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GreenSquareAccord Limited (202320731)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202320731

GreenSquareAccord Limited

12 May 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 response to the resident’s:
    1. Reports of repairs to the drain in their wet room.
    2. Reports of a delay in the payment of compensation from a previous complaint.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of a 2-bedroom bungalow. The resident is a wheelchair user.
  2. The resident first contacted the landlord on 29 June 2023 to report a foul smell coming from the drain in their wet room.
  3. It is noted from the landlord’s repair log’s that it arranged for its contractor to attend the same day. The contractor recommended that the drain needed to be jet washed which was subsequently arranged via its sub-contractor who also attended the same day and cleared out the drains.
  4. On 19 July 2023, the landlord chased the contractor for its report.
  5. The resident followed up with the landlord on 31 July 2023 due to no updates. The landlord advised the resident that due to an admin error, it had not followed up on this or taken any further action, for which it apologised.
  6. The landlord contacted the resident on 1 August 2023 to confirm that its operative would attend the resident’s home on 11 August 2023 to investigate the drainage issue further. In the meantime, it chased the contractor again on 8 August 2023. The job arranged for 11 August 2023 was subsequently postponed pending the report from the contractor.
  7. It is noted that the resident contacted the landlord on 11 and 16 August 2023, and 11 September 2023 due to receiving no further updates. However, there was no response to these communications, which subsequently resulted in the resident making a complaint to the landlord on 15 September 2023. They complained about:
    1. The drainage issue, which the resident felt was a health and safety risk because their wheelchair could become lodged in the area where the drain vent cover should be.
    2. Concerns about a delayed compensation payment from a previous complaint they had made to the landlord.
  8. The landlord received a report from its contractor on 19 September 2023. The report made recommendations for a surveyor to inspect the matter, which the landlord subsequently arranged for 27 September 2023. The resident has advised the service that the drainage repairs are now complete.
  9. In respect of the delayed compensation payment, the resident provided a completed BACS form to the landlord in June 2023; however, due to a combination of communication errors between the landlord’s internal departments, the payment was delayed. This resulted in the resident having to chase the landlord 6 times between 24 July 2023 and 29 September 2023 because the payment was still not received, despite assurances from the landlord that the payment would be processed.
  10. The landlord provided its stage 1 response on 4 October 2023, which included the following:
    1. It provided a history of the complaint and noted its surveyor would keep the resident updated about further works, including addressing any safety concerns.
    2. It also noted it would consider temporary accommodation if required.
    3. It upheld the complaint and offered £600 compensation. This was broken down as:
      1. £100 for the lack of communication.
      2. £100 for the delay to a resolution of the drainage issue.
      3. £150 for the administrative error in relation to the report.
      4. £250 for the overall delay to the payment of the previous compensation payment.
  11. The resident escalated the complaint to stage 2 on 23 October 2023. The landlord responded on 20 November 2023 and upheld the complaint. It reiterated its stage 1 decision. It also provided further details about what happened and the causes of the delays. It acknowledged that the £600 compensation offered at stage 1 had been delayed, for which it apologised. It provided assurances that the payment would be made on 2 November 2023. It concluded that the compensation offered at stage 1 was appropriate; however, it offered further compensation of £100 for the delayed £600 payment. The resident confirmed to this Service that all payments have been received, but noted they were dissatisfied with the landlord’s overall response.

Assessment and findings

Scope of the investigation

  1. The resident advised this Service of other repair issues and concerns of anti-social behaviour (ASB). While it is evident that during the period of the complaint the landlord advised it would open a new ASB case, it is not evident that these issues have exhausted the landlord’s internal complaints procedure. These issues are therefore outside of the scope of this investigation. The resident has the option to raise these issues with the landlord as a formal complaint if they remain a concern.

Repairs

  1. The landlord’s repair policy says that it is responsible for keeping in repair and working order any installations provided by it, including plumbing and drainage. Its repair policy says that depending on priority, it offers several response times, with emergency priority being responded to either the same or next day, and routine priority taking no more than 28 calendar days.
  2. Following the report of a foul smell on 29 June 2023, the landlord’s contractor attended the same day, with sub-contractors also attending the same day to jet wash the drains. This was reasonable and was within the landlord’s policy time limits.
  3. However, following the contractor visit to clean the drains on 29 June 2023, there was a delay of 82 calendar days until 19 September 2023 before its report was received by the landlord. This was due to an administrative error where the landlord failed to follow this up the contractor. This demonstrates a failing in the communication between the landlord and its contractor.
  4. There was also a lack of updates provided to the resident who had chased the landlord 3 times between 11 August 2023 and 11 September 2023 without a response, which was inappropriate. Furthermore, the contractor said it had emailed its report to the landlord on 11 August 2023, which the landlord said it had not received. This further demonstrates a failing in the systems in place between the landlord and its contractor.
  5. The overall delay was inappropriate and meant the follow-on works fell well outside the landlord’s quoted time limit in its repair policy. Had the landlord taken a more proactive approach to update the resident as it should have and ensured the contractor report was received within a reasonable time, there is a good chance that a complaint could have been avoided.
  6. The landlord upheld the complaint at both stages of its internal complaint process, which was appropriate. The landlord offered £350 in relation to the drainage issues, broken down as £100 for the lack of communication, £100 for the delay in a resolution being sought for the drainage issue, and £150 for the administrative error relating to the report. This amount was in line with the landlord’s compensation policy for instances “where there has been failure that adversely affected the resident but had no permanent impact,” and where it has “acknowledged service failure but failed to put it right.” It is also in line with our remedies guidance for maladministration where there was a failure which adversely affected the resident. As such, a finding of reasonable address has been made for this element of the complaint.

Delayed compensation payment

  1. The landlord’s policy for the payment of compensation via BACS is 15 working days from the receipt of a completed BACS form.
  2. The landlord offered £75 compensation for a previous complaint. The landlord noted that it received the resident’s completed BACS form on 1 June 2023, and it acknowledged receipt of on 5 June 2023.
  3. However, due to a combination of communication issues and oversight within the landlord’s internal departments, there was a delay until at least 29 September 2023 before the payment was issued. This resulted in the resident having to chase the landlord on 6 occasions which was inappropriate and caused unnecessary inconvenience and delays. This also appears to be the cause of the complaint escalation request on 15 September 2023, which might have been avoided if the landlord had ensured it had provided the resident with regular updates, and if it had performed regular checks and maintained effective records.
  4. In recognition of the inconvenience this had caused, the landlord offered £250 in addition to the previously offered compensation. This was in line with its compensation policy “where there has been a service failure which adversely affected the resident”. It is also in line with our remedies guidance for maladministration where there was “no permanent impact” on the resident.
  5. There was also a further delay until 2 November 2023, before the £600 compensation offered at stage 1 was paid to the resident. This was inappropriate and not in line with its compensation policy of 15 working days. The landlord subsequently offered further compensation of £100 at stage 2 for the delay. While the delay was frustrating for the resident, its further offer of compensation was reasonable and in line with the landlord’s compensation policy. It is also in line with our remedies guidance for service failure and maladministration where there was a “short term” effect on the resident, with “no permanent impact”.
  6. Given the landlord’s total offer of £350 compensation for delays to payments of compensation, along with its apology for the effect of the delays, a finding of reasonable redress has been made in the circumstances.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53(b) of the Scheme, the landlord offered reasonable redress in relation to reports of repairs to the drain in their wet room.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 53(b) of the Scheme, the landlord offered reasonable redress in relation to reports of a delay in the payment of compensation from a previous complaint.