You can complain to the Housing Ombudsman about how your council or housing association deals with your repairs.

It is a free service.

You must make a formal complaint to your landlord before you complain to the Ombudsman.

What the Ombudsman does

The Housing Ombudsman checks if your landlord did everything they should.

They can:

• check if your landlord followed the rules when dealing with your repairs

• tell your landlord how to put things right

• suggest your landlord pays you compensation

Your landlord does not have to do what the Ombudsman says, but most landlords will.

Cases the Ombudsman takes

The Ombudsman will look at your complaint if you:

• made a formal complaint to your landlord and are unhappy with their final decision

• waited more than 8 weeks for your landlord to respond to your formal complaint

The Ombudsman does not look into every complaint, but it is worth asking them.

What happens after you complain

If the Ombudsman takes your case, they look into your complaint and make decisions about what your landlord should do to fix things.

The Ombudsman publishes decisions on their website.

Tenant details are kept anonymous but landlords are named in the reports.

Search for decisions on the Housing Ombudsman website.

Most Housing Ombudsman complaints are about repairs.