Every year, we publish a Complaints Performance and Service Improvement Report which explains how we are handling complaints, what we are learning from them, and how we are improving our services as a result.  

This report is a snapshot in time, and we know how important it is that we continue to learn from your complaints. In this update, we take a look at our latest performance and share how we are listening, learning and acting on what you tell us.  

How we are performing

1 April to 30 September 2025 1 April to 30 September 2026
Complaints per 1,000 homes 61.7 79
Complaints received (total) 944 1,227
Complaints escalating to stage two of our process 160 342
Housing Ombudsman complaints 54 86
Complaints upheld by the Housing Ombudsman 78.5% 68%
Complaints closed within 10 working days 92% 91%
Average time taken to resolve complaints (working days) 9.8 9.8
Complaints not accepted 12 13
Compliments received 388 381

What we have learned

Our latest performance shows that we are answering complaints on time, and the average time it takes us to put things right has been consistent. We are also seeing signs that more customers are happy with how their complaint has been handled. 

At the same time, more complaints are moving to the next stage of our process, and more customers are going to the Housing Ombudsman for help. This tells us that some complaints are not being fully resolved early enough.  

We know there is still more we need to do to improve and that is why we are working closely with our Customer Resolutions Forum to focus on fixing issues sooner, keep you updated, and make sure we do more to put things right the first time. 

How you are shaping our plans to improve

We know how important it is that we learn from your complaints and the forum helps to challenge, question and provide feedback on our complaints service. Their insight is helping us improve communication, strengthen customer confidence and ensure that learning from complaints leads to meaningful improvements for all customers.

Here are some examples of how your feedback has helped to influence change.

  • You told us you want clearer updates on service issues, repairs and complaints.

    We've improved our communications by making these updates clearer and explaining what will happen, who is responsible and when things are likely to be resolved. We’ve also updated triaging tools to help us get more repairs right first time and support customers to solve simple issues over the phone where we can.

  • You told us to learn more from complaints so we can reduce repeat issues.

    We're continuing to work with our Customer Resolutions Forum to review complaints, spot repeat issues and explore opportunities to improve. This learning is shared across teams and is helping to shape changes to our services and policies.

  • You told us you want to see what will change because of a complaint.

    When you make a complaint, we'll include what we've learnt from it and any changes made to our services, policies or procedures because of your feedback. We're also sharing updates like these to let more customers know the difference their views are making.

What happens next

While we are starting to see positive progress, we know there is still more to do and are committed to listening, learning and acting on complaints. We will continue to work closely with our Customer Resolutions Forum to understand your lived experiences, improve services and create better outcomes for all Onward customers. 

This includes addressing your concerns as quickly as possible, fixing the main issues that lead to complaints, keeping clear records so we can track what has happened and updating customers throughout their complaint, so you know we’re working to put things right.  

An Onward housing officer holding a tablet talks with a smiling tenant outside residential homes.

If you’d like to become part of the forum and share your views on how we can improve, please get in touch with our Customer Involvement Team by: