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Peabody Trust (202345157)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202345157

Peabody Trust

11 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. The resident’s request for a repair to her flooded balcony.
    2. The associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident has been an assured tenant of the landlord, a housing association. The property is a flat with a balcony.
  2. We have seen evidence of the resident’s reports of reoccurring balcony leaks.  On 5 January 2024, the landlord’s contractor removed the decking of the balcony while attempting to repair a leak, revealing that the balcony was flooded. Later in January the resident raised a service request with the landlord to restore use of the balcony. While the landlord’s contractor attended the property in early February 2024, they were unable to resolve the flooded balcony.
  3. On 15 February 2024, the resident lodged a complaint with the landlord that her balcony had not been usable for 6 weeks, and that the landlord was not communicating enough with respect to contractor appointments.
  4. On 12 March 2024, the landlord responded to the resident’s further correspondence where she requested escalation to say the complaint was logged as a stage 1 complaint.
  5. On 24 April 2024, the resident emailed the landlord requesting that her complaint be escalated again. On 6 June 2024, the landlord responded to say her complaint had been escalated to stage 2 of its complaints process.
  6. The resident contacted the Ombudsman for assistance and we referred her complaint to the landlord on 2 August 2024.
  7. On 15 August 2024, the landlord provided its stage 2 response. The landlord explained that a building defect had been found as the root cause of reoccurring? leaks, and apologised for its contractor not identifying it sooner. It also apologised for not communicating during its stage 1 complaint process, and for not providing a response. It explained what steps it would take to prevent prolonged repair issues like these happening in future. It said that it would monitor the repair process and keep the resident updated. The landlord offered the resident £200 compensation for the time to identify and rectify the cause of the balcony leak. The landlord acknowledged it did not send a stage 1 response to her complaint and offered £400 compensation for its complaint handling.
  8. The resident escalated her concerns to us. She said that £600 was not sufficient considering the length of time the issue had been ongoing, and the impact it had on her and her daughters. She added that her daughter, who was autistic, was not able to safely use the space. The resident wanted the repairs completed.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. There is evidence that the resident reported intermittent issues with the balcony since 2020. While the historical issues provided context to the current complaint, this investigation has primarily focused on the landlord’s handling of the resident’s request for repairs since the balcony became unusable in January 2024, that were considered in the landlord’s stage 2 response. This is because in accordance with paragraph 42.c. of the Scheme, residents are expected to raise complaints with their landlords normally within 12 months of the matters arising. This is so that the landlord has a reasonable opportunity to consider the issues whilst they are still ‘live’, and while the evidence is available to reach an informed conclusion on the events that occurred.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s request for repairs to her flooded balcony

  1. The landlord’s repairs policy states that it will complete complex repairs within 60 calendar days, and that balcony repairs are its responsibility.
  2. In circumstances of complex long term repairs, it is important for the landlord to provide clear and effective communication to the resident giving regular updates and setting out its expectations. The resident raised concerns about not being able to use her balcony in January 2024, and the landlord’s contractor identified the leak may be due to a building defect in February 2024. However, the resident was not informed at this time that the nature of the repair issue had changed. We have seen evidence that very few updates were provided, and the resident had to regularly chase for information.
  3. We have seen very little evidence of action to resolve the balcony repair between the time the landlord’s contractor attended the site in early February 2024, and the time a new contractor was engaged to complete the repair in July 2024. In its stage 2 response on 15 August 2024, the landlord acknowledged that it failed to address the balcony leak within a reasonable timeframe.
  4. The Ombudsman’s role is to now consider whether the landlord has followed the Ombudsman’s Dispute Resolution Principles: be fair, put things right, and learn from outcomes.
  5. The landlord demonstrated it learned from the complaint by explaining in its stage 2 response its plan to work with its contractor to avoid prolonged repair issues of this kind. Furthermore, the landlord apologised and offered £200 compensation.
  6. However, the landlord did not provide the resident with a specific timeframe for when her balcony would be repaired. The landlord must have had an understanding with its contractor(s) on when it expected these works to be completed. If this timeframe was loose, or subject to change, this should have been communicated to the resident. Because the landlord did not give the resident a clear plan for repair of the balcony, its resolution offer was not enough to put things right. It is also unclear whether the works have been completed.
  7. An offer of £200 is consistent with the Ombudsman’s remedy guidance for failures with considerable impact on a resident. The compensation offered by the landlord was proportionate to the length of time and inconvenience caused by the landlord’s failures, at the time that the landlord issued its stage 2 response on 15 August 2024. However, its failure to provide a schedule of works contributed to the resident’s further distress and inconvenience.
  8. Taking into account all of the circumstances, it is the Ombudsman’s opinion that there was service failure in the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of issues with her balcony.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint

  1. The landlord’s complaints policy sets out 2 stages of complaint process and states the following timeframes for complaint handling:
    1. 5 working days for complaint acknowledgement.
    2. 10 working days for a response at stage 1.
    3. 20 working days for a response at stage 2.
  2. The resident lodged a complaint about the balcony repairs on 15 February 2024. After follow–ups by the resident on 27 February and 7 March 2024, the landlord acknowledged the stage 1 complaint on 12 March 2024, which is delayed 14 working days outside its stated policy. Despite the resident’s multiple attempts to chase a response the landlord did not provide a stage 1 response. This is not in line with the landlord’s complaints policy and the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code which requires 2 stages of complaint process to ensure fair handing of complaints.
  3. On 24 April 2024 the resident requested the landlord escalate her complaint to stage 2, and the landlord acknowledged this complaint on 6 June 2024. This acknowledgement is delayed 25 working days outside of the landlord’s stated policy. After the involvement of the Ombudsman, the landlord provided its stage 2 response on 15 August 2024. The landlord’s stage 2 response was therefore issued 60 working days outside of its stated policy, which is a substantial delay.
  4. The landlord apologised to the complainant and provided £100 compensation for not communicating during its complaints process, and £300 for failing to issue a stage 1 response. It explained that the case handler responsible for the resident’s complaint had left the organisation during the complaints process. The landlord agreed to more closely monitor complaint assignments and implement contingency plans to ensure complaints are not left unaddressed.
  5. An offer of £400 is consistent with the Ombudsman’s remedy guidance for failures with a substantial impact on a resident for an extended period of time. This offer was proportionate to the failures identified in this report. Additionally, the landlord demonstrated it had taken learning from its complaint handling failures.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was service failure with regards to the landlord’s handling of the resident’s request for repairs to her balcony.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 53.b. of the Scheme, the landlord made an offer of reasonable redress which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint about its handling of the resident’s complaint satisfactorily. This determination is made on the understanding that the £400 compensation is re-offered to the resident, if it has not been paid already.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of this report, the landlord is ordered to pay the resident £350 compensation (including £200 which it offered during its complaints process if not paid already) for the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident by its delays in repairs and failures to provide a plan of works.
  2. Within 4 weeks of this report, the landlord is ordered to write to the resident with a specific timeline of when it expects to complete the balcony repair.

Recommendations

  1. It is recommended that the landlord closely monitor the repairs process and keep the resident updated if there is any change to the nature or expected completion date of the repairs.
  2. It is recommended that, upon completion of the balcony repair, the landlord review its repairs process and consider whether it should compensate the resident for any failures in its repairs process that occurred after it issued its stage 2 response on 15 August 2024.
  3. It is recommended that the landlord re-offer the resident the £400 compensation for its complaints handling failure, if it has not been paid already.