Red Kite Community Housing Limited (202222068)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202222068

Red Kite Community Housing Limited

17 July 2024

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

This complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
1. The resident’s reports of repairs and damp in her bathroom.
2. The associated complaint.

Background

The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord. The tenancy commenced on 18 August 2008. The property is a 2-bedroom semi-detached house with front and rear gardens. The tenancy was initially with a council, but the resident became a tenant of the landlord in 2011 when the council’s stock was transferred to it. The landlord has advised that the resident had not informed it of any vulnerabilities.
A full refurbishment of the resident’s bathroom was completion in March 2021. In December 2021, the resident reported that her toilet was not secure and that the shower had started squeaking. The landlord’s records note that these were repaired on 11 January 2022. It also reported addressing a leak to the shower on 22 March 2022.
In September 2022, the resident raised raised concerns about the quality of the bathroom installation having discovered that the shower was leaking and the toilet had not been secured to the floor correctly. The resident also said that the internal bathroom walls had started to appear damp. The bathroom was inspected and it was reported that it was ‘‘very wet’’. The landlord raised a number of repairs, these included:
1. The removal of the bath to resolve the leaking pipework.
2. To fit a new bath panel support stand and new bath panel.
3. To re-tile beside and behind toilet and basin.
4. Removal of blown tiles and for a plasterer to check wall where tiles were to see if it were able to be tiled. The plasterer was also to check both walls in the hallway outside the bathroom to see if they needed redoing or just painting.
5. For a shower screen to be refitted once all other works have been completed.
On 14 December 2022, the resident raised a formal complaint about the time taken for the landlord to complete repairs to her bathroom and the quality of the works carried out.
On 6 January 2023, the landlord wrote to the resident to request an extension to 12 January 2023 to provide its provide its complaint response. The landlord advised that this was because more time was needed, following the inspection visit on 3 January 2023 by its Technical Officer. The landlord said that this was to ensure the works were completed, to the correct standard, and with no further delay.
The landlord issued its stage 1 response on 13 January 2023, in which it:
1. Acknowledged that the work to repair the leak and the associated blown tiles and walls had resulted in several of its contractors operatives attending and spending time discussing the correct course of action in relation to the damp walls and drying out, in order to complete the tiling and decorations works.
2. Acknowledged that the resident had found this frustrating and stressful, did not feel the workmanship was to an acceptable standard and had concerns about the cost of running the dehumidifier which was on continuously between 28 November and 3 December 2022.
3. Upheld the resident’s complaint and went on to say that an inspection visit was arranged for 3 January 2023, in their call on 23 December 2022. Their Technical Officer attended , assessed, and agreed the works to be completed. An appointment was then booked in for 23 and 25 January 2023 to complete all the remaining works. The Technical Officer would be inspecting all the works on 25 January 2023 to ensure this has been completed to the correct standard.
4. Agreed that the communication and timeline to complete the works should have been discussed with her with a clear view of the works including the appropriate level of communication from its contractor to progress the works efficiently. Offered the resident £25 for its service failure and £25 for the inconvenience she had experienced.
5. Said that learning was important to it and that it would:
  1. Provide a clear outline of the works to be undertaken from repairs to replacement including timeline so that it manage the timeline and expectation of the works being undertaken.
  2. Ensure its officers inspect and sign off the completed works and that they meet the required standard of workmanship.
  3. Be working with its repair’s contractor, through workshops and training, to ensure the correct skilled tradesman are assigned to the works instructed and supported by the appropriately trained supervisors/managers.
On 26 January 2023, the resident contacted the landlord to say that its proposed actions had not happened and on 7 February 2023 escalated her complaint.
In her escalation request the resident repeated that the work was not completed and raised concerns that the next 2 appointment dates she had been given were for 28 March and 5 April 2023. The resident said that the £50 offered by the landlord was not sufficient stating that her electricity bill had ‘considerably increased’ due to a non-functioning dehumidifier running for so many days. The resident also said that one of the contractors operatives had torn a hole in the floor lino, which would need to be added to the list.
The landlord acknowledged the resident’s escalation request on 3 March 2023, advising the resident that it would issue its final response by 17 March 2023, which it did.
In its final response the landlord apologised to the resident for the service failure she had experienced and:
1. Noted that dates scheduled for bathroom works were not attended.
2. Agreed that the actions outlined in its stage 1 response were not followed up and that works were not completed on the scheduled dates. This included an agreed visit from its Technical Officer.
3. Confirmed that the bathroom works remained outstanding and dates to complete all of the outstanding works were scheduled. The landlord noted that it could see from its records that the resident was not informed of the change of date and had contacted the contractor directly.
4. It had spoken to its contractor, to request that the dates about were bought forward and that these would be completed on 28 March and 3 April 2023. The landlord said that it understood these dates had been agreed with the resident.
5. Said that in acknowledgement of the service failure and that the works remain outstanding as of its final response it would increase the £50 compensation offer in its stage 1 response to £182.90. This it broke down as £150 for service failure and £32.90 for 7 days use of a dehumidifier from 28 November 2022 to 5 December 2022.

Matters that occurred following the landlord’s final response.

On 6 June 2023, the landlord raised 2 further jobs:
1. To replace leak damaged skirting in the bathroom. Its repair records note that this job was completed on 8 June 2023.
2. A ‘post inspection’ recall job for its contractor to attend the resident’s property to make good, stain block and paint the hallway wall outside of the bathroom and the bathroom wall to the left of the toilet. The contractor was also to make good the bathroom vinyl flooring damaged by their operative. The landlord’s records note that these works were completed on 4 August 2023.

Assessment and findings

When investigating a complaint, the Ombudsman applies its Dispute Resolution Principles. These are high level good practice guidance developed from the Ombudsman’s experience of resolving disputes, for use by everyone involved in the complaints process. The 3 principles driving effective dispute resolution are:
1. Be fair – treat people fairly and follow fair processes.
2. Put things right.
3. Learn from outcomes.
When considering how a landlord has responded to a complaint, the Ombudsman considers not just what has gone wrong, but also what, if anything, the landlord has done to put things right. This includes the steps the landlord has taken to address the shortcoming and prevent a reoccurrence, as well as any compensation offered.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s report of repairs and damp in her bathroom.

The landlord is obliged under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, and tenancy agreement, to complete repairs and to do so within a reasonable time of being given notice of the same. Once a landlord is informed of some damage or deterioration in a property, it is ‘on notice’ to carry out a reasonable enquiry to determine the cause and complete a repair. What is a reasonable time will depend on all the circumstances of a case.
The landlord’s repairs policy refers to using the following categories to prioritise repairs:
1. Emergency – The contractor will attend within 2 hours and complete the repair within 24 hours. This category is used when there is an immediate danger to a person or serious risk of damage to the property.
2. 1 Day – The contractor will respond and complete the repair within the same day (working day).
3. Urgent – The contractor will respond within 5 working days.
4. Routine – The contractor will respond within 20 working days.
In September 2022, the resident reported that she had discovered that the shower was leaking and the toilet had not been secured to the floor correctly. The resident also said that the internal bathroom walls had started to appear damp.
It is noted that the landlord’s repairs policy does not state how long it would take to complete the repair. However, the usual standard amongst social landlords is around 20 working days, and so this can be taken as a baseline against which to consider the landlord’s actions in this case. This would mean the landlord would have been expected to have resolved the repair by end of October 2022.
Despite this expectation and the inspection of the bathroom in September 2022 which reported that it was ‘‘very wet’’, its contractor did not attend the resident’s property until 11 November 2022. Between 11 and 28 November 2022 the contractor attended on at least 6 occasions, during which time:
1. Whilst the leak under the bath was sourced and fixed, and a plasterer attended and inspected the walls, no further action was taken.
2. Following the resident raising concerns that she was being ‘messed around,’ the contractor arranged for a senior member of its staff to attend on 25 November 2022.
3. The resident was advised on 25 November 2022 that the next available date for the works to be carried out was 23 December 2022.
4. Following concerns about how long the wait would be, the landlord rearranged for the works to be carried out on 12 and 13 December 2022.
When the contactor attended the property on 12 and 13 December 2022 several tiles were removed, tile adhesive scraped from walls and the sink was removed. The bath panel was fitted and exposed pipework that had previously been removed covered up. The contractor also re-tiled the area under the shower. However, by the time of its final response on 17 March 2023, some 3 months later and 6 months after the resident initially reported the repair, the landlord had still failed to complete all the outstanding works.
As that was the case it was appropriate for the landlord to acknowledge and apologise to the resident of the failure in its service, which it did. The landlord recognised that the bathroom works remained outstanding, that it had not followed up to ensure the works were completed and that the work to repair the leak, and the associated works, had resulted in a number of its contractors operatives attending. The landlord also set out a number of appropriate actions it would be taking as a result of its learning from the complaint.
However, given the level of failures by the landlord in this case, it is the view of this Service that the £150 compensation offered by the landlord fell well short of what this service would consider sufficient to ‘put things right’. Further, this amount also fails to take reasonable account of the evident distress and inconvenience to the resident given the landlord’s repair records noted on 29 November 2022 that she could not use the bathroom and was using a family members bathroom to wash.
The landlord has therefore been ordered to pay the resident an additional £450 compensation, bringing to total payable to £600. This being made up of £300 for its service failure and £300 for the distress and inconvenience to the resident as a result of those failures. The figure of £600 is in line with the Ombudsman’s own remedies guidance (which is available on our website) which suggests a payment of £100 and £600 in cases where there was a failure landlord which adversely affected the resident and, whilst the landlord has acknowledged failings and/or made some attempt to put things right, the offer was not proportionate to the level of detriment identified by our investigation.
As per paragraph 42a of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, we may not consider complaints about matters that have not exhausted the landlord’s complaints process. However, where the landlord has made commitments as part of its final complaint response, we will consider subsequent events in order to establish whether the landlord has put things right and learned from outcomes in accordance with the Ombudsman’s Dispute Resolution Principles.
Having agreed, in its final response of 17 March 2023, to complete the remaining outstanding works, the landlord would have been expected to have done so no later than 14 April 2023, 20 working days later. However, these works were not finally completed until 4 August 2023, almost 4 months after the expected completion date. This would understandably have caused additional distress and inconvenience to the resident for which the landlord has been ordered to pay the resident an additional £200.
With regards to reimbursement of costs related the humidifiers offered by the landlord. The dehumidifier was initially ordered on 25 November 2022, and delivered on 28 November 2022. The dehumidifier was then collected by the contactor on 5 December 2022, 7 calendar days later. In its final response the landlord offered the resident £32.90 for each of the 7 days use of the dehumidifier from 28 November 2022 to 5 December 2022.
Since issuing its final response, the landlord had advised this Service that it believed the reimbursement was calculated incorrectly. It explained that the dehumidifiers were in use for a total of 7 days, and the cost of these should have been reimbursed at an amount of £6.12 per day, this should have equated to a total of £42.84.
However, it has been noted that the resident was advised during the appointments of 12 and 13 December 2022 that the dehumidifiers would need to be used for another week in order for the walls to be re-skimmed and plastered. It is unclear from the evidence seen by this Service whether the dehumidifier was used for a second time at the resident’s property. The landlord has therefore been ordered to confirm whether they were and the total number of days used. The landlord is then to reimburse the resident an amount of £6.12 per day for each of the additional days the dehumifiers were used at her property.

The landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.

The resident initially logged her complaint on 14 December 2022. In accordance with its complaints policy the landlord should have provided its stage 1 response within 10 working days of that date, by 28 December 2022.
On 6 January 2023, the landlord wrote to the resident extension to 12 January 2023 for its provide its response.
This Service’s complaint handling code states that if a landlord is not able to meet the 10 working day deadline it should provide an explanation and a date when the stage 1 response will be received. This should not exceed a further 10 working days without good reason.
In this case the landlord issued its stage 1 response on 13 January 2023. It is noted that this was 1 day outside of the timescale given. However, this would not be a sufficient delay to amount to a service failure, given that the response was provided within the additional 10 working days.
The resident escalated her complaint on 26 January 2023. In accordance with the landlord’s complaints policy, it should have responded to the complaint within 20 working days, no later than 23 February 2023. However, the landlord did not do so until 17 March 2023, almost 1 month outside of the timescales set out in its complaints policy. This delay has resulted in a finding of service failure by the landlord for which has been ordered to apologise and pay the resident £100 compensation.

Determination

In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in respect of its handling of the resident’s reports of repairs and damp in her bathroom.
In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure by the landlord in respect of its handling of the associated complaint.

Orders

That within 28 calendar days of the date of this report the landlord is to:
1. Apologise to the resident for the failures identified in this report.
2. Pay the resident a total of £942.84, made up of:
  1. £600 with regards to its handling of her reports repairs and damp in her bathroom up to the point of its final response. This is made up of £300 for its service failure and £300 for the distress and inconvenience to the resident as a result of those failures. This is also inclusive of the £150 previously offered if this has not already been paid.
  2. £200 for the unreasonable delay in its completing the remaining outstanding works that it agreed to do in its final response.
  3. £42.84 for the 7 days use of the dehumidifier from 28 November 2022 to 5 December 2022. This is inclusive of the £32.90 previously offered if this has not already been paid.
  4. £100 for its complaint handling failures.
3. Confirm whether the resident was required to use dehumifiers in her property after 5 December 2022 and if so the total number of days used. If they were the landlord is then to reimburse the resident an amount of £6.12 per day for each of the additional days the dehumifiers were in use at her property.
4. Confirm to this Service that it has complied with the above orders.