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Salvation Army Housing Association (SAHA) (202300764)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202300764

Salvation Army Housing Association (SAHA)

24 September 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 the resident’s concerns that her mail was being stolen from the communal letterbox by a neighbour.

Background

  1. The resident has an assured non-shorthold tenancy which began in September 2003. The landlord is a housing association. The property is first floor 1-bedroom property. The landlord’s records note that the resident is deaf.
  2. The landlord investigated the resident’s complaints regarding anti-social behaviour (ASB) and missing or stolen mail between August 2020 and November 2020. The resident complained that the communal letterbox in place for mail delivery to the building was not secure, as other residents could easily access letters posted through. She said she had been a victim of stalking and her posted mail was being stolen by another resident in the building.
  3. At the end of the second stage of the complaint process in October 2020, the landlord advised the resident that it would install secure single access letterboxes in the communal hallway of the building. It offered the resident the option of diverting her mail to a post office (P O) box address and agreed to support her in finding a new home. The landlord advised the resident that there would be a key-safe outside the building and Royal Mail (RM) would be given a code to access the key-safe. On 30 October 2020, the resident expressed concerns about the arrangement with RM and the location of her letterbox. She asked if hers could be moved as it was outside the alleged perpetrator’s property.
  4. During the panel hearing on 13 November 2020, the landlord agreed to investigate the possibility of moving the secure letterboxes to a space outside the building. The landlord confirmed this in its stage 3 response letter to the resident on 23 November 2020, and referred the resident to this Service. It said this would resolve the problem of post being left in a place that was accessible to anyone. In an email dated 14 September 2021, the resident reported that the landlord had failed to carry out the actions agreed at the panel hearing.
  5. The resident submitted another stage 1 complaint about the matter on 6 December 2022. She said the landlord had unblocked the shared letterbox and reverted to using it without informing her. She asked the landlord to install external letterboxes and seal off the communal letterbox, as this allowed the alleged perpetrator continued access to all her confidential information. The landlord acknowledged the complaint on 14 December 2022. She requested the escalation of the complaint to stage 2 on 21 December 2022.
  6. The landlord and the resident communicated regarding the complaint between 22 December 2022 and 17 March 2023. Part of its communication included a request for the extension of the complaint to 4 February 2023, and an update on the possible installation of the external letterboxes. On 6 April 2023 the resident contacted this Service for assistance about her complaint. She said the landlord had failed to respond to her stage 1 complaint and delayed the response to the stage 2 complaint.
  7. On 28 April 2023, the landlord responded to the resident’s stage 2 complaint. It said the building had letterboxes for each resident. It further said that it had offered to install a different type of letterbox for the resident but she had refused. It concluded that it had met its obligation as a landlord and referred the resident to this Service if she wished to pursue the complaint. The resident referred the complaint to this Service on 11 July 2023. She remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s response.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. The Ombudsman notes from the evidence that the landlord dealt with the resident’s complaints regarding ASB or stalking and mail theft in October and November 2020. We have seen that the case exhausted the landlord’s complaints process in November 2020 and that it agreed actions with the resident to address her concerns about mail delivery.
  2. The landlord closed the complaint on 23 November 2020 and referred the resident to the Housing Ombudsman Service for further assistance. The resident did not contact this Service until 6 April 2023. Although the resident raised another complaint on 6 December 2022, this was regarding the historical issues which the landlord had already investigated between August and November 2020. This Service notes that she complained that actions agreed by the landlord at the end of the previous complaints process were not implemented. However, we have seen from the evidence that the landlord provided a partial response, that it had already provided letterboxes for the residents in the building and closed the case. The landlord also informed this Service that it had previously addressed this matter under its complaints process which concluded in November 2020.
  3. Paragraph 42.b.of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme sets out that the Ombudsman may not consider complaints, which in the Ombudsman’s opinion were brought to the Ombudsman’s attention normally more than 12 months after they exhausted the member’s complaints procedure. The resident’s complaint exhausted the landlord’s internal complaints procedure on 23 November 2020. She did not refer the matter to this Service until 6 April 2023. In view of the above, the resident’s complaint about the landlord’s handling of her concerns that her mail was being stolen from the communal letterbox, is outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.
  4. This Service notes from the landlord’s internal emails between January and June 2024 that it had decided to revisit its previous decision in November 2020, and commenced investigations into the possibility of installing external letterboxes at the property. The landlord confirmed this to this Service on 11 June 2024 that it had decided to safeguard the posts of all its residents. The resident is therefore advised to work with the landlord on any outstanding concerns regarding this matter.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 42.b. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the resident’s complaint about the landlord’s handling of her concerns that her mail was being stolen from the communal letterbox, by a stalker, is outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.