ombudsman as an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service, actions or lack of action by Stockport Homes, our staff, or those acting on our behalf. 

A complaint is usually about the service you’ve received and how we responded to something you raised or reported. As part of the complaints process, we will consider what happened, whether anything went wrong, and how we can put things right. 

If you need to report something new, request a service or ask us to take action, the quickest way to get help is usually through our contact us page. This includes things like reporting a repair, making a rent enquiry or asking about a housing application. Using the right contact route means your request goes straight to the team who can respond and arrange any action needed. 

If you’re unhappy about a service you’ve received, you can contact the Customer Feedback Team. We will consider it through our complaints process and explain what happens next. 

Our complaints process is for Stockport Homes customers, including tenants, leaseholders, shared owners and people living in a home managed by us. 

Someone can also complain for you, such as a family member, advocate, support worker, MP or Councillor. We may need your permission before sharing information with them. 

If you are not a Stockport Homes customer but have concerns about a service we provide, we’ll listen and decide the most appropriate way to respond. 

You can make a complaint, send a compliment or give feedback using the option that is easiest for you: 

We’ll review what you’ve told us and decide whether it should be handled as a complaint, a service request, or another type of enquiry.  

If you want to report a repair or anti-social behaviour, please contact the Customer Experience Hub on 0161 217 6016 or report it online using our contact us page. 

A service request is when you’re asking us to do something or put something right. 

For example: 

If you need to report something new, request a service or ask us to take action, the quickest way to get help is usually through our  contact us page. This includes things like reporting a repair, making a rent enquiry or asking about a housing application. Using the right contact route means your request goes straight to the team who can respond and arrange any action needed. 

If we deal with your concern as a formal complaint, we’ll confirm this within 5 working days and let you know what will happen next. 

Our complaints process has two stages: 

Stage One 

Stage Two 

We’ll always try to respond as quickly as we can. If we need more time, we’ll explain why, tell you when we expect to respond, and keep you updated. 

Reports of anti-social behaviour are handled by our Safer Neighbourhoods Team. 

The complaints process does not decide whether anti-social behaviour has happened or investigate the behaviour of other people. It looks at whether Stockport Homes provided the service we are responsible for. 

If you’re unhappy with how we handled your ASB case, we may be able to look at this through our complaints process. 

Rehousing, housing applications, banding and homelessness decisions are assessed under Stockport Council’s Allocations Policy. 

If you disagree with a decision about your application, banding or rehousing priority, you can request a review. Details are usually included in letters about your Homechoice application. 

The complaints process cannot reassess your housing need, change your banding, award extra priority or overturn an allocation decision. We can only look at concerns about the service provided by Stockport Homes, such as how your application was handled. 

We know applying for housing can be stressful. Demand for social housing is very high, so many people wait a long time, and some may not be offered a property through Homechoice. 

If your circumstances have changed, or you have additional information that may affect your application, you should update your Homechoice application and provide any supporting information so it can be considered as part of your housing assessment. 

A complaint looks at the service we provided, such as delays, communication, appointments or how we responded after an issue was reported. 

A disrepair claim is a legal matter. It looks at whether a landlord has met its legal repairing duties and whether a legal remedy may apply. 

Our complaints process sits outside of this and cannot decide legal liability or whether a disrepair claim would be successful. Complaint responses are provided without prejudice and are not an admission of legal liability. 

If you believe you may have a legal disrepair claim, you may wish to seek independent legal advice about your rights and the options available to you. 

We understand that issues in your home can be worrying and may affect your health and wellbeing. 

Through the complaints process, we can look at the service we provided and whether there were any service failures we need to put right. 

The complaints process cannot decide legal liability, assess personal injury claims or decide whether Stockport Homes is responsible for a health condition or injury. 

If you believe a problem in your home has caused an injury or affected your health, you may wish to seek independent legal advice about your rights and the options available to you. 

Yes. We want everyone to be able to use our complaints process. 

If you need information in a different format, extra time, support to make a complaint, or a different way for us to contact you, please let us know. We’ll consider what we can do to help.  

If you have a preferred contact method, such as email, telephone or letter, please let us know when you make your complaint. Where possible, we'll use your preferred method and make any reasonable adjustments needed to support you through the process. 

Complaints should usually be raised within 12 months of the issue happening, or when you became aware of it. 

We know every situation is different, so we’ll consider whether there is a good reason to look at concerns raised after this time. 

If you’re unhappy with your Stage One response, you can ask for your complaint to be reviewed at Stage Two. 

If you’re still unhappy after our final response, you can contact the Housing Ombudsman Service. 

For information about the Housing Ombudsman please visit the Housing Ombudsman website

To bring a complaint to their service you can use the Online Complaint Form on their website.   

The Housing Ombudsman Service is independent from Stockport Homes. They look at complaints about social landlords, including councils and housing associations. 

They can review how a complaint has been handled and whether the landlord acted fairly and reasonably. They will usually expect you to complete our complaints process before they decide whether to investigate. 

Complaints help us understand where things have gone wrong, what matters most to customers and where we can improve our services. 

When we investigate a complaint, we look at whether there is any learning for Stockport Homes. This may include improving communication, changing a process, reviewing guidance or sharing feedback with the teams involved. 

Where we identify learning, we’ll take action to help prevent the same issue happening again and improve the experience for other customers. 

Stockport Homes has a dedicated Customer Feedback Team who manage complaints, compliments and feedback from customers. 

The team are trained in complaint handling and listening skills, so they can understand your concerns, the impact on you and the outcome you are seeking. 

They may contact you to make sure they fully understand the issues you are raising. The team may investigate your complaint themselves or ask a manager from the relevant service area to investigate. 

The Customer Feedback Team also monitors complaints to make sure responses are provided on time, cover the issues you raised and meet the quality standards we expect.