The Unipol Code

Tribunal Minutes and Press Releases

Full Code of Standards

Using the Complaints and Tribunals Procedures

The Importance of Being Able to Complain under Accreditation

The Unipol Code is an accreditation system whereby good landlords and agents are recognised and badged as meeting a set of both management and physical standards they voluntarily enter into. It is an important part of entering any accreditation scheme that those who voluntarily declare they meet a set of standards are both verified and that there is a level of accountability to tenants and the community generally in respect of those standards.

The Unipol Code complies with the four core values of accreditation as set down by the Accreditation Network (UK), ANUK.

This states:

"There must be a proper complaints process that should be simple, inclusive, transparent, rapid and known."

By signing up to the Unipol Code, members are accepting and agreeing to the complaints and Tribunal system, its purpose, rules and procedures.

The Purpose of the Complaints Procedure and the Tribunals

The purpose of the complaints process is to provide an alternative dispute resolution procedure. The aim of complaining is to resolve a particular issue or set of issues to the joint satisfaction of the complainer and the complainant. In the first instance every attempt is made (within a defined and reasonable timescale) to reach a solution before triggering the Tribunal process.

Where agreement cannot be reached, with Unipol working with all the parties in dispute, then the matter is referred to an independent Tribunal. The Tribunal will take a decision of the matters under consideration and that decision is final. The Tribunal can also make recommendation to other bodies, such as the Local Authority, Unipol itself, regulatory agencies, the students' unions and educational institutions. These recommendations often have considerable force.

There are two Tribunals, a "Fast Track" Tribunal and a full Tribunal. The fast track tribunal is designed for less important cases whereas the full Tribunal will look at major issues or misdemeanours and matters which may subsequently affect the future working of the Code itself.

Unipol Student Homes shall service the Tribunals (except in the event of them being the recipient of a complaint) and nominated staff shall be allowed to be present.

Making a Complaint

All complaints made under the Code must be received from

a tenant of the property concerned
an ex-tenant of that property
a member of the Community that has access to the Code (or representatives from any)
a member representing the Local Authority in which the landlord or property is based
a member representing the University or students' union sitting as a stakeholder within the relevant Unipol Sub Committee
the Company Secretary of Unipol Student Homes

If the representative is a parent or relative of a tenant or ex-tenant, then written authority from the tenant must be attached to the complaint, authorising the complaint on their behalf.

If the complaint is made by the Local Authority, University, Students Union or Unipol, every effort should be made to have that complaint endorsed by a tenant that is, or has been, affected.

Complaints must be in writing and addressed to Unipol at

Code of Standards Complaints
Unipol Student Homes,
Richmond Building,
University of Bradford,
BD7 1DP

or by e-mail

A form for making a Complaint can be printed off here pdf document

The Complaint must state clearly:

what breach of the code has been made
any steps the tenant/s or member/s of the community have taken to bring this breach to the owners notice
an indication of the timescale involved concerning any particular problem
if the complaint is a managing agent and is a supporter of the Code the property must be registered under the Code
a contact address and telephone number for a tenant/s or community member and/or their representatives.

Upon receiving the complaint Unipol will check that it fulfils the above criteria and then acknowledge receipt of the complaint.

Once a complaint is received the owner of the property will be written to, informing them of the complaint and giving them 7 working days in which to respond.

Unipol may choose to inspect the property as part of its response to the Complaint. In this case the property inspection will take place within 10 working days of the complaint being lodged and an inspection report will be prepared that will be used in the complaint is not resolved.

Generally, it is hoped that reporting a complaint about a property of an owner who has signed the Code voluntarily will result in that owner taking any necessary remedial action immediately.

Complainants are sent details of the owners/agents’ response to the complaint.

In the event that the matter cannot be resolved at this time then details of the complaint will then be sent to the Chair of the Tribunal for action. In certain circumstances 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.

Complaints Relating to Deposits

Any complaints concerning deposit deductions relating to tenancies which are protected by the Tenancy Deposit Protection Schemes should, in the first instance, be dealt with through the scheme's own Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process. The outcome of that process is final and is not reviewable by the Tribunal although the outcome from this process can be used as part of the narrative of any other complaint that may be being made.

Complaints that meet the criteria relating to deposit deductions are dealt with under the Fast Track Tribunal unless there are multiple complaints (normally in excess of five) when the Full Tribunal will be used.

Sending the Unresolved Complaint to the Tribunal

The Chair of the Tribunal will determine one of two courses of action (following consultation with the Vice-Chairs that are available), to refer the matter to:

The Fast Track Tribunal

This consists of the Chair and two Vice Chairs. The Fast Track Tribunal sets a meeting cycle annually and meets every two months. The quorum for Fast Track Tribunals is two.

The current membership is here

The next dates of the meetings of the Fast Track Tribunal are:

9th May 2013
2nd July 2013
3rd September 2013

Any members of the Tribunal panels with an interest (financial or personal) in any case before the Tribunal should declare it to the tribunal before the case is heard and the Tribunal will consider whether that member should continue to deliberate on that complaint.

Decisions taken by the Fast Track Tribunal will be conveyed to all concerned parties, in writing, within 5 working days of the hearing taking place.

If a complaint (or parts of a complaint) is upheld against a landlord or agent then details of the decision will be posted onto the Unipol website.

If a complaint is not upheld then the landlord or agent can decide whether they wish the details to appear in the public domain.

The Fast Track Tribunal can itself decide to refer a complaint (or parts of a complaint) to the Tribunal.

The Tribunal

The Tribunal is designed to be the final resort in a serious dispute. The Tribunal is expensive to administer and sits only when important.

In Bradford the Full Tribunal consist of nine members, the Chair of the Tribunal (or their nominee), two vice-Chairs, two student members from Unipol’s Board, three representatives from the owner community (selected from a panel of 6 members elected every three years by Code members and one member nominated by Bradford Metropolitan District Council. At least one member present must be a student and the quorum shall be five.

The current memberships are here

Tribunal hearings will be heard within eight working weeks of the procedure being triggered. If either the landlord/agent or the complainant/s cannot attend within eight working weeks then the hearing will take place in absentia of that party.

Decisions taken by the Tribunal will be conveyed to all concerned parties, in writing, within 5 working days of the hearing taking place.

If a complaint (or parts of a complaint) is upheld against a landlord or agent then details of the decision will be posted onto the Unipol website.

If a complaint is not upheld then the landlord or agent can decide whether they wish the details to appear in the public domain.

Powers of the Fast Track Tribunal and the Tribunal

The Tribunals can take four decisions, they can:

request additional information and reconvene at a later date to consider the complaint
uphold the complaint
make a recommendation to other parties
reject the complaint

Tribunals can make recommendations to all statutory bodies, educational institutions and all other appropriate parties. In the event that a complaint from a student was malicious a recommendation from the Tribunals to the institution in respect of its disciplinary procedures would be likely.

The Tribunals can recommend whatever they wish but generally this falls into the following categories:

a warning letter to the relevant party
the suspension of a landlord or owner from the Unipol Code for either a specified period of time or indefinitely (6 years) and conditions set for the lifting of that suspension. The suspension can be for an individual property or for any number of properties or for the owner/agent themselves
the setting of conditions for continuing membership of the Code
the suspension of a landlord/agent from using Unipol's services
the issuing of a press release detailing the complaint and its outcome.

Any decision of the Tribunals is confirmed in writing.

Members of the Tribunal will, regardless of receiving any complaint, meet on an annual basis in order to receive a report detailing the proceedings of both Tribunals during the past year. This will occur on a set date each year by the Chair.

Procedures of the Tribunals - Before the Tribunal Meeting

The complainant and the landlord/agent will be informed of the date of the Tribunal meeting not less than 15 working days before the meeting and invited to attend. Should problems arise from both the complainant and the landlord/agent being present at the same time at the same meeting, where possible, every effort will be made to allow separate appearances before the Tribunal.

It is desirable that all the details regarding complaints are received by Tribunal members as soon as possible, but in any event all details of complaints shall be circulated to all Tribunal members who have confirmed their attendance not less than 3 working days before the meeting.

The Tribunals are not for arguing legal points but are for the purpose of deciding, on the evidence presented, whether a landlord/agent has complied with the Code standards. No legal representatives (acting in that capacity) are allowed at the Tribunal representing either the landlord/agent or tenant. Representatives of any party, subject to prior notification are allowed.

No observers or other parties shall be present, except with the permission of the Tribunals

Those interested parties invited to attend the Tribunal must not less than 3 working days before the hearing (after that date admission is only by permission of the Tribunal):

confirm that they intend to attend
confirm any representatives they intend to bring
submit any additional written submissions for consideration by the Tribunal.

Procedures of the Tribunals - At the Tribunal Meeting

All members present will be reminded to turn off any mobile phones or other electronic communications equipment that may disturb the hearing.

Members of the Tribunals will be identified to the parties at the commencement of proceedings.

The parties to the complaint will be identified at the commencement of that agenda item.

Details of the complaint shall be circulated to all Tribunal members who have confirmed their attendance not less than two working days before the meeting.

Additional paper work can only be laid on the table with the consent of the Tribunal.

For each complaint:

the Chair, or his/her nominee, shall summarise the complaint/s and any action taken. This summation shall be definitive and not open to challenge.
the Chair will then invite any parties to the complaint that are present to make comments, within a time-frame decided upon by the Chair
generally the complainant will be invited to speak first
the parties to the complaint shall address the Tribunal only
members of the tribunal will then ask any questions
after hearing matters relating to the complaint the Chair shall summarise the issues.
if there are a number of complaints being considered then the Tribunal shall undertake its deliberations in confidence at the end of the hearings
if there is one complaint then the Tribunal shall undertake its deliberations, in confidence, at the end of that hearing
in reaching a decision every effort shall be made by the Tribunal to reach consensus but in the event of a variety of views being expressed then a simple majority shall decide the matter (with the Chair having an original and, in the event of a tie, a casting vote)
the decision taken is the view of the Tribunal as a whole and no record is kept of any voting that took place nor is any report made of that vote
the tribunal can decide whether to announce its decision, after its deliberations, to the parties concerned at that time, or decide to give its decision in writing later.

Procedures of the Tribunals - After the Tribunal Meeting

All decisions given will be confirmed in writing not less than five working days after the meeting in any event.

The decision once confirmed in writing is made public.

Minutes of the Tribunal are made public on the Unipol website and the minutes contain details of the case and the outcome together with any recommendations made by the Tribunal.

Unipol, in administering the Tribunal, will action any recommendations made by the Tribunal.

It is normal for Unipol to issue a Press Release after a Tribunal decision.

Selection of Full Tribunal Members

The Chair is elected by the Tribunal every three years.

Selection of Unipol's Board student representatives will be by Unipol's Board and appointments will be made for three years, or, in the case of a resignation, from that date.

Selection of Owner representatives will be from all owners signed-up to the Code by May 1st in the year that the election takes place. Appointments are made for three years or until resignation. A panel of 10 representatives are elected every three years. A by-election is held when the number of representatives falls below six. All owners nominated must have had no complaints upheld against them by a Tribunal for the previous two years.

In the event of an election (where more than 10 valid nominations are received) candidates for election will be asked to produce a 100 word resume of why they are standing, which will be circulated to the electorate.

Selection of the Council representative will be by the Director of the relevant Local Housing Authority.