Complaints and Compliments

We work hard to deliver outstanding services and provide safe and secure homes in our communities. If you think we've done something well or one of our colleagues is providing excellent service, then please let us know by emailing compliments@goldinghomes.org.uk

We welcome your feedback and complaints. They help us to understand what our customers are telling us and ultimately help us to improve our services. We want to do everything to put things right as quickly as possible and to do better next time.

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 Golding Homes, our colleagues, or those acting on our behalf, affecting an individual customer or group of customers.”

How do I make a complaint?

You can make a complaint:

  • Online – using our online complaints form or through our portal MyGolding 
  • Email – complaints@goldinghomes.org.uk
  • Telephone – 0300 777 2600 (free from most landlines and mobiles) 
  • Post – Golding Homes, County Gate One, Staceys Street, Maidstone ME14 1ST
  • In person — to a Golding colleague when on site

If we receive a complaint via our official Golding Homes social media account or another public forum, we may ask to make further contact to maintain confidentiality and privacy. 

Please make sure you tell us what went wrong, how you were affected, and how we can put things right.

If you need help to access this information in larger text, read aloud or translated please visit our accessibility page. We use a system called Reachdeck which offers reading and translation support – helping you to access and understand our website better.

If you need our complaints policy or self-assessment form translated or provided in Braille please get in touch with us.

We're here to help and can achieve so much working together with you with mutual respect and tolerance. Please respect our colleagues and allow us to carry out our duties without threat of abuse or violence. We've a zero-tolerance approach to harassment and physical or verbal abuse. Please read our  Unacceptable Behaviour Policy.pdf[pdf] 167KB for more information.

Our complaints process explained

The first thing we'll do when we receive a complaint is make sure we understand what has caused you to complain, what impact it has had and what you'd like us to do to put things right. You'll always have a dedicated person to deal with your complaint.

Stage one complaint

All new formal complaints will be reviewed at the first stage of our complaint process. We'll listen carefully, treat customers fairly and investigate what’s gone wrong and what needs to be done to put things right.

Once we have enough detail, we'll provide you with confirmation that a complaint has been opened, including reference details for the complaint. We'll acknowledge all complaint requests within five working days. Where a complaint requires further investigation, we'll provide a response within ten working days. If a complaint relates to a service provided by one of our contractors, we may ask them to investigate so we can provide you with our full response.  

We'll keep you updated and work with you to agree timescales should we need more time to respond to your complaint.  

Stage two complaint

If you're not satisfied with our response at Stage One or feel that we've not delivered, you can make a request to escalate your complaint to Stage Two of our complaints process, which needs to be made within 10 working days.

Only concerns that were part of the original stage one complaint will be considered at Stage Two. We'll examine the actions and decisions taken at stage one in line with our Complaints Resolution Policy October 2024.pdf [pdf] 134KB to make sure they're reasonable and fair and will respond within 20 working days. We'll keep you updated and work with you to agree timescales should we need more time to respond to your complaint. 

Stage Two complaint response represents our final response to a complaint. We hope we'll have resolved your complaint but if you’re still not satisfied you can ask the Housing Ombudsman Service to review our responses to you.

Closing a complaint

We’ll close a complaint when one of the following occurs:

  • We've carried out all agreed actions as promised
  • You've told us you're satisfied and are happy for the complaint to be closed, or, if we've not heard from you 10 days after our final response letter asking if we can close the complaint 
  • A legal hearing has taken place and a judge has made a relevant ruling
  • The matter has resulted in litigation and is now being dealt with by solicitors
  • The person complaining acts in an unreasonable or offensive manner and/or refuses to cooperate with our colleagues

Housing Ombudsman Service

Golding Homes is regulated by the Housing Ombudsman Service, an independent and free point of call that looks at customer complaints.  You may wish to contact them for advice and guidance about your complaint with us and can get in touch with them at any point during your complaint. 

The Housing Ombudsman can be contacted at: 

Post: Housing Ombudsman Service, PO Box 1484, Unit D Preston, PR2 0ET

Telephone: 0300 111 3000

Email: info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk 

Online: www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/residents/make-a-complaint/

Customers may also wish to contact their local Councillor or MP at any point throughout the complaint process. Responses to these enquiries will be provided directly to the relevant local Councillor or MP within eight working days.

Further information

Please be aware that our customer service team is here to help, if you need support to report your complaint or any other advice or guidance, please get in touch with us.

You can:

The easiest and simplest way to make a complaint is by completing our online form below. 

Complaints Form