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Amplius Living (202312700)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202312700

Amplius Living

7 April 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

  1. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
    1. Reports that the communal lighting in the car park and grassed areas was not working;
    2. The associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident occupies a 2–bedroom house under an assured shorthold tenancy from the landlord. The landlord has no vulnerabilities recorded for the resident’s household.
  2. On 11 November 2022, the resident reported to the landlord that the external communal bollard lighting in the property’s surrounding area and car park was not working. The landlord raised a repair on 11 November 2022 with a target date of 18 November 2022, and the resident said she was advised this would be completed within 28 calendar days, possibly sooner.
  3. On 23 December 2022, the landlord acknowledged the resident’s 8 December 2022 stage 1 complaint and advised that it would provide the resident with an outcome telephone call and resolution letter within 20 working days. The resident contacted the landlord on several occasions throughout December 2022 and was advised that the repair appointment that was booked had been cancelled. The repair was not completed at that time. On 16 January 2023, the resident completed the landlord’s web complaint form. She advised that she was unhappy with the lack of a stage 1 response due to the number of complaints she had to make, the failure of the landlord to keep her updated, and the outstanding repairs.
  4. Between 5 December 2022 and 13 July 2023 there were several emails and telephone calls between the landlord and the resident regarding missed and cancelled repair appointments. On 14 February 2023, the resident emailed the landlord regarding the delay in receiving a stage 1 response and the landlord preventing her from escalating her complaint to stage 2 by not providing this. On 21 February 2023, the landlord’s stage 1 response acknowledged the appointment cancellation issues and advised that this was due to miscommunication. A new repair appointment was then booked for 8 March 2023. The landlord offered the resident a £30 gift voucher as compensation and an apology. There was no evidence the appointment was attended on 8 March 2023.
  5. On 13 March 2023, the resident escalated the issue to stage 2. She was advised by the landlord that she would be contacted by the ‘Promises team’, however this did not happen. The resident was also unhappy with her complaint being closed at stage 1. On 13 April 2023, the resident emailed the landlord, as the latest repair date that was on the system was different to the date that was texted to the resident. The landlord advised it would contact the resident with the correct date, but it did not do so. The resident received a text message stating that an appointment had been booked for 21 April 2023, which was not attended. She received a voicemail advising that the appointment would not be attended. She then received a text message stating that it would be rearranged again to 5 May 2023.
  6. On 28 April 2023, the resident received a text message advising the appointment had been rescheduled and a new appointment booked for 31 May 2023. On 31 May 2023, an inspection was carried out, however the lights were still not repaired as specific bulbs needed to be ordered. On 6 June 2023, a further appointment was attended, however the repairs were not carried out. Another appointment was made for 3 July 2023, which was then changed to 4 July 2023. On 13 July 2023, repairs were completed 8 months after the resident’s first report.
  7. In its stage 2 complaint response on 12 September 2023, the landlord:
    1. Acknowledged its service failures, which resulted in the resident experiencing multiple rescheduled appointments and delays with the repairs taking place.
    2. Offered total compensation of £500, which was broken down into: £50 for delays in dealing with the resident’s complaint at stage 1, £150 for its delayed stage 2 complaint acknowledgement and closure, £100 for its poor communication during the complaint process, £50 for the issues in attending the repairs appointments, and £150 for the upset and inconvenience caused to her.
  8. On 18 September 2023, the resident telephoned the landlord to advise she had not received her above compensation. She said she was advised that someone would contact her about this within 5 working days but that this did not happen. The resident says she is yet to receive her compensation, which she asked for to resolve her complaint. She has therefore referred the matter to the Ombudsman to further investigate this.

Assessment and findings

Broken communal lighting

  1. The landlord’s repairs and maintenance policy classifies emergency repairs as defects or faults which put the health, safety, or security of a customer at immediate risk or cause harm to the structure of the property. Emergency repairs will be attended to as soon as possible and within 4 hours. Appointed urgent repairs include health and safety risks prioritised for early completion and will be completed within 7 calendar days maximum. The policy defines appointed routine repairs as being defects or faults which do not put customers at risk or cause harm to structures that they can reasonably live with for a period of time. Appointed routine repairs will be completed within 28 calendar days maximum.
  2. The resident informed the landlord from 11 November 2022 that the broken lighting caused it to be pitch black around her property and in the car park, as both are a distance from the street. In the winter, the resident said she avoided going out too late because it was so dark. She also reported that it was difficult to park properly due to the lack of lighting and there were known antisocial behaviour issues in the area.
  3. The landlord raised an appointed urgent repair for the lighting on 11 November 2022 with a target date of 18 November 2022. She then complained that it advised her that the repairs would be completed within 28 calendar days, however it took over 8 months to complete these on 13 July 2023.
  4. The resident contacted the landlord on numerous occasions via email and telephone between November 2022 and July 2023, as repair appointments were either missed, not attended, or had to be rescheduled. The evidence indicates severe delays in the repair and the landlord has consistently failed in its duty to maintain the communal lighting. This was contrary to its obligation in the resident’s tenancy agreement to keep her property’s common areas in reasonable repair and fit for use by her and others. The landlord awarded the resident £50 compensation for the issues in attending the repairs appointments and £150 for the upset and inconvenience caused to her.
  5. The landlord’s compensation procedure and the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance recommend awards of £100 to £600 to recognise considerable failures where there may not have been a permanent effect on the resident. The landlord’s £200 compensation offer for its delays in repairing the resident’s communal lighting and the effect on her was therefore in line with its procedure and our guidance. However, there is no evidence it paid her the compensation at the time, and she reported that she had still not received this when she complained to us.
  6. This was therefore a further service failure by the landlord. It has been recommended and ordered below to put this right by paying the resident the compensation it previously offered her, if it has not done so already, plus £75 further compensation to recognise its delay in doing so and her resulting distress, inconvenience, time, and trouble. This is in line with the landlord’s compensation procedure’s and our remedies guidance’s recommendation of awards of £50 to £100 to recognise such delays in getting matters resolved and their effect.
  7. The landlord has also been recommended below to carry out a case review to identify lessons learnt and consider how and when it pays compensation to residents in light of its failings in this case. This is in line with our dispute resolution principles to be fair, put things right, and learn from outcomes.

Complaint handling

  1. The landlord operates a 2-stage complaints process, and its complaints policy says it is to provide a stage 1 response within 10 working days of a complaint being raised, and to provide a stage 2 response within 20 working days of the complaint being escalated. This is in line with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code.
  2. The resident raised a formal complaint on 8 December 2022. Therefore, the landlord should have provided its stage 1 response no later than 22 December 2022 under its complaints policy. The landlord only acknowledged the resident’s stage 1 complaint on 23 December 2022, falling outside of the policy’s 10 working days. It instead only responded to the complaint nearly 2 and a half months after it was made on 21 February 2023, which was inappropriate.
  3. The landlord failed to complete the agreed outcomes for the stage 1 complaint and the resident then made a stage 2 complaint on 13 March 2023. The landlord then only acknowledged the resident’s stage 2 complaint on almost 3 months later on 12 June 2023, causing a further delay to the complaints process contrary to its policy’s 20 working days. It instead only responded to the complaint almost 6 months after it was made on 12 September 2023, which was also inappropriate. It is additionally concerning that the landlord did not agree extensions to its complaint responses with the resident, or keep her updated on its complaint handling delays, contrary to its complaints policy’s requirements for it to do so.
  4. The landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint at stage 1 and stage 2 was therefore inappropriate. The Ombudsman expects landlords to be able to identify and respond to complaints without the involvement of the service. This was a significant failure by the landlord. It therefore offered the resident £200 compensation for its complaint handling delays and £100 for its poor communication during the complaint process.
  5. The landlord’s compensation procedure and our remedies guidance recommend awards of £100 to £600 for cases where there has been considerable failure but there may have been no permanent effect on the resident. The landlord’s £300 compensation offer to the resident for its poor complaint handling was therefore in line with its procedure and our guidance. However, there is no evidence it paid her the compensation at the time, and she reported that she had still not received this when she complained to us.
  6. This was therefore another further service failure by the landlord. It has been recommended and ordered below to put this right by paying the resident the compensation it previously offered her, if it has not done so already, plus £75 further compensation to recognise its delay in doing so and her resulting distress, inconvenience, time, and trouble. As outlined above this is in line with its compensation procedure’s and our remedies guidance’s recommendation for delays in getting matters resolved and their effect.
  7. The landlord has also been recommended below to carry out a case review to identify lessons learnt, consider how it manages residents’ complaints in future, and consider how and when it pays compensation to residents in light of its failings in this case. This is in line with our dispute resolution principles to be fair, put things right, and learn from outcomes.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52. of the Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of reports that the communal lighting in the car park and grassed areas was not working.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52. of the Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.

Order and recommendations

Order

  1. The Ombudsman orders the landlord to, within 28 days of the date of this determination
    1. Pay the resident £150 further compensation made up of:
      1. £75 for its delay in resolving the resident’s lighting complaint and the effect of this on her.
      2. £75 for its delay in resolving its complaint handling and the effect of this on the resident.
  2. This payment is in addition to the £500 compensation that it previously offered her.
  3. The landlord must provide the Ombudsman with evidence of this payment.

Recommendations

  1. The Ombudsman recommends that the landlord:
    1. Pay the resident the £500 compensation it previously offered her, as this is still outstanding.
    2. Carry out a review of this case to:
      1. Identify lessons learnt;
      2. Consider how it manages residents’ complaints in future;
      3. Consider how and when it pays compensation to residents.