Complaints procedure
How to make a complaint about the National Housing Bank (NHB).
National Housing Bank complaints
Types of complaint
You can complain about the service the National Housing Bank (NHB) has provided.
We will investigate complaints that concern:
- failure to follow NHB procedures
- poor treatment from NHB
- discrimination
- undue delays
- failure to comply with our service standards
NHB is not able to investigate complaints that concern:
- the service received from a housing association
- the service received from a local authority
- matters that are the subject of police investigations, or court proceedings, or where the customer has indicated that they have, or intend to, involve the police or commence court proceedings
- Environmental Information Regulations, the Freedom of Information Act or the Data Protection Act, which are subject to different procedures
Making a complaint
Complaints should be made no later than 3 months after you became aware of the problem or you should reasonably have become aware of it. Correspondence to escalate your complaint to the next stage, within our procedure, should also be made within 3 months upon receipt of our response letter.
You can submit a complaint via our online complaint form or via this downloadable version.
Do not use this form for Help to Buy or Help to Build complaints.
You can also write, email, telephone or complain in person.
We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 5 working days and will respond to you within 20 working days.
Write to:
Information Governance Team (Complaints)
Legal Services
Homes England
10 South Colonnade
Canary Wharf
London
E14 4PU
Email: infogov@homesengland.gov.uk
Telephone: 0300 1234 500
What happens next
Our complaint procedure has 3 stages.
Stage 1
Your complaint at stage 1 will be investigated by the operating area to which your complaint relates to. The response will be issued with approval from the Director responsible for the operating area.
Stage 2
If you’re unhappy with the response received to your stage 1 complaint, you can escalate the complaint to stage 2 of our procedure. Your complaint at stage 2 will be investigated by a member of the Legal Services Team. You can escalate your complaint by using the communication channels in the ‘Making a complaint’ section above.
Stage 3
If you remain unhappy with our stage 2 response then you can refer your complaint to the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, who will carry out an independent review.
If you are still not satisfied, you can ask your MP to take your complaint to the independent Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to review the handling of your complaint.
Data Protection complaints
If you’re concerned about the way we have collected and used your personal information, you are able to make a complaint. You could raise a complaint about:
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the privacy information we have provided
-
the way we have handled your right of access request
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the sharing of your personal information
-
a personal data breach
Making a complaint
Complaints should be made no later than 3 months after you became aware of the problem or should reasonably become aware of it. When making your complaint, you should include the following information:
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your name
-
your contact details
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a description of your complaint, including any reference numbers previously provided to you
You can write, email, telephone or complain in person.
Write to:
Data Protection Officer
Homes England
The Lumen
St James Boulevard
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE4 5BZ
Email: DPO@homesengland.gov.uk
Telephone: 0300 1234 500
Once you’ve made a complaint, we’ll send you an acknowledgement within 5 working days. We aim to respond to all complaints within 8 weeks and will keep you updated throughout the process.
If you remain dissatisfied or concerned about our handling of your personal information you can escalate your complaint to the Information Commissioner. The Information Commissioner does expect you to have exhausted our complaints process first.
You can write, email or telephone the Information Commissioner.
Write to:
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Email: icocasework@ico.org.uk
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Homes England complaints
Follow the Homes England complaints process.
Help to Buy complaints
Follow the Help to Buy complaints process.
Help to Build complaints
Follow the Help to Build complaints process.
Report fraud or economic crime
Find out how to report fraud or economic crime to the National Housing Bank.
Privacy notice
The National Housing Bank is committed to protecting your privacy and the security of your personal data.
Read our privacy notice to find out more about how we do this.