Home Group Limited (202215978)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202215978

Home Group Limited

28 March 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

The complaint is about the:
1. Resident’s report that the sanitation system in the property was not fully functioning for 16 years.
2. Landlord’s response to the resident’s reports about the toilets in the property.
3. Landlord’s record keeping.
4. Associated complaint.

Jurisdiction

What we can and cannot consider is called the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. This is governed by the Housing Ombudsman Scheme. When a complaint is brought to the Ombudsman, we must consider all the circumstances of the case as there are sometimes reasons why a complaint will not be investigated.
Paragraph 42 (c) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme states that the Ombudsman may not consider complaints which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion were not brought to the attention of the member as a formal complaint within a reasonable period which would normally be within 6 months of the matters arising.
The Ombudsman notes the resident’s complaint that the problem with the toilets had been ongoing for 16 years. Having looked though the repairs records provided by the landlord, there is history of some repairs reported by the resident, concerning the toilets in the property, intermittently between 18 November 2015 and 17 July 2019. The resident made a formal complaint on 19 August 2019, but there is no evidence it completed its complaints process or that it was referred to this Service for investigation. The resident made 1 report around March 2021 about a leak in the toilet, but no further repair was reported until August 2022, around the same period she made a formal complaint about the matter.
This investigation therefore focusses on events that occurred from August 2022 until 6 December 2022, when the landlord issued its final response. This is because resident’s are expected to raise complaints with their landlords in a timely manner, so that the landlord has a reasonable opportunity to consider the issues whilst they are still ‘live’, and while the evidence is available to reach an informed conclusion on the events that occurred.
After carefully considering all the evidence the resident’s report that the sanitation system in the property was not fully functioning for 16 years is outside of the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

Background and summary of events

Background

The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord, a housing association. The tenancy started on 18 December 2006. The property is a 2-bedroom house. The landlord has no vulnerabilities recorded for the resident.

Landlord obligations

The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 requires that all landlords should ensure that their properties, are fit for human habitation at the beginning of the tenancy and throughout.
According to the tenancy agreement, the landlord agrees to:
1. Keep in good repair and working order any installations provided for space heating, water heating and sanitation and for the supply of water, within the premises or areas associated with the premises.
2. Carry out emergency repairs within 24 hours, urgent repairs within 7 days and day to day repairs within 28 days.
The landlord’s complaints policy states that it will:
1. Log and acknowledge complaints within 5 working days of receiving them.
2. Respond to stage 1 complaints within 10 working days of receiving them and stage 2 complaints within 20 working days of receipt.
3. In exceptional cases, timescales for response may be extended by a further 10 working days to enable it to carry out a full investigation and provide a response. In such cases it will provide a written explanation to the complainant, containing a clear timescale for when they can expect to receive a response. It will agree a further extension with the resident if required.
4. Award a monetary sum for a failure or loss of service.

Summary of events

On 20 August 2022, the resident reported that the toilets were running constantly.
In an internal email dated 26 August 2022, the landlord noted that the resident had submitted a complaint about the toilets in the property.
The landlord responded to the resident’s complaint on 31 August 2022 and apologised for the service she had received. It said:
1. It logged her request to investigate a fault with the toilet on 20 August 2022. It was unable to offer an appointment so it advised her that its contractors would contact her to arrange it.
2. She made contact on 26 August 2022 to follow up and was advised the works would take longer than the usual timescales to resolve.
3. During a telephone discussion on 31 August 2022, it assured her that the matter would be looked into by one of its surveyors, to advise on the best course of action due to the issues she had been having with the toilet.
4. The response concluded the first stage of its internal complaints process.
On 31 August 2022, the landlord noted in its internal discussion that the works order had not yet been raised but it had since logged it.
The resident contacted the landlord between 5 and 10 September 2022. A summary of the issues raised are provided below:
1. She did not want her complaint to be closed as noted in its letter dated 31 August 2022. She wanted it stay open until the repair had been resolved.
2. Someone attended on 5 September 2022, but they just took pictures and did not give a date the works would be carried out.
3. She had managed to contain the leak for the past few days but there was a bad smell coming from the toilet as the water was unable to drain properly.
4. The landlord had failed in its duty to provide proper and healthy sanitation in her home.
5. On 10 September 2022, the second toilet in the property broke down and was also not flushing due to the poor repairs previously carried out. She was assured that the repair would be attended within 6 hours, but no one turned up. She called for an update and the out of hours service advised her to wait for another 6 hours.
6. She wanted the complaint to be escalated to stage 2 for its failure to log and attend appointments and for the failed attempts to contact it for a resolution.
The landlord noted in its internal emails on 15 September 2022 the resident acknowledged that a plumber had attended to install a new flushing mechanism, but the repair had failed. It said she would like a full investigation into the toilet plumbing system to identify the issue as the problem had been on-going for 16 years.
The landlord’s contractors attended the property between 15 and 17 September 2022 and noted that:
1. It had completed repairs to stop the toilet constantly running and it was able to flush but it was not completely clearing out waste.
2. All the units needed to be removed to check the soil stack to see if there were any blockages, but it could be difficult as it was an integral toilet.
3. The ensuite toilet worked but it took a long time to fill up with water. The two cisterns at the property needed to be changed.
4. The resident could temporarily use a bucket to flush until 21 September 2022.
Below is a summary of the events that occurred between 16 September and 28 September 2022:
1. The landlord spoke to the resident on 16 September 2022 and assured her that her complaint would be left open as requested, until the repairs had been completed.
2. The landlord noted on 26 September 2022, that its contractors attended the property that day.
3. The resident advised the landlord around 28 September 2022, that plumbers had inspected the toilets and concluded that she needed new cisterns as well as fill and flush valves in both toilets. She said she explained that the fill valve was only replaced on 15 September 2022, but they said it was an incomplete job because the entire cistern should have been replaced as well. It said this was why she was still experiencing problems. As they had taken the cistern apart, 1 toilet was not available for use.
4. The contractors assured her they would order the parts and return the following week once the works had been authorised by the landlord.
5. The resident advised that the contractors were very thorough in their investigation on this occasion as they had previously refused to listen to her. She advised that the panelling would need to be resealed once the works had been completed.
6. On 28 September 2022 the landlord asked the contractors to confirm they would refit and seal the panelling as part of their quote.
A report dated 1 October 2022, completed by the contractors, noted that a build-up of limescale was the major cause of the cisterns breaking down. It said although this had been resolved, it recommend that a limescale reducer should be fitted to the mains to prevent such problems.
The landlord noted in its internal email on 5 October 2022 that it had raised the works recommended and was awaiting the approval of the quotation before booking in the works with the resident. It also said it had updated the resident and she was pleased with the update received and reassured that her complaint would remain open.
An inspection report completed on 8 October 2022 by the contractors (following its inspection on 26 September 2022) noted that:
1. Some works had been completed but follow-on works would be needed.
2. CCTV survey of the toilet was carried out from the manhole as the toilet was sealed in with units and mastic.
3. It ended the survey due to a sharp bend leading to the toilet.
4. It was the full and flush valves on both toilets that were causing the issue.
5. It recommend that a plumber needed to replace both fill and flush valves on the 2 toilets, and a survey taken from the toilet but panels needed to be removed.
The landlord noted in its repairs log on 19 October 2022, that all the units needed to be removed to check the soil stack for any blockages.
The landlord further noted that it had installed an inline limescale remover for the mains supply to the toilet on 25 October 2022.
This Service wrote to the landlord on 7 November 2022, and advised it to respond to the resident’s stage 2 complaint within 5 working days.
The landlord informed this Service on 9 November 2022 that it would provide a final response once the associated works had been completed. It sent a written acknowledgement of the stage 2 complaint to the resident and it apologised for the delays.
The resident advised the landlord on 15 November 2022 that the issue remained unresolved and the toilet was still not flushing. She said there were several residents in the neighbourhood who had experienced the same problem and an owner occupier had been able to resolve it by changing the toilet.
The landlord liaised internally about the resident’s email and whether the toilet system needed to be changed.
The resident advised this Service on 25 November 2022, that the landlord had not yet contacted her to agree any actions to resolve the ongoing issues with her toilet.
The landlord issued its stage 2 response on 6 December 2022. It said:
1. Following its internal discussions it had agreed to replace the whole toilet system.
2. It had made progress with her case but it needed to take further steps to fulfil its commitment to her to put things right.
3. It would update her on a date for the works to be completed.
4. It would continue to progress her complaint until the outstanding issues were fully resolved and provide its full and final stage 2 response. It advised her to refer her complaint to this Service if she wished to do so in the meantime.

Post complaint actions

The landlord tried to contact the resident on 12 December 2022, to update her on the progress of the complaint, but it was unable to get through.
The landlord noted in its internal email on 10 January 2023, that the recommended works had not been booked on the system. It asked the relevant teams to arrange them as soon as possible.
The landlord and the resident exchanged several emails between 16 January 2023 and 13 March 2023. A summary of the key issues discussed are provided below:
1. The landlord sent the resident a copy of the stage two response on 17 January 2023, as she had contacted it to chase up the response. It also advised her that it was still waiting for a date for the required works to take place.
2. The resident responded that she was not satisfied with the findings or proposed actions. She said the whole toilet system was replaced in 2019, but this had not made a difference as the issue was the waste management system attached to the toilets. She said she had not had a full and working sanitation system for 16 years.
3. The landlord contacted the resident between 25 January 2023 and 8 February 2023 and advised her that it was still liaising with the relevant teams regarding the repairs.
4. The resident informed the landlord on 2 March 2023 that an engineer from a drainage company had attended and inspected the toilet. She said they found the cause of the problem was a design fault. She said the engineer advised that the toilet pan needed to be replaced with a higher pan so that it could effectively remove waste.
5. The resident advised on 7 March 2023, that a plumber attended on 6 March 2023 and removed the sag in the piping, and replaced it with a ridged pipe which had raised the pipe to the right level to connect to the waste stack. She said this had resolved the problem, but finishing works were required to the toilet.
6. The resident advised the landlord that finishing works were completed on 13 March 2023.
The landlord wrote to the resident on 6 April 2023 and advised her that:
1. It had provided feedback to all relevant teams, with regards to its handling of the repairs to the toilets, to ensure the service it offers is improved in the future.
2. Due to the issues she had experienced it would like to offer £325 in compensation, broken down as:
  1. Loss of use of the toilet in her home – £75
  2. Disruption caused to her when the toilet was not functioning and time spent chasing appointments – £75
  3. Delay in the issue with the toilets being resolved – £100
  4. Failure to resolve the issue with the toilets in a timely manner – £75
The resident informed the landlord on 7 April 2023 that the amount offered did not reflect the inconvenience she had experienced for the past 16 years.
On 27 April 2023, the landlord responded that according to its complaints process, outlined on its website, all complaints needed to be raised within 6 months to enable a full investigation to take place. It further said since her stage 1 complaint was satisfactorily resolved in 2019, no further issues were raised regarding the toilets until August 2022. It offered an additional amount of £55 for the delay in escalating her stage 2 complaint bringing the total offer to £380.

Assessment and findings

The Ombudsman’s Dispute Resolution Principles are:

Be fair
Put things right
Learn from outcomes

This Service will apply these principles when considering whether any redress is appropriate and proportionate for any maladministration or service failure identified.

Landlord’s response to the resident’s reports about the toilets in the property.

When the resident reported a fault with the toilet/s on 20 August 2022 there is no evidence of its attempt to visit or inspect the fault reported until 5 September 2022 (10 working days). It noted in its internal email on 31 August 2022 that the repair had not been logged on its system and it also acknowledged the delay in its stage 1 response. The resident’s report indicated this was a leak so it should have been attended within 24 hours or 7 working days (for urgent repairs) in accordance to the terms of the tenancy agreement. The delay in contacting the resident or providing any feedback on the repair led her to submit a formal complaint about the repair. This would have caused her some inconvenience and frustration, as she should not have had to make a formal complaint to get an update on her repairs.
Although the landlord responded to her stage one complaint on 31 August 2022, the response did not include a plan of action other than its advice that one of its surveyors would be conducting an investigation. However, this Service notes from the resident’s emails that an operative attended on 5 September 2022 but the findings or recommendations from the visit are not known. In September 2022, the resident chased for updates on the repairs and raised further concerns about the flush for 2 toilets and issues with the drain. She requested the escalation of her complaint to stage 2 on 10 September 2022 and said the landlord had failed to meet its obligation to maintain the installations supplied for sanitation in the property. Based on the evidence, there was a further delay of 5 working days where the resident remained unclear of the steps being taken by the landlord to resolve the repair issues with the toilet. This is unreasonable.
There is evidence of some learning due to visits and attempts made by the landlord to resolve the repairs to the toilet. Its contractors carried out some investigations and temporary repairs between 15 September 2022 and 25 October 2022. This included a CCTV survey and the installation of a limescale reducer on 25 October 2022 as recommended by 1 of its contractors, but the evidence indicates that the repairs did not fully resolve the fault preventing the toilet from fully flushing. This is noted from:
1. The landlord’s comment to this Service on 9 November 2022, that the resident had been contacting external agencies and her MP regarding the matter.
2. Her email to the landlord on 15 November 2022 that the issue remained unresolved.
3. Her email to this Service on 25 November 2022 that the landlord had not advised her of its plan to resolve the repairs.
Whilst it was appropriate that the landlord assured the resident between 12 November 2022 and 15 November 2022 that it was still investigating the matter, the actions being taken and the cause of the delay is not known. There is no evidence of any follow up actions or further investigations by the landlord from 25 October 2022 until 6 December 2022, when it advised her that they would change the whole toilet system. It is unclear how the landlord reached this conclusion, but it appeared to act on the resident’s comment on 15 November 2022 that this had resolved the problem for another neighbour. Nonetheless the poor communication and the extended delay would have caused her further distress and frustration.
From 6 December 2022 when the stage 2 response was issued, there was a further delay of 6 weeks when the resident was not updated on the actions promised at the end of the stage 2 process. Its attempt at calling the resident on 12 December 2022 is noted but this should have been followed up with an email or letter. It’s email to the resident on 17 January 2023 was prompted by her emailed request for an update. It is the Ombudsman’s view that the landlord had not learned from its errors as it failed to communicate effectively with the resident throughout the life of the case regarding her outstanding concerns. Although it advised the resident that it was still awaiting a date for the works, its internal email dated 10 January 2023 stated that the works had not yet been booked on the system. This is not appropriate and shows that the landlord had not taken the resident’s concerns seriously or learned from its previous errors.
We have seen from the post complaint actions that the landlord realised its errors and actively engaged with the resident from 17 January 2023 until 13 March 2023 when it fully resolved the repairs. This Service notes the resident’s concerns, that the delay could have been avoided if the landlord had followed her recommendations on the repairs. However it was appropriate for the landlord to rely on the opinions of its qualified staff and contractors when determining the repairs to undertake. On completion of the repairs, the landlord offered a total of £325 to the resident as compensation for the inconvenience and delays experienced. The offer of compensation was an appropriate step to take. It is however the Ombudsman’s view that the amount offered does not fully reflect the poor communication, delays and the level of inconvenience the resident would have experienced over the period of approximately 7 months taken to resolve the repair. Overall, there were significant delays and failures identified in its communication about the outstanding works and its handling of the repairs which amount to service failure.

Record keeping

In our investigation of this case, this Service has had to rely mainly on the email interactions between the landlord and the resident to get an understanding of the issues reported and actions taken to resolve them. It is a fundamental part of providing a good repairs service to keep accurate records of repairs. This should include dates repairs were requested, accurate detail of the works required, dates for appointments and works completed. In our assessment of the landlord’s handling of the resident’s report about the toilet, this Service was unable to ascertain the exact dates that some visits were taken as the appointment dates were not included in the repairs log.
While some of the residents emails and reports from its contractors indicate visits were made to the property, these were not clearly recorded or supported by the information in the repairs log. We have also identified that the landlord failed to log repairs appropriately through its admission that the resident’s repair request on 20 August 2022, and 10 September 2022 (when the resident requested emergency repairs) were not initially recorded on the system on request. This is of particular concern as the resident complained that no one attended within 6 hours when she asked for urgent repairs to the 2 toilets that broke down that day. The landlord noted that she had a young child in the property and it immediately logged the repairs, but there is no further information on the outcome of the repairs.
The landlord repeated this error in failing to record follow on actions as agreed in the stage two response. This led to further delays in finding the source of the persistent fault the resident had complained about since August 2022. Failure to accurately record information would have led to missed opportunities in promptly investigating issues, carrying out follow on actions and resolving the resident’s repairs. Overall, this would have caused the resident confusion, uncertainty and a lack of confidence in the landlord. In view of the above, there is evidence of maladministration in the landlord’s record keeping.

The associated complaint

The landlord responded to the stage one complaint received on 26 August 2022 within 10 working days in line with its complaints policy. However it took intervention from this Service before the landlord acknowledged the resident’s stage two complaint. This Service’s complaint handling code (the code) states that if a complaint is not resolved to the resident’s satisfaction it shall be progressed to the next stage in accordance with the landlord’s procedure and the timescales set out in the code.
The resident requested the escalation of the complaint on 10 September 2022, but the landlord did not acknowledge it until 9 November 2022. This Service notes the landlord assured the resident on 16 September 2022, that it would keep her complaint open as requested, but it should have sent her a written acknowledgement to confirm the complaint had been escalated to stage 2 and the timescales for the response. The delay in confirming this to her caused her some uncertainty which left her with no other choice than to contact this Service for assistance.
The landlord also took over 60 working days to respond to the resident’s stage 2 complaint. Although the resident asked it to keep her complaint open until the repairs had been completed, the landlord should have managed her expectations better in accordance with this Service’s complaint handling code. It should have assured her that it would continue to monitor any outstanding actions, if it was unable to resolve them before the stage 2 response was due.
Failure to do this led to some confusion as it kept telling the resident that her case could not be accepted until it had issued its final response. The evidence shows that the landlord had issued its final response on 6 December 2022 and agreed to carry out further works. It should have included a decision in the response and considered if any offer of compensation was due at that point. However, its offer of compensation was only made when the works were completed in March 2023 and there was no clear apology for the failings identified in its handling of the repairs or the complaint.
Although the landlord offered £55 to the resident for the delay in escalating the stage 2 complaint, this was 4 months after the complaints process had been exhausted and the amount offered does not fully account for the distress, time and trouble and inconvenience to the resident. Overall, in view of the failings identified there is evidence of maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.

Determination (decision)

In accordance with paragraph 42 (c) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the resident’s complaint that the sanitation system in the property was not fully functioning for 16 years is not within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction to investigate.
In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was evidence of service failure in the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports about the toilets in the property.
In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s record keeping.
In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.

Reasons

The resident’s complaint is out of time in accordance with the Housing Ombudsman Scheme.
The landlord delayed the repairs to the resident’s toilet. It took approximately 7 months from when the issue was initially reported but it provided no satisfactory reasons for the delay. It learned from its errors and resolved the repairs but its offer of compensation was not adequate.
The landlord did not keep a comprehensive record of repairs actions in its repairs log. It delayed in recording agreed actions for repairs and in some cases failed to record repairs reported by the resident. This led to missed opportunities in promptly dealing with repairs requested by the resident.
The landlord delayed the escalation of the resident’s complaint to stage 2. The response delayed and it gave misleading advice to the resident regarding her right to escalate the complaint to this Service. It did not apologise for the failings and its offer of compensation was late and not adequate.

Orders

Within 4 weeks of the date of this report the landlord should:
1. Pay the resident a total amount of £1,230 broken down as:
  1. £100 for the distress and frustration to the resident caused by the delay in resolving the repairs.
  2. £400 for the failures identified in its record keeping.
  3. £350 for the inconvenience and time and trouble to the resident for the failures in its complaint handling.
  4. £380 previously offered if it has not already paid it.
2. Review its record keeping practices in light of this report and ensure that repair records are kept up to date. It should emphasise the importance of recording repairs promptly to the relevant staff.
3. Share the decision with the staff who deal with complaints. It should remind them to adhere with its internal complaints policy and this Service’s complaint handling code in light of the failures identified in its complaint handling.