Complaints and Compliments

We understand that things can sometimes go wrong. If you are unhappy with the service that you have received from us, please let us know so we can put things right. It’s also great to hear from you when you are happy with something we have done. All complaints, comments and compliments help us continue to improve the services we provide you.

We want to make sure any concerns you have are dealt with as quickly and effectively as possible. Often, the fastest way to resolve a problem is by speaking directly to the team responsible, as they’ll usually be able to put things right quicker. You can find a full list of our teams contact details here.

Do you need to report anti-social behaviour?

What is anti-social behaviour?

Examples of ASB include:

Intimidation of neighbours and others, including threatened or actual violence.
Persistent rowdy behaviour such as shouting, swearing, and fighting.
Abusive behaviour aimed at causing fear to an individual or community.
Using or threatening to use a property for an unlawful and/or immoral purpose, including drug use or dealing.
Vandalism and arson.
Loud and persistent noise not associated with the general use of a property or communal area.
Dogs persistently barking.
Environmental acts including; fly-tipping, dog fouling, vandalism, arson, and graffiti.

What isn’t anti-social behaviour?

If you are experiencing criminal behaviour, contact the police.

Actions which amount to people not being pleasant to each other but are not sufficiently serious to justify our involvement, such as social media activity, hoax and nuisance calls, parking disputes and gossip.

Normal day-to-day activities – children playing for example, or normal household noise such as washing machines or vacuuming.
Clash of lifestyles – where a person who works night shifts, may be disturbed by daytime activities from a neighbour.
One-off activities, such as a party, or where a dog may bark intermittently, if someone knocks on a door, for example.
In many cases, it is better if you speak to your neighbours directly about this – they may not be aware of the impact what they are doing is having – loud music, for example.

You can call our Neighbourhood and Estates team on 0300 3300 0900, selecting options 3 and 1 or you can enter extension number 7333 when prompted. You can email the team on myarea@havebury.com. You can also complete our online form here.

If the behaviour is criminal, contact 101, or 999 if there’s a risk to life.

Do you need to report a grounds maintenance issue (From grass cutting to hedge trimming and cleaning communal areas)?

If you have an issue you’d like to report, you can:

Call our Neighbourhood and Estates team on 0300 3300 900 and enter extension number 7333 when prompted.
Log it via our resident app, myHavebury
Email us at myarea@havebury.com

Do you need to report a fly-tip or abandoned vehicle?

You can:

Email us at myarea@havebury.com
Call our Neighbourhood and Estates team on 0300 3300 900 and enter extension number 7333 when prompted.
Log it via our resident app, myHavebury

Do you need to report damp and mould to us?

If you’re struggling with damp, mould or condensation in your home, please report this to us as soon as possible, so we can work with you to fix these issues. You can do this by:

Completing our damp and mould reporting tool here. Please also attach pictures, as this will help us understand the severity of the issues you are having.

Calling our Repairs team on 0300 3300 900 and choosing options 2 and 4.

Do you need to report an issue with street lighting, your bins or highway issues?

We know that it can be difficult to understand who you need to report issues to. You will find a full list on contact information here.

If you’ve already spoken to the relevant team (or are not reporting any of the above) and you’re not satisfied with the outcome, or if you feel the matter is more serious, you can make a formal complaint. We take all complaints seriously and will handle them in line with our complaints policy.

Our aim is always to resolve issues at the earliest opportunity, so please let us know if something isn’t right.

What is a complaint?

We define a complaint as an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service, actions or lack of action by us or one of our contractors.

You may feel that we have:

done something wrong
failed to do something we should have done
given you the wrong information
treated you unfairly

What is not a complaint?

The following issues are not considered to be complaints:

A request for service, such as to carry out a repair, or a report of anti-social behaviour (ASB). We will, however, investigate service failures in the cases of these requests. If you are having problems with your neighbours or are experiencing ASB, please report this here.
Claims for compensation outside of those relevant to a complaint (all claims are dealt with in accordance with our Compensation and Payments Policy).
Insurance claims. These will be dealt with in accordance with our Insurance Policy.
The issue giving rise to the complaint occurred more than twelve months ago. This does not apply in instances relating to health and safety or safeguarding.
We will not consider a matter where legal proceedings have commenced, or a letter before action has been issued.
We will not consider a matter which has been previously considered under this policy.
Services that we are not responsible for delivering, such as bins, council tax, planning and street lights.

If you have a general query and would like to get in touch – you can do this via email or by calling us. Here is a list of our team’s contact details

How can I make a complaint or compliment?

We accept these in whichever way is best for you. This can include via third parties, such as a family member or other agencies, on your behalf. Please note we will need your written permission to do this if we don’t already have this.

We also accept initial complaints via social media, but we will discuss the details with you outside of these sites. This is so we can ensure privacy and confidentiality.

We will make sure you have fair access that suits your individual needs. This could include providing translations and additional support for customers who have difficulty reading and writing when required, for example.

You can use the form below to submit your complaint or compliment to us.

If you are having problems with your neighbours or are experiencing ASB, please report this here.

We want to make sure any concerns you have are dealt with as quickly and effectively as possible. Often, the fastest way to resolve a problem is by speaking directly to the team responsible, as they’ll usually be able to put things right quicker. Have you already spoken to the team that your complaint relates to?(Required)

You can find a full list of our teams contact details on the 'contact us' page of the website.

Yes

We advise that you speak to the department that your issue relates to. This may be the quickest way to resolve your complaint.

Please Identify your enquiry(Required)

Complaint

Compliment

Name(Required)

First Last

Address

Street Address Address Line 2 City County Postcode

Email(Required)

Phone(Required)

Your comment(Required)

How can we resolve this for you?(Required)

If you have a document/image/file you want to attach to your complaint or compliment you can do so below.

Drop files here or

Max. file size: 50 MB.

Here is a list of our contact details if you would like to get in touch.

You can also write to us at:
Complaints Team,
Havebury House,
Western Way,
Bury St Edmunds,
Suffolk
IP33 3SP

You can also send an email to feedback@havebury.com

What will happen when I complain?

Our complaints procedure has two stages. We aim to resolve your complaint at the earliest opportunity.

When you first make a complaint to us, you will receive an:

Acknowledgement: you will receive an acknowledgement from us within five working days.

Stage 1: A designated complaints officer will investigate and respond at stage 1. They will contact you, ideally by telephone, to discuss your complaint and will agree on actions and timeframes during this investigation period.

If you do not wish to be called by telephone, we will agree on another method of communication.

They will work with colleagues across different teams to investigate your complaint fully.

You will get a response within 10 working days. If we need to extend this, for example, if the complaint is particularly complex, we will agree on an extended response date. This will be no longer than a further 10 working days.

Stage 2: If you’re not happy with the way your complaint has been handled at stage 1, you can escalate your complaint to stage 2.

The stage 2 review is not a repeat of the full investigation. The actions and decisions taken at stage 1 will be examined to check if they were thorough, reasonable and fair.

This will be reviewed Complaints Review Panel, comprises of involved residents, as well as a member of the Leadership team.

A response will be sent out no more than 20 working days from the acknowledgement. If this is not possible, for example the complaint is particularly complex, we will extend this for another 10 working days maximum. In these instances we will contact the complainant, discuss the reasons for this and seek their agreement to extend for a specified period. We will always keep them updated during this process.

Housing Ombudsman Service

If, after stage 2 you are not satisfied with the way the complaint has been handled, you can contact the Housing Ombudsman Service (HOS). Contact details for the HOS are:

Housing Ombudsman website
Telephone: 0300 111 3000
Address: Housing Ombudsman Service, PO Box 1484, Unit D, Preston, PR2 0ET
Email: info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk

As well as this being an option upon exhausting stage 2 of our process, the HOS has support advisors who can assist you during the life of a complaint.

Sara Garnham, vice chair of the board and chair of Resident Experience Committee is our Member Responsible for Complaints (MRC) from the Housing Ombudsman Service Complaint Handling Code. You can find out more about her here.

Further guidance

The Regulator of Social Housing has published further guidance on reporting a problem or making a complaint about your landlord, which you may find helpful.

Complaints Performance

Our 2024-25 self-assessment against the Complaints Handling Code is available here.

Our 2024-25 complaints performance and service improvements report is available here.

Our Complaints Policy is available here.