Citizen Housing (202216026)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202216026

Citizen Housing

20 August 2024

Our approach

What we can and cannot consider is called the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction and is governed by the Housing Ombudsman Scheme. The Ombudsman must determine whether a complaint comes within their jurisdiction. The Ombudsman seeks to resolve disputes wherever possible but cannot investigate complaints that fall outside of this. 

In deciding whether a complaint falls within their jurisdiction, the Ombudsman will carefully consider all the evidence provided by the parties and the circumstances of the case.

The complaint

1. The complaint is about the landlords handling of the residents service charge account and the high level of service charge requested from her in August 2022.

Determination (jurisdictional decision)

2. When a complaint is brought to the Ombudsman, we must consider all the circumstances of the case as there are sometimes reasons why a complaint will not be investigated.

3. After carefully considering all the evidence, I have determined that the complaint, as set out above, is not within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

Summary of events

4. The resident holds a 50% share of a shared ownership property with the landlord. The lease on the property commenced on the 2 March 2020.
5. The residents shared ownership lease is directly linked to a “Head Lease” between the freeholder, the managing agent and the landlord.
6. The managing agent directly manages the block the resident lives in, on behalf of the freeholder. Each year the managing agent estimates the service charges and invoices the landlord for that estimate through two 6 monthly period invoices in accordance with the head lease. One is 6 months in advance one is 6 months in arrears.
7. The landlord passes these charges onto the individual leaseholders. It estimates the annual service charge in February each year for payments to start monthly the following April.
8. In August each year the landlord notifies the resident of the actual charges, and whether this leaves the residents account in credit or with a deficit to pay.
9. When the resident received her actual charges statement in August 2022, the landlords charges had doubled, from an average of £700-£800 to almost £1500. The resident said this placed her in financial difficulty and caused an immense amount of stress.
10. The resident made a formal complaint about the charges through the landlords complaint handling process. However the landlords final position on the matter was that the charge was correct.
11. Its reasoning for this was the timing of the managing agents invoices to them, something over which they have no control. It explained that sometimes an invoice can be received by the landlord from the managing agent in March prior to the end of the financial year and sometimes they can be received in April at the start of a new financial year.
12. The landlord pays its invoices as they are received and has a limited timeframe in which it can recover these costs through the recharging process. The timing of the invoices from the managing agent can sometimes result in 2 recharges in the same year for the resident, which had happened in this case. It accepted the charging process can have an adverse financial impact on residents, but it was correct and not a duplication of charges.

Reasons

13. The Housing Ombudsman Scheme (the Scheme) sets out the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction to consider complaints brought before this Service. In particular, paragraph 42 sets out an exhaustive list of the type of complaints the Ombudsman will not consider.
14. The residents substantive complaint was about the high level of service charge the landlord requested from her service charge account in August 2022.
15. Paragraph 42d of the Scheme states that the Ombudsman may not consider complaints that concern the level of rent or service charge or the amount of rent or service charge increase. The residents complaint is therefore outside of the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction to investigate.