Flagship Housing Group Limited (202323371)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202323371

Flagship Housing Group Limited

25 June 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 rent account.
   2. The resident’s garage rental charges.

Background

2. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord. The resident also rents a garage from the landlord. However, this is a separate agreement to the resident’s tenancy agreement and is not part of his tenancy.
3. On 11 January 2022, the landlord sent a letter to the resident explaining that his rent account was in arrears and, due to this, it was transferring funds from his garage account to his rent account. It also stated after the transfer, the resident would have a remaining balance of £1,165.33 on his rent account to pay off.
4. On 3 February 2022, the landlord sent a letter to the resident explaining he was still in arrears on his rent account and stated he would need to agree to a payment arrangement to clear the arrears.
5. On 5 January 2023, the evidence shows landlord tried to call the resident and also sent him a letter about his arrears on his rent account. The letter asked the resident to contact the landlord to discuss and resolve the arrears. It also signposted the resident to support agencies such as Citizens Advice.
6. On 3 February 2023, the landlord sent a letter to the resident explaining he had an outstanding balance of £1,327.30. The letter also stated due to the level of the debt, it was now considering seeking possession of the resident’s home if the debt was not cleared.
7. On 6 February 2023, the resident submitted a complaint to the landlord. He stated he was making a complaint about the alleged rent arrears which he said appeared from nowhere. The resident stated his account went from owing nothing to over £1,700, which was caused by the landlord incorrectly placing his garage and his housing rent onto the wrong accounts.
8. The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response on 9 February 2023. It apologised if the rent arrears account letter it previously sent the resident caused him distress. The landlord explained the letter was sent to him to offer help and support and it stated it was sent in line with its rental income policy.
9. On 28 February 2023, the resident contacted the landlord and requested his complaint to be escalated to the next stage of the landlord’s complaints process. He stated at no time did the landlord present him with evidence of the arrears on his rent account.
10. The landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response to the resident on 3 April 2023. It explained it had enclosed a rent statement which it had colour coded to show where payments had been missed, or the incorrect amount had been paid. The landlord stated the resident’s rent account was £1,327.20 in arrears and explained he should contact it so it could support him with reducing his balance. The landlord stated having reviewed all the information available it was confident that the letter that was sent to the resident was in line with its policy and procedure. The landlord also confirmed it had explained the reasoning for the increasing arrears on a number of occasions, and the resident had been provided with statements with a breakdown to show how the arrears had accrued. Therefore, it stated it could not uphold the resident’s complaint.
11. The resident remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s response and submitted his complaint to the Ombudsman. He stated his desired outcome was for the landlord to clear the arrears balance showing on his rent account.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

12. This report will consider whether the landlord sufficiently responded to the resident’s concerns about the arrears on his rent account. As the resident’s garage rental is a separate agreement to his tenancy agreement, this report will not investigate the resident’s garage charges. This is in line with paragraph 42.g. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme (available on our website), which states that the Ombudsman may not investigate a complaint that, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, concerns the terms and operation of commercial or contractual relationships not connected with the complainant’s application for, or occupation of, a property for residential purpose. The garage does not form part of the resident’s tenancy agreement and is a separate arrangement with the landlord that is not directly connected to his occupation of the property. Therefore, the Ombudsman will not respond to the resident’s concerns about the landlord transferring funds from his garage account to his rent account.

Policies and Procedures

13. The landlord’s rental income policy states if a resident’s direct debit fails, it will contact the resident to advise them of this and to help prevent debts from increasing. The policy also states the landlord will provide contact details for debt advice agencies within its rent letters, and it will refer a resident to appropriate agencies for tenancy support and advice. In addition, the rental income policy explains the landlord may take court action to pursue outstanding rent debt.

Assessment

14. In January and February 2022, the landlord contacted the resident explaining he was in arrears on his rent account. It explained that the arrears were approximately £1,165.33 and asked the resident to contact it to arrange a payment agreement to resolve the arrears. The landlord also provided the resident with contact details for support agencies such as citizens advice, in case he was experiencing financial difficulties and a copy of his recent rent statement. The landlord acted reasonably by writing to the resident to inform him he had an outstanding balance on his rent account. It also took appropriate steps in line with its rental income policy by providing the resident with contact details for support agencies.
15. Following the landlord’s contact about the resident’s rent arrears, no payments were made towards the arrears. Due to this, the landlord tried to call the resident on 5 January 2023 to discuss the arrears, and it also sent a letter to the resident on the same day explaining he had fallen behind on his rent and had an outstanding balance of £1,420.38. It also included in the letter, contact details of support agencies. The landlord acted appropriately by contacting the resident about his outstanding balance on his rent account, as a resident has an obligation to pay their rent in line with the terms set out in their tenancy agreement.
16. The landlord also sent a further email to the resident on 13 January 2023, explaining the reason it sent a letter to the resident about the outstanding balance. It also explained it had reviewed the resident’s rent account and confirmed the outstanding balance was correct. The landlord also provided the resident with a copy of his rent statement, which it had highlighted, and colour–coded missed payments and incorrect payment amounts. In addition, it provided the resident with the opportunity to provide the landlord with his bank statements, if he believed all the correct payments were not showing on his rent account statement. The landlord took appropriate steps by providing the resident with a copy of his rent statement, highlighting the missed payments and providing the resident with the opportunity to challenge his arrears balance by providing relevant bank statements.
17. On 3 February 2023, the landlord sent the resident a further letter about his rent arrears. The letter explained due to the level of the resident’s arrears, it was considering seeking possession of the resident’s property if it did not hear from the resident within 14 days of the date of the letter. We recognise it would have been distressing for the resident to receive a letter mentioning potential possession of his property. However, the landlord had contacted the resident previously on several occasions to inform him of his rent arrears. Therefore, the landlord was entitled to send the resident a letter explaining it would consider seeking possession of his property and this was in line with its rental income policy. 
18. The landlord explained its position clearly in its stage 1 response. The landlord continued to contact the resident about his rent account arrears after its stage 2 complaint response, as he still had a balance outstanding. However, the resident started to make payments to reduce the arrears.
19. The landlord confirmed to us on 19 June 2025 that the resident’s rent account was no longer in arrears and was in credit by approximately £46.89. We recognise the resident requested the landlord to clear his rent arrears. However, as the landlord provided evidence to show the rent arrears accrued due to missed payments and incorrect payment amounts, and as the resident had an obligation to pay his rent in line with his tenancy agreement, we would not ask the landlord to refund the payments the resident made towards the rent arrears. Therefore, there has been no maladministration by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s rent account.

Determination (decision)

20. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s rent account.
21. In accordance with paragraph 42.g. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the complaint relating to the landlord’s handling of the resident’s garage rental charges is outside of the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.