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London Borough of Croydon (202232244)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202232244

London Borough of Croydon

17 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

  1. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the repair to:
    1. the external air vent/extractor fan;
    2. address the draughty window.
  2. The Ombudsman has considered the landlord’s complaint handling.

Background

  1. The resident initially occupied the property on a temporary accommodation agreement from 31 August 2009. The tenancy became a flexible tenancy on 3 September 2014.
  2. The property is described as a ground floor 1 bedroom flat.
  3. The landlord does not have any vulnerabilities recorded for the resident, although its records show that the resident has medical conditions. The resident has cancer, diabetes and has told this Service that he is partially sighted. It is also noted that the resident is over pension age.
  4. The resident reported to the landlord on 31 October 2022 that the extractor fan in the living room had stopped working. On 18 November 2022 an operative attended and replaced the cap that controlled the extractor fan. The resident was unhappy with the repair and another operative attended on 1 December 2022 and completed the repair to the extractor fan.
  5. The landlord’s records show that a repair was raised on 12 December 2022 to replace the external cover to the extractor fan in the bedroom. A works order was raised with an appointment for 21 April 2023. After this, the landlord brought forward the appointment to 27 February 2023. That day, the resident reported to the landlord that the operative attending his property did not know the reason for the call out. Also, the operative had agreed that the absence of the external cover for the extractor fan may increase his energy costs.
  6. The resident contacted the elected Mayor of the local authority on 22 March 2023 regarding the repair to the extractor fan. The resident stated that his bedroom was cold so his heating costs had increased. He requested that the landlord carry out repairs and provide compensation for his increased heating costs.
  7. The office of the elected Mayor responded to the resident’s enquiry on 12 April 2023. It stated that the first available appointment for the replacement of the vent was 21 April 2023 and that the appointment had been confirmed with the resident. It recognised that the contractor experienced difficulty making contact with the resident by phone so had sent the resident an email. It apologised for the delay and any inconvenience experienced by the resident. The response went on to say that it understood that the resident may have experienced additional heating costs. However, it had no records that he had told its contractor about this or that he had requested an earlier appointment. Therefore, a compensation award was not warranted.
  8. In response, the resident informed the office of the elected Mayor on 20 April 2023 that the windows had been draughty since 2019 (when they were replaced). The resident provided information on his medical conditions and requested that the repairs be brought forward.
  9. The resident contacted this Service regarding his dissatisfaction with the response he received from the office of the elected Mayor. On 27 April 2023, the Ombudsman wrote to the landlord requesting that it respond to the resident’s complaint. In response, the landlord advised that it had responded to the enquiry made to the elected Mayor and did not have an open complaint for the resident.
  10. On 12 May 2023, the resident requested that the enquiry made to the elected Mayor of the local authority be treated as a complaint.
  11. The landlord provided its initial complaint response on 30 May 2023. It acknowledged that it had received a report in January 2023 regarding the external vent cover and an appointment was arranged for 21 April 2023. The office of the Mayor contacted it on 22 March 2023 regarding the resident’s concerns about colder temperatures in his bedroom. It had tried to contact him to bring the appointment forward but was unable to do so. However, the repair was completed on 17 April 2023 and it acknowledged and apologised for the delay experienced by the resident. It maintained that it had not been made aware that the resident had experienced additional heating costs, neither had it received a request to bring the appointment forward. With regard to the repair required to the window/window frame, it advised that this had been brought to its attention by the office of the elected Mayor on 18 April 2023. Its contractor had attended on 26 April 2023 when an incident occurred. Therefore, its tenancy team would be in contact before a further inspection, or repairs, could be undertaken.
  12. The resident was dissatisfied with the landlord’s complaint response and escalated the complaint on 2 June 2023. The landlord sent the resident an acknowledgment, advising that it would respond by 30 June 2023.
  13. On 3 July 2023 and 18 July 2023, the landlord emailed the resident requesting an extension to provide its complaint response as the response had not been approved by a senior manager.
  14. The landlord provided its final complaint response on 15 August 2023. It determined that:
    1. Repairs to the vent at the property – this was reported in December 2022 and completed in April 2023. It apologised for the delay in completing the repair and the lack of response to the resident’s communication.
    2. Repairs to remedy the gap to the window – during the inspection on 28 April 2023, an incident occurred with its contractor which resulted in the operative leaving before the repair was completed. A tenancy warning letter had been sent to the resident to remind him to act respectfully to operatives and its staff.
    3. Compensation of £200 was awarded, made up of £50 for the vent repair delay and £150 for its complaint handling failures.
  15. The resident remained dissatisfied and escalated the complaint to this Service. He reported that the window repair remained outstanding and, as a result, he experienced increased energy costs. Also, he was unhappy with the level of compensation.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. The resident complained to the landlord in June 2023 about the allegation made by the contractor about his behaviour. The resident’s complaint about this matter (202310317) was determined by this Service on 24 July 2024. Therefore, this investigation will not focus on issues related to those concerns raised by the resident. As the landlord was ordered on the case to update its records to record the resident’s vulnerabilities, due to the proximity of this investigation, a similar order has not been made through this investigation.
  2. The Ombudsman considers complaints about how a landlord has responded to reports of a problem. It will assess whether the landlord dealt with the resident’s reports fairly and reasonably.

External air vent/extractor fan

  1. The resident reported to the elected Mayor that the filter to the air vent required replacement in October 2022. The repair was completed within 23 days on 1 December 2022. This was within its repair standard and reasonable.
  2. A further request was made on 12 December 2022 that the external cover for the extractor fan required replacement. The landlord’s records show that an appointment was arranged for 21 April 2023. The landlord informed the resident that this was the earliest available appointment. However, it was able to arrange an earlier appointment for 27 February 2023 once it was contacted by the office of the elected Mayor. Though it was reasonable for the landlord to organise an earlier appointment, the repair appointment was not within its published repair timescales.
  3. The resident described the appointment on 27 February 2023 as unsuccessful as the operative attended but did not know the reason for his visit. This is not reasonable as the landlord’s operatives should have knowledge of the works required and be equipped to carry out repairs promptly.
  4. Another operative had to attend to complete the repair which caused inconvenience to the resident. The repair was completed on 17 April 2023 – 74 working days outside the landlord’s timeframe for completing non–urgent repairs.
  5. In its final complaint response, the landlord recognised that the resident had experienced an unacceptable delay in getting the vent/extractor fan repair completed. It also identified its related communication failure albeit it had experienced difficulty contacting the resident to arrange an earlier appointment. It apologised for this and made an award of £50 compensation for the delay experienced by the resident.
  6. Although the landlord acknowledged its service failures, its compensation award failed to adequately address the detriment experienced by the resident. The landlord’s compensation policy says that for service delays of up to 6 months, compensation awards are from £100-£200 and the Ombudsman Remedies Guidance recommends compensation in excess of £100 where there has been a service failure that adversely affected a resident. Therefore, the landlord’s award of £50 was not reasonable or proportionate for the delay that the resident experienced.

Draughty windows

  1. The Ombudsman expects landlords to handle repairs for which it is responsible by completing them in a reasonable time and providing regular communication and updates to the resident about the repairs.
  2. The landlord’s repair priorities available online state that it is responsible for keeping in good repair the structure and exterior of the property. It will respond to emergency repairs within 2 hours and non-urgent repairs within 12 days.
  3. Following the resident’s report in April 2023 regarding a draught to the window, it was appropriate that the landlord raised a works order to inspect the windows in the property. This was to enable it to assess the cause of the draughts reported by the resident.
  4. The resident’s communication with the landlord informed it of his medical conditions. Conversely, the landlord has told this Service that it was not aware of the resident’s medical conditions when the evidence shows that this was not the case. The landlord’s communication with the resident did not demonstrate that it took any proactive steps regarding the assessment of the windows despite being aware of the resident’s hospital admission related to his medical conditions. Its response to the resident’s request for assistance was generic and indicates that it overlooked his individual circumstances.
  5. The resident also notified that landlord that he had increased energy costs due to the condition of the property. In its complaint response, the landlord stated that as the resident had not made its contractor aware of this, it had no responsibility for any additional utility costs incurred. This was not reasonable. There is no evidence that the landlord requested that the resident provide proof that his energy costs had increased, assessed the likelihood of the windows not providing the required thermal efficiency or provided advice to the resident about how he could obtain help with improving energy efficiency of the property. This displayed an insensitivity towards the resident as it appeared to ignore his concerns and his vulnerability.
  6. It is not disputed that following the incident at the resident’s property in late April 2023 (already separately investigated by this Service), the repair could not be completed. The landlord addressed this in its final complaint response and informed the resident of its expectations of his future behaviour. While it was appropriate to set out the standards of behaviour expected from residents, there is no evidence that it made a further attempt to resolve the reported draughts from the window.
  7. Almost 18 months later, the landlord has not evidenced to this Service that the repair has been completed despite it having an obligation to inspect and complete any required repairs (albeit we note that the landlord has advised that the resident recently refused access for a repairs inspection). A finding of maladministration has been made in relation to the landlord’s handling of the repair to the window.

The Ombudsman has considered the landlord’s complaint handling.

  1. The landlord’s corporate complaints procedure states that, at both stages of its complaints process, it will provide complaint responses within 20 working days. With regard to enquiries made to Members of Parliament, Councillors and the Mayor, these will be responded to by the relevant department within 10 days.
  2. In the first instance, the resident contacted the office of the elected Mayor regarding the repairs required to his property. The enquiry was responded to on 12 April 2023.
  3. Following contact from this Service, the resident confirmed on 12 May 2023 that he wanted the enquiry he made to the office of the elected Mayor to be treated as a complaint. The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response on 30 May 2023 – within 11 working days. This was therefore within its published complaint handling timeframe.
  4. The resident escalated the complaint on 2 June 2023. The landlord contacted the resident on 3 July 2023 and 18 July 2023 to request an extension of time to provide its final complaint response as it required director approval. The landlord provided its final complaint response on 15 August 2023. It apologised for the delay experienced by the resident and made a compensation award of £150 for this. This compensation award was within the range that the Ombudsman would recommend for failings that have adversely affected a resident but not had a permanent impact. This was therefore a proportionate compensation award.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the repair to the external air vent/extractor fan.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the repair to address the draughty window.
  3. In accordance with paragraph 53(b) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was reasonable redress offered by the landlord for its failings in the handling of the resident’s complaint.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of the date of the determination, the landlord is ordered to:
    1. Write to the resident to:
      1. apologise for the service failures identified in this report;
      2. advise whether it is able to reimburse him for any additional energy costs he has incurred due to the draughty windows – it should explain its decision to him and request any evidence it requires to make such a decision.
    2. Pay the resident £500 compensation, made up of:
      1. £150 for the distress and inconvenience caused by the failings in its handling of the repairs to the air vent/extractor fan (inclusive of the £50 it offered through its complaints process);
      2. £350 for the distress and inconvenience caused by the failings in its handling of repairs to address the draughty window.
    3. Contact the resident to:
      1. arrange a mutually convenient appointment to diagnose and carry out any repairs required to the windows/window frames throughout the property;
      2. signpost him to services which can assist with utility costs and making the property energy efficient.
  2. The landlord should reply to this Service with evidence of compliance with the above orders within the timescale set out.

Recommendations

  1. If it has not already done so, the landlord should pay the resident the £150 compensation it offered in its final complaint response for the complaint handling failures. The Ombudsman’s reasonable redress decision is made on the basis that this amount is paid.