What's In it for the Tenant?

Accreditation recognised housing suppliers who provide a quality service and who have demonstrated skills in property and tenancy management. If things go wrong tenants have access to a robust complaints system which will seek to provide the tenant with a resolution to their problem.

Complaints System (How to Complain about a landlord within the Leeds Rental Standard scheme)

Unipol operates a centralised complaints system for all tenants no matter what scheme covers the property or landlord. All complaints go to a professional Complaints Handler who will assist with a resolution to any dispute covered by the scheme. At any stage a reference for regulatory compliance can be made.

Stage One

Involve providing some informal advice to tenants about their rights under the scheme and advising them to raise the issue in writing with their landlord (in not already done). Most enquiries are resolved at this stage.

Unipol can help both tenants and landlords to detail their problem/s, agree a timescale for things to be put right and check that this has taken place.

Stage Two

If the tenant has tried to raise the issue in writing with their landlord but has not received a satisfactory response within a reasonable time frame then Unipol will investigate any complaints made, considering the matters raised with reference to the standards of the relevant accreditation scheme.

Unipol will respond to all complaints made within 5 days (* all reference to days means working days). Landlords will be given 10* working days to respond, in writing, to Unipol's enquiry. At this stage it may be necessary to inspect a property or involve the accrediting organisation. The tenant will be signposted to relevant advice about their rights and obligations.

If this approach is unsuccessful the complaint will be referred to the individual scheme for resolution under their own disciplinary procedures, and ultimately will be referred to the local authority or other relevant statutory authorities for any action needed.

Tribunal

If complaints cannot be resolved under the complaints procedure, Unipol has an independent Tribunal system that considers complaints where the parties have not been able to reach agreement about a dispute.

The Chair of the Tribunal is notified of the complaint and makes a decision as to whether it should be referred for Chair's Action (consulting both Vice Chairs) or a Full Tribunal. In the interim, the Chair may decide to suspend an owner/agent from membership of the Code, pending a hearing of the Tribunal. This is referred to as Chair's Action.

Please use this form to provide information about your complaint.

If you are unable to complete the form or unsure about how to proceed please contact Victoria Peckitt the Codes Complaints Investigator on 0113 205 3417

The complaints and Tribunal system is a key component of the scheme, helping to ensure that required standards are upheld. It is an important part of the assurance process that the outcomes of Tribunals are published and made available to users of the Code service. (This is something that members agree to when they join.)

The results of Tribunals under the Leeds Rental Standard are published on this page - there are none to list at this time.

Also published are case studies on enquiries and complaints received under the Leeds Rental Standard. These anonymised summaries are provided to give some insight to tenants and landlords on how issues are resolved, demystifying the process and sharing examples of good practice.