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Islington Council (202308105)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202308105

Islington Council

11 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

  1. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the replacement of the resident’s front door.
  2. The Ombudsman has also considered the associated complaint handling.

Background

  1. The resident holds a secure tenancy with the landlord. The resident is disabled, which the landlord is aware of.
  2. On 7 December 2021, the resident reported to the landlord that water was coming in through the top of his front door. The landlord’s operative attended on 8 December 2021 and put silicone around the glass in the door and fitted a brush excluder to the bottom of the door.
  3. On 6 September 2022, the resident reported to the landlord that when it rained, water seeped in through the front door which made it difficult for him to open and close it. The landlord attended within 2 hours and concluded that a new door was needed. On 15 September 2022, it took measurements so that it could replace the door.
  4. The resident submitted a complaint to the landlord on 29 November 2022. He said the landlord had told him a new door would take 12 weeks. He said that the door was due to be fitted that day, but no-one had attended. The landlord told him its operative was ill and that there had been errors with the door measurements it had taken.
  5. On 30 November 2022, the landlord took further measurements of the door.
  6. The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response on 13 December 2022. It apologised to the resident as there had been delays between the date it took initial measurements for the door on 15 September 2022 and 30 November 2022, when it took more detailed measurements. It said that the door would be ready to install in the new year. It awarded the resident £100 compensation.
  7. On 26 January 2023, the resident requested that his complaint be escalated to stage 2 of the landlord’s complaint procedure. He said he had been waiting for a new door since August 2022.
  8. The manufacture of the door was completed on 21 February 2023 and the landlord installed the new door on 13 March 2023.
  9. On 14 April 2023, the landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response. It apologised for the delay in responding to the resident and offered him £25 for this delay. It acknowledged that the defects to the door frame should have been identified by the operative who took the door measurements, so that both the door and the frame could have been manufactured at the same time. It offered the resident £525 compensation as follows: £375 for its delays in replacing the door (it said this amount included the £100 it had offered at stage 1 of its complaints process) and £150 for the time and trouble caused to the resident.
  10. The landlord’s operative fitted a new door frame on 6 May 2023. The resident complained to the Ombudsman the same day. He said the landlord had got the measurements wrong and the door frame was the wrong size.
  11. In September 2023, the landlord carried out further works to the door. It installed a fire and smoke seal around the door frame and added a wooden strip to remedy the gaps between the door and the frame and aligned the door lock strike plate.
  12. On 10 January 2024, the resident reported to the landlord that the front door would not open or close. The landlord’s repair records state that its operative attended the resident’s property to ease and adjust the door. It has told the Service that a record of 12 January 2024 stating that there were further gaps between the door and the frame and missing screws from the door hinges, was an incorrect record and it has not raised any works orders in relation to the door in 2024.
  13. The landlord informed the Ombudsman on 5 March 2024 that it had awarded the resident a further £575 in compensation, broken down as follows: £375 for the delays in installing a new door frame, £100 for time and effort, and £100 for inconvenience and distress.
  14. On 13 June 2024, the resident told the Service that the landlord’s surveyor had told him that they were not happy with how the door and frame had been fitted. The resident said that the landlord had not carried out any further adjustments or repairs to the door or door frame since January 2024. The resident said he had also asked the landlord to fit a canopy over the door, but it had told him he would need to fit this himself.

Assessment

Scope of investigation

  1. As noted above, the resident told the Service in June 2024 that the landlord had not agreed to his request for a canopy over the door. This issue is outside the scope of this investigation. This is because the Ombudsman is not able to consider complaints that are made prior to having exhausted a landlord’s complaint procedure. This is so that landlords have the opportunity to respond to complaints and resolve issues before the Ombudsman becomes formally involved. If the resident wishes to pursue this matter further, he can complain to the landlord. He may be able to refer his complaint to the Ombudsman for a separate investigation if he remains dissatisfied once it has exhausted the landlord’s complaints process.

Policies and procedures

  1. Under the resident’s tenancy agreement, the landlord is responsible for keeping the structure and exterior of the property in repair. This includes external doors.
  2. The landlord’s housing repairs guide states that it will attend to emergency repairs within 2 hours to ensure that the repair is made safe and will attend to urgent repairs within 24 hours.
  3. The landlord’s complaints process has 2 stages. Its complaints policy states that at stage 1, it will respond within 21 calendar days, and at stage 2, it will respond within 28 calendar days.

The landlord’s handling of the replacement of the resident’s front door

  1. The resident reported that water was coming in through his door on 7 December 2021. The landlord acted appropriately in attending the next day to carry out repairs to the door. This was in line with its repairs guide, set out above, which states that urgent repairs that affect a resident’s day–to–day living should be attended to within 24 hours. In his complaints to the landlord, the resident said that in August 2022, he reported that water was coming in through the front door again. The Service does not doubt the resident’s word that he reported water coming in through the door in August 2022, however the Ombudsman has not seen evidence of this report and as we are impartial, the Service must ensure that its investigation is evidence-based.
  2. It was appropriate that the landlord responded to the resident’s report of 6 September 2022 as an emergency repair and attended within 2 hours of receiving his report. The door being difficult to open and close, was a health and safety issue and potential fire-risk, particularly as the resident is disabled, and the landlord had an obligation to make sure the door could be opened and closed easily should there be an emergency at the property.
  3. The landlord acted reasonably in agreeing that the door needed replacing and in attending on 15 September 2022 to take measurements of the door. However, it has acknowledged that there was an error in the first set of measurements and a delay of nearly 2 and a half months before it attended to take further measurements. It was appropriate that the landlord offered the resident £100 compensation in recognition of the time, trouble, and inconvenience this will have caused him.
  4. The landlord took a second set of measurements on 30 November 2022 and its operative fitted the door on 13 March 2023. External doors can take up to 12 weeks to replace as they often need to be specially manufactured. Once it had the correct measurements, the landlord’s joinery team manufactured the door, and its operative fitted the door, within a reasonable timeframe.
  5. However, the landlord had not identified that the door frame was also in need of replacement, which led to further delays. A new door frame was not fitted until 6 May 2023. The landlord acted appropriately in apologising for this in its stage 2 complaint response and offering the resident £525 compensation calculated as follows: £375 compensation for the delays (this amount included the £100 it had previously offered in its stage 1 complaint response), and £150 compensation for the further time, trouble, and inconvenience this had caused him. This was a reasonable offer for the delays up to this point, however there were further problems with the door after the landlord had fitted the doorframe.
  6. Since its stage 2 complaint response the landlord has offered the resident a further £575 compensation as further works were needed to the door between May 2023 and January 2024, bringing the total amount of compensation it has offered for the delays in the replacement of the door to £1100. This offer is reasonable and proportionately recognises the significant delays, time, trouble, and inconvenience caused to the resident after the door frame had been fitted. Therefore, the landlord does not need to do anything further in this regard, as its offer is in line with what the Ombudsman would have awarded had the landlord not already made an offer and it is appropriate redress for the landlord’s errors in this case.
  7. However, given the resident’s report to the Service that its surveyor told him that the door and frame had not been fitted correctly, it is recommended that the landlord undertake a further inspection of the resident’s front door and carry out repairs if appropriate following this inspection in line with the timescales in its repairs policy.

The landlord’s handling of the associated complaint

  1. The landlord responded to the resident’s stage 1 complaint within its published timescales. The resident escalated his complaint to stage 2 of the landlord’s complaint procedure on 26 January 2023. The landlord’s complaints policy, set out above, states that it will respond to stage 2 complaints within 28 calendar days. The landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response on 13 March 2023, 2 weeks outside of its timescales for doing so. It was reasonable that the landlord acknowledged and apologised for this and offered the resident £25 compensation. This level of compensation is appropriate redress considering the length of the delay and the inconvenience this would have caused to the resident.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53(b) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress prior to investigation which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves concerns about its handling of the replacement of the resident’s front door.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 53(b) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress prior to investigation which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves concerns about its handling of the associated complaint satisfactorily.

Orders and Recommendations

Orders

  1. The landlord is ordered to pay the resident the following compensation within 4 weeks of the date of this report, if it has not done so already, ensuring that it provides the Ombudsman with evidence of compliance by the same date:
    1. The £1100 it has offered in relation to its handling of the replacement of the front door.
    2. The £25 it has offered in relation to its handling of the associated complaint.

Recommendations

  1. It is recommended that the landlord undertakes a further inspection of the resident’s front door and carry out repairs if appropriate following this inspection in line with the timescales in its repairs policy. It is understood that if a new door frame needs to be manufactured, it may take up to 12 weeks to measure, manufacture and fit it.