London Borough of Hillingdon (202334408)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202334408

London Borough of Hillingdon

26 September 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

The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s:
1. Reports of anti-social behaviour (ASB).
2. Request for a property transfer.

Background

The resident was a secure tenant of the landlord for around 10 years, until April 2024. The property was a 1 bedroom flat with a communal garden. The landlord had recorded that the resident was vulnerable due to her mental health.
The resident provided a timeline of events to this Service which stated that in June and July 2022 she experienced noise disturbance and ASB from a neighbouring property. In 2023 the resident made further reports of ASB issues with neighbours. Around April 2023 the landlord closed the case explaining that it needed evidence to take action, and provided the resident with diary sheets to fill out.
On 28 June 2023 the tenancy management team submitted a priority review panel report recommending that consideration be given to an alternative property for the resident. On the same day the landlord contacted the local authority to ask if the resident could be considered for a transfer.
In August 2023 the resident sent several emails and ASB diary entries to the landlord complaining about noise at anti-social hours from her neighbour. She said she also had CCTV footage and she was happy to meet with the landlord so it could view it. She stated the impact this was having on her mental health and again requested to be rehoused.
On 5 October 2023 the landlord recorded contact from the police with a crime reference number relating to an incident at the resident’s property where an alleged threat to kill the resident was made by a neighbour.
On 9 October 2023 the landlord sent a letter to the resident in support of her application for housing through another landlord. The letter said the resident had an immediate need to move but it had no properties suitable for her needs.
On 14 November 2023 the resident raised a stage 1 complaint with the landlord. She stated that the most recent incident of ASB started in June 2022, resulting in a threat to kill the resident made on 6 September 2023, and she had not been able to live at the property since as she was too scared. She said that the landlord was aware that ASB was occurring but made it difficult for her to report it, and was not helping her move properties as it said it did not have any 1 bedroom properties.
She said that she had not seen any evidence of the outcome of the panels the landlord said it had taken her case to. She said that she had provided a chronology of events to the landlord in June 2023 and nothing was done.
The landlord issued the stage 1 complaint response on 28 November 2023. In response to the points above, it said:
1. An ASB officer had attempted to help the resident to find a mutual exchange property.
2. It had requested information from the police regarding the threat made but none had been provided so far. If it received information it will consider it carefully.
3. 2 reports were submitted to a priority review panel but both were rejected on the grounds that the resident was adequately housed and there was insufficient evidence for a management transfer on the grounds of a threat to life.
4. The landlord had provided a letter to another landlord supporting the resident’s request to move.
5. It had followed its procedures regarding the resident’s reports of ASB. It had received the chronology of events, but no detailed diary notes, which it needed in order to take action.
6. It was unable to assist with a transfer under approved social housing allocations policy it would continue to support her application to another landlord and seek to identify potential exchange partners for her.
On 6 December 2023 the resident requested a stage 2 response to her complaint. In this she said that she had provided a chronology of events in lieu of diary sheet entries, and the landlord’s insistence on the use of diary sheets was overly bureaucratic. She felt that she had provided ample evidence of ASB but the landlord did not address the issues raised, and the landlord had not adequately supported her with a property transfer. The resident said that her mental health had been made worse due to the stress of the situation..
On 15 December 2023 the landlord issued its stage 2 response. It said it would continue to try to progress a property transfer. Diary sheets were needed as part of an ASB complaint as the landlord relied on these to progress matters further. The chronology of events was not sufficient evidence. The ASB team had closed the case as there was little evidence of ASB. This is something they could consider if evidence was provided. The lack of evidence received so far did not substantiate a transfer of accommodation.
The resident brought the complaint to us on 4 January 2024. She said she had endured 10 years of different neighbours causing ASB and had an immediate need to move but the landlord would not support her.
The resident gave up her tenancy with the landlord in April 2024 and is currently renting privately, though she stated she could not afford this and is still awaiting a property through another landlord.

Assessment and findings

Scope

In accordance with paragraph 42(c) of the Scheme, the Ombudsman may not consider complaints about matters which were not brought to the attention of the landlord as a formal complaint within a reasonable period, which would normally be within 12 months of the matters arising. In this case, the resident stated she had raised numerous concerns about ASB over the years, culminating in her need to move property. However, there is no evidence the resident made a formal complaint to us or the landlord prior to November 2023. The resident also mentioned that the events leading to the alleged threat to kill began in June 2022, however, other than the resident’s own chronology of events, there are no records relating to ASB complaints until 2023. Therefore, this investigation will focus on matters which occurred on or after January 2023.
In addition, as part of her complaint about her request for a property transfer, the resident complains about the decision of a priority review panel. We investigate complaints from residents about local authorities that relate to their housing management function only. We do not investigate matters that are part of a local authority’s wider function, such as environmental health or homelessness applications. In this case, the decision made by the priority review panel was made as part of the local authority’s wider function. Consequently, the resident’s concerns about this fall outside of our jurisdiction to investigate. The resident may wish to contact the Local Government and Social care Ombudsman if she wishes to pursue this issue further.
This report will look at the landlord’s role in supporting the resident with her request for a transfer, including offers of mutual exchange properties.

Reports of ASB

As part of this investigation we asked the landlord for a copy of its ASB policy and procedure as was in place at the time of the matters complained about. In response it sent a link to its website page which gave details of how to request an ASB review, but this is not its ASB policy/procedure.
We have found a web page for its ‘tenant services’. This page says:
1. Residents have the right to live peacefully in their homes, without the fear of antisocial behaviour. The landlord is committed to taking action against those who engage in antisocial behaviour.
2. It will not necessarily become involved in all disputes between neighbours. It says it will not investigate everyday household noise and people being unpleasant to each other.
It says when it receives a report it will contact the resident to make an action plan. It will try to do this as quickly as possible. It says it will do this within:
1. One working day for high risk incidents.
2. Five working days for medium or low risk incidents.
The website offers mediation when relationships between neighbours break down. Mediation will be encouraged, as appropriate in cases where there is a potential breach of tenancy or where enforcement action cannot be taken
The website says in order to take action against ASB, it needs evidence, so it asks residents to keep a record of incidents, by filling in an ASB incident diary (available to download on the website), or recording noise using a noise app, linked on the website.
It is unclear whether the landlord has a formal ASB policy and procedure in place. A recommendation is made in relation to this below.
While the resident did make a noise report in January 2023 this was to the local authority’s ASB team. The ASB team attended the property in question and issued a warning letter to the neighbour. No further action was taken and there were no further reports. As such, there was no action for the landlord to take at this time.
There is no record of ASB reports made by the resident to the landlord following this, but it is clear that some were made as on 21 April 2023 the resident emailed the landlord regarding an ASB complaint which was made against her, denying the allegations of ASB and saying it was false. In this email, she referred to the landlord’s ongoing investigations into her own ASB reports.
The records indicate that the landlord carried out a home visit to the resident to discuss ASB issues (the resident states this was on 24 April 2023). Again, there is no contemporaneous record of this meeting. However, an email from the landlord to the resident dated 15 May 2023 (which appears to be in response to an email from the resident stating she could “no longer take” ASB from neighbours) refers to the meeting, and states that during this the resident had agreed for the case against her neighbour to be closed, so no further action was taken. Again, this indicates that the resident had made reports about ASB. That there are no records of this in the evidence provided by the landlord indicates issues with record keeping.
The email said that the landlord relied on evidence in ASB cases and asked for “the video evidence” (presumably something that had been discussed at the meeting) so it could determine what action it may take, and said it may send out letters to other residents to gather information. The landlord also provided diary sheets for the resident to fill in.
While this response and information provided about the need for evidence was reasonable in itself, it is a concern that there are no records of the resident’s ASB reports, or of the April 2023 meeting. This makes it difficult for us to be able to conclude with certainty that the landlord followed its ASB procedures correctly. However, there is no indication that the resident sent back diary sheets or any other evidence, which would have limited any action the landlord could take.
The resident has referred to a further meeting with the landlord about ASB on 8 June 2023, but again, there is no record of this. However, on 28 June 2023 the tenancy management team submitted a priority review panel report recommending that consideration be given to an alternative property for the resident, on the grounds of issues she had faced with many other residents for several years, her need to live with her support dog, and her vulnerability due to her mental health. On the same day the landlord contacted the local authority to ask if the resident could be considered for a transfer. This does demonstrate that the landlord was taking some action to try and address the situation.
On 14 July 2023 the resident emailed the landlord asking for an update on alternative housing. She said she had tried to report ASB incidents to the local authority’s ASB team but they advised her to report it to tenancy management. She said her neighbour was harassing her and it was affecting her mental health and she had been sleeping on her sofa for nearly 5 months as a result. The landlord responded the same day saying it had submitted the priority review panel report but had not received a decision and advised the resident to report the ASB incidents directly to the tenancy management team so it could look into them.
The landlord acted reasonably in replying promptly to the resident and advising how to report ASB. However, its response was extremely brief and lacked empathy. When the resident replied, “I am rarely ever responded to from my tenancy officer. It’s just an awful impossible situation with absolutely no light at the end of the tunnel and there is no urgency to deal with this from anyone” there is no indication that the landlord replied. Given the difficulties in reporting that the resident referred to, and the distress she was expressing, it would have been appropriate for the landlord to have offered further support and assistance.
Having said this, the email was discussed internally by the housing team and the landlord confirmed a priority report had been put together, but it was also considering a management transfer due to the impact on the resident’s mental health. It said it would discuss this with the resident, but there is no evidence that it did so.
Following this, in August 2023, the resident emailed the landlord with further allegations against the neighbour. Within these emails she provided her own diary format of entries throughout August alleging ASB and noise at unsociable hours from the neighbour. She said she had CCTV footage and would meet with the landlord so it could review this. On 1 September 2023 the landlord emailed the resident back saying it needed more specific information, such as times, dates, car registration numbers and exactly what she heard and saw at the time. The landlord also advised the resident to record any noise using its noise app.
The diary sheets that the landlord provided the resident with contained prompts to include pertinent information such as whether there were any witnesses, which was missing from the resident’s own diary format. A landlord cannot take action against an alleged perpetrator of ASB without reasonable evidence. This is because any action against a tenancy would need to go through a court and the landlord would be expected to provide supporting evidence. Diary sheets are commonly used by landlords as evidence in ASB cases and the landlord clearly explained to the resident this is what was needed for any action to be taken. However, there is no evidence the landlord met with the resident to witness the CCTV footage she claimed to have, or otherwise made arrangements to view this
Further, the resident was clearly extremely distressed by the incidents and the landlord did not offer anything to reassure her. In response she explained that she did not know what more evidence she could provide, and stated how badly it was affecting her everyday life. While the landlord has information about ASB on its website, it does not have a specific ASB policy signposting residents on the process for reporting ASB and what action it will take. This was clearly confusing for the resident in this case. There is no evidence from the landlord that it opened another ASB investigation following the resident’s reports in August 2023. As the resident had mentioned drug use in her complaint, the landlord ought to have signposted the resident to the police.
Regarding the alleged incident of a threat to kill the resident in September 2023, the resident appropriately reported this to the police in the first instance. There is no evidence that the resident reported it to the landlord until she raised it in her stage 1 complaint and by this point she did not feel safe unless she was able to find alternative housing. However, the evidence does show that the landlord was made aware of this incident by the police in early October 2023. It therefore would have been good practice for the landlord to make contact with the resident to discuss it, especially given the reports of ASB she had made in August 2023.
The landlord said in its response to the formal complaint that it had requested further information from the police about the incident, but had not received it. In lieu of any evidence provided by the resident such as diary sheets, it was reasonable for the landlord to await relevant information from the police before taking action against the neighbour. However there is no record of the landlord making this request to the police, and no evidence of it chasing up a response.
Overall, while the landlord’s position that it required evidence to take action on ASB was reasonable and the resident did not provide this in the format that it asked for, there is a lack of evidence to support the landlord’s response to the complaint that it fully followed its ASB procedures. Its record keeping has been poor. Further, there was a lack of empathy in the landlord’s responses to the resident, and little indication that it followed up on the resident’s CCTV evidence or with the police. These failings caused the resident distress and frustration, and she felt unheard. As such, a finding of service failure is made, along with orders for remedy. The order for compensation is in line with our remedies guidance which can be found on our website.
Finally, in her request to escalate her complaint to stage 2 the resident mentioned the landlord had opened an ASB case against her on false grounds. We can see that the landlord discussed the allegation with the resident but there is no evidence the landlord issued a warning letter or took any further action. The landlord confirmed the case was closed on 31 May 2023. While we appreciate the resident’s frustrations with having a claim made against her, we cannot comment on what grounds the allegation was made and what evidence the landlord had to raise the issues with the resident. This is because we do not have evidence in the form of the complaint made by the neighbour. Nevertheless, the landlord closed the complaint and took no action against the resident. We cannot find any evidence of a failing here.

Request for property transfer

As part of its investigation, we asked the landlord for its policy and procedure relating to housing transfers. In response, it sent us a ink to its website page about changes to tenancy, but this is not its transfer policy/procedure.
It is clear that the resident wished to move as a result of the ongoing ASB she had experienced and claims to have experienced for many years. As we have mentioned, we are unable to comment on any decision made by the housing authority in terms of the resident’s priority for a move. We have looked at whether the action the landlord took in supporting the resident’s request for a move was reasonable.
The evidence provided shows the landlord was engaging with the resident regarding a transfer prior to the incident in September 2023. In June 2023 it submitted a priority review panel report recommending that the resident be moved due to issues with other residents, her need to be with her support dog, and her mental health vulnerabilities. In July 2023 there is evidence of internal discussions around a management transfer and that the resident could be offered one direct move. It is unclear whether or not this was offered to the resident.
Nevertheless, while the landlord could move forward with a proposal for a management move, this was unlikely to succeed as the property had not been deemed unsuitable for the resident, and, as above, there was limited evidence of grounds to move due to ASB. Generally, a management move will only be offered if the property is found to be unsuitable. It is important to note that even if the resident was accepted for a management move, there is no definite timescale for this and the resident may have had to wait a long time for a suitable property to become available within the landlord’s stock.
The landlord also supported the resident’s housing application to another landlord by writing to it in October 2023. It told the resident it would continue to support this. The landlord said in the stage 1 complaint response it had also tried to assist the resident with a mutual exchange but the third party did not wish to go ahead.
Overall the evidence suggests that the landlord was sympathetic to the resident’s request for a transfer and was proactively attempting to resolve this for the resident. There is no evidence of a failing here.

Determination

In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was:
1. service failure in the landlord’s handing of reports of anti-social behaviour (ASB).
2. no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s request for a property transfer.

Orders

Within 4 weeks of the date of this report, the landlord must pay the resident £300 for the impact of the failings identified in this report.
Within 6 weeks of the date of this report, the landlord must provide training to all relevant staff on the importance of clear record keeping in ASB cases, to include when records should be made and where these should be stored. This training should take into account the Ombudsman’s 2023 report, Spotlight on: Knowledge and Information Management (KIM). If such training has already been provided in the last six months, the landlord may provide evidence of this instead.

Recommendations

If it does not have these already, the landlord should develop an antisocial behaviour policy and procedure. This would let its residents know what service they should expect and assist its staff in knowing how to deliver it