Beyond Housing Limited (202326061)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202326061

Beyond Housing Limited

12 February 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. This complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s requests for various repairs in the property.

Background

2. The resident is an assured tenant of the property, a house owned by the landlord.
3. The resident made a complaint to the landlord on 8 May 2023. She said she had made several requests for repairs since it replaced her windows in August 2021, and they remained unresolved. She described window vents glued shut, a window loose in its frame, hollow brickwork around the windows filled with foam and broken/missing window seals. She was also concerned about damp and mould in the bathroom. She described it as covering the tiles, bath, shower, window, and roof. She said the landlord inspected her property in March 2023 and she had heard nothing since.
4. The landlord responded at stage 1 on 26 May 2023. It said it had inspected her home and had committed to top up the loft insulation by 30 May 2023. It also said it would repair the kitchen extractor fan, window seals, and unblock trickle vents by 17 July 2023.
5. The resident’s complaint was escalated on 6 June 2023. The landlord issued its stage 2 response on 27 July 2023. It said that following an inspection on 21 July 2023, it had raised several work orders for repairs. It confirmed it would renew the bathroom during the current financial year, and it had brought the kitchen renewal forward to its 2024/2025 programme of works.
6. The resident was dissatisfied with the landlord’s final response. She said it did not complete the repairs it promised at stage 2. She referred her complaint to this Service.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

7. The resident said she was concerned about the health impact of mould exposure. The Ombudsman empathises with the resident. However, the courts are the most effective place for disputes about impact to health and illness. This is largely because independent medical experts are appointed to give evidence. They have a duty to the court to provide unbiased insights on the diagnosis, prognosis, and cause of any illness or injury. When disputes arise, oral testimony can be examined in court. Therefore, her concerns about the health impact of the issue are better dealt with via the court.
8. Within the resident’s communication with this Service, she said the landlord had fitted new windows in August 2021 and she started reporting related repair issues in October 2021. We have seen no evidence that she raised a complaint to the landlord about its handling of the matter at the time, completed its internal complaints procedure, or sought support from us. We encourage residents to raise complaints with their landlords at the time the events happen. This is because with the passage of time, evidence may be unavailable, which makes it difficult for a thorough investigation to be conducted, and for informed decisions to be made.
9. Paragraph 42.c of the Scheme (that was applicable at the time of the resident’s complaint) states the Ombudsman may not consider complaints which the resident did not bring to the attention of the member as a formal complaint within a reasonable period. This would normally be within 6 months of the matter arising. Taking this into account, and the availability and reliability of evidence, we have focused on the period surrounding the resident’s formal complaint. This investigation considers matters up to the date of the landlord’s stage 2 response dated 27 July 2023. Reference to historical and more recent events is to provide context only.
10. We recognise that following the landlord’s final complaint response, the resident expressed concerns over delays with external repairs, including pointing, guttering, and brickwork. These matters did not form part of her initial complaint on 8 May 2023, and the landlord did not identify them within its initial damp survey. Therefore, we cannot investigate its handling of these repairs within this case. It needs to have an opportunity to investigate and respond under its internal complaint procedure, as per paragraph 42.a of the Scheme. It is open for the resident to contact the landlord and, if appropriate, raise a separate complaint.

Repairs

11. Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 places a statutory obligation on the landlord to keep the structure and exterior of the property in repair. The tenancy agreement also sets out this requirement.
12. Once on notice of a repair, the landlord must conduct the works it is responsible for within a reasonable period, in accordance with its obligations under the tenancy agreement and in law. The law does not specify what a reasonable amount of time is – this depends on the individual circumstances of the case.
13. For day-to-day repairs, the general standard among social landlords is around 28 days. As the landlord has not submitted a copy of the repairs policy that was applicable to the period considered within this complaint, we have used this response time as a baseline.
14. Landlords need to make sure their homes are safe, warm, and free from hazards. When a resident reports a risk, the landlord should quickly inspect the property to check for hazards. It must determine if the home is safe and fit to live in. Ignoring hazards can lead to serious consequences for everyone involved. 
15. The landlord has provided its new damp and mould procedure, released May 2024, to this Service. While it is not applicable to the period considered within this investigation, the Ombudsman recognises the importance of having a defined procedure when addressing future reports of damp and mould.
16. The Housing Ombudsman’s spotlight report on damp and mould states a landlord should have a zero-tolerance approach and must ensure its response to reports of the above are timely and reflect the urgency of the issue. Additionally, we expect landlords to ensure there is effective internal communication between teams and departments and to ensure 1 team or individual has overall responsibility for ensuring complaints/reports relating to damp and mould are resolved, including follow up or aftercare.
17. In response to the Ombudsman’s request for evidence, the landlord submitted a table it compiled of its repair notes. This contained information about the job raised, date of visit, job status, and additional information. However, it failed to provide full records of its communication with the resident or a full repair history for the property. Therefore, we are unable to ascertain the dates the resident contacted the landlord to raise repair requests or the landlord’s actions in response. This means we are unable to determine whether there were any avoidable delays in this respect or properly assess the landlord’s communication with the resident.
18. In the Ombudsman’s view, the information submitted by the landlord does not fully clarify its decision making at the time. It is not clear what actions it took following each appointment and why repeat visits were necessary. For instance, it raised a work order on 23 May 2023 to repair the seals to all windows, among other window repairs. Records indicate an operative attended on 7 August 2023, yet it did not record the job as completed until 6 September 2023 after it attended following a second work order. Additionally, the operative noted that the window company had already addressed some of the issues, so it was not clear what repairs the landlord did. It is of concern that it has not provided clearer records. Further, within its stage 2 response it referenced a property inspection dated 21 July 2023. The landlord has not provided a report or evidence from this inspection.
19. It is good practice for a landlord to maintain accurate, contemporaneous records on reports it receives, and its actions in response. This will enable it to effectively manage any issues raised by its residents as well as fulfilling its obligations as a landlord. Inaccurate and incomplete records could result in unfairness to the resident. As a member of the Scheme, the landlord also has an obligation to provide this Service with adequate information to enable us to fully investigate the matter referred to us. It failed to do so in this case which has impacted our investigation.
20. The information provided by the landlord states it initially raised a work order for a mould treatment and inspection on 1 March 2023. It provided a copy of a damp survey, stating it took place on 22 March 2023. However, the document itself is undated. The survey does not contain any moisture or temperature readings or photographs, but it recorded that the mould was “moderate.” The survey identified the need for window repairs, installing a fan in the kitchen, and loft insulation. The landlord’s records show it did not raise an order for these works until 23 May 2023 – more than 2 months later and after the resident had raised a complaint. This was an avoidable delay and indicates shortcomings in the landlord’s management of repairs.
21. Where a landlord admits failings, the Ombudsman’s role is to assess whether the landlord’s final response put things right and resolved the resident’s complaint satisfactorily in the circumstances. We also consider whether the landlord acted in line with our Dispute Resolution Principles: be fair, put things right and learn from outcomes.
22. At stage 1, the landlord apologised for the delays experienced and the inconvenience caused. At stage 2, it apologised for the upset and inconvenience caused. Yet at both stages, it failed to demonstrate that it had reviewed its own records, identified the specific period of delay, or considered the impact on the resident. This was inappropriate and not in line with our principles.
23. The stage 2 response was the landlord’s opportunity to put matters right for the resident. The Code states that, when responding to a complaint, the “remedy offer must clearly set out what will happen and by when, in agreement with the resident where appropriate.”  A landlord must follow its proposed remedy through to completion. At stage 2, it set out the following commitments:
    1. Living room window repair, replace the windowsill, repair movement in rear lounge window, replace toilet window seal, repair window in bedroom 2 and fit an extractor fan in the kitchen on 6 September 2023.
    2. Plaster repair around the living room window and behind the freezer on 22 September 2023.
    3. Fill a hole in the bathroom from previous fan on 2 August 2023.
    4. Add a vented cap to the chimney, date to be arranged.
    5. Renew the bathroom during the 2023/2024 financial year.
    6. Renew the kitchen during the 2024/2025 financial year.
24. In the resident’s communication to this Service, she disputed that the landlord had completed all the repairs as promised at stage 2. The Ombudsman is unable to comment on the completion of these repairs based on the limited evidence available.
25. While the landlord sought to complete repairs and apologised to the resident, it did not appropriately consider the impact of the delays, its communication, or the time and trouble spent by her pursuing a resolution. In the circumstances, it would have been fair and reasonable for the landlord to offer compensation for its shortcomings and the distress and inconvenience caused. The Ombudsman’s remedies guidance, available on our website, suggests it is reasonable to offer compensation where there were failures that adversely impacted a resident. After considering the information available and the circumstances of this case, the Ombudsman finds that compensation of £150 is appropriate.

Determination

26. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s requests for various repairs in the property.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

27. Within 28 days from the date of this report, the Ombudsman orders the landlord to:
    1. Pay the resident £150 compensation to reflect the distress and inconvenience caused to her by its handling of her request for repairs.
    2. Write to the resident with an update on the renewal of her kitchen and bathroom.
    3. Arrange a post-works inspection of the property. Within 14 days of the inspection, it ought to write to the resident to set out outstanding repairs it is responsible for (if any) and a reasonable start date for the repairs.
    4. Provide this Service with evidence of compliance with these orders.

Recommendations

28. The Ombudsman recommends the landlord considers whether any additional compensation is due to the resident from the date of its stage 2 response, up to the date it completed the repairs.