London Borough of Barking and Dagenham (202332754)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202332754

London Borough of Barking and Dagenham

20 December 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:
1. Response to the resident’s concerns in respect of his rent arrears, including the support offered by the landlord and his concerns of discrimination.
2. Complaint handling.

Background

The resident has a secured tenancy with the landlord which is a local authority. The resident lives alone in a 3 bedroom flat and has lived there since 1996. This landlord advised this Service that in respect of vulnerabilities it had referred the resident to sources of support. It did not specify what vulnerabilities it had recorded for the resident if any. It is noted that within the correspondence, the resident advised the landlord that he had mental health issues, agoraphobia, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety.
The resident had been awarded a total of £17,367.95 in hardship payments and discretionary housing payments from the Local Authority as follows:
1. Discretionary housing payment was awarded for the period 6 April 2020 to 6 July 2022 (117 weeks) at a rate of £28.38 per week. This totalled £3,320.
2. Discretionary housing payment of £3,432.19 was awarded on 8 February 2021 as a one-off payment to the resident’s rent account.
3. Discretionary housing payment was awarded for the period 8 February 2021 to 5 April 2021 (8 weeks) at a rate of £14 per week. This totalled £122.
4. A winter COVID-19 grant of £800 for the period 1 February 2021 to 11 April 2021 was paid direct to the resident, intended to support food and utility bills.
5. The resident was awarded £4,158.92 on 4 September 2021 to his rent account by way of a hardship fund, plus £800 paid direct to the resident.
6. Discretionary housing payment was awarded on 24 October 2022 for £2,991.20 as a one-off payment to the resident’s rent account. This cleared his rent account in full. It had also agreed for £244.50 court costs to be written off in full.
7. Discretionary housing payment was awarded for the period 24 October 2022 to 23 January 2023 (13 weeks) at a rate of £30.39 per week. This totalled £401.70.
8. Household support fund at £80 for 12 weeks (totalling £960) was paid direct to the resident. (The date of this was not clear).
9. Energy rebate scheme of £29.38 for 13 weeks (totalling £381.94) was paid direct to the resident. (The date of this was not clear).
On 15 March 2023 the landlord advised the resident that his arrears were £663.79. It noted internally on 3 April 2023 that the resident had indicated that he needed help with his finances and personal matters. As such, it placed his account on a 14–day hold and made a referral to its safeguarding team. It noted on 25 April 2023 that ‘arrears letter 3’ had been sent out automatically. Following further emails from the resident on 5 May 2023, it put the rent account on hold again. It signposted the resident to support agencies including its homes and money hub, talking therapy service and bereavement groups for men but he declined these.
On 11 May 2023 the resident stated that a member of the landlord’s staff had shown him no empathy. The landlord apologised for this and advised this would be addressed. The resident confirmed that he would not be interested in downsizing. The landlord completed a discretionary housing payment form with him and submitted this to the benefits team to assess. The resident advised on 22 May 2023 that he was in rent arrears as he had been in an abusive relationship and had been “harassed” by the police for 3 years. He advised that he suffered from mental health issues and had only left his property 28 times since August 2022. He stated that he was in the process of taking legal action against a number of organisations and would clear his rent arrears with his ”winnings”. The landlord made a safeguarding referral, reoffered the support services but these were declined.
On 8 June 2023 the landlord noted internally that it had tried to refer the resident to the homes and money hub for food vouchers. This had not been possible as the resident had become “aggressive and abusive” and had been “personally insulting”. Instead the landlord provided the details for the resident to apply online. The application for a discretionary housing payment had been unsuccessful due to previous awards. The following day (9 June 2023) the landlord advised that he should pay his heating charges. It noted that rent and service charges had been reviewed in April 2022 and had not been increased.
On 20 July 2023 the landlord sent the resident a notice of arrears of £2,563.73. The resident advised that this had been distressing as it was around the anniversary of the passing of his son. The landlord withdrew the notice and reoffered support services. There was a gap in correspondence until 10 October 2023 when the mental health team advised the landlord that the resident had been reoffered support services but had declined. The landlord reoffered these on 25 October 2023 but the resident declined. It sent him details of social broadband tariffs but noted he did not appear interested.
On 8 November 2023 the landlord wrote to the resident and summarised the support it had offered him in 2023. It acknowledged that a Notice of Seeking Possession had been sent on 20 July 2023 due to rent arrears of £2,563.73. It had agreed to withdraw this given that lack of contact it had had with the resident since May 2023. It agreed to place a short–term hold on the rent account given the anniversary of his son’s passing. It acknowledged that the resident had paid £300 to the rent account on the 22 August 2023. The rent however was in arrears of £3,242.22 and after universal credit there was a monthly shortfall in the rent of £273.29. There was also likely an under-occupancy deduction due to the size of the property. It asked the resident to compete an income and expenditure form and said that if the arrears were not addressed, it would issue a Notice of Seeking Possession. The resident responded that he would not pay the heating charges and would not sell his belongings (valued around £30,000). The landlord advised that it would not wait on possible compensation to pay the arrears and that the annual heating costs were shared amongst all properties in a block.
On 4 December 2023 the landlord sent the resident a reminder letter that his arrears were £3,675.33 and reiterated that it could not allow the arrears to continue to increase and that recovery action would continue.
The resident submitted a complaint on 12 December 2023 and stated as follows:
1. He had expressed his concerns about the increasing arrears since March 2023 but his emails had been “ignored and swept aside for months”. The landlord had not responded to his concerns as a complaint. The landlord would have treated him differently if he was not a man.
2. The home and money hub and the talking therapy services could not help as he suffered from anxiety and agoraphobia and barely left the property. He had been discharged from both of those services, once in 2020 for missing a food bank collection and the talking therapy discharged him for “not being suicidal enough”. Since 2020 he had been suffering with grief and trauma. He had had false allegations made against him by an ex-partner. He was subject to a non–molestation order until June 2025 which had impacted his mental health. He had around £3 in his bank and had not eaten for 4 days. He had had no support in 4 years.
On 13 December 2023 the landlord signposted the resident to support services in respect of food, finances and mental health service. It reiterated its advice about downsizing to make rent more manageable. It advised him that it could not hold off rent recovery action continuously. It placed the resident’s arrears account on hold due to the complaint. It responded at stage 1 on 28 December 2023 and stated that the resident’s emails had not come in via its corporate complaint inbox, however, all the issues raised had been addressed in its response of 8 November 2023. It reiterated the support it had offered the resident including discretionary housing payments.
The resident escalated his complaint on 3 January 2024. He stated that he had been signed off work since August 2022 with anxiety due to domestic abuse and he could not leave the property for fear of the police. He felt the landlord had ignored the domestic abuse and police actions as he was a man. The landlord advised on 5 January 2024 that there were not sufficient grounds to escalate the matter to stage 2. The resident contacted this Service for assistance on 24 January 2024 and stated as follows:
1. He had been dealing with domestic abuse and false allegations for 4 years. The landlord would have helped if he was a “woman or from an ethnic or LGBTQ community”.
2. The landlord did not know he existed and had offered him no empathy or support since his adult son passed away in 2019. The home and money hub and the talking therapy provider had been of no help.
3. The landlord had not addressed his issues until 8 November 2023 and had “proceeded to sweep everything aside”.
This Service asked the landlord to respond at stage 2 by 19 February 2024. It did so on 12 February 2024 and reiterated the support it had offered the resident and advised that domestic abuse services could be accessed by both men and women. It noted that his application for discretionary homes payment had been declined due to the number of previous payments. It advised that it would speak with its rent department and ask that consideration be given to the resident’s request to enter into a payment plan. It signposted him to the Citizens Advice Service in respect of his concerns about the police and the Courts.
That same day (12 February 2024) the resident advised the landlord that he had been sent a letter on 5 February 2024 advising that he was £4,447.17 in arrears. He also stated as follows:
1. The police had caused him “PTSD and anxiety”.
2. The advice offered by the landlord caused him more anxiety and stress as the money hub was near the police station.
3. He had to rely on handouts from his 80 year old mother which was “embarrassing and demeaning”.
4. He did not heat his property and had been away and so the heating charges could not be justified.
On 13 February 2024 the resident referred his case to this Service and stated that his problems had arisen in July 2022 when he was signed off work with anxiety. As a man, he had had no support due to lack of understanding and “plain ignorance”. He had reported leaks but the landlord had not addressed these.

Correspondence following the referral to this Service

On 19 March 2024 the resident advised this Service that the landlord had sent him a letter on 11 March 2024 stating that he owed £4,105.31 and that it was a final warning before it took action.
On 24 March 2024 the resident advised the landlord that the domestic violence support service it had signposted him to had not responded to him or could not help him. He chased a response to this on 7 April 2024 an stated it had been a complaint.
On 17 April 2024 the landlord issued a Notice of Seeking Possession. The rent arrears were £5,267.89.
The resident advised this Service on 24 September 2024 that he was getting help from a “NELFT psychiatric team”.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

This Service is only able to consider the actions of the landlord. It is noted that the resident’s correspondence contained a number of issues which were not within the landlord’s power to address or the landlord’s responsibility. As such this investigation does not include consideration of the following:
1. The actions or inactions of the police and Courts including the issuing of a non-molestation order to the resident.
2. The support provision offered by external organisations.
3. The decision of the Local Authority to decline the discretionary Housing Payment application.
The resident has stated that he believes the landlord breached its obligations under the Equalities Act 2010 in that is discriminated against him as a man. It is acknowledged that this is a serious allegation. Although the Ombudsman is unable to reach legal findings or determine if such a breach took place, we can consider the landlord’s handling of the resident’s concerns. The resident has the option to seek legal advice if he wants to pursue his concerns using equalities legislation.
Following the completion of the internal complaints procedure, the resident raised a concern about leaks. In addition he also noted that the homes and money hub suggested by the landlord was located near a police station. As these issues did not form part of the formal complaint to the landlord under consideration, they are not something that this Service can investigate at this stage as the landlord needs to be provided with the opportunity to investigate and respond to these concerns. The resident will need to contact the landlord and, if appropriate, raise a separate complaint(s) to get these matters resolved. He may then approach the Ombudsman if he remains dissatisfied.
The investigation undertaken by the Housing Ombudsman generally considers the landlord’s actions leading up to a resident’s complaint. In this case, this Service has seen evidence of the resident having been offered financial support by the Local Authority towards his rent arrears since 2020. In order to provide an accurate overview of the resident’s housing situation reference has been made to these payments within this report.

Response to the resident’s concerns in respect of his rent arrears, including the support offered by the landlord and his concerns of discrimination

The landlord’s rent account management policy makes it clear that residents must pay all outstanding rent immediately if they have the means to do so. If this is not done, the landlord will request that this be paid. If payment is not made, subsequent action will be taken, such as court proceedings and eviction. If a resident is evicted due to rent arrears, the landlord has no legal obligation to re-house them.
It is acknowledged by this Service that rent arrears are distressing by their nature. It is clear from the correspondence seen in this case that the landlord has been responsive to the resident’s concerns about his financial situation and other personal struggles, including his mental health. It also demonstrated continued support for the resident and his individual circumstances over the period considered within this report.
It is not in dispute that the universal credit the resident currently receives does not cover his rent payments. It is clear that the resident has been provided with financial help from the Local Authority between 2020 and 2023, equating to over £17,000 to assist the resident with previous rent arrears to support him to remain at the property. When considering this, the landlord’s repeated advice to the resident that the rent arrears needed to be managed to prevent this from becoming unmanageable for the resident, was both reasonable and appropriate. Given that an eviction would lead to the resident potentially becoming homeless, the landlord acted in the resident’s best interests to encourage him to pay his outstanding and increasing rent arrears.
This Service acknowledged that the resident indicated to the landlord on a number of occasions that he was not prepared to move from the property. The landlord’s advice that downsizing would be an option to prevent the arrears from continuing to accumulate was appropriate. It was also appropriate for the landlord to advise that the arrears needed to be paid or a plan for doing so established. The landlord acted in the best interests of the resident in its advice to the resident in November and on 8 December 2023 that it could not allow the arrears to continue to accumulate, nor could it wait for possible compensation.
It is noted that the resident advised the landlord that he had a significant amount of high value personal items, however he would not be prepared to sell these to pay off the arrears. It is noted by this Service that even if the resident were to be awarded a lump sum payment of compensation as the resident was hoping for, this would not be a sustainable way to make up the shortfall in his rent payments going forwards. It is this long term affordability which the landlord sought to assist the resident with by suggesting he downsize to an affordable property. In doing so the landlord demonstrated an understanding of the longer term impact of the resident’s situation should his circumstances not change.
Throughout the correspondence seen in this case, the landlord appropriately took the resident’s personal circumstances and vulnerabilities into consideration when handling the rent arrears in the following ways:
1. It placed his rent account on a 14–day hold while it looked into the resident’s concerns about his finances and personal circumstances in April 2023.
2. It appropriately made a referral to its safeguarding team.
3. It put the rent account on hold again on 5 May 2023 following further representations from the resident that same day.
4. It withdrew the arrears notice which it had sent on 20 July 2023. It did so to acknowledge its lack of contact since May 2023 and following the resident’s representations that this had caused him distress due to it being around the anniversary of his son’s passing.
5. It placed the resident’s arrears account on hold again on 15 December 2023 while it considered the resident’s complaint.
These were all appropriate actions and showed empathy and an understanding by the landlord of the impact the situation was having on the resident and the actions it had taken to support him.
The landlord responded to the resident’s personal circumstances and concerns and offered appropriate signposting to a number of support services which were better placed to offer specialist support with the concerns the resident had raised. These included the home and money hub, a talking therapy provider, domestic violence support services, bereavement charities for men and a mental health service to assist with his report of agoraphobia and fear of the police. This Service has seen that the landlord signposted the resident to such support services on 10 occasions between May and December 2023.
Despite the external support the landlord had recommended, it is noted that the resident declined the support offered and on one occasion, (8 June 2023) the referral to the homes and food hub could not be completed due to the resident’s behaviour during the phone call. The landlord appropriately acknowledged that this referral had been unsuccessful and appropriately provided online referral details the following day. This demonstrated that the landlord had treated the resident fairly and had provided him with an alternative way of completing this referral. The landlord demonstrated that it had consistently offered the resident appropriate signposting to support based on his disclosed vulnerabilities throughout its correspondence with him.
The landlord appropriately responded to the resident’s concerns about his finances and offered him details of social broadband tariffs on 11 October 2023. This was appropriate and demonstrated that the landlord had considered other ways by which the resident could reduce the financial strain he was experiencing.
The resident’s tenancy agreement sets out that his rent payments includes water and heating. It is acknowledged that the resident advised that he had not used the heating he had been charged for. The landlord appropriately explained however that this was part of his rent payments and as such he was required to pay the full amount of rent. This advice was appropriate and was in line with the resident’s tenancy agreement. It also appropriately advised him on 8 November 2023 that universal credit did not cover utility bills.
It was appropriate for the landlord to assist the resident in completing another application for discretionary housing payment on 15 May 2023. Although this was not accepted by the benefits team due to the number of previous awards given, the landlord had demonstrated that it had taken action to support him with this.
The landlord advised that there was no further support it could offer the resident on 8 November 2023 and asked him to complete an income and expenditure form to enable him to consider how he would manage his finances and the arrears going forward. This was appropriate however this Service had not seen evidence of this having been completed by the resident.
The landlord demonstrated that it had taken the resident’s reports of a staff member having shown a lack of empathy, seriously. This Service has not seen the correspondence referred to by the resident and it is not clear if this was during a phone call or via an email. However, the landlord apologised and advised that it would discuss this with the staff member. This demonstrated that it had taken action to prevent this from occurring again and that it had taken learning from the resident’s complaint.
The resident raised concerns within his escalation request on 3 January 2024 that the landlord had not considered his representations of domestic violence or his treatment from the police, as he was a man. The resident reiterated his belief to this Service on 24 January 2024 that the landlord would have helped him if he was a “woman or from an ethnic or LGBTQ community”. This is speculative and is not supported by the evidence seen in this case. This Service has not seen evidence of the landlord’s support being based on the resident’s gender.
The correspondence seen by this Service shows that the landlord had consistently offered support for the resident over a significant period which included support with personal and mental health concerns. It is also clear that the landlord had delayed taking further enforcement action against the resident’s rent account on a number of occasions based on its consideration of his vulnerabilities.
The landlord’s willingness to discuss a payment plan with the resident, outlined within its stage 2 response of 12 February 2024, was appropriate and was in line with its earlier advice to complete an income form to help it understand the resident’s financial situation. It is not clear if the resident has engaged with making any payments towards his outstanding arrears since the completion of the internal complaints procedure. However it is noted by this service that the landlord advised that it had issued a Notice of Seeking Possession on 17 April 2024 as the rent arrears had reached £5,267.89.
The local authority’s webpage about its domestic abuse service specifically states the ‘service will support all and any victim of domestic abuse, including men’. It is appreciated that the resident has not found the service provided to be helpful to him. However, it was entirely reasonable for the landlord to refer him to this service. The same can be said of the money advice and talking therapy services he was referred to. These were appropriate referrals in the resident’s circumstances.
However, the landlord could have done more to refer the resident to other forms of support once it became clear that he considered them unsuitable. Although the landlord referred him to Citizens Advice, it could have referred the resident to other support services, in particular those dedicated to domestic abuse male victims. This shortfall in service is not a significant failing. However, it is recommended that the landlord learns from this complaint and considers a wider breadth of support services when a resident states that the options offered are unsuitable.
In summary, the landlord demonstrated considerable empathy to the resident’s situation and supported him consistently in respect of his rent arrears. The landlord was appropriate in its advice that the situation could not continue and it explained ways to resolve this such as paying the rent arrears or moving to a smaller, more affordable property. The landlord demonstrated consideration of the resident’s individual circumstances and his vulnerabilities throughout and appropriately signposted him to external support. As such there was no maladministration in the landlord’s response to the resident’s concerns in respect of his rent arrears, including the support offered by the landlord and his concerns of discrimination.

Complaint handling

The landlord provided this Service with a complaints policy which commenced in March 2023, after the completion of the internal complaints process in this case. It is therefore not clear what the complaints policy in force at the time stated.
The Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code (the Code) sets out standards for complaint handling as follows:
1. A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service, actions or lack of action by the landlord, its own staff, or those acting on its behalf, affecting a resident or group of residents.
2. At stage 1 a landlord should respond within 10 working days. It should respond within 20 working days at stage 2.
3. Landlords must not refuse to escalate a complaint unless it has valid reasons to do so. Landlords must clearly set out these reasons.
It is clear that the resident had been in contact with the landlord about the rent arrears since 15 March 2023 and on 8 November 2023 the landlord sent a detailed response to summarise the actions it had taken following his ongoing concerns.
The resident submitted a complaint on 12 December 2023 and in addition to outlining his dissatisfaction with the landlord’s handling of the arrears, he stated that his correspondence with the landlord since March 2023 should have been dealt with as a complaint. This Service expects landlords to be able to identify what is and is not a complaint and provide accurate advice about its handling of complaints. Such practice is a basic minimum standard and it is of significant concern that landlord failed to capture the resident’s complaint given his frequent contact in respect of the ongoing arrears concern.
The landlord acknowledged the complaint on 15 December 2023 and provided the stage 1 response on 28 December 2023. This timeframe was within the 10 working days as stated in the Code. The landlord advised that as the resident had not sent his emails to its corporate complaint inbox, it had not dealt with his concerns as a complaint. This was not appropriate and was not in line with the Code. This created an unnecessary barrier to the landlord accepting and responding to the complaint. Its stage 1 response however was thorough and reiterated the detailed response the landlord had sent on 8 November 2023.
Despite this response advising that the resident could request an escalation, it did not state what the resident had to demonstrate or include in his escalation request for this to be accepted. When the resident escalated his complaint on 3 January 2024, the landlord advised that there were not sufficient grounds to escalate the matter to stage 2. It did not explain what would have been sufficient grounds. The landlord’s refusal to escalate the complaint for review was not appropriate and was not in line with the Code. This caused frustration to the resident and the landlord’s lack of clear communication did not recognise the resident’s vulnerabilities. The landlord relied on having provided appropriate advice and support at stage 1, however this failed to acknowledge that an independent review would be fair and reasonable following the resident’s ongoing concerns.
Due to the landlord’s unwillingness to escalate the complaint, the resident sought the involvement of this Service on 24 January 2024. Despite this Service becoming involved and asking the landlord to respond at stage 2, when it did respond, the stage 2 response included the same wording that a further review was unlikely to find fault and as such, the matter would not fall under its review process. As this was a review, this was not appropriate and it raised concerns that it was a copy of the stage 1 response rather than a thorough, independent review of its response at stage 1.
The landlord’s complaints handling was not in line with the Code. It inappropriately prevented the resident from escalating his complaint and this in turn impact on his ability to refer his case to this Service. The landlord did not show that it had reviewed it stage 1 investigation which was the purpose of a 2 stage complaints procedure. As such there was service failure in the landlord’s complaints handling. To acknowledge the frustration caused to the resident by the complaint handling failures compensation of £150 has been ordered.
It is noted that the timeframe to respond at stage 2 within the landlord’s complaints policy from March 2023 (30 working days) is not in line with the Code. It is noted however that this Service issued a wider order as a result of a finding in case reference 202123271 (31 January 2024). This ordered a case review under paragraph 54.f of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme and included a review of the landlord’s complaints process. As such, no further order has been made in respect of this in this case.

Determination

In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was no maladministration in respect of the landlord’s response to the resident’s concerns in respect of his rent arrears, including the support offered by the landlord and his concerns of discrimination.
In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure in respect of the landlord’s complaints handling.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

The landlord is ordered to take the following action within 4 weeks of this report and provide evidence of compliance to this Service:
1. Pay £150 compensation directly to the resident to acknowledge the impact on him of the complaint handling failures.

Recommendations

It is recommended that the landlord:
1. liaise with the resident to ensure it has an accurate record of his vulnerabilities supported by medical evidence.
2. ensure staff have clear and practical guidance on supporting residents to access additional support where the initial referrals are rejected or considered unsuitable.
3. review the resident’s request to only speak to male members of staff (as a victim of domestic abuse) in line with its reasonable adjustments policy. If it does not agree with the resident’s adjustment request or is unable to offer the adjustment, the landlord should write to the resident to explain clearly why.