Applications are open to join the next Housing Ombudsman Resident Panel – find out more Housing Ombudsman Resident Panel.

Camden Council (202343710)

Back to Top

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202343710

Camden Council

10 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

  1. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
    1. The resident’s reports of no heating and hot water related to the communal boiler and the heating charge she pays for this.
    2. The resident’s concerns about increases to her heating charges.

Jurisdiction

  1. What the Ombudsman can and cannot consider is called the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. This is governed by the Scheme. When a complaint is brought to this service, the Ombudsman must consider all the circumstances of the case, as there are sometimes reasons why a complaint will not be investigated.

The resident’s concerns about increases to her heating charges.

  1. In her complaint and in correspondence with the Ombudsman the resident raised concerns with the increase in the heating service charge from 2023 onwards. Paragraph 42.d. of the Scheme states the Ombudsman may not consider complaints which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion concern the level of rent or service charge or the amount of the rent or service charge increase. As such the Ombudsman may not consider the amount charged for the heating service charge.

Background

  1. The resident has a secure tenancy with the landlord, a local authority. The tenancy began in April 2021. The landlord’s contractor is responsible for maintaining and repairing the communal boiler for the building.
  2. The resident reported multiple instances of no heating and hot water between 8 December 2023 and 27 February 2024. She raised a complaint with the landlord on 28 February 2024 about the frequency of the outages. She said she was disabled and her disability was triggered by the cold. She also said her children were becoming ill due to the cold. The landlord replied with its stage 1 response on 12 March. It told the resident its contractor had promptly dealt with the outages but it recognised the resident had been impacted by the lack of services. It also wrote to her about claiming compensation for inconvenience caused and claiming a refund for the outages. The landlord acknowledged issues with the heating system but said it was working on improvements to the system.
  3. The resident escalated her complaint on 12 March 2024. She raised inaccuracies with the content of the stage 1 response. She asked for individual boilers in properties and compensation for the correct amount of days she had not had heating or hot water. The landlord replied with its stage 2 response on 11 April 2024. It upheld its stage 1 complaint response but apologised for the inaccuracies raised by the resident. It explained it would not install individual boilers and said some of the outages the resident alleged were not recorded in its records, so it could not provide compensation for them. However, it explained how the resident could make a formal claim.
  4. In correspondence with the Ombudsman the resident explained she wanted a the landlord to fix the boiler system or replace it with individual boilers for each property. She also wanted to be reimbursed for periods of no heating or hot water and for the heating charge to be reduced.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation.

  1. The resident said that the health of her family members has suffered because of how the landlord handled her reports. In accordance with paragraph 42.f. of the Scheme the Ombudsman is unable to conclude the causation of, or liability for, impacts on health and wellbeing. The resident may be able to make a personal injury claim against the landlord if she considers that her health has been affected by its actions or inaction. This is a legal process, and the resident may wish to seek independent legal advice if she wants to pursue this option. However, we have considered the general distress and inconvenience that the resident experienced due to how the landlord handled the situation involving her property.

The resident’s reports of no heating and hot water related to the communal boiler.

  1. The landlord’s repairs policy prioritises repairs as follows:
    1. Emergency repairs, where it will attend before 8pm the same day or within 2 hours in cases of immediate danger. Total loss of water and total or partial loss of space or water heating between 1 November and 30 April, constitute an emergency.
    2. Urgent repairs which it will complete within 5 working days. These are repairs not considered emergencies but if not completed quickly would cause significant nuisance.
    3. Routine repairs which it will complete within 20 working days. These are repairs not considered an emergency or urgent.
  2. Issues relating to communal heating systems are highlighted in the Ombudsman’s February 2021 Spotlight Report on ‘complaints about heating, hot water and energy in social housing’ (the spotlight report).
  3. In her initial complaint to the landlord the resident said she had “multiple spells of days” with no heating or hot water. She said this began from the Autumn and Winter of 2023. There is no evidence of reports to the landlord before early December 2023. The resident made such reports on 8 and 23 December. Both reports involved loss of heating during colder months. As such the landlord appropriately responded to each as 2-hour emergencies. The landlord was unable to gain access to the property on 27 December and it is unclear what further action took place following this. However, the resident did not go on to raise these specific events in her complaint escalation.
  4. The landlord’s complaint response of 12 March 2024 referred to reports from the resident of no heating and hot water on 4 January and no hot water on 27 February. It said its contractor was “prompt” at “dealing” with these, which was partially accurate. In accordance with its policy the landlord should have attended before 8pm the same day. However, the landlord took this further and appropriately raised each report as 2-hour emergencies. It would do this with all further reports. The landlord resolved the 4 January 2024 report the following day. Its complaint response said it resolved the 27 February report the following day. However, its records show it did not resolve it until 4 March. This contradicted its complaint response and left the resident without hot water for 7 days.
  5. In continuation from the report of 27 February the resident reported on 5 March 2024 she had no cold water for 3 days. The landlord raised this as a 2-hour emergency and found upon further investigation the resident had access to warm water only. She chased the issue in her complaint of 12 March. However there is no evidence the landlord updated her at this time on its progress in resolving the issue. It rectified the issue on 19 March, which was in accordance with its policy for a routine repair.
  6. The last report from the resident prior to the end of the landlord’s complaint process was on 23 April 2024. She reported she had no heating and hot water. The landlord appropriately raised the issue as a 2-hour emergency and fully resolved the issue the following day.
  7. The landlord’s contractor took effective steps to mitigate the ongoing issues with the communal boiler. This involved its staff member on-site Monday to Friday from 8am to 5pm to service the system. They also wrote to all residents informing them of disruption to heating and hot water. These were appropriate steps to proactively managing the issue, but also effectively managing the resident’s expectations.
  8. The spotlight report suggests landlord’s should have a robust long term investment strategy and clear plan for maintenance and replacement of heating systems. The landlord told the resident it planned to improve the heating network at the end of 2024. The outcome of any further plans by the landlord to improve reliability is not apparent, and there is no evidence of the landlord keeping the resident informed of its approach. This was not in line with the recommendations in the spotlight report. This created uncertainty to the resident on the long term resolution to the heating and hot water outages she had experienced. This was also not in accordance with its heating policy which suggests it will “engage proactively” with residents on the options for heating system replacement.
  9. In its complaint responses the landlord provided a reasonable explanation to address the resident’s request to change the heating system in the building. It explained it was maintaining the system already in place and this was in line with its heating policy. It appropriately managed her expectations explaining the installation of individual properties was unlikely to happen.
  10. The spotlight report highlights the need for landlord to be prepared for interruptions to communal heating. This can include temporary heaters or alternate washing facilities. Although the landlord attended each report within an appropriate timescale, there is no evidence it had or implemented a contingency plan. This was particularly relevant as the resident had no heating or hot water during colder months. She had raised the impact these issues were having on her and her children’s health. Implementing short term supportive measures would potentially have helped to alleviate such concerns until the main issue was resolved.
  11. Although outages were not usually very long, they were regular. The landlord acknowledged this in its complaint response stating there were “frequent shutdowns” of the heating system. This was understandably frustrating and inconvenient for the resident and her family. The landlord’s complaint response appropriately referred the resident to make a compensation claim for inconvenience and loss of heating on specific occasions. However, its responses failed to acknowledge the significant disruption and inconvenience overall caused to the resident and her family in each of its complaint responses. Its failure to do this caused the resident further concern it had not taken her concerns seriously.
  12. The tenancy agreement confirms the resident is responsible for paying a weekly heating charge. She told the landlord in her initial complaint she was struggling financially and paying the heating charge for something she was not receiving. The landlord appropriately signposted the resident on how to claim a refund on the heating charge in its stage 1 complaint response. The resident has since confirmed to the Ombudsman she is taking legal advice regarding this matter.
  13. Overall, the landlord appropriately managed most reports of no heating or hot water from the resident. On all occasions, it raised the issue as a 2-hour emergency and completed repairs within an appropriate timescale. However, outages of heating and hot water were persistent, causing frustration and disruption to the resident and her family. There is no evidence the landlord had a robust contingency plan or that it offered support when the resident was without heating or hot water. Its approach to its long term maintenance or replacement of the heating system is unclear and it failed to appropriately explain this to the resident.  
  14. Its response that it resolved the report of 27 February 2024 was inaccurate and the resident had no hot water for 7 days. The landlord’s contractor acted proactively in writing to residents affected by the communal boiler issues and by being present on site. The landlord appropriately signposted the resident for compensation and reimbursement for inconvenience and heating costs. However, it did not consider the total disruption and frustration caused to the resident and offer appropriate compensation.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 42.d. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the resident’s concerns about the amount of heating service charge she is currently paying is outside of the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was service failure in respect of the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of no heating and hot water related to the communal boiler and the heating charge she pays for this.

Orders

  1. Within 5 weeks of this report the landlord must pay the resident a total of £250 for the unremedied failings identified in this report. This is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance for inconvenience and delay, and repeated impact on the resident and her family. Compensation should be paid directly to the resident and not offset against any arrears.
  2. Within 12 weeks of this report the landlord must write to the resident and the Ombudsman explaining how it intends to monitor the frequency of heating and hot water outages and what interim remedial actions it intends to take when the frequency becomes excessive. It must also explain the actions it plans to take to ensure a reliable supply of heating and hot water.

Recommendations

  1. The landlord told the Ombudsman it holds no details of vulnerabilities for the resident or her family. However, on a number of occasions, the resident has informed it about the health issues of her children. As such the landlord should consider updating its records to ensure any vulnerabilities reported by the resident.
  2. The evidence seen in this investigation shows that outage reports were also made to the landlord by other tenants in the block. Given the communal nature of the heating and hot water system, the landlord should consider providing similar remedies to those ordered above to any other families who may have been impacted by the frequency of the outages.