Hyde Housing Association Limited (202333526)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202333526

Hyde Housing Association Limited

8 April 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 reports of a boiler leak and associated repairs.

Background

Background

2. The resident is a secure tenant of the landlord, which is a Housing Association. The property is a 2-bedroom ground floor flat. The tenancy started in November 2007.

Summary of events

3. The resident initially reported a leak from a pipe in her boiler on 13 March 2023. This was causing a leak onto her kitchen floor. The landlord raised a repair and attended on 27 March 2023. At this time, the landlord’s operative removed one of the resident’s kitchen units to access the boiler to fix the leak.
4. The landlord raised an order to fix the kitchen unit on 18 July 2023. It attended on 25 July 2023 but was unable to fix the kitchen unit. It said the boilers waste pipe was blocked and further work was required.
5. The resident complained to the landlord on 26 September 2023. She said the landlord had attended various times however, the boiler leak and cupboard had not been repaired. The resident said she had to use days of her annual leave and works had still not been completed. She explained she was unhappy with the landlord’s communication particularly, as she was grieving as her mother had recently died.
6. The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response on 10 October 2023. The landlord said:
   1. It arranged for a plumber and carpenter to attend on 10 October 2023 to complete repairs to the boiler and cupboard.
   2. The resident initially reported problems with the boiler in March 2023. The landlord said it initially responded promptly but since there has been multiple missed appointments and a substantial delay resolving the leak.
   3. It upheld the complaint as it found it should have completed repairs sooner.
   4. It offered the resident £600 in compensation which included:
      1. £100 for customer effort.
      2. £250 for delays
      3. £250 for any distress and inconvenience caused.
7. The resident requested the landlord escalate to stage 2 on 15 November 2023. The resident said she waited 3 weeks for its operative to attend to fix the boiler pipe, but they advised they were there to only fix the cupboard. The resident said she wanted the landlord to connect the pipe correctly to her boiler.
8. The landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response on 30 November 2023. The landlord said:
   1. It did not repair the condensing pipe when it should have. It also did not provide any reassurance of when it would complete repairs.
   2. It confirmed it had arranged an appointment for 10 October 2023 to complete the repairs to the boiler. Also, repair the cupboard that had been damaged. As it did not complete the repairs it booked a further 2 appointments. This included that it attended on 29 November 2023 to repair the condensing pipe.  However, follow up works were required so its contractor would contact the resident directly.
   3. It increased its compensation offer to £750 which included:
      1. £300 to cover its delays
      2. £150 to cover the resident’s effort.
      3. £300 to cover any distress and inconvenience caused.
9. In bringing the complaint to this Service, the resident is wanting the repairs to be completed. Also, additional compensation to cover the distress she has endured.

Post complaint process

10. The resident contacted the landlord on 4 December 2023. She reported that the leak had returned. The resident said this had left her feeling deflated as she was unsure who to raise this with as various operatives had attended previously. However, the leak had not been resolved.
11. The landlord contacted the resident on 13 December 2023 and advised its plumber and carpenter were attending on 14 December 2023.
12. The landlord repaired the cupboard and re–piped the condenser pipe on 29 December 2023.

Assessment and findings

13. The Ombudsman’s role is to consider whether the landlord responded appropriately to the resident’s concerns by adhering to relevant legislation, its policies and procedures, and any agreements with the resident, and that the landlord acted, taking account of what is fair in all the circumstances of the case.
14. The tenancy agreement required the landlord to keep in proper working order any installation. This mirrored its repair obligations of section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, that a repair must be completed within a reasonable period of time.
15. The landlord’s repair policy sets out target times for repairs. This states it will complete emergency repairs within 24 hours and routine repairs within 20 days and non emergency repairs within 120 days.
16. The resident initially reported that her boiler was leaking on 13 March 2023 and said that water was making its way onto her kitchen floor. The records show the landlord contacted the resident the same day and left a voicemail. The notes state it asked the resident to call if her boiler was not working or the leak was not containable. This was reasonable as it was in line with its repair policy to identify whether the repair is an emergency or a routine repair.
17. Despite this, there are no records to show whether the resident returned the landlord’s call or if the landlord contacted the resident a further time. Given the resident had reported water on her kitchen floor it was not reasonable that the landlord did not make further attempts to establish whether the leak was containable. This was not in line with its policy to assess whether the leak met the requirements to be assigned to its emergency repair timeframe.
18. The landlord attended on 27 March 2023 as part of a routine repair. This time frame was appropriate given the landlord had assigned the repair as routine under its repair obligations. The records from this appointment state a gas operative was required as it was unable to locate the leak. This was appropriate as landlord should rely on specialists to ensure works are completed safely.
19. The landlord’s gas operative attended on 21 April 2023. The records state at this appointment the gas operative said a plumber was required. The resident said its plumber attended on 1 June 2023 but was unable to complete works as the pipes were blocked. The resident said this followed the landlord’s drain specialist attending at the end of May 2023. Over a month later on 25 July 2023 the plumber attended again and found that the waste pipe was still blocked so needed a drain specialist to attend. The resident said the landlord attended a further time on 22 August 2023, but the operative did not have the right tools to complete the repairs.             
20. This Service has relied upon on the dates of repairs supplied by the resident as she raised this as part of her complaint as the landlord had not recorded all of the appointments. The landlord has not disputed that these appointments took place. Therefore, we have found that the appointments more than likely took place. This level of detail was not an appropriate record of key steps in its investigations. The Ombudsman’s spotlight report on knowledge and information management (KIM) dated May 2023 highlighted the importance of accurate and robust records. Further, the report says that without accurate records it hinders the landlord’s ability to keep progress of works and also effectively respond to complaints.
21. The records show it attended a further time on 10 October 2023 which was just over a month after it attended in August 2023. This was not reasonable as it was not in line with its repair obligations to complete the repair within 20 days. The records for this appointment state that it removed the skirting board and the filler panel but was unable to remove the pipe as it was blocked. Therefore, it arranged for its drainage contractors to attend on 20 October 2023. The records do not show when, or if the drainage contractors attended to unblock the pipe. However, in the resident’s correspondence with the landlord dated 15 November 2023 she confirmed it had cleared the drainage.
22. In its stage 2 complaint response the landlord it confirmed that follow on works would be completed once the pipe had been repaired. Its records state that an appointment was booked for 7 December 2023, but it found there was a further blockage in the drainage. Its drainage specialist attended on 27 December 2023. The landlord confirmed in correspondence with this Service that the boiler leak and cupboard was repaired on 29 December 2024. Whilst the landlord was proactive following its stage 2 complaint response, the repairs were completed nearly 9 months after the resident initially raised the matter. This was not reasonable and not in line with its repair obligations to complete routine repairs within 20 days.
23. This Service recognise that the landlord was unable to fix the leak until it had arranged for other contractors to attend. However, the landlord was not proactive in arranging for the gas contractor or the drain specialist to attend. This meant that there were periods of time where no action took place. This was not reasonable as it should have full oversight of the matter, contacting relevant teams on a regular basis to seek a resolution. Additionally, providing regular updates to the resident to provide reassurance that it was taking matters seriously.
24. Overall, the landlord’s handling of the boiler leak and its associated repairs was not reasonable. The repair to the boiler and cupboard took nearly 9 months to complete. This was outside of its repair obligations to complete the repair within 20 days. Due to the lack of regular updates this left the resident in a position of uncertainty. Also, causing the resident additional distress despite her advising the landlord in September 2023 of her personal circumstances. This was not appropriate and was not customer focused. The landlord’s failure to arrange for contractors to attend at its earliest opportunity prolonged the repairs.
25. In its stage 2 complaint response dated 30 November 2023 the landlord appropriately apologised for its delays and lack of communication, accepting it failed to complete work within a reasonable time. It made a further commitment to complete the repairs. It completed the works on 29 December 2023 minimally outside of its repair obligations of 20 days. It offered the resident compensation of £750 which included £300 for the delay in its service delivery, £150 to cover the resident’s effort and £300 to cover the resident’s distress and inconvenience.
26. In the Ombudsman’s opinion, the total amount of compensation proportionately reflects the impact to the resident and is broadly in line with our guidance for findings of maladministration. Therefore, the landlord has offered reasonable redress in relation to its handling of the resident’s reports of a boiler leak and associated repairs and the compensation amount satisfactorily resolves the resident’s complaint.

Determination

27. In accordance with paragraph 53(b) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was reasonable redress in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of a boiler leak and associated repairs.

Orders and Recommendations

Orders

28. Within 4 weeks of the date of this decision, the landlord is ordered to:
    1. Apologise to the resident for its handling of the resident’s reports of the resident’s reports of dumped rubbish in the communal areas of the building and gardens.
    2. Pay the resident £50 compensation in addition to what has already been offered by its contractors. This comprises of:
       1. £50 for any distress, inconvenience, time, and trouble that the resident experienced from its handling of her reports of dumped rubbish in the communal areas and gardens.
    3. Provide the Ombudsman with evidence of compliance with the above orders.

Recommendations

29. It is recommended that the landlord contact the residents in the building to provided education on disposing of rubbish.