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Camden Council (202232007)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202232007

Camden Council

9 February 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

  1. The complaint is about:
    1. The landlord’s response to the resident’s report that the communal entrance door was faulty and insecure;
    2. The landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.

Background and summary of events

Background

  1. The resident holds a secure tenancy for a flat in a block owned by the landlord. They have held the tenancy since 2002.
  2. The landlord’s repairs policy sets out its responsibility to maintain safe communal areas in its blocks, including the repair of door entry systems.
  3. It provides timescales for different types of repair, and the resident’s right to claim compensation for delays to repairs covered by the ‘Right to Repair’.
  4. The Right to Repair gives landlords one day to repair an insecure external door, and seven to repair a broken door entry phone. The landlord classifies repairs that affect the security or safety of its estates as emergencies, and it says it will attend “as soon as reasonably possible” to repair communal door entry systems.
  5. The landlord’s website details its charges for replacement keys and fobs.
  6. The landlord operates a two-stage complaints process. It aims to respond within 10 working days to stage 1 complaints, and 20 working days to stage 2 complaints.

Summary of Events

  1. The landlord’s records show a report was logged on 11 October 2022 that a broken key appeared to be stuck inside the resident’s communal block entrance door, which meant residents could not operate the lock or open the door.
  2. The landlord said it attended the same day and “arranged for the door to open and allow access”.
  3. On 12 October 2022 it raised a follow–on repair to replace the cylinder lock if it could not be cleared. The landlord said it “re-fitted” the lock on 13 October 2022, and that it found the “electric keep” on the door frame was broken.
  4. The landlord raised a repair to its door entry contractor, which attended on 3 November 2022. The contractor told the landlord it had adjusted the door, and left it operational.
  5. The landlord spoke to the resident on 8 November 2022 and they reported the lock was still faulty. The landlord raised a repair for a carpenter to “resolve the issue”.
  6. Around this date, the landlord issued a stage 1 complaint response to the resident. It:
    1. Summarised the resident’s complaint as concerning the outstanding repair to the communal door;
    2. Summarised the history of the repair, and explained it had “assumed” the matter had been “resolved” on 3 November 2022;
    3. Confirmed it would arrange for its carpenter to return that week and investigate. It had asked that any repairs identified as necessary would be treated as urgent;
    4. Recognised it “could have provided a better service”;
    5. Partly upheld the resident’s complaint. 
    6. Explained how to escalate their complaint to stage 2 if they remained dissatisfied.
  7. The landlord’s records show its carpenter attended on 9 November 2022, but closed the repair after they were unable to contact the resident.
  8. The landlord’s records show it attended again on 15 November 2022, removed the cylinder lock, tried two different keys, and found it to be working. It noted that the resident told it their key had broken in the lock, and they did not have a spare one. It told them to “get a key from [a] neighbour”, then to call it to arrange for the intercom system to be reactivated.   
  9. The resident contacted the landlord on 16 November 2022, and explained that they believed the landlord should have compensated them for “the frustration and inconvenience” they experienced whilst chasing it for a repair, and the “security risk” presented by people who gained unauthorised access to the block. The landlord escalated the complaint to stage 2.
  10. On 10 February 2023 the landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response to the resident. It:
    1. Summarised the history of the repair and the resident’s complaint;
    2. Apologised for the resident’s distress, and that it had not taken this into account in its previous response. It recognised that the previous complaint handler did not show empathy for the resident’s situation, and it would share this with the relevant manager “in an effort to improve future performance”;
    3. Explained that it was “unable to uphold” their complaint;
    4. Confirmed repairs were “affected within reasonable timescales”, and so it would not offer compensation;
    5.  Apologised for the delay in responding to the resident’s complaint, which it said was “due to a high volume of complaints” it had received;
    6. Signposted the resident to the Housing Ombudsman if they remained dissatisfied.

Assessment and findings

The repair to the front door lock

  1. The landlord’s repair policy does not specify a timescale for repairs to communal entrance doors. The landlord had assessed its response as being within reasonable timeframes, however it would have been useful for it to have a standard in place to judge this against.
  2. The landlord attended quickly after the first report of an issue and ensured that the door to the block was able to open. However, it left it unsecured.
  3. The landlord thought it had successfully repaired the door and the lock by 3 November 2022, 18 working days after it was first alerted to a problem. It established there was still an issue when it later spoke with the resident, and it appeared to carry out a further ease and adjustment before confirming the lock to be operational on 15 November 2022.
  4. There was a delay after the landlord attended to carry out a repair on 9 November 2022, but closed the job after failing to make contact with the resident. As the repair was to a communal door, it should not have required the resident to be present to carry out the repair.
  5. The landlord’s repair policy indicates that residents are responsible for the replacement of their keys, however its website gives details of how residents can arrange for it to provide replacements for communal keys in exchange for payment. After the resident explained they needed a new key, the landlord advised the resident that they could copy a neighbour’s key, which is reasonable only as long as the resident is aware the landlord can also provide this service.
  6. Overall, the repair was not treated with appropriate urgency, and the landlord should pay the resident compensation for the distress they were caused whilst the block remained accessible to people who did not live there.

Handling of the associated complaint

  1. The landlord recognised several failures in its response to the resident’s complaint, however it did not offer them redress. In particular, it had failed to fully assess the impact of the delayed repair on the resident, and its stage 2 response was issued 40 working days over its target timescale.
  2. For these failures, it would be appropriate for the landlord to pay the resident compensation. Its failure to do this at either of its internal complaint stages has caused the resident unnecessary time and trouble in escalating their complaint.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s response to the resident’s report that the communal entrance door was faulty and insecure.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.

Reasons

  1. The landlord did respond quickly to ensure that access through the block entry door was possible, however the lock was not repaired until 3 November 2022. Under its own policies, this should not reasonably have taken longer than a week.
  2. Once the landlord established there was still an issue, it attended again and appears to have resolved the matter. There was a short but unnecessary delay after the landlord closed the repair job when it could not contact the resident.
  3. The landlord recognised it had not given the best service it could in response to the resident’s complaint, but did not give appropriate consideration to compensation for this.
  4. The resident was caused unnecessary time and trouble in having to escalate their complaint due to the landlord’s failure to consider appropriate redress.
  5. The landlord did take steps to share its learning from the handling of the resident’s stage 1 complaint, with a view to improving its standard of service in future, which is welcome.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. Within four weeks of the date of this report, the landlord must directly pay the resident a total of £150 compensation, made up of:
    1. £50 for the distress caused to the resident whilst their block door was unsecured;
    2. £100 for the time and trouble it caused by failing to acknowledge the impact on the resident at an earlier stage, and to provide a stage 2 response within its policy’s timescale.
  2. Within two weeks of the date of this report, the landlord should apologise to the resident for the time and trouble the resident was caused in having to escalate their complaint due to its failure to offer appropriate redress.

Recommendations

  1. It is recommended that the landlord provide the resident with details of how to request a copy of a communal key in future. This can be found at its website: https://www.camden.gov.uk/lost-key-or-fob .
  2. It is recommended that the landlord review its repairs policy and provides specific guidance to its staff regarding the appropriate timescales for a repair to communal door, especially taking into account whether there are any safety risks presented. It is recommended that the landlord share these guideline timescales with its residents, for example on its website or in the tenancy guides it provides.