How Opendoor Homes handles complaints

We know that things can occasionally go wrong. We welcome feedback as a valuable opportunity to learn from mistakes and make improvements for the future, and on being made aware of an issue we expect our staff to listen and put things right quickly and informally if they can, at the first point of contact.

If we cannot resolve your issue when you first report it to us, or if you still wish to make a complaint, we will deal with it under our formal complaints process. Our complaints process has two stages.

We want to make it easy for you to complain when you need to. We accept complaints verbally or in writing, including by email, through our Contact Us form on our website, through our social media accounts, by telephone, in person, or by letter.

You can read our Complaints and Compliments Policy here: Complaints and Compliments Policy. Our policy gives you more information including who can complain, and any exceptions to our policy where a matter will not be considered under the complaints process.

You can also download our Complaints Leaflet, an Easy Read document about Complaints and Concerns and an Easy Read document about Compliments

Stage 1

We will send you an acknowledgment of your complaint within five working days of receiving it. This acknowledgement will include information about who is dealing with your complaint and how you can contact them if you need to.

We try to reply to Stage 1 complaints as soon as possible and in any event within 10 working days of acknowledging them, but if we need more time to investigate we will tell you why and how long it will take.

Stage 2

If you are not satisfied that all or part of your complaint has been resolved, you should contact us and advise that you wish to escalate to Stage 2 of the complaints process, stating the reasons for your request. We ask that you request to escalate your complaint within 6 months of the Stage 1 response, but we consider the circumstances surrounding each individual case.

We will consider your request and determine if your complaint is eligible to be escalated to Stage 2. Within 5 working days of receiving your request we will either write to you to acknowledge your Stage 2 complaint, or if we determine it is not eligible, we will write to you to explain the reasons for our decision, and we will tell you what your options are.

At Stage 2, your complaint will be investigated by a more senior officer who has not previously been involved in the complaint investigation.

We try to reply to Stage 2 complaints as soon as possible and in any event within 20 working days of acknowledging them, but if we need more time to investigate, we will tell you why and how long it will take.

Following completion of our process

If you are not satisfied with our response after Stage 2, or if we refuse your request to escalate the complaint following Stage 1, you can ask the Housing Ombudsman Service to review your complaint. It investigates matters fairly and impartially and is free to use.

When we send you our Stage 2 response or if we refuse your request to escalate the complaint to Stage 2, we will tell you about your right to approach the Housing Ombudsman.

Contact details

Opendoor Homes

Email: customercare@opendoorhomes.org

Write to: The Complaints and Information Team, Opendoor Homes, 3rd Floor, 2 Bristol Avenue, London, NW9 4EW

Telephone: 020 8080 6586

Housing Ombudsman

Website: www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk

Email: info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk

Telephone: 0300 111 3000

Address: Housing Ombudsman Service, PO Box 152, Liverpool, L33 7WQ

Support in making a complaint

Customers may need support to make their complaint, or may like to seek independent advice. Whist we cannot guarantee they will be able to offer support, and other specialist organisations may also be available, the organisations below may be able to help:

Housing Ombudsman Service

If your complaint is about landlord services, you can contact the Housing Ombudsman Service at any time throughout your complaint, to ask their dispute support advisors for impartial advice.

Citizen’s Advice

Shelter

Mind

  • Mind in Barnet provides an advocacy service for Barnet residents aged 18 and over, excluding those who are entitled to the services of an IMHA under the Mental Health Act. It also provides advocacy to anyone over the age of 18 experiencing Mental Health Problems, Autistic Spectrum Disorders or Asperger’s and learning disabilities, and advocacy for anyone between the ages of 18 and 50 experiencing Acquired Brain Injury, Sensory Impairment and Communication Difficulties.
  • Telephone: 020 8906 7500
  • Email: advocacy@mindinbarnet.org.uk
  • Opening times: Monday – Friday 9.00am – 5.00pm

Housing Ombudsman Complaint-Handling Code

Opendoor Homes is required to handle complaints in line with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code, which you can read on its website.

We are required to complete and publish an annual self-assessment of our compliance with the Complaint Handling Code. In our most recent self-assessment, we found that we are compliant with the Code. This self-assessment was shared with Opendoor Homes’ new Resident Scrutiny Group in June 2024, and was reviewed and ratified by the Opendoor Homes Board on 25 June 2024.

In addition to our self-assessment, the Resident Scrutiny Group and Opendoor Homes Board have also scrutinised our Complaints Performance and Service Improvement Report 2023/24. You can read Opendoor Homes Board’s response to the Complaints Performance and Service Improvement Report 2023/24 report here.

The Complaint Handling Code requires Opendoor Homes to appoint a Member Responsible for Complaints (MRC). Their role is to make sure that complaint handling drives learning and service improvement for residents, and to champion a positive complaint handling culture. They have lead responsibility for making sure the board receives regular updates on complaints and complaint handling performance. Opendoor Homes’ MRC is board member Tom Bremner.

Compliments

If you are happy with the service you have received, and would like to give a compliment to an individual employee, team, or the organisation, please Contact Us. We welcome compliments as an opportunity to acknowledge when our employees have made a difference, and we use them to identify good practice and learning to improve our services.