Landlord complaint deadline calculator
A council or housing association in England must acknowledge a stage 1 complaint within 5 working days and give its full response within 10 working days of acknowledging it. At stage 2 it has 5 working days to acknowledge and 20 working days to give its final response. These deadlines come from the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code, which landlords must follow.
Working days leave out weekends and bank holidays, so the dates are easy to get wrong. Answer the questions below and the calculator works them out. The dates you enter stay on your device.
Worked example
A tenant’s housing association received a stage 1 complaint on Monday 7 September 2026, and had not acknowledged it yet.
- Acknowledgement due by Monday 14 September 2026: 5 working days after receiving it.
- Full response due by Monday 28 September 2026: 10 working days after the last day it could acknowledge it.
- Even with the longest extension the Code allows without good reason, by Monday 12 October 2026.
How the dates are counted
- The clock starts the day after. A complaint received on a Monday has its first working day on the Tuesday.
- Working days are Monday to Friday, leaving out bank holidays in England and Wales. The Code does not define a working day; this is the usual meaning.
- The response clock runs from the acknowledgement, not from when you complained. If your landlord has not acknowledged the complaint, the calculator counts from the last day it could have.
- A complaint received at a weekend or on a bank holiday is counted from the next working day. The Code does not say, so the calculator takes the later date.
- These are the latest dates. The Code says landlords must consider which complaints can be answered as early as possible (para 6.1).
Source: the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (statutory from 1 April 2024), paragraphs 6.2 to 6.5 and 6.11 to 6.16, checked on Wednesday 28 October 2026. Bank holidays in England and Wales from gov.uk.
Frequently asked questions
- How long does a housing association or council have to respond to a complaint?
- Under the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code, a stage 1 complaint must be acknowledged within 5 working days and answered within 10 working days of the acknowledgement. A stage 2 request must be acknowledged within 5 working days and answered within 20 working days of the acknowledgement.
- Can my landlord take longer to answer?
- It can extend the time, but by no more than 10 working days at stage 1 and 20 working days at stage 2 unless there is good reason, and it must explain the reasons to you. When it tells you about an extension, it must also give you the Housing Ombudsman’s contact details.
- Does the Complaint Handling Code apply to private landlords?
- Not usually. It applies to members of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme. Councils and housing associations in England must be members; a private landlord is only if it has chosen to join. A written complaint to a private landlord is still worth making, because it adds to your record of what you reported and when.
- What happens after stage 2?
- Stage 2 is your landlord’s final response. If you are still not happy with it, you can take your complaint to the Housing Ombudsman. Your landlord must tell you how to contact the Ombudsman.
- Is it free?
- Yes. The calculator is free and needs no sign-up. What you type stays on your device: we do not store it or see it.