Community Gateway Association Limited (202202470)
REPORT
COMPLAINT 202202470
Community Gateway Association Limited
5 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
- The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of anti-social behaviour (ASB).
Background
- The landlord is a housing association and the resident lived in the property as an assured tenant from May 2019 to May 2024. The property is a 1 bedroom flat and is part of a retirement development where residents are supported with independent living.
- Within 2 weeks of moving in, the resident made several noise complaints. The landlord investigated and addressed the possible cause, which was a water pump.
- In 2021 the resident made further complaints, claiming his neighbours were deliberately making noise. The landlord responded by installing noise recording equipment and referring the matter to the local authority’s Environmental Health Team (EHT). Following investigation with no evidence of noise nuisance found, the case was closed.
- In 2022 noise recording equipment was installed again when the resident reported his neighbours were banging. Nothing more than low level, normal living sounds were recorded. The landlord wrote to the resident on 20 May 2022 to say its review of his reports showed there was no evidence of noise nuisance or any ASB by neighbours and there was nothing further it could do. It invited the resident to a meeting to discuss the matter in person.
- The resident made a stage 1 complaint on 24 May 2022, stating the landlord had failed to take action against ASB. The landlord responded by meeting the resident and following up with a written response, explaining all the actions it had taken. It agreed to install noise recording equipment for a third time if the resident agreed to access support for his low tolerance to noise.
- The resident requested escalation to stage 2 on 13 June 2022 and the landlord replied on 29 June 2022. It reiterated the action that had been taken but explained that no evidence of noise nuisance had been found.
- The resident referred his complaint to us on 18 July 2023, seeking compensation, rehousing, eviction of neighbours and discipline of landlord staff.
Assessment and findings
- The resident emailed his local MP on 31 May 2019 to complain about poor sound proofing in the property, stating the shower pumps and water pipes were very loud. When the landlord was made aware of this, it rang the resident to ask about the issues. The resident said his neighbour’s shower and toilet were noisy at night and another neighbour had a squeaky door. The landlord was proactive in telephoning the resident as no complaint had been made to it directly. As the noise reported was every day living noise there was nothing more the landlord should have done at that stage.
- The resident made several noise reports of a similar nature over the following days and the landlord decided to open an ASB case on 4 June 2019 to investigate where the noise was coming from. The landlord questioned the neighbours but they were unaware of it. This was positive action by the landlord in attempting to find the source of the issue.
- Noise recording equipment was provided to the resident and the results were assessed on 12 June 2019. There was minimal noise recorded, just the sound of a water pump in the early hours of the morning. The landlord visited with an inspector on 28 June 2019 and completed routine servicing of the water pumps on the neighbouring properties. An action plan was drawn up and agreed with the resident and members of landlord staff who managed the property.
- It was agreed the resident would report any further noise to a named member of staff who was on site every day so the matter could be dealt with quickly. The landlord was proactive and responsive in addressing the source of the noise. It also ensured the resident felt listened to and could access staff when needed. This was very positive practice.
- There were no further reported issues until 17 March 2021 when the resident reported that the noise had restarted. He was given access to a noise app and assigned a member of staff to assist him with the matter. Very low volume noise was picked up by the app (30 seconds of what sounded like a running machine or a train in the distance). This was again good practice from the landlord, which responded appropriately to the report.
- The landlord checked in with the resident about the noise on 21 April 2021. The resident still had access to the noise app and minimal noise had been recorded. There was suspicion some noise was due to an air lock in the heating system so maintenance was carried out. The resident said he was hypersensitive to noise so the landlord advised trying silicone earplugs to sleep. The landlord was proactive in checking the current situation with the resident and taking action to address the potential cause of the noise.
- On 18 June 2021 the resident reported that his neighbour was deliberately targeting him by making low tapping noises. The resident described it as 2 or 3 taps, nothing for several hours the another 2 or 3 taps. Noise recording equipment was arranged but the resident initially refused it. It was then installed on 28 July 2021.
- The resident complained to his local councillor in July 2021, who in turn contacted the landlord. The landlord was very responsive to this and arranged a joint meeting between the landlord, councillor and resident to discuss the issues. This action was prompt and reasonable, showing motivation to address the resident’s concerns.
- The landlord again referred the matter to the EHT for independent evaluation. The EHT was unable to evidence any noise nuisance and concluded the likely source of noise was the neighbour preparing food. The case was therefore closed. The resident insisted that the only resolution would be a home move, but he would only move to a bungalow with a drive and private garden. It was not reasonable to expect the landlord to offer that in the circumstances and, instead, the landlord’s response was appropriate and proportionate in helping the resident with an independent assessment.
- On 27 January 2022 the noise recording equipment was fitted again after the resident reported banging by the neighbour. It was installed for 1 month but only recorded 1 incident of noise, which was a door being closed. The resident reported on 16 February 2022 that neighbours had been banging all day. The landlord enquired with the neighbours and found nothing to support this, which was appropriate action. The landlord visited the resident to seek an update on 4 March 2022, and he advised there had been no noise or issues. Given that there was little or no evidence of any deliberate noise nuisance being caused over a period of several months, there was little more the landlord could reasonably be expected to do at this stage.
- The landlord wrote to the resident on 20 May 2022, saying it had reviewed his case. It explained the actions it had taken, including noise monitoring equipment, speaking to the neighbours and referring to the EHT. It said there was no evidence of noise nuisance and there was nothing further it could do. It made an appointment for the resident to discuss this in person. This action was positive, as it clearly set out what had been done and made efforts to ensure the resident’s understanding.
- Following the resident’s stage 1 complaint of May 2022 the landlord met with him in June 2022 and he advised that his neighbour was harassing him with noise and asking someone else to do it when the neighbour was not there. The landlord initially refused to install noise recording equipment as it had already done so twice and only found low level household noise that had been assessed by the EHT. However the landlord agreed to install it for a third time as long as the resident agreed to attend an appointment with support services regarding his tolerance to sound.
- The landlord wrote a summary of the meeting to the resident on 7 June 2022 as its stage 1 response. This was within its target of providing a response within 10 working days. The landlord took effective measures to meet the needs of the resident by meeting him instead of just writing to him. It also compromised in attempt to reach a resolution and sought additional support for the resident.
- A member of landlord staff accompanied the resident to a mental health appointment on 27 June 2022 where it was identified he had no tolerance to any noise and he agreed to access further support. This showed the landlord working to meet the resident’s individual needs and being inclusive and supportive.
- Following the resident’s stage 2 complaint of June 2022, the landlord responded on 29 June 2022, within its target of 15 working days. It stated that, on each occasion the resident had made an allegation of ASB, it had properly investigated and communicated about it. It said there had been no evidence of noise nuisance, making reference to recordings from the monitoring equipment and there could be no action taken. This was an accurate reflection of the situation and the landlord explained it thoroughly to ensure the resident’s understanding.
- The landlord continued to communicate with the resident and conduct home visits into 2023 and the resident reported no further issues of ASB. The landlord offered the resident noise cancelling earbuds due to his sensitivity to noise, again showing its commitment to supporting him and finding practical solutions to the problem. The landlord noted that, while the resident was not currently making noise complaints, he was keen to move home and was experiencing mental health concerns.
- The landlord’s ASB policy states its aim is to thoroughly investigate reports and take prompt, proportionate and appropriate action. The evidence shows the landlord did exactly this as well as supporting the resident with his needs. The policy states the landlord will be inclusive, supportive and non-judgemental, demonstrating respect and sensitivity. The landlord did successfully act in this manner, throughout all contact with the resident.
- The resident referred his complaint to us on 18 July 2023 and said he was seeking compensation, rehousing, the eviction of a neighbour and the discipline of landlord staff. There is no evidence in this investigation of any failure in service on the landlord’s part and, therefore, nothing to warrant any further action or redress by the landlord.
- The landlord has offered the resident several property moves, which he declined for various reasons. He did move to a new home, with the same landlord, in May 2024 and there have been no further reported incidents.
Determination
- In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of ASB.