Guinness Partnership

Company Overview

What customers complain about

Complaint categories

1. 1
   Damp, mould and water ingress

   Repeated reports of damp, mould, leaks and water ingress that were not diagnosed or fixed promptly, in some cases affecting bedrooms and vulnerable children over long periods.

   The Housing Ombudsman's March 2024 report described a child living with damp and mould for nearly three years and fungi growing in a bedroom; multiple individual determinations concern damp, mould and water ingress.
2. 2
   Delayed and incomplete repairs

   Long delays completing repairs, cancelled or repeatedly rebooked jobs, and problems with contractor hand-overs leaving works outstanding for many months.

   The March 2024 report cited a 21-month roof repair delay and repairs still outstanding 14 months after first notification.
3. 3
   Complaint handling and communication

   Delayed complaint responses, poor record-keeping and inadequate communication with residents through the process.

   The Ombudsman found failures in complaint handling and record-keeping, and warned a 'significant number of cases' relating to Guinness were being escalated.
4. 4
   Anti-social behaviour and service charges

   Reported dissatisfaction with the handling of anti-social behaviour cases and with disputes over service-charge increases.

   Individual Housing Ombudsman determinations include maladministration in handling anti-social behaviour and a query about a service-charge increase; these are per-case findings, not sector-wide rates.

Latest statistics

• 4Severe maladministration findings (Housing Ombudsman casework report)Report published 19 March 2024

Company-specific figures below are from the Housing Ombudsman Service's published casework on The Guinness Partnership. The most concrete public dataset is the Ombudsman's 19 March 2024 report, which followed a series of investigations. We could not identify a single published landlord-specific maladministration rate for Guinness for a defined year; sector-wide context is shown separately and clearly labelled.

Contact methods

• Guinness customer service / make a complaint0303 123 1890
• Guinness head office (for written correspondence)Head office: The Guinness Partnership, 30 Brock Street, Regent's Place, London NW1 3FG. Confirm the current correspondence address on the Guinness website before posting, as office addresses can change.
• Housing Ombudsman Service (after Guinness's final response)0300 111 3000

Complaint journey

1. 1

   Report the problem and raise a complaint

   Tell Guinness what is wrong and ask for it to be logged as a formal complaint.

   Typical responseAcknowledged within 5 working days
   What happens

   Contact Guinness by web form, phone (0303 123 1890), live chat, Text Relay, social media or via any member of staff. Give your contact and tenancy details, a clear description of the problem and anyone else involved. Guinness says it will acknowledge, define and log the complaint within five working days of receiving it.

2. 2

   Stage 1 investigation and response

   A Guinness complaint handler investigates and sends a written Stage 1 response.

   Typical responseWithin 10 working days
   What happens

   At Stage 1, Guinness investigates and provides its response in writing within 10 working days of acknowledging the complaint, in line with the Housing Ombudsman's Complaint Handling Code. If more time is needed the Code allows a short extension, which should be explained to you.

3. 3

   Ask for a Stage 2 review

   If you are not satisfied, request a final independent internal review.

   Typical responseWithin 20 working days
   What happens

   If your complaint is not resolved at Stage 1, you can ask for it to be escalated to Stage 2 for a full and final review by someone at Guinness who has not previously considered it. Guinness aims to respond at Stage 2 within 20 working days. This response is Guinness's final response and completes its internal process.

4. 4

   Escalate to the Housing Ombudsman Service

   Take the complaint to the free, binding Housing Ombudsman if you remain dissatisfied.

   Typical responseAfter Guinness's final response
   What happens

   Once you have Guinness's Stage 2 final response, you can ask the Housing Ombudsman Service to investigate. Its service is free and its determinations are binding on the landlord. You can contact it on 0300 111 3000 or via its online complaint form. Note the Housing Ombudsman resolves individual disputes; the Regulator of Social Housing sets and enforces standards but does not adjudicate individual complaints.

Response times

If your complaint isn’t resolved

If Guinness Partnership can’t put things right, you can escalate — free of charge — to an independent body:

• Housing Ombudsman ServiceSocial landlords
• The Property OmbudsmanLetting & estate agents

Recent news

• 29 April 2026

  The Regulator of Social Housing published a regulatory judgement grading Guinness G1 (governance), V2 (financial viability) and, for the first time, C1 (consumer standards).

  Read more
• 31 March 2025

  Shepherds Bush Housing Association merged with Guinness at the end of March 2025 and adopted the Guinness group complaints policy and procedure.

  Read more
• 19 March 2024

  The Housing Ombudsman published four severe maladministration findings against Guinness over repairs, damp and mould and complaint handling, ordering £14,880 in compensation across the cases.

  Read more

Earlier cases

• 19 March 2024

  Historic: In one of the four severe maladministration cases, a family endured damp, cold and fungi in a bedroom after an unresolved leak, with severely flawed complaint handling; another case involved a 21-month roof repair delay with a bird infestation.

  Read more

Know your rights

• Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, section 11

  Places a repairing obligation on the landlord for the structure and exterior and for installations for water, gas, electricity, sanitation and heating in most tenancies — relevant to the repairs and leak complaints commonly raised against Guinness. This is general information, not legal advice.

• Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018

  Requires that rented homes are fit for human habitation at the start of and throughout the tenancy, including freedom from serious damp and mould, and lets tenants take the landlord to court where they are not. This is general information, not legal advice.

• Awaab's Law (Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023)

  Introduces strict, legally binding timescales for social landlords to investigate and fix hazards such as damp and mould once reported — directly relevant given the damp-and-mould themes in Guinness's casework. This is general information, not legal advice.

• Decent Homes Standard

  Sets the minimum condition standard social housing should meet; failure to keep homes decent can support a complaint about disrepair and is monitored under the consumer standards the Regulator of Social Housing enforces. This is general information, not legal advice.

Frequently asked questions