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Clarion Housing Association Limited (202302489)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202302489

Clarion Housing Association Limited

30 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 the resident’s:
    1. Reports he did not receive £150 compensation offered to him from a previous complaint. 
    2. Reports of anti-social behaviour (ASB).
    3. Associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident has a fixed term assured shorthold tenancy for a 1 bed flat. His tenancy began on 20 February 2020.
  2. The landlord is a housing association. It was aware of the resident’s vulnerabilities.
  3. The resident had complained of ASB from his neighbour since 2020. In 2022 the landlord applied for an injunction to prevent further ASB from the neighbour.
  4. On 17 October 2022 the court granted the injunction. There was a further court hearing on 7 December 2022, and a final hearing on 2 March 2023 where the court extended the injunction for another 12 months.
  5. The resident made a complaint to the landlord on 22 February 2023. He said:
    1. He had not received £150 compensation offered by the landlord from a previous complaint.
    2. He had not received an update for 7 months about the on-going ASB and court action the landlord was taking against his neighbour.
    3. This was impacting his mental health and wellbeing.
  6. The landlord issued it’s stage 1 complaint response on 26 April 2023. It said:
    1. It paid the resident £125 compensation in June 2022 in response to his complaint about repairs. In relation to the same repair issues, it paid him £150 compensation in October 2022.
    2. Its records show the £150 payment was initially paid onto his rent account and then paid directly to him in December 2022. The resident would need to provide a bank statement to evidence he did not receive it.
    3. The resident had told it that he had not seen his neighbour since August 2022 and there had been no further reports of ASB.
    4. In response to his previous reports of ASB it applied to court for an injunction against the neighbour. The resident was provided with an update in March 2023 about the outcome of the court hearing.
    5. The resident should report any further ASB.
    6. It had received contact from the resident’s MP about the ASB and responded in March 2023.
    7. Due to the delay in it issuing its stage 1 response it awarded £50 compensation.
  7. We contacted the landlord on 24 October 2023 on behalf of the resident asking it to escalate the complaint to stage 2.
  8. The landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response on 21 November 2023. In its response it said:
    1. The resident had reported the neighbour had breached the injunction in April and October 2023.
    2. In August 2023 it received a report of ASB from another resident and it’s legal team pursued legal proceedings. It was awaiting a hearing date. It updated the resident of this on 31 October 2023.
    3. It would contact the resident to discuss a management transfer.
    4. It found no service failure relating to the compensation payment.
    5. It apologised and offered £200 compensation for its failure to contact the resident after he reported ASB in April 2023, and not providing suitable support.
    6. It would provide a single point of contact for the resident.

Events after the expiry of the landlord’s complaints procedure

  1. In May 2024 the landlord told the resident it had served a notice seeking possession on the neighbour.
  2. On 6 June 2024 the landlord carried out a further review of the resident’s complaint. It acknowledged a delay in it pursuing court action against the neighbour for breaching the injunction. It offered the resident a further £150 compensation.
  3. At the time of this investigation the resident said the ASB was still on-going, however, it had reduced since the landlord served the neighbour with a notice seeking possession.

Assessment and findings

Scope of the investigation

  1. The resident has reported ASB from his neighbour for a number of years and has made several complaints to his landlord. This investigation has focussed on the issues the resident raised in his complaint to the landlord dated 22 February 2023. This investigation will consider the landlord’s handling of these issues from October 2022 to the end of its formal complaint’s procedure in November 2023.
  2. The resident asked us to investigate the landlord’s handling of ASB from 2000 to date. The landlord has not investigated the ASB prior to 2022 in any of its complaint response. We cannot investigate issues that have not been through the landlord’s complaints procedure and therefore this investigation will not include any ASB issues prior to 2022.
  3. The resident told the landlord the ASB impacted his health and wellbeing. We can consider whether a landlord’s actions or lack of action has caused any distress and inconvenience to the resident. However, we are unable to establish whether the resident’s health and wellbeing was impacted. This would be down to a court to decide.

The landlord’s handing of the resident’s reports he did not receive £150 compensation offered to him from a previous complaint

  1. We find no maladministration for the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports he did not receive £150 compensation offered to him from a previous complaint. The reasons for my findings are below.
  2. In the resident’s complaint dated February 2023 he said he had not received the £150 compensation offered to him from a previous complaint. The landlord contacting him the same day and said its payments team confirmed they had paid him the compensation into his bank account. It was reasonable that the landlord asked the resident to provide a bank statement to evidence he had not received the payment.
  3. The landlord’s records show it investigated the issue fully, it asked it’s payment team to check for the payment and to ensure it had been paid to the resident directly and was not on his rent account. It was reasonable for the landlord to rely on the information provided by its payment team.
  4. The landlord confirmed this in its complaint responses. It provided the reference number it used to make the payment so the resident could find the payment on his bank statements. And agreed to investigate the issue further if the resident provided his bank statements. There was no evidence that the resident provided his bank statements to the landlord.
  5. In summary the landlord responded to the resident’s concerns straight away. The evidence shows it fully investigated the issue. It was reasonable for the landlord to say it could not investigate the issue further until the resident provided his bank statements.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of ASB

  1. We find service failure for the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of ASB. The reasons for my findings are below.
  2. It is not our role to decide whether ASB has occurred or who is responsible. We will investigate whether the landlord dealt with the resident’s reports of ASB in line with its policies and procedures, and whether it acted reasonable in the circumstances. 
  3. The landlord’s ASB policy states:
    1. It will log all reports of ASB.
    2. It will consider a range of interventions to deter or prevent ASB and where appropriate take legal action by way of injunctions and/or possession proceedings.
    3. It will provide advice and support to victims and make referrals to victim support and other relevant support agencies.
  4. The court ordered an injunction against the neighbour on 17 October 2022. The landlord has not provided any evidence that it updated the resident on the outcome of this court hearing or what the next steps were in the court procedure. In his complaint dated February 2023 the resident said he had not received an update from the landlord for several months. Although the resident had not reported any ASB from his neighbour during this time, the landlord was aware that the resident was vulnerable and he was concerned about further ASB and the impact this would have on his health. This was not customer focused.
  5. The landlord contacted the resident on 5 and 14 March 2023 to update him on the outcome of the final court hearing. It was appropriate that it told the resident to report any further ASB.
  6. In April 2023 the resident reported that the neighbour had breached the injunction. The landlord acknowledged in its stage 2 response that it failed to log this report of ASB. The landlord acted inappropriately by failing to follow its ASB policy. This caused a delay in the landlord instructing its legal team to pursue court proceedings against the neighbour. o
  7. In July 2023 the landlord received reports from other residents of ASB from the neighbour. The landlord acted proactively in investigating the ASB and arranged a cleaning service to clean the communal areas. It quickly gathered evidence from the police and third party organisations and submitted an application for court proceedings on 26 August 2023.
  8. There was no evidence the landlord updated the resident on the action it was taken against the neighbour until 31 October 2023. This was after the resident had reported another ASB incident from his neighbour. The resident expressed his concern that he was not being kept updated. The landlord showed it listened to the resident’s concerns and confirmed its actions in writing and it also provided advice on the resident’s options to move.
  9. Since February 2023 the resident had told the landlord the ASB was affecting his mental health and well-being. There was no evidence the landlord carried out a risk assessment or considered what support the resident might need whilst it pursued court action. On 2 November 2023, 9 months later, the landlord provided the resident with advice on organisations that could support him as a victim of ASB. In it’s stage 2 response it offered the resident a single point of contact, who contacted the resident fortnightly for 8 months. This showed the landlord wanted to put things right and rebuild its relationship with the resident.
  10. In it’s stage 2 response the landlord said it would consider a management transfer. The landlord assisted the resident to submit an application in January 2024. On 19 February 2024 the resident was told he did not meet the landlord’s criteria for a management transfer. This was because it felt there was no evidence there was a serious risk of harm or threat to his life which no longer made it safe for him to live in his property. This was in line with the landlord’s decant policy.
  11. In summary the landlord took action in line with its policy to tackle the ASB. However, it failed to keep the resident updated. It did not log the resident’s report of ASB in April 2023, which caused a delay in it taking action against the neighbour for breaching the injunction. The landlord left a vulnerable resident with no advice or support for over a year. The landlord acknowledged these failings in its stage 2 response. It apologised and offered the resident £200 compensation. It also provided the resident with advice on the support available to him and provided a single point of contact with fortnightly calls. This showed the landlord wanted to put things right.  
  12. On the 6 June 2024 the landlord carried out a further review of the resident’s complaint. It acknowledged there had been a delay in it progressing court proceedings due to the breached injunction. It offered the resident an additional £150 compensation. As the injunction had expired it served a notice seeking possession on the neighbour in May 2024.
  13. Although the amount of compensation offered was in line with the landlord’s compensation policy. At the time of this investigation the resident told us the ASB was still on-going. He said the landlord had not kept him up to date on the procession proceedings and had stopped its offer of support from a single point of contact. Although we have not investigated the landlord’s handling of the ASB after November 2023, it was concerning that the landlord had not showed learning and that it’s poor communication continued.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s associated complaint

  1. We find reasonable redress for the landlord’s complaints handling. The reasons for my findings are below.
  2. At the time of this complaint the landlord has a 2 stage complaints process. It’s policy states it will acknowledge a complaint within 10 working days. It will respond to stage 1 complaints within 20 working days and stage 2 complaints within 40 working days.
  3. The resident made a complaint to the landlord on 22 February 2023. The landlord acknowledged the complaint on 1 March 2023. This was within its target timescale of 10 working days. The landlord contacted the resident on 22 February and 21 April 2023 to discuss the complaint issues.
  4. The landlord issued it’s stage 1 complaint response on 26 April 2023. In its acknowledgement letter the landlord said it would respond by 10 March 2023. There was no evidence the landlord contacted the resident to discuss the delay. The landlord acted inappropriately by failing to effectively communicate with the resident and manage his expectations.
  5. We asked the landlord to escalate the resident’s complaint on 24 October 2023. The landlord acknowledged the escalation to stage 2 on 1 November 2023, which was within their 10-working day timescale. The landlord contacted the resident to discuss the complaint on 16 November 2023.
  6. The landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response on 21 November 2023, this was within its target timescale of 40 working days.
  7. In summary there was a delay in the landlord issuing its stage 1 complaint response and poor communication with the resident at this time. However, the landlord acknowledged this in its stage 1 response. It apologised and offered the resident £50 compensation, which was in line with its compensation policy.

Determination

  1. There was no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports he did not receive £150 compensation offered to him from a previous complaint (paragraph 52 of the Scheme).
  2. There was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of ASB (paragraph 52 of the Scheme).
  3. There was reasonable redress in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s associated complaint (paragraph 52 of the Scheme).

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of the date of this report the landlord must:
    1. Apologise to the resident in writing for the failings identified in this report.
    2. Provide the resident with an update on the possession proceeding it was taking against the neighbour, and how it is dealing with the on-going ASB in the meantime.
    3. Discuss any support needs the resident has while the ASB is on-going. This should include the resident’s preferred methods of communication and whether it can signpost him to support organisations.

Recommendations

  1. The landlord should ensure its staff are fully trained in its procedure for taking court action in ASB cases. The landlord should ensure that all staff are aware of the procedures they need to follow, are keeping accurate records, and are communicating effectively with all resident’s involved.