Complaints procedure
How to make a complaint about Homes England
Types of complaint
You can complain about the service we’ve provided.
Homes England will investigate complaints that concern:
- Failure to follow Homes England procedures
- Poor treatment from Homes England
- Discrimination
- Undue delays
- Failure to comply with our service standards
Homes England are 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 customers has indicated that they have, or have intend to, involve the police or commence court proceedings
- The Freedom of Information Act, Environmental Information Regulations and Data Protection Act which are subject to different procedures
How to make 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. 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 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.
Email: enquiries@homesengland.gov.uk
Telephone: 0300 1234 500
Write to:
Complaints, Legal Services
Homes England
50 Victoria Street
Westminster
London
SW1H 0TL
How to make a complaint about Help to Buy
If you have a complaint about Help to Buy, we are here to help. We have a 2 stage complaints process:
Stage 1
We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days and aim to resolve if fast, if we can. Raise your complaint within 3 months of being aware of the problem. If we need to consult with others to investigate your complaint, it can take some time to resolve. We aim to resolve complaints and send a final response within 40 working days (8 weeks).
Stage 2
If you’re not happy with our final response, you can refer it to the Parliamentary and Health Ombudsman Service (PHSO).
You will need to fill in a PHSO complaint form and ask your MP or their office to sign it. Raise your complaint within 12 months of being aware of the problem.
You can write, email, telephone, or complain in person. Email: helptobuycomplaints@homesengland.gov.uk
Telephone: 0300 1234 500
Write to:
Help to Buy customer relations
Homes England
50 Victoria Street
Westminster
London
SW1H 0TL
Complaints about Help to Buy agents or the equity loan administrator
If you’re an existing Help to Buy: Equity Loan customer, please raise your complaint with our equity loan administrator, Target HCA.
Telephone 0345 848 0235
Email Target.HCA@targetgroup.com
If you’re complaint is about a Help to Buy agent, please raise it with them first. You can find contact details for agents on our scheme website
What happens next
Our complaint procedure is made up of 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 then 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 ‘How to make 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.
Privacy notice
Homes England is committed to protecting your privacy and the security of your personal data. Please read our privacy notice to find out more about how we do this.