ForHousing Limited (202234305)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202234305

ForHousing Limited

24 March 2025

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:
1. Repairs to the resident’s bathroom and kitchen.
2. Lack of hot water and heating in the property.
3. The complaint.

Background

The resident is an assured tenant of a 2 bedroom, 2 storey property. Her tenancy began in March 2002. She lives with depression.
The resident raised several concerns with her property in 2022. The landlord completed a damp survey in June 2022 which found it needed to complete works to her bathroom and kitchen.
The resident raised a complaint on 3 March 2023 with the landlord. It provided a stage 1 response on 5 April 2023. It acknowledged there was a delay in it completing the damp works to her kitchen and its communication. It explained it had tried to reinstate her kitchen on multiple occasions, but she refused. In one instance this was because she believed it agreed to install a brand new kitchen. In another, she believed the kitchen it tried to install was not hers. It offered her compensation of £150 for the delays and poor communication.
The resident approached the Ombudsman on 25 April 2023 about her concerns. She told us the landlord removed her kitchen in February 2023, and she remained without one. She explained she had raised a complaint with the landlord but had not received its response despite its acknowledgement on 11 March 2023. We intervened on 23 May 2023 and asked that the landlord provide the resident with a response by no later than 6 June 2023. We explained the resident’s complaint to the landlord.
The landlord provided its stage 1 response on 6 June 2023. It apologised to the resident for the delay in complaint the works. It:
1. Confirmed it had previously responded to the kitchen repairs in the complaint response of 5 April 2023.
2. Said it reinstated the kitchen on 2 June 2023. However, due to cosmetic damage, considering the inconvenience of having limited access to a kitchen workspace, and the timescales, it approved a new white gloss kitchen.
3. Advised that the current kitchen was fully functioning, and the new kitchen had an 80 day lead time from the date of measuring up to the point of installation commencing.
4. Said it removed the bathroom sink on 23 March 2023 to complete repairs relating to damp and mould in the bathroom.
5. Addressed her concerns about leaving the sink in the garden during the works but confirmed that no damage occurred to it. It reinstated the sink on 29 March 2023.
6. Apologised she did not have a bathroom sink but explained before it could refit the sink, the plastering needed to dry out.
7. Said that during the kitchen works it capped the gas and reinstated it on the same day. This was standard practice to follow health and safety requirements. Outside of this repair, it received no reports of a lack of heating or hot water from the resident.
The resident contacted us on 12 and 20 June 2023. She said she had not received the landlord’s response. On 21 June 2023 she told us the landlord’s response was dissatisfactory. She told us the following day that contacted it on 21 June 2023 as she received no contact since 6 June 2023 by phone. She was unhappy with the compensation offered as she had lived in her bedroom for the past 4 months. She said she had raised a stage 2 escalation with the landlord.
The resident continued to contact the Ombudsman between July and September 2023 around the landlord’s lack of contact. She told us its response was due on 19 July 2023. She also said that it was due to attend on 1 August 2023 to reinstall the kitchen.
We contacted the landlord on 7 September 2023 and asked that it provide a final response by October 2023. The landlord told us that the resident escalated her complaint on 24 November 2023. The resident told us on 27 November 2023 that she stored her kitchen goods in her living room since February 2023 and recently had a kitchen fitted. She said she was able to clear the living room and found her settee damaged. She said she wanted to request compensation for this.
The landlord provided its stage 2 response on 1 December 2023. It explained the previous history of the situation dating back to June 2022. It confirmed that it aimed to complete the works in September 2022 but there had been a delay, and the works began in February 2023. It completed works related to damp repairs on 6 March 2023, but there were several follow-on repairs associated. It also:
1. Said that a mix up occurred whilst the kitchen was in storage resulting in delivery of the wrong kitchen for refitting. This prevented the work going ahead on 29 March 2023. An operative attended and made a temporary workstation in the kitchen area and a temporary kitchen installed on 10 June 2023. This was while it waited for delivery of the new kitchen scheduled for 1 August 2023.
2. Apologised that she lived in her bedroom between February and August 2023 as her living toom was full of kitchen items.
3. Explained changes it had made in relation to its damp process specifically in relation to removal of kitchens.
4. It discussed other repairs which she raised outside of the complaint and its surveyor’s response.
5. It agreed that the timeframe she lived without a kitchen was unacceptable and fell outside of its policies and procedures. It offered the resident compensation of £1030 which it broke down as:
  1. £300 for delays for the damp works taking place.
  2. £380 for the time she spent with a temporary kitchen and lack of access to the full area.
  3. £350 towards the costs of a new sofa replacement.

Post complaint

The resident continued to report that issues remained outstanding to us between January 2024 and October 2024.She said a surveyor attended in December 2023 and told her she was on a 20 day priority. She received text messages saying works would begin on 6 March 2024 and they attended to complete some works.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

The resident has raised concerns about the effects of the situation on her health. We however cannot consider this. The Ombudsman is unable to draw conclusions on the causation of, or liability for, any impact on health. The courts must decide on personal injury claims as they can consider medical evidence and make legally binding findings. However, the Ombudsman will consider the general distress and inconvenience the situation may have caused the resident as well as the landlord’s response to any reported impact on her and her family’s health.
The resident explained to the Ombudsman that issues remained outstanding after the end of the complaint process. The landlord explained that some of the issues raised by the resident were outside of the original complaint. It said in its stage 2 response its surveyor would attend to inspect the property on 8 December 2022. If these issues remain outstanding, the resident will need to raise a new complaint with the landlord about them. This is because there is no evidence that they have exhausted the landlord’s complaint’s process. This investigation will focus on the concerns considered within the complaints process which concluded on 1 December 2023.

Repairs to the resident’s bathroom and kitchen.

The landlord’s repairs procedure says it runs 5 repair priorities. It aims to complete:
1. Emergency repairs within 24 hours.
2. Urgent repairs with 3 working days.
3. Routine repairs within 30 working days.
4. Damp repairs within 40 working days.
5. Replacements within 80 working days.
The landlord’s compensation policy says it aims to put things right if its services fail or fall below its published standards. It says there are several remedies available to put a situation right including both financial and non-financial remedies. It will consider these where its action or omission on its part adversely impact a resident including inconvenience, distress, detriment, unnecessary time and trouble, loss of amenities, use of part of a property and financial loss.
Non-financial remedies include repair works, apology, change of decision or policy and a gesture of good will. Financial remedies include discretionary payments for poor complaint handling, delays in service, failure to meet target response times, and follow policy and procedure. The policy however does not explain how it reaches a decision on the acceptable amount of compensation for the loss of use of part of the property.
The landlord has acknowledged across its 3 responses that there were failings in its handling of the resident’s concerns. It also acknowledged that there were issues with its communication with the resident. It confirmed that it refit the resident’s bathroom sink on 29 March 2023, and it reinstalled her kitchen on 2 June 2023. It acknowledged that the length of time she was without a kitchen was excessive and not in line with its policies. It awarded the resident compensation of £530 in total around her concerns with the kitchen.
The landlord also considered that there were cosmetic issues with the kitchen installed in June 2023. After considering the time and inconvenience caused to the resident, it agreed to renew the kitchen. It further considered her concerns around her furniture and offered her compensation of £350 for the damage to her sofa. The landlord’s actions were reasonable, and in line with its compensation policy. However, there were further failings in its approach which it did not recognise.
The landlord did not appropriately consider the resident’s vulnerabilities. It was aware she lived with mental health concerns and has not shown that it considered if the situation affected her mental health. Further, it has not shown that it considered that she could not fully use and enjoy her living room. This was due to the stored items in there between February 2023 and August 2023 and this was unreasonable.
The landlord also acknowledged that there was inconvenience to the resident around the lack of kitchen. It has not shown that it checked with the resident about how she managed during this period, for example with preparing meals. It also has not shown that it considered whether it needed to take alternative action to assist her during the period she was without a kitchen, and this was unreasonable.
The resident also told us on 22 June 2023 that she contacted the landlord on 21 June 2023. She told us on 21 July 2023 that she had not received a response. Despite having her kitchen fitted in August 2023, she continued to tell us that she had not received a response from the landlord between 16 August 2023 and 27 September 2023. The Ombudsman has not seen evidence of any of these instances of reported contact so we are unable to assess whether there were any failings in the landlord’s response.
In relation to the bathroom, the evidence suggests that the landlord completed works to the lighting and sockets by 1 March 2023. It also completed the works to reinstall the sink by 29 March 2023. The resident raised concerns about it leaving her without a bathroom sink, however, there were alternative approaches available to the resident whilst the sink was out of use.
Although the resident also raised concerns about storing the sink in the garden, the landlord appropriately confirmed to her that there was no damage to the sink despite leaving it in the garden. It also demonstrated that it spoke to the operatives and advised that they should cover over such items or place them in storage, and this is a reasonable approach to take.
In summary, the landlord acknowledged there were delays, issues with its communication, and inconvenience caused to the resident. It also appropriately acted around the resident’s concerns with the bathroom sink being in her garden. It however did not recognise all its failings. It did not recognise that it had not appropriately considered her vulnerability. It also did not appropriately consider the resident’s inability to use the entire property and how she managed during the period without her kitchen.
Based on this the Ombudsman finds that there was maladministration. Although the landlord has awarded compensation, this was in relation to the failings it found in its handling of the matter. Based on the additional failings identified, and in line with its policy, to put things right, we order the landlord to pay the resident additional compensation for both inconvenience and loss of use of the living room.
It is not possible for this service to determine whether the living room was completely or partially unusable for the period. The landlord has also acknowledged that the kitchen was out of use for some time. We have made a compensation amount based on approximately 30% of the loss of use of both rooms the period. We order the landlord to pay the resident £659 for the loss of use of both rooms. This is inclusive of its earlier offer of £380 (as such the landlord is paying an added £279).
We award the additional compensation in recognition of the inconvenience caused to the resident by not being able to make full use of 2 rooms within the property. This is not a rent refund or intended to be an exact calculation of rent paid for that period.

Lack of hot water and heating in the property.

The landlord explained that it only capped the gas while it completed works to the property. It advised this was due to compliance with health and safety standards and this was appropriate. Its logs do not show that it received any further reports around a lack of heating or hot water after it completed the works. Based on this there is no evidence that there were any such issues, or that it was aware of them. As such we find that there was no maladministration.

The complaint

The landlord’s complaint policy says it runs a 2 stage process. It aims to respond at stage 1 within 10 working days of logging the complaint. It will respond at stage 2 within 20 working days of logging the complaint. It says it will log complaints at both stage 1 and 2 within 5 working days of receipt.

March 2023

The resident raised her first complaint on 23 March 2023. She told us that she did not receive a response when she approached us in April 2023. However, the landlord confirmed that it provided her with its response at stage 1 on 5 April 2023. This was a day earlier than its 10 day timeframe in its policy and this was appropriate.

May 2023

We asked the landlord to raise a new complaint for the resident on 23 May 2023. It provided its response on 6 June 2023, a day earlier than the deadline in its policy and this was appropriate.
The resident explained to us that she asked the landlord to escalate her complaint in June 2023. We have however not received any evidence of this. We then asked the landlord to escalate her complaint on 7 September 2023 and provide a response by 12 October 2023. It did not provide its response until 1 December 2023. During this period, the resident updated us that she had not received a response from the landlord. It has also not demonstrated that it kept her updated around the delay, or that it asked for an extension, and this was inappropriate.
The landlord told us that the resident escalated her complaint on 23 November 2023. However, we contacted it prior to this date and requested a stage 2 response. This raises questions with the landlord’s record keeping. As such the delay between 12 October 2023 and 1 December 2023 is over a month, and this was inappropriate and not in keeping with the landlord’s policy. The landlord also did not acknowledge the complaint within the 5 working day deadline within its policy and this was also inappropriate.
The resident told the landlord that she stored her kitchen items in her living room. It did not address this in its response or explain if it would deal with this as a separate complaint. This was unreasonable and amounts to a complaint handling failing. It also discussed the outstanding repairs within its complaint response. This made it unclear whether it treated them as part of the complaint or was providing an update on the matter.
In summary, there was a delay in the landlord’s stage 2 response. It did not appropriately address the issue around the resident storing her kitchen items in the living room. Based on this the Ombudsman finds that there was maladministration. To put things right in line with the landlord’s compensation policy, we order that the landlord pay the resident added compensation.

Determination

In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was:
1. Maladministration with the landlord’s handling of repairs to the resident’s kitchen and bathroom.
2. No Maladministration with its handling of a lack of heating and hot water.
3. Maladministration with the landlord’s complaint handling.

Orders and recommendations

Within 4 weeks of this report the landlord must:
1. Provide the resident with an apology about the additional failings identified.
2. Pay the resident compensation of £1759. This is inclusive of its previous compensation offers across its responses. We break this down as:
  1. £150 offered in its stage 1 response of 5 April 2023.
  2. £1,030 offered in its stage 2 response of 1 December 2023.
  3. An additional £279 for the lack of full use of the living room.
  4. An additional £200 for the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident around the lack of kitchen.
  5. £100 around its complaint handling.
3. Complete an inspection of the resident’s property and identify if any works remain outstanding. If so provide her with timescales for completing the works.
4. Provide proof of compliance with these orders.

Recommendation

Speak with the resident and identify if she wishes to raise a further complaint about the outstanding works. If so provide her with a stage 1 response within the proper timescales.