The Guinness Partnership Limited (202321575)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202321575

Shepherds Bush Housing Association Limited

15 April 2025

Our approach

The Housing Ombudsman’s approach to investigating and determining complaints is to decide what is fair in all the circumstances of the case. This is set out in the Housing Act 1996 and the Housing Ombudsman Scheme (the Scheme). The Ombudsman considers the evidence and looks to see if there has been any ‘maladministration’, for example whether the landlord has failed to keep to the law, followed proper procedure, followed good practice or behaved in a reasonable and competent manner.

Both the resident and the landlord have submitted information to the Ombudsman and this has been carefully considered. Their accounts of what has happened are summarised below. This report is not an exhaustive description of all the events that have occurred in relation to this case, but an outline of the key issues as a background to the investigation’s findings.

The complaint

1. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
   1. Reports of repairs to the property.
   2. Requests for recycling services.

Background

2. The resident was a licensee of the landlord between April and September 2022. The property is a 2 bedroom flat. During his occupation of the property, he volunteered for an organisation that held a tenancy at the property. The organisation paid the rent for the property for the duration of his occupation.
3. Shortly after receiving the keys to the property in April 2022, the resident reported repairs to the landlord. He raised issues with the living room, bathroom, kitchen, bedrooms, and the main entrance door.
4. In June 2022 the landlord scheduled a stock condition survey of the property. During the visit on 13 June 2022, the resident highlighted the repairs he initially reported in April 2022. The landlord was able to resolve some of the issues during the visit. However, the resident emailed the landlord on 24 June 2022, asking it to complete the following repairs:
   1. A plumber to repair the radiators in the hallway and living room.
   2. A plumber to repair or replace a remote used to control the boiler.
   3. An electrician to replace ventilation filters in the living room.
   4. An electrician to install a new plug socket in the bedroom.
5. In September 2022 the resident left the property and ended his licence agreement. He reported that all repairs were outstanding and he had no response from his initial reports in April 2022.
6. On 3 March 2023 the resident complained to the landlord about its handling of repairs during his occupation of the property. He was unhappy with the lack of communication from the landlord to acknowledge or schedule the repairs. He said the poor communication prevented him from having full enjoyment of the property. He added that this caused him additional costs in time, money, and effort and contributed to his early departure and the end of his volunteer role.
7. The landlord issued its stage 1 response on 16 March 2023. It said that it would not consider the resident’s complaint about lack of communication, or its handling of the repairs. It referred to its complaints policy which said that it would not consider complaints that related to issues more than 6 months old. However, it did say that it addressed the resident’s reports of poor communication with the officer involved.
8. The resident remained unhappy with the landlord’s response and escalated his complaint on 28 March 2023. The landlord issued its stage 2 response on 5 May 2023. It reiterated its position regarding the poor communication and repair delays. It apologised for not acknowledging his emails in 2022. It offered £35 compensation, calculated as £25 for service failure in closing his reports in error and £10 for complaint handling.

Assessment and findings

Policy and procedures

9. The landlord’s complaint handling policy states that it will not consider complaints relating to matters that are more than 6 months old.

Repairs to the property

10. The landlord’s records show that the resident reported repairs shortly after signing the licence agreement in April 2022. It did not acknowledge his emails or record any repairs to the property for the duration of his occupation of the property. This failure to acknowledge or respond to the resident’s reports caused him distress and inconvenience and was unacceptable.
11. The landlord missed the opportunity to schedule any repairs when it conducted an unrelated property survey in June 2022. Its records show that it gave some advice to the resident about services in the property and that he thanked the landlord in an email on 25 June 2022. The landlord’s oversight in logging these repairs contributed to the resident’s distress and inconvenience.
12. In his email to the landlord on 23 September 2022, the resident clearly explained that its lack of communication and failure to conduct repairs contributed to his decision to vacate the property. The landlord did not respond to the resident’s concerns and missed an opportunity to learn from the resident’s reports or put things right in the circumstances.
13. The landlord determined that the resident’s complaint in March 2023 related to his reported repairs from April and June 2022 only. It could have considered that the resident was clearly upset with the landlord’s overall handling of his reported repairs in September 2022. Had it done so, it could have investigated his reports in accordance with its own complaints policy as he had expressed dissatisfaction 6 months earlier.
14. The Ombudsman finds maladministration in the landlord’s handling of reports of repairs to the property. The landlord’s decision not to consider the resident’s reports from September 2022 was unfair in the circumstances. It did not address the resident’s concerns that repairs were unresolved between April and September 2022. It did not address the resident’s time and trouble spent contacting the landlord. As a result, it failed to put things right or learn from outcomes. It should pay the resident £200 compensation. This is comprised of £100 for his time and trouble and £100 for the distress and inconvenience caused.

Requests for recycling services

15. The records show the resident raised issues with the recycling provision at the block in April 2022 to the local Council. The landlord’s records show the Council contacted the landlord in June 2022 about the recycling service. There is no record showing the landlord responded to the resident or Council in 2022. However, there was no evidence to show the resident reported the issue directly to the landlord in 2022.
16. In his complaint to the landlord on 3 March 2023 the resident included the lack of response from the landlord about his requests for recycling services. In its complaint responses the landlord said that it would not respond to issues that were more than 6 months old. This was in accordance with its own complaint handling policy at the time. It was therefore reasonable to focus on its lack of communication with the resident in 2022. However, it could have allayed some of his concerns by confirming that it had been in contact with the local Council to discuss the recycling provision at the block in 2023.
17. The Ombudsman finds no maladministration by the landlord in its handling of requests for recycling services. It was reasonable to consider its own complaint handling policy and exclude matters that were more than 6 months old from its response. There was no evidence to show the resident raised the issues with the landlord in 2022 while he was in occupation of the property. His complaint in March 2023 was 6 months after he ended his occupation.

Determination

18. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was:
    1. Maladministration in the landlord’s handling of reports of repairs to the property.
    2. No maladministration in the landlord’s handling of requests for recycling services.

Orders

19. Within 4 weeks of the date of this report, the landlord must:
    1. Write to the resident and apologise for the failures identified in this report.
    2. Pay the resident £200 compensation. This is comprised of:
       1. £100 for his time and trouble.
       2. £100 for his distress and inconvenience.
    3. Provide evidence of compliance with the above to the Ombudsman.