The Housing Ombudsman's Complaint Handling Code
Here at Red Kite, we're committed to meeting the requirements of the Housing Ombudsman's Complaint Handling Code. The Housing Ombudsman is a free, independent and impartial organisation which resolves disputes between tenants and landlords.
From the financial year 2023/24 onwards there has been a requirement to produce a Performance and Service Improvement Report to complement our self-assessment against the Complaint Handling Code.
The report covers the following aspects:
analysis of our complaint handling performance including a summary of the types of complaints we have refused to accept
any findings of non-compliance with the Code by the Ombudsman
the service improvements made as a result of the learning from complaints
our actions following any annual report about our performance from the Ombudsman
our actions following any other relevant reports or publications produced by the Ombudsman in relation to our work
our self-assessment against the Housing Ombudsman's Complaint Handling Code for 2024-2025.
The report, which you can download, was approved by our Board in July 2026; here is the foreword, written by Derek Cash, the Board member responsible for complaints:
"The Red Kite Board welcomes this 2025/26 Annual Complaints Performance and Service Improvement Report and self-assessment. It demonstrates our commitment to providing the best possible services to tenants, resolving complaints fairly and effectively, and using tenant feedback to improve service delivery.
We recognise that, at times, things go wrong. When they do, we want tenants to feel confident that they can raise concerns easily, that we will listen, put things right where needed, and learn from any failures.
Our 2025/26 self-assessment confirms full compliance with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code. This has been externally verified to provide assurance that our complaint handling arrangements and system controls are operating effectively. In May 2026, the Housing Ombudsman also confirmed that Red Kite’s complaints policy meets the requirements of the Code.
Oversight of complaints performance, learning and improvement outcomes is maintained through the Operations Sub-Committee, the Resident Representative Team (RRT), regular reporting to the Member Responsible for Complaints and operational management. This oversight helps identify areas for improvement, prioritise action and hold the organisation to account for delivering change.
Most importantly, the report shows that tenant complaints are leading to action. During 2025/26, Red Kite delivered 266 service improvements, supported by a structured learning framework, dedicated resource and a new digital learning and improvement module. These changes have strengthened oversight, accountability and reporting on service improvement actions. Practical improvements include better management of recurring repairs, improved communication about gas safety appointments, stronger pest control processes and clearer guidance to support biodiversity.
While progress has been made, the Board recognises that this work must continue and that the improvements identified through complaints need to be consistently embedded across our services. The report highlights the importance of maintaining a strong focus on the responsiveness of our repairs service, the quality of communication and effective ownership of complex cases, ensuring that the learning from complaints translates into sustained improvements in tenant experience. We will continue to scrutinise complaint trends, Housing Ombudsman Service reports, tenant feedback and the delivery of improvement plans, ensuring that learning is embedded, actions are completed and improvements are sustained.
To this end, the Red Kite Board is now working with our recently appointed Executive Team to speed up this creation of a learning track record to ensure improvements are made at pace, once identified from customer feedback, and to prevent regular occurrences of similar mistakes being made in service delivery going forward.
It is hoped that a positive and noticeable impact for our residents will result and that where things do still go wrong in the future, as they still inevitably will from time to time, that resulting complaints from our customers will lead to a much quicker resolution than at times in the past."
Read the full report
Download the full report
Previous years' reports
2025
Red Kite Community Housing Annual Complaints Performance and Service Improvement Report 2024-2025 - webpage and PDF
Red Kite Community Housing Annual Complaints Performance and Service Improvement Report - HO Self-Assessment 2025-2026 - webpage and PDF