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Housing For Women (202219976)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202219976

Housing For Women

22 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 handling of the resident’s service charge queries.
  2. The Ombudsman has also considered the landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident has an assured tenancy under an agreement dated 15 May 2006. The landlord is a housing association. The property is a 2 bedroom flat. The landlord has no vulnerabilities recorded for the resident.
  2. The resident’s rent includes a fixed service charge for communal services such as cleaning and ground maintenance. The resident has had ongoing complaints with the landlord regarding the service charges. She raised a complaint in January 2022 which was brought to this Service. In her complaint, the resident requested evidence that the landlord was delivering the services listed in its service charge breakdown.
  3. On 19 September 2023 the resident contacted the landlord after receiving her annual rent increase letter. She said she did not accept the service charge, due to outstanding unresolved service charge concerns.
  4. On 13 November 2023 the resident contacted the landlord to raise a complaint about her service charges. The landlord arranged to meet with the resident on 17 November 2023 to discuss the details of her complaint. During that meeting, the resident said that she was unhappy with:
    1. outstanding service charge complaints that remained unresolved. She stated that she wanted evidence of service delivery in her block since 2019 and the cleaning schedule from 2019 – 2024.
    2. the landlord’s lack of communication and poor customer service in relation to the service charge complaints.
  5. The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response on 23 November 2023. It combined the resident’s previously unresolved complaints in the response and stated the following:
    1. it apologised for failures in its communication and complaint handling.
    2. it escalated the complaint to stage 2 after recognising its failure to escalate a previous service charge complaint when the resident requested.
    3. it ensured that it would provide:
      1. a breakdown of all services delivered to the resident’s block from 2019 through to date.
      2. details or evidence of its approach to quality assurance via estate inspections and contractor performance for the years 2019 – 2024.
  6. On 13 December 2023 the landlord acknowledged the escalation of the complaint to stage 2. It stated that the escalation was due to the resident’s outstanding service charge complaints.
  7. The landlord issued its stage 2 response on 18 December 2023. The landlord:
    1. offered to arrange for the resident to view the costs and associated invoices for the service charge financial years 2021 – 2024.
    2. explained that due to system change, it was unable to provide a breakdown of charges for 2019 – 2021, so offered a full refund of service charges for those years as compensation for the poor customer service.
    3. provided breakdowns of the service charges for years 2021 – 2024.
    4. advised that it monitored cleaning and ground maintenance performance via monthly contract management meetings.
    5. confirmed the cleaning and grounds maintenance schedule and outlined the services that ground maintenance would provide.
    6. advised it now carried out its own monthly inspections and included an inspection report from June 2023 as an example.
    7. explained it had introduced a new estate management system in 2022 which automatically tracked and logged estate inspections.
    8. offered compensation of £1,100 which comprised of:
      1. £300 for its inaccurate information relating to the resident’s service charge statements over a period of 3 years.
      2. £500 for complaint handling failures.
      3. £300 for the distress and inconvenience caused as a result of its delays and poor communication.
    9. in addition to the reimbursement of service charges for the financial years 2019/20 and 2020/21, the total compensation offered was £2,243.48.
  8. In response to the stage 2 offer, on 12 February 2024 the resident requested further compensation of:
    1. £287.04 to cover the increase in service charges for year 2022/23 compared to the previous year, as she had not received evidence of service delivery. This was agreed by the landlord.
    2. an additional £200 for distress and inconvenience. This was not agreed by the landlord.
  9. The resident brought her complaint to the Ombudsman. She said that she was unhappy at having no evidence of the landlord delivering the services for which she was charged. As an outcome, she wanted proof of service delivery. If that was not available, she wanted reimbursement of her service charges for the years 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24.

Assessment and findings

Scope of the investigation

  1. The resident told the Ombudsman that she does not believe that the landlord has delivered the services listed in her service charge breakdown. Based on the documentary evidence available, the Ombudsman is unable to determine whether the services have been delivered or not. However, we can assess how the landlord has dealt with and responded to the resident’s concerns.
  2. The resident previously brought a complaint to the Ombudsman about her service charge concerns. The resident said she had ongoing issues with the landlord’s handling of her concerns. This continued after the previous complaint was determined by this Service on 15 March 2024 (case reference: 202121976). In our previous investigation we considered the landlord’s handling of the resident’s service charge queries prior to 21 December 2022.
  3. We are unable to consider complaints which seek to raise again matters which we, or any other Ombudsman has already decided upon. Accordingly, this investigation will only consider events after 21 December 2022, to when the landlord’s internal complaints procedure had been exhausted, and the landlord issued a stage 2 response follow up. Reference to dates prior to 21 December 2022 are for contextual purposes.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s service charge queries.

  1. The landlord’s Rent and Service Charge policy states that it:
    1. aims to deliver quality services which meet customer expectations and ensure services are affordable and value for money for its residents.
    2. endeavours to ensure that all service contracts are cost effective and represent good value for money.
  2. The resident’s tenancy agreement states that tenants are entitled to information on how the service charge is calculated. The landlord will supply a breakdown of costs and estimates and allow the tenant to inspect relevant documents on request in writing in accordance with statute.
  3. The landlord’s Compensation Policy states if it fails to provide a service which a tenant has told it about, for which they pay a service charge, they may be entitled to receive compensation, which will be the amount equivalent to the cost charged for the service they did not receive.
  4. The policy also gives the following compensation guidance:
    1. landlord failure to comply with its own service standards: up to £500
    2. distress and inconvenience: up to £1000
    3. communication/delay in resolving a complaint: up to £1000
    4. time and trouble: up to £500
  5. The Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code) states that landlords must address all points raised in the complaint and provide clear reasons for any decisions, referencing the relevant policy, law and good practice where appropriate. The landlord’s Complaints Policy states that it will respond to a complaint as soon as it has an answer.
  6. The resident contacted the landlord on 19 September 2023. She said that she had received her annual rent increase letter and did not agree with the service charges. The resident said that there were outstanding complaints about her service charges that the landlord had not addressed. The landlord acknowledged the service charge dispute on 20 September 2023. It said it would provide the resident with a full written response within 28 days.
  7. The Ombudsman’s service charge expectations (found on our website) states that landlords should respond to enquiries promptly, following its policy on response time. This Service has seen no evidence that the landlord responded to the resident after the acknowledgement. This was unreasonable.
  8. The resident raised her complaint on 13 November 2023. The resident stated that as an outcome, she wanted evidence that the landlord had delivered the services for which it had charged her for. She also wanted the cleaning schedule for each year from 2019 to 2024.
  9. In the landlord’s response on 23 November 2023, it apologised for its poor communication and offered to escalate the complaint to stage 2. The landlord stated it would provide the resident with the information she had requested. It would have been reasonable for the landlord to acknowledge and apologise for the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident by its failures. That it did not was unreasonable.
  10. The landlord issued its stage 2 response to the resident on 18 December 2023. The landlord explained that it was unable to provide evidence of its service delivery for the years 2019/20 and 2020/21 and offered to reimburse the resident’s service charges for those years. It provided a service charge breakdown for 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24 and offered to show the resident its costs and invoices for those years which was reasonable.
  11. The landlord provided details of how it monitored its services as well as its servicing schedules. It offered the resident compensation of £600, acknowledging its failure to provide accurate service charge information and for the distress and inconvenience caused by its delays and poor communication. It was reasonable for the landlord to provide evidence of quality assurance; however, it did not provide proof of its service delivery for the years 2021/22 or 2022/23. The landlord failed to fully address the resident’s queries which was unreasonable.
  12. In the resident’s complaint, she stated that she wanted evidence of service delivery to her block. The landlord provided a log of communal repairs dated from January 2022 to February 2024. It also provided digital attendance records for cleaning between October 2021 and September 2022.
  13. In line with the recommendations set out on our website regarding service standards and service charges, where residents raise concerns about the standard of service, it is best practice for landlords to evidence the standard of service was satisfactory. This Service has not seen any evidence that the landlord provided these records to the resident. Whilst it is reassuring that the landlord can evidence its service delivery, it failed to provide this information to the resident in its complaint responses. This was unreasonable and not in line with its policy.
  14. The landlord acknowledged its poor communication and mishandling of the resident’s queries and offered redress of £300. Although the landlord failed to acknowledge the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident in its stage 1 response, it addressed this in its stage 2 response. The landlord offered redress of £300, making a total offer of £600 compensation. However, this investigation has found failings that the landlord failed to identify. In summary, the landlord:
    1. failed to respond to the resident’s concerns when she raised a service charge dispute.
    2. failed to provide the resident with evidence of its service delivery.
  15. As a result of the landlord’s failure to provide the resident with evidence she requested, we have found service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s service charge queries. Having carefully considered the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance, the total compensation of £600 offered by the landlord is reasonable and proportionate. The landlord should reoffer the compensation to the resident if this has not already been paid.
  16. We have made an order for the landlord to provide the resident with evidence of services delivered between December 2022 and December 2023, which may include any relevant inspection reports, maintenance logs and/or contractor records.

The landlord’s handling of the associated complaint

  1. The landlord operates a 2 stage complaints procedure, which states it will respond to stage 1 complaints within 10 working days, and it will respond to stage 2 complaints within 20 working days. The landlord’s complaint response times mirror our Complaint Handling Code (the Code), which sets out good practice for a landlord’s complaint handling practices.
  2. The landlord’s Complaints Policy states that it is committed to learning from complaints and using case histories to improve services on an ongoing basis.
  3. The resident raised her complaint on 13 November 2023. The landlord acknowledged the complaint on the same day and issued its stage 1 response on 23 November 2023, 8 working days later. This was appropriate and in line with its policy.
  4. The landlord’s stage 1 response addressed all the resident’s previously unresolved complaints. This showed an attempt to put things right. The landlord then escalated the complaint to stage 2, in recognition of its failure to do this when the resident requested to escalate a previous complaint about the same issue. It was reasonable for the landlord to review its previous responses. By doing so, it shows an attempt to build a positive landlord and tenant relationship.
  5. The landlord formally acknowledged the resident’s complaint escalation on 13 December 2023. This was 14 working days after it had offered to escalate the complaint in its stage 1 response. Although the landlord was late in acknowledging the escalation, there was no detriment to the resident for this as the landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response on 18 December 2023. This was 17 working days after the escalation was offered, which was reasonable and in line with its policy.
  6. In her complaint, the resident requested evidence that the landlord had delivered the services she had been charged for. The landlord failed to provide a response to the resident’s request. The resident had requested the same information in her complaint from January 2022 but did not receive the evidence. The landlord’s policy says it is committed to learning from complaints. For the resident to raise a new complaint asking for the same information shows the landlord’s failure to learn lessons from previous complaints. This is unreasonable.
  7. In summary, the landlord failed to resolve the same aspect of the resident’s complaint twice. However, in its stage 2 response, the landlord acknowledged and apologised for its complaint handling failures. It offered the resident compensation of £500. After carefully considering the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance, the compensation offered is proportionate to the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident by the landlord’s failings. Therefore, we have found reasonable redress in the landlord’s handling of the complaint.
  8. Our determination of reasonable redress is made on the understanding that the compensation offered of £500 is paid to the resident if it has not already been paid.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s service charge queries.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 53.b of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was reasonable redress in the landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of the date of this determination, the landlord should:
    1. write to the resident with evidence of services delivered between December 2022 and December 2023. This may include any inspection reports, maintenance logs and/or contractor records.
    2. if it cannot provide this information, the landlord should write to the resident, setting out its position on any further reimbursement for the service delivery that it cannot evidence.
    3. pay the resident the £600 compensation offered for the failures in its handling of the resident’s service charge queries if it has not already been paid. This comprises of:
      1. £300 for poor communication and mishandling of the resident’s queries.
      2. £300 for the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident.
  2. The landlord should provide evidence of compliance with these orders to this Service, within 4 weeks.

Recommendations

  1. Our determination of reasonable redress is made on the understanding that the compensation offered of £500 is paid to the resident within 28 days of this report, if it has not already been paid.