Greater Manchester housing firm receives hundreds of complaints over repairs and rehousing issues

The company behind Stockport's council homes received hundreds of complaints about repairs and rehousing issues last year, a report has found.

It follows a difficult year for Stockport Homes after it faced criticism for not completing repairs quickly enough around its estates.

The firm is set to face a review in autumn about its role in managing the borough's social housing.

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According to Stockport Homes' annual report, there were 279 initial complaints from customers last year, with 51 escalated due to an unsatisfactory response from the company.

There were also nearly 500 enquiries made by councillors and MPs on behalf of tenants.

The company manages thousands of properties around the borough, including the Lancashire Hill estate where tenants recently complained about broken doors, fly tipping, and drug dealing.

Residents living in Hollywood Towers and Durham House in Edgeley also told the MEN in January that Stockport Homes did not take their complaints about overflowing bins and broken gates seriously.

The independent review of Stockport's social housing model will take place later this year at a cost of £100,000.

The MEN understands the review will begin in late September or early October.

Stockport Homes' annual report was scrutinised by councillors at a meeting on July 1.

Martin Saunders, who works for the housing firm, said: "The areas we get most complaints about are repairs, the areas which we get most MP and councillor enquiries are repairs and rehousing.

"Stockport is quite a politically active area, councillors and the MP are very present, so customers are happy to take issues to them which is probably a positive thing.

"Most issues that come through councillors or MPs we are already aware of, customers have already approached us, but they've decided to take the issue up with one of their local members."

Stockport Homes said it will engage with the council's review over how social housing in the borough is managed.

A company spokesperson said: "Stockport Homes Group (SHG) welcomes all feedback, both complaints and compliments. Feedback identifies areas for improvement and allows for improvements to be made.

"SHG has a dedicated Customer Feedback Team ensuring that complaints are well managed, in line with the Housing Ombudsman’s Code of Complaint Handling, and that customers are always listened too and provided with comprehensive feedback on their complaint.

"Across the housing sector, customer complaints are increasing, this increase is not unexpected within the context of increased housing demand.

"All social landlords are required to report how many complaints are received to the Housing Regulator on an annual basis, enabling comparisons to be made across the sector.

"When comparing SHG’s performance against other providers in Greater Manchester, SHG received the lowest number of stage 1 complaints based on the number of properties managed (a 22 percent decrease in 2023/2024) with 99pc of these having been handled in time according to the Ombudsman’s timescales.

"A recent report from House Mark, shares the 2023-2024 tenant satisfaction measures*, with national benchmarking, including the proportion of customers who are satisfied with their landlord’s approach to complaints handling, being 40pc, with SHG performing favourably at 61.5pc.

"SHG will engage constructively, openly and helpfully with Stockport Councils Review of housing services as it develops."