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Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council (202221804)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202221804

Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council

17 December 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 resident’s reports of a leak and the subsequent repairs.

Background

  1. The resident is a secure tenant of the property, a 2-bedroom flat on the ground floor of a low-rise building. She has lived at the property since September 2019. The landlord has told this Service it is not aware of any vulnerabilities for the resident.
  2. On 14 April 2020, the resident reported there was leak coming through her bathroom ceiling, from the flat above. The landlord attended the following day and conducted a repair. Between April 2020 and October 2021, the resident made 9 further reports to the landlord that she was still experiencing a leak through her bathroom ceiling.
  3. On 23 November 2022, the resident made a formal complaint to the landlord that water was still coming through her bathroom ceiling despite several inspections being conducted. She said her ceiling was being continually damaged and she wanted the source of the leak to be identified.
  4. The landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response on 30 May 2023 and apologised for the level of service she had received. The landlord said:
    1. COVID-19 had impacted waiting times for inspections, and it was not able to attend as quickly as it would have liked.
    2. The leak had been successfully repaired in January 2023; however, this was an unacceptable amount of time to wait.
    3. An inspection had been arranged for 6 June 2023 to identify the repairs needed to her ceiling and these would be conducted in a timely manner.
    4. It wanted to offer the resident £500 compensation for the distress, inconvenience, time, and trouble caused to the resident.
  5. This Service understands that the landlord completed the repairs to the bathroom ceiling on 20 November 2023. The landlord also paid the resident the £500 compensation it offered in its stage 2 response.

Assessment and findings

  1. Paragraph 53.c. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme states that, “The Ombudsman may determine the investigation of a complaint immediately if satisfied that the member has made an offer of redress following the Ombudsman’s intervention which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily.”

The Ombudsman’s intervention

  1. This service contacted the landlord on 5 December 2024 and provided it with a summary of the Ombudsman’s understanding of the events. This included the Ombudsman’s provisional comments as to what the landlord could do to resolve the resident’s complaint.

The landlord’s offer of redress

  1. On 10 December 2024, the landlord provided this Service with evidence that it had acted on the Ombudsman’s provisional comments which would involve paying the resident a further £150 compensation.
  2. The resident has informed the Ombudsman that she is satisfied with this as a resolution to his complaint.
  3. The Ombudsman is therefore satisfied, following the intervention of this service, that the landlord has now taken actions to remedy the matters raised which resolve the complaint satisfactorily.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53.c. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress, following the Ombudsman’s intervention which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily.