You Do Not Have to Wait 8 Weeks for the Housing Ombudsman

If you have complained to your council or housing association and got nowhere, you may have been told you must wait eight weeks before the Housing Ombudsman will look at it. Or that you need to go through an MP, a councillor or a tenant panel first.

Neither is true, and has not been since 1 October 2022.

The rule was called the democratic filter, and it was abolished by section 160 of the Building Safety Act 2022. You can go to the Ombudsman as soon as your landlord's internal complaints process is finished. No waiting period. No middleman.

We are writing this because the out-of-date version is still repeated — in advice articles, on forums, and sometimes by landlords themselves. If you have been told to wait, you have been given advice that is nearly four years stale.

What you actually have to do first

You do have to complete your landlord's own complaints process. That is not the same as waiting eight weeks — it is a two-stage process with its own deadlines, and your landlord has to meet them.

Under the Housing Ombudsman's Complaint Handling Code:

• Stage 1 must be acknowledged within 5 working days, with a full response within 10 working days.
• Stage 2 must be acknowledged within 5 working days, with a full response within 20 working days.
• Either stage can be extended by a further 10 working days, but only if the landlord explains why.

Once you have the Stage 2 response — the final one — you can go straight to the Ombudsman. If your landlord misses these deadlines, or keeps closing your complaint without resolving it, that is itself a failure you can complain about.

What the Ombudsman can do

It can find maladministration, order compensation, and direct your landlord to put things right — carry out the repair, review a policy, apologise properly.

For serious failings it can make a finding of severe maladministration, which names the landlord publicly. That matters more than it sounds: landlords are sensitive about it, and it is often the point at which long-ignored cases start moving.

What it cannot do is award damages the way a court can, or fine your landlord. It is a redress body, not a regulator with penalty powers.

Damp, mould and Awaab's Law

If your complaint is about damp and mould, the position is stronger than it was.

Awaab's Law came into force for social housing on 27 October 2025. It sets legal timescales for investigating and fixing damp and mould hazards, and for emergency repairs. A social landlord who leaves damp for months is now failing a legal duty, not just a service standard.

Keep dated photographs. Keep every report you make and every response. If anyone in the household has a health condition or disability made worse by the conditions, get that recorded by a GP — it changes how seriously the case is treated.

Do not let the complaint be closed

A common pattern is a landlord closing a complaint without resolving the underlying problem, then treating a follow-up as a new Stage 1 — which restarts the clock and keeps you out of the Ombudsman's reach.

If that is happening, say clearly and in writing that you want the matter escalated to Stage 2 and that you consider the complaint unresolved. Put dates in. Keep a copy. If they still will not escalate it, you can approach the Ombudsman anyway and explain that the landlord has failed to operate its own process.

If you are in immediate danger

If the property is unsafe — no heating in winter, a serious electrical fault, a hazard putting a child or someone vulnerable at risk — do not wait for a complaints process. Contact your council's environmental health team — our Housing Ombudsman checker walks through the steps — who have enforcement powers under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System and can act quickly.

You may also want a formal complaint letter template. Shelter's free helpline is 0808 800 4444. Citizens Advice is 0800 144 8648.

The short version

Finish your landlord's two-stage complaints process. Then go to the Housing Ombudsman immediately. There is no eight-week wait, there is no requirement to go through an MP or councillor, and anyone who tells you otherwise is working from rules that were scrapped in 2022.