Lambeth Council (202121344)
REPORT
COMPLAINT 202121344
Lambeth Council
11 May 2023
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. Repairs to the front door, porch, and external stairs.
b. Repairs to the bathroom and installation of a new bathroom window.
c. The associated complaint.
Background
2. The resident occupies the property on a secure tenancy. The resident is elderly. She is a diabetic and is also suffering with cancer.
3. The resident first reported the repair to the front door and porch area on 6 July 2018. The landlord attended the property and advised that due to the size of the works required it would respond to the resident within a few months. The landlord did not respond to the resident. The resident reported the repair twice in 2019. Both times the landlord visited and stated it was a big job and it would get back to the resident, but it did not do so.
4. In May 2020 a small piece of falling concrete in the porch hit the resident, causing her a bump and cut to her head. In response to this incident the landlord completed some minor repair works. The main repair works to the front door, the porch, and the external stairs remain outstanding.
5. In August 2020, the resident’s granddaughter and young children moved into the property. This was to help care for the elderly resident, due to her deteriorating health. On 26 September 2020 the resident reported the same repair to the landlord. She explained the previous times she had reported the repair. The resident stated that wind and rain was seeping through the cracks in the front door. This caused the front door to swell and meant the vulnerable resident was unable to open her front door. This also caused a risk in the event of a fire hazard. A contractor attended on 23 October 2020 to fix the door frame. The porch was in a poor condition. It had exposed cement and brick work, and so the contractor was unable to carry out the repair to the door frame. The resident complained to the landlord the next day.
6. The resident complained to the landlord in October 2020. The landlord did not respond to the resident’s first stage complaint about the repair to the door, the porch, and the external stairs. It provided a response at stage two of its complaints process on 2 December 2020.
7. The landlord started repair works to the front door in January 2021. The work then stopped. This repair remains unfinished 1774 days after it was first reported by the resident. The resident has said she is unable to leave her house without support due to the state of the external stairs.
8. The resident contacted the landlord in August 2020 about the repair works to the bathroom and toilet area. The repair included an insecure bath panel, as well as mould spores and damp on the walls and around the window. The landlord sent a contractor who painted the toilet area. This did not resolve the damp and mould within the bathroom. On 25 April 2021 the resident complained to the landlord that it had not responded to her. She advised the landlord she had made many requests for an update on the repair to the bathroom. Due to the poor conditions the resident said she was unable to use the bathroom and resorted to bed washes.
9. The landlord provided a final response to the resident’s complaint on 4 October 2021. It apologised to the resident for all the outstanding repairs within the property. This included the front door, porch, external stairs, the bathroom, and all windows. On 12 January 2023 the landlord provided a second stage complaint response for the outstanding repairs to the bathroom. It agreed to complete these works by 15 February 2023. These repairs remain outstanding.
10. The resident remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s response. She brought her complaint to the Ombudsman, on 13 April 2022. The resident stated her desired outcome is for the landlord to complete the repairs to the property. She would then be able to use the bathroom. and be able to leave her property without needing the support of others.
Assessment and findings
11. When investigating a complaint, the Ombudsman applies its Dispute Resolution Principles. There are three principles driving effective dispute resolution: Be fair – treat people fairly and follow fair processes, put things right, and learn from outcomes.
12. The Ombudsman must consider whether a failing on the part of the landlord occurred, and if so, whether this led to any adverse effect or detriment to the resident. If it is found that a failing did lead to an adverse effect, the investigation will consider whether the landlord has taken enough action to ‘put things right’ and ‘learn from outcomes.
Scope of Investigation
13. This service was sorry to learn of the concrete falling on to resident’s head and causing her injury. This service, however, is unable to comment on the landlord’s liability for this injury. This is because it is outside our role to assess liability claim as there are legal matters which are better suited to a court or liability insurer to assess. This is accordance with paragraph 42(g) Of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme which states we may not consider matters where the Ombudsman considers it quicker, fairer, more reasonable or more effective to seek a remedy through the courts, or other tribunal procedure. However, consideration has been given to the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports that she had been injured due to a repair issue.
Policy and Procedures
14. The landlord’s repairs policy states that it will repair the structure of the property including outside doors, windowsills, and window frames. It will also repair pathways and steps getting to the resident’s home. The landlord has five categories by which it states it will respond to repairs as follows:
a. Priority 1 – Within 24hrs and/or by emergency callout of the repair being reported.
b. Priority 2 – Within 2 working days after the repairs is reported.
c. Priority 3 – Within 5 working days of the repairs being reported.
d. Priority 4 – Within 30 working days of the repair being reported.
e. Priority 5 – This works as part of an agreed program and/or improvement works within a specified timescale or 90 days unless otherwise stated.
15. The landlord’s damp and mould policy states it will require up to 14 days from its inspection of the repair to update the resident on what it intends to do about the problem of damp and mould. This policy states that the landlord encourages residents to ask for help. The landlord states that it must fix damp-proofing that is old or defective – this is often the cause on basement level flats. It also must repair rotten window frames and cracked walls. It states examples to improve the situation the landlord could provide a de-humidifier and install ventilation in your home.
16. The landlord’s complaint policy describes a three-level approach to the handling of its complaint’s as follows:
a. Early resolution is where it will respond to a complaint straight away. It will agree actions to resolve the issue and set a timescale. It will not provide a written response to a complaint under this resolution.
b. Local resolution is its formal stage one complaint. It states it will provide a written response to the complaint within 20 working days.
c. The review is its formal stage two complaint. It states it will provide its final written response. It does not detail any timescale for its response.
17. The landlord’s complaint policy states it will consider remedies for service failure that include unjustified delays and failure to follow its policies, rules, or procedures. Remedies include an apology, provide a service, and offer financial redress by compensation, refund, or a goodwill gesture. Within its schedule of refunds, it states it will consider £50 to £250 for time and trouble caused to the resident in making a complaint. Within its statutory schedule of refunds the landlord also states when the resident has had the loss of a room due to substantial disrepair, an allowance is calculated as a percentage of the net rent of the property from when the room becomes unusable until the date the repairs are completed.
The repairs to the front, the porch, and external stairs.
18. The landlord’s contractor attended three times between July 2018 and July 2019. On each occasion the contractor confirmed it would respond to the resident, but it did not respond. This was a significant failing in the landlord’s service.
19. On 23 May 202,0 a small piece of concrete fell from outside the porch and hit the resident on the head. This incident caused a small cut and bleed to the resident’s head. The resident contacted the landlord, and it responded three days later and carried out minor works to make the immediate area safe. The landlord took 480 working days to carry out any repair works to the porch area. This work was carried out after the vulnerable resident suffered an injury to her head. Each visit by its contractor highlighted that the repair was significant. But the length of the delay, lack of communication and failed promises given to the resident is unacceptable.
20. It was right that the landlord carried out the immediate repairs to make the area safe in line with its published timescales for emergency repairs. This service would expect the landlord to provide information to the resident about its liability insurance so the resident could make a personal injury claim if she wished to. As explained above, the Ombudsman will not comment on the likely outcome of such a claim, but we have assessed the landlord’s communication about the matter.
21. When the resident raised a stage one complaint to the landlord on 24 October 2020, she also explained that when she could open the front door cement and rocks would fall from porch. Her household and visitors had to cover their heads to protect themselves. The resident was receiving palliative care and so had regular visitors, including doctors and nurses. At the time of the resident’s stage one complaint, 589 working days had passed since the first time she had reported the repair. The state of the disrepair to the front door and porch was also reportedly getting worse and posed a fire hazard. This caused a significant amount of distress to the resident and her household. The landlord’s response continued to be unacceptable, it had been over two years and the landlord had still not carried any lasting repair to front door and porch. The repair should have been completed to stop the rocks and cement from falling on to the resident. This work still remains outstanding, and the landlord needs to complete this work as a priority.
22. On 15 November 2020 the resident informed the landlord of being unable to open her front door. The resident stated she was also unable to use the external stairs due to the disrepair. She required a person with her to prevent her from falling due to the state of the disrepair to the stairs. In December 2020 a contractor adjusted the front door so that the resident could open and close it. A contractor then started works to seal the external stairs in January 2021. This work then stopped and remains unfinished. The landlord took two and a half years before it commenced any work on the front door, porch, and stairs. Its repair policy states that this work would be completed within 90 days unless otherwise stated. The impact of then having the work stopped without communication the exacerbated the distress and inconvenience to the resident. To put things right the landlord needs to complete these outstanding repairs within a reasonable time period for the resident. The landlord should also pay compensation for distress and inconvenience.
23. The Ombudsman’s approach to compensation is set out in our remedy’s guidance (published on our website) In line with the Ombudsman’s own remedies guidance for the distress and inconvenience, the resident is awarded £1000. The remedies guidance suggests that the Ombudsman may award compensation in this range where there has been severe maladministration by the landlord. This type of award includes where a landlord has repeatedly failed to provide a service which had a seriously detrimental effect on the resident. This award is taking into consideration the significant delays to the potentially dangerous repair which remains outstanding the vulnerability of the resident and the distress caused to her by the landlord’s errors.
The repair’s to the bathroom and installation of a new bathroom window.
24. The resident reported the poor conditions in the bathroom, including extensive damp and mould in August 2020. There was also damp and mould in the toilet area of the property. The bath was reported to be a hazard for the resident due to a loose panel. This made it unsafe for her to use, due to her vulnerabilities meaning that she did not have access to bathing facilities and had to have bed washes. The landlord sent a contractor to paint the toilet area which reportedly made the damp and mould worse. The resident received no more updates from the landlord about what it was going to do about this repair. The landlord sent a contractor on the 14 May 2021.
25. The landlord cancelled these repair works due to a change of contractors. It did not inform the resident that it had made these changes. The lack of communication in the landlord’s decision making is unacceptable. The resident had highlighted she was unable to use the bathroom due to the state of its disrepair. There is no evidence provided to this service why the planned repairs to the bathroom had changed and therefore we cannot conclude it was reasonable to cancel the repairs due to a change in contractor. The landlord should have been able to pass the details of the repair to its new contractor. Changes in contractors should not lead to an interruption in the landlord’s repairs service as the landlord should have procedures in place to prevent this.
26. The landlord did not respond to the resident’s requests for an update on the bathroom between July 2021 and 4 October 2021. This was when it provided a final complaint response to the resident. The landlord was right in its final response to state it would complete the original works to the bathroom. This is providing the service in line with its policies. The landlord also agreed to replace the bathroom window due to the damage caused by the damp and mould. It took a further eight months to replace the bathroom window. This should have been completed within its 90-day period in line with the landlord’s repairs policy. Due to the landlord not addressing the damp and mould within the bathroom, within a further seven months, the timber frame had rotted. This left gaps around the window frame, allowing the elements to enter the property. These delays in communication, as well as delays carrying out these repairs are unreasonable. The landlord has breached its damp and mould, complaint, and repairs policies. The impact has left the resident unable to use a key room in her house and further exacerbated her distress, in not knowing when this will be resolved.
27. The landlord visited the property to carry out an inspection in order to carry out the works to the bathroom on 19 September 2022. This was 350 days after its final response and 750 days after the resident first reported the repair. The landlord has provided no evidence to this service that it updated the resident in line with its repair policy.
28. The landlord commenced the repair works to the bathroom at the beginning of April 2023. The resident has stated that the works continue, but the damp and mould have reappeared in the bathroom. The resident is concerned that the causes of the damp and mould have still not been addressed. The landlord has taken a total of 944 days to commence the works to the bathroom. This is not in line with its own repair policy. It has not provided any acceptable reason for the delays. The landlord has known of the resident’s vulnerabilities ad it has known that she has been unable to use the bathroom in her property since 25 April 2021. This is a total of 706 days. The landlord’s repair policy states it will refund a percentage of the net rent of the property when a room is unusable. It does not specify the percentage which will be refunded. The Ombudsman considers 20 percent is reasonable considering it is the only bathroom, which is an essential facility within the property. The resident pays £147.99 per week in rent. The Ombudsman calculates the refund to be awarded to the resident as follows:
a. 20 percent of £147.99 is £29.60.
b. 29.60 multiplied by 100 weeks is £2,960.
29. The landlord is to pay compensation of £2,960 to the resident being unable to use the bathroom for 100 weeks.
30. The resident has stated she has suffered significant distress and inconvenience due to the landlord’s handling of the bathroom repairs. In in line with the Ombudsman’s own remedies guidance a further £750 is to be awarded to the resident as compensation for distress and inconvenience. This is in addition to the loss of room payment. For these reasons the Ombudsman finds severe maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the repairs to the bathroom and installation of a new bathroom window.
The associated complaint.
31. The resident made her stage one complaint to the landlord on 24 October 2020. This complaint related to repairs to the front door, porch, and external stairs. The landlord did not respond to the resident’s complaint, and she requested it be escalated to stage two of the landlord’s process on 15 November 2020. The landlord provided its second stage complaint response within 12 days. The landlord’s response to the resident complaint is evidence of both poor communication and record keeping. It stated it was unable to locate the resident’s original complaint. The remedy provided by the landlord was not in line with the Housing Ombudsman’s code (which sets out our service’s expectations for landlords’ complaint handling) or its own complaints policy. It did not provide the service of completing the repair works and it did not provide the resident with any financial redress.
32. The resident made a stage one complaint in relation to the landlord’s handling of the bathroom repairs on 25 April 2021. The landlord again provided no stage one response to this further complaint. The landlord then provided the resident with a response on 4 October 2021. It stated this was its final review of her complaint. The landlord had combined both of the resident’s complaints in this response. It took the landlord 113 days to provide a response to the resident’s complaint about its handling of the bathroom repairs. This response is in breach of its complaints policy and the Housing Ombudsman’s complaint handling code. The landlord failing to provide a stage one response and move to its final stage might have cause the vulnerable resident to be confused. The delay in the response led to the resident being inconvenienced by having to chase the landlord in order to complete its own complaint procedure. It was not acceptable for the landlord to fail to respond to the resident in this way. The lack of response to the multiple outstanding repairs, would have increased the level of distress and anxiety for the vulnerable resident. This confused response of the landlord meant the resident waited longer for her complaint to be resolved.
33. The landlord operates a three-stage complaint process which is not in line with the complaint handling code. In line with the Code, the landlord should provide a response to the resident within ten working days at stage one of the resident’s complaint. It should provide a response within 20 working days at stage two. This should be the landlord’s final response and it should include details of how to contact the Ombudsman if they remain dissatisfied. The landlord should have updated the resident if it could not respond within these. It should then provide a date by which it will respond to the resident.
34. The landlord then provided a stage two complaint response to the resident on 12 January 2023 about the repairs to the bathroom. This was 435 working days after the resident made their complaint. This is not an acceptable response from the landlord. It was right the landlord apologised and accepted that the repair was two years overdue and that for 18 months she had been unable to use the bathroom. Its remedy has been to apologise, but it has failed to keep its commitment to deadlines by completing the works.
35. In the Ombudsman’s opinion, for the reasons described above there is a finding of severe maladministration for the handling of the resident’s complaints. This includes the poor levels communication, delays, failing to work within the guidelines of the Ombudsman’s complaint handling code, failing to resolve the resident’s complaint, or recognising the significant adverse impact caused to the resident in its response. The landlord is to pay the resident £600 in respect of its handling of the resident’s complaint. As set out above, amounts in this range are appropriate in cases where there has been severe maladministration by a landlord. An example of this is where a landlord has failed, and its failure has significantly affected the resident. In the Ombudsman’s opinion, the landlord’s final response failed to recognise and offer the right level of redress for the errors in its handling of the repairs and associated complaint.
Determination (decision)
36. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was severe maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the repairs to the front door, the porch, and external stairs.
37. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was severe maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the repairs to the bathroom and installation of a new bathroom window.
38. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was severe maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.
Orders
39. The landlord is to apologise to the resident in writing within 28 days of the issue of this report. The apology is to be in line with this Service’s guidance that it acknowledges the severe maladministration in the handling of the repairs and expresses a sincere regret for:
a. Not completing the repair works to the front door, porch and external stairs which is now nearly five years without completion.
b. Not completing the repairs to the bathroom which has meant the vulnerable resident has been unable to use her bathroom.
c. Its handling of the resident’s complaint.
40. Within 28 days, the landlord is to complete a survey of the outstanding repairs to the front door, porch, external stairs and bathroom, including damp and mould. The landlord should draw up a schedule of works following the survey which is to be shared with the resident and the Ombudsman and is to include timescales for the outstanding repairs to be completed. The repairs must be completed within a reasonable time period, in line with the landlord’s published timescales.
41. The landlord is to pay the resident a compensation payment of £5,310 within 28 days of this report. The breakdown of this compensation is as follows:
a. £1000 for its handling of the repairs to the front door, the porch, and external stairs.
b. £2,960 for the resident being unable to use the bathroom for 100 weeks which is 20% of the weekly rent.
c. £750 for the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident for its handling of the repairs to the bathroom and installation of a new bathroom window.
d. £600 for its handling of the resident’s complaint.
Recommendations
42. The landlord should review its complaint handling policy and make such amendments that carries out its handling of complaints in line with the Ombudsman Service’s Complaint Handling Code. (available to view on the Housing Ombudsman Service website).