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A2Dominion Housing Group Limited (202437727)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202437727

A2Dominion Housing Group Limited

15 July 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 a roof leak at the resident’s property.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord.
  2. The landlord’s records show that the resident had been reporting issues with a leak since October 2020 and the landlord had previously completed repairs to the roof to help resolve the leak.
  3. On 23 September 2024, the resident contacted the landlord and reported a leak and explained water was pouring through her bathroom ceiling.
  4. On 25 September 2024, the resident submitted her complaint to the landlord. She stated over the last few years her bathroom ceiling had been leaking due to repair issues with the roof. The resident explained she recently reported a leak coming through her bathroom ceiling and was still waiting for the landlord’s contractor to attend and carry out a repair.
  5. The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response to the resident on 9 October 2024. It apologised for its lack of communication and delays related to the repairs to resolve the leak. The landlord stated it would repair the leak and complete the follow up remedial works to the bathroom by 27 November 2024. It offered the resident £150 compensation to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused in its handling of the leak.
  6. On 11 October 2024, the resident contacted the landlord and requested her complaint to be escalated to the next stage of its complaints process due to the leak repair remaining outstanding.
  7. The landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response to the resident on 11 November 2024. It acknowledged it provided the resident with conflicting information about whether the roof tiles required testing for asbestos. The landlord confirmed that an asbestos test was required, and scaffolding needed to be erected so the extent of the required works to the roof could be identified. It explained it planned to complete the repairs by 20 December 2024. However, it confirmed this was subject to weather. The landlord apologised for its poor communication and the inconvenience caused relating to the outstanding leak repairs. It offered the resident £385 compensation to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident. The compensation offer was in replacement of the offer the landlord made in its stage 1 complaint response.
  8. The resident remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s response and submitted her complaint to the Ombudsman. She stated she would like the repairs to the roof and her bathroom completed. In addition, the resident would like increased compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused and the landlord to review its procedures in relation to progressing repairs.
  9. The resident confirmed the landlord completed the repairs to the roof on 18 June 2024. However, she stated the remedial works to the bathroom from the damage caused by the leak were still outstanding.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. The resident mentioned as part of her complaint that she has experienced ongoing leak issues from the roof into her bathroom for over 5 years. Whilst this gives context to the current complaint, we have not included this in our investigation because this was several years before the events leading to the resident’s current complaint. In view of the time periods involved in this case and considering the availability and reliability of evidence, this report will not consider any specific events approximately more than 12 months prior to when the resident submitted her complaint to the landlord in September 2024. This is because paragraph 42(c) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme (available on our website), explains that this service may not investigate complaints that were not brought to the attention of the landlord as a formal complaint within a reasonable period, normally within 12 months of the matters arising.

 

Policies and Procedures

  1. The landlord’s repairs policy explains the landlord is responsible for maintaining the external and internal structure of a resident’s property.
  2. In addition, the landlord’s repairs policy states that a landlord will respond to an emergency repair within 24 hours, a standard repair within 20 working days and a planned repair within 90 days.

Assessment

  1. On 23 September 2024, the resident contacted the landlord and reported a leak entering her bathroom from the roof. Following the resident’s report, there was a delay in the landlord carrying out an inspection to make the repair safe and to identify the necessary works to resolve the leak. The Ombudsman would have expected the landlord to respond to the report as an emergency repair due to the resident stating that water was pouring through the ceiling.
  2. Due to the delay in responding to the leak, the resident submitted a complaint to the landlord on 25 September 2024 and explained she was still waiting for the landlord’s contractor to attend her property to fix the leak.
  3. Shortly after, the resident booked an appointment to carry out an inspection at the resident’s property. The landlord’s contractor attended the resident’s property in October 2024 and recommended repairs to the roof to resolve the leak, including a full strip and replacement. However, the contractor confirmed that the roof slates would require an asbestos test before the works to the roof could start. It was appropriate for the landlord to carry out an asbestos check before proceeding with the works to ensure the safety of its contractors working on the roof. 
  4. The landlord took appropriate steps by apologising for the delay in completing the repairs to resolve the leak in its stage 1 complaint response. It also offered the resident £150 compensation to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by the delay and poor communication. The compensation amount offered was reasonable to recognise the delays the resident experienced up to the stage 1 complaint response. The landlord also confirmed it would complete the repairs to the roof and remedial works to the bathroom by 27 November 2024.
  5. The landlord failed to complete the roof repairs and remedial works to the bathroom by its agreed date. It acknowledged in its stage 2 complaint that the works remained outstanding, and it still needed to put up scaffolding and complete the asbestos test to the roof tiles before it could start the works. The landlord explained it planned to complete the works by 20 December 2024. However, it confirmed the completion date depended on factors such as the weather. The landlord also offered the resident £385 compensation to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by its delays and poor communication in relation to the leak repairs. The compensation offer replaced the landlord’s offer made in its stage 1 complaint response. The amount offered was sufficient to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused up to December 2024.
  6. Following the landlord’s stage 2 complaint response, there was a delay by the landlord’s contractor erecting the scaffolding and completing an asbestos test on the roof tiles. We recognise that part of the delay in January 2025 was because of bad weather, and we acknowledge this would have been outside of the landlord’s control. After the scaffolding was erected, there was a further delay in the roof works starting. The landlord’s contractor eventually started the works on the roof in March 2025. However, the resident confirmed the roof was left for weeks, with part of the roof missing due to the landlord’s contractor failing to re–attend to complete the roof works. She also explained that the landlord failed to keep her updated with the progress of the works. We recognise it would have been distressing for the resident, having the roof works outstanding and a lack of updates from the landlord.
  7. Due to the issues the resident was experiencing with the outstanding repairs, the resident told us she submitted a further complaint to the landlord. However, she stated she did not receive a response from the landlord to her complaint. This was unreasonable, and we would have expected the landlord to acknowledge the resident’s concerns and either respond or explain reasons it would not investigate the complaint, such as due to a response previously being provided to the resident’s complaint and her complaint being with the Ombudsman.
  8. The resident has confirmed that the landlord completed works to the roof on 18 June 2025. However, she explained that the works to resolve the damage in her bathroom from the leak were outstanding, although she confirmed the landlord had inspected the bathroom. The length of time it took the landlord to complete the roof repairs was unreasonable and the bathroom remedial works remain outstanding. There has been maladministration by the landlord in its handling of a roof leak at the resident’s property.
  9. It would be appropriate for the landlord to pay the resident an additional £250 compensation to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by the further delays. This amount is in addition to the £385 the landlord offered in its stage 2 complaint response. The total amount of compensation awarded, which is £635, complies with the Ombudsman’s Remedies Guidance (published on our website), which sets out the Ombudsman’s approach to compensation. The remedies guidance suggests awards of £600 to £1000 where there has been a serious failure by the landlord, which had a significant impact on the resident.
  10. In addition, the landlord is ordered to complete the necessary remedial works to the bathroom. We also recommend that the landlord reviews the resident’s case to identify any areas for improvement with a focus on its delay in its completion of repairs to the roof and resident’s bathroom and lack of communication.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of a roof leak at the resident’s property.

Orders

  1. The landlord is ordered to:
    1. Complete the required remedial works to the resident’s bathroom caused by the damage from the leak.
    2. Pay the resident £250 compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of the roof leak at the resident’s property. This amount is in addition to the £385 compensation the landlord offered in its stage 2 complaint response. 
  2. The landlord must comply with the above orders within 4 weeks of the date of this report, providing evidence to the Ombudsman that it has done so by the same date.

Recommendations

  1. We recommend that the landlord review the resident’s case and identify any areas for improvement with a focus on its delays with the completion of repairs to the roof and resident’s bathroom. In addition, it should also focus on its lack of communication with the resident about the repairs and look at ways of preventing similar situations from occurring in the future.