Records to gather before you reply to a tenant complaint

To organise evidence for a tenant complaint, gather the dated correspondence, tenancy and management agreements, the relevant repair or payment records, and the policy version that applied. Match each record to the issue it answers, note what is still missing, and base the reply on that evidence.

Download the free records checklist (editable text file). No sign-up needed. Save it with your secure complaint file; use only the sections relevant to the complaint.

Already have a repair log or property history? You do not need to start again. Use it to establish the timeline, then fill the specific gaps. A missing record does not prove that something never happened.

Turn property history into an answer

For each issue, keep a short note of the record, its date and location, what it shows, and what it does not establish. Keep conflicting records visible. A completed job sheet may show that an engineer attended; it does not, by itself, prove that the repair worked or that the earlier delay was acceptable.

The following examples are fictional. They show how to use records, not a legal conclusion or a customer result.

Repair delay

• History available: a repair reported on 4 January, an engineer's attendance on 8 January, and a completion note dated 21 January.
• Questions answered: when the agency was told, when somebody attended, and when completion was recorded.
• Still to check: what happened between visits, whether heating was restored, and any conflicting tenant messages.
• Reply built from it: set out those dates, acknowledge any supported delay and give your decision and next action. Attendance alone does not answer the whole complaint.

Damp and mould

• History available: dated bedroom photos, an inspection describing a roof leak, and a contractor's repair note.
• Questions answered: where the problem was reported, the recorded inspection finding, and the work recorded as done.
• Still to check: any health concerns and a follow-up confirming whether the cause and remaining mould were addressed.
• Reply built from it: explain the findings and work, then give a follow-up date. Do not infer that the problem is resolved from an invoice alone. See damp and mould complaints.

Deposit protection or deductions

• History available: the payment receipt and protection certificate.
• Questions answered: the amount, receipt date, scheme and recorded protection date.
• Still to check: the prescribed information and evidence of service. For a deduction dispute, also check the inventory, check-out report and itemised supporting evidence.
• Reply built from it: distinguish the dates and documents you can establish from anything still being investigated. A protection certificate alone does not prove that prescribed information was served. See deposit complaints.

See automatic checking with sample files

In Casebriar, add the relevant policies and property history, select the records for the case, and check the suggested findings and source passages. It can help answer record questions from what you provide; it cannot retrieve missing records from your CRM or decide the complaint for you.

Open the normal or large sample case. Both include fictional policies and a property history file, with prepared results showing answered record questions and remaining gaps. You can explore without uploading anything. The demo uses prepared findings; a real case checks the records you select.

For any complaint

• The tenancy agreement and any renewals, and who the landlord is.
• Your correspondence log with the tenant on this subject: emails, letters, portal messages, call notes, with dates.
• Correspondence with the landlord about it, including any instructions or authority given.
• Your management agreement: what you're responsible for and what the landlord is.

Repairs and condition

• When the problem was first reported, and how (the date you had notice matters).
• Job sheets, contractor instructions, invoices and completion notes.
• Any access attempts: dates, notice given, and why visits didn't happen.
• Inspection reports and photos from before and after.
• For damp and mould: inspection notes, moisture readings, ventilation or extractor checks, and what was advised or done.

Safety

• Gas: the current and previous gas safety records, and the dates each was given to the tenant. The regulations require a check at least every 12 months, the record to be given to existing tenants within 28 days of the check, and records kept for two years.
• Electrical: the current electrical installation condition report, when the tenant received it, and evidence any required remedial work was done.
• Alarms: evidence smoke and carbon monoxide alarms were fitted and tested on the first day of the tenancy, and how any reported fault was dealt with.

Money

• Deposit: the date the deposit was received, the date it was protected, the scheme and certificate, and when the prescribed information was served.
• Fees and charges: what was charged, when, and under which permitted payment in the Tenant Fees Act 2019.
• Rent: the rent schedule, any rent increase notices and when they were served.

Handling of the complaint itself

• Your complaints procedure as it stood at the time.
• A note of when and how the complaint arrived, including complaints made by phone or in person, recorded at the time.
• The acknowledgement and any holding responses, with dates.
• Your written outcome, any internal review, and the final viewpoint letter, with the dates each was sent.

How long to keep it

The Property Ombudsman's England lettings code requires members to keep clear and full written records of their dealings with landlords and tenants for at least six years, unless the law requires you to delete them sooner, and to produce them if the Ombudsman asks. Whichever scheme you belong to, a complaint can reach it up to 12 months after your final response, so the file needs to outlast that. See our guide to letting agent redress schemes for the time limits.

When the complaint includes a request for "all my information"

A request for a copy of the personal data you hold is a subject access request under UK GDPR, whatever it's called. You normally have one month to respond, extendable by up to two further months for complex requests. Treat it alongside the complaint but track the deadline separately.

Sources

• RegulationsGas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, reg. 36
• RegulationsElectrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020, reg. 3
• LawHousing Act 2004, s.213 (tenancy deposits)
• GuidanceThe Property Ombudsman: Code of Practice for Residential Letting Agents (England), 1h
• GuidanceICO: right of access (subject access requests)

Legislation links go to legislation.gov.uk. Check the current version there before relying on it; this page is general information for England, not legal advice.

Related

• How letting agents can respond to a tenant complaint
• Repair complaints: section 11 and the landlord’s duties
• Gas safety complaints and the landlord’s legal duties
• Deposit complaints: protection and prescribed information