Hyde Housing Association Limited (202428132)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202428132

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

The resident’s complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
1. Heating repairs.
2. Flooring repairs.
3. The associated complaint.

Background

The resident has an assured shorthold tenancy with the landlord, which began on 2 December 2021. The landlord is a housing association. The resident lives in a 1-bedroom 4th floor flat. At the time of the complaint, the resident had a 4-month-old baby and, later, a second child, which the landlord was aware of.
The resident initially reported glue seeping through flooring thresholds on 26 September 2023, and that the underfloor heating was not working on 2 November 2023. The resident complained about these issues to the landlord on 12 January 2024. The resident said:
1. Her 4-month-old son was getting ill from the property being freezing because there was no heating in 2 rooms due a thermostat on order and having temporary heaters.
2. Glue had been seeping through the flooring for about 2 years.
The landlord acknowledged the complaint on 15 January 2024 and issued a stage 1 complaint response on 19 January 2024. In summary, the landlord:
1. Apologised for the distress and inconvenience caused.
2. Said it should have completed the repair much sooner and upheld the complaint.
3. Offered £100 compensation for delays in completing the repairs, £100 for the distress and inconvenience caused and £50 for the resident’s effort. It said it would credit this to the rent account.
4. Confirmed it had booked an appointment for 25 January 2024 to stop the glue seeping through the flooring.
5. Confirmed it would repair the heating once it had received a thermostat.
6. Provided a dedicated point of contact for the flooring repair and one for the heating repair.
The resident was dissatisfied with the landlord’s response and contacted it to discuss this before asking to escalate the complaint to stage 2 on 10 April 2024. In summary, the resident:
1. Said she had been using temporary heaters due to no heating in the property.
2. Asked why the landlord would credit compensation to the rent account when she had to keep paying to top up the electricity meter.
3. Expressed concern about the effect of the seeping glue on her family’s health.
The landlord acknowledged the escalation request on 4 July 2024 and issued a stage 2 response on 19 July 2024. In summary, the landlord:
1. Upheld the complaint due to the length of time taken and its lack of communication.
2. Offered £150 compensation for complaint handling failures, £100 for customer effort, £200 for the delays completing the repairs, and £150 for distress and inconvenience caused. It also offered £100 reimbursement towards heating costs.
3. Acknowledged that the resident had accepted its previous offer of £250 compensation – which it included in its new compensation offer – but not received this.
4. Acknowledged the resident’s concern about the possibility of the glue being toxic with having a young child.
5. Acknowledged that the resident had contacted it multiple times to discuss the complaint and escalate to stage 2 but experienced a ‘huge delay’ in it responding and escalating the complaint.
6. Confirmed it would visit on 25 July 2024 to remove the glue that was melting due to the underfloor heating and replace this with an alternative adhesive.
7. Apologised for the delays and inconvenience caused.
8. Confirmed the resident could contact the Ombudsman if she remained unhappy.
The resident referred her complaint to the Ombudsman on 22 October 2024. The complaint became one that we could consider on 21 February 2025.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

In her complaint, the resident referenced the condition of the flooring going back 2 years prior. The Ombudsman encourages residents to raise complaints with their landlords in a timely manner. As the issues become historical, it is increasingly difficult for either the landlord, or an independent body to conduct an effective investigation of the actions taken to address the reported issues. Therefore, considering the availability and reliability of evidence, this assessment will focus on the landlord’s handling of the events between 26 September 2023, which led to the resident’s complaint, and 24 September 2024, which was shortly after the landlord issued its stage 2 response.
The resident has raised concerns about the impact of the reported issues on her family’s health. The Ombudsman cannot conclude the causation of, or liability for, impacts on health and wellbeing. This is outside our jurisdiction, but consideration has been given to the general distress and inconvenience that may have been caused to the resident. However, the resident should continue to keep the landlord informed of issues that she feels are affecting the safety of the household.
As part of her referral to the Ombudsman, the resident asked for help to move house. Paragraph 42(o) of the Scheme says the Ombudsman may not consider matters where the complainant is seeking an outcome that is not within the Ombudsman’s authority to provide.

Policies and procedures

The landlord’s repairs policy says the purpose of emergency and out of hours repairs is to make the property safe, with any further work raised for repair within 20 working days.
The tenancy says the resident must allow access for repairs.
The landlord’s compensation policy says it will credit compensation against any arrears in the first instance.

Landlord’s handling of heating repairs

The resident reported out of hours on 2 November 2023 that the underfloor heating was not working. The landlord visited the same day, but it was unable to repair the heating and provided temporary fan heaters. We consider the provision of fan heaters reasonable action to have taken to ensure the resident did not go without heating until it could complete the repair.
The landlord returned to fix the heating on 16 November 2023. This was 14 days after the resident reported the issue. The landlord identified that the heating meter was faulty and amended the system to allow the heating to work but noted that the resident had accidentally broken the thermostat in the living room. Therefore, it temporarily set the thermostat in the bedroom to control the heating in the whole flat until it managed to replace the broken thermostat. This was reasonable in the circumstances.
On 19 January 2024, the landlord confirmed it would book an appointment to repair the heating once it had received a new thermostat. It then experienced a delay in obtaining this from the supplier. It was not until 12 February 2024 that the landlord replaced the thermostat to complete the repair. The length of time taken to obtain a replacement thermostat resulted in approximately 3 months’ delay in completing the repair, from mid-November 2023 to mid-February 2024. This is a failing and meant the resident was unable to separately control the temperatures of each room in the property for a prolonged period, which likely inconvenienced and frustrated the resident. The landlord’s failing represents maladministration, for which it is required to pay £200 compensation.
The resident complained about increased heating costs due to having fan heaters and being unable to sufficiently control the temperature of the heating in the property while awaiting a new thermostat. The landlord asked the resident to provide accurate bills from her energy supply to evidence increased heating costs. It later offered £100 towards such costs. We do not doubt that the resident incurred additional energy charges, however, we consider the landlord’s reimbursement offer reasonable due to there being no record of it receiving evidence of increased heating costs from the resident.

Landlord’s handling of flooring repairs

On 26 September 2023, the resident reported glue seeping through flooring thresholds. The landlord visited on 2 October 2023 and decided it needed a floor specialist. Its records show it did not take any further action or contact the resident again until 26 October 2023, when it arranged for a specialist to visit on 2 November 2023. This is a failing, which likely frustrated the resident.
The specialist reported that the aluminium thresholds needed taking up, cleaning and reinstating with a resin that would not melt when the underfloor heating was on. following the visit on 2 October 2023.
The landlord took no further action until after the resident complained on 12 January 2024. This is a failing. The lack of any update or action to repair the flooring likely prompted the resident to complain and caused inconvenience due to having to chase this up.
The landlord booked an appointment to carry out the repairs on 25 January 2024. The delay of almost 3 months in completing the repair is a failing. This likely frustrated the resident and caused distress.
On 22 May 2024, the resident reported again that the flooring was damaged. The landlord visited on 4 June 2024 and said it needed to consider the matter further. It then attended on 12 June 2024 to clean the excess glue on the thresholds and refit a door stopper. This was appropriate action to take in the circumstances.
On 7 July 2024, the landlord noted that the underfloor heating was melting the glue used to secure the thresholds. It could not nail or screw the thresholds in place due to the underfloor heating, so it arranged to remove and replace the glue with an alternative adhesive on 25 July 2024. However, when it visited, it recommended that all flooring be replaced. This was a reasonable consideration in the circumstances.
The resident received no further contact from the landlord and chased an update on 9 and 13 August 2024. The lack of contact is a failing that likely caused the resident further inconvenience and frustration, particularly as the issue had been ongoing for almost a year by this point. The resident told the landlord that glue continued to seep through the flooring and yellow patches were appearing. In response, the landlord visited on 27 August 2024 and 24 September 2024, but the resident was not home so it could not gain access. However, there is no evidence to suggest that the landlord followed up the failed visits with the resident, which is a failing.
Despite raising issues with the flooring in September 2023, the landlord has failed to find a resolution. The resident has experienced significant delays in the landlord taking any action, totalling approximately 4 months, and had to chase it several times to prompt action. Furthermore, the resident reports that issues with the flooring are still ongoing and an order has been made in respect of this. The delays, failure to follow up the failed visits and lack of a clear plan to resolve the issue represent maladministration, for which the landlord should provide £300 compensation.

Complaint handling

The resident logged a formal complaint with the landlord on 12 January 2024.
In accordance with its complaints policy, the landlord should have acknowledged the complaint within 5 working days and issued a stage 1 response within a further 10 working days.
The landlord acknowledged the complaint on 15 January 2024 and issued a stage 1 response on 19 January 2024, which was in line with its process. However, it has not provided a copy of the resident’s stage 1 complaint, which likely indicates an issue with its record keeping.
In accordance with its complaints policy, once accepted for escalation, the landlord should have issued a stage 2 response within 20 working days.
The resident asked to escalate her complaint to stage 2 on 10 April 2024. The landlord issued a stage 2 acknowledgement on 4 July 2024 and a stage 2 response on 19 July 2024.
The resident experienced a significant delay in the landlord responding to her contacts following its stage 1 complaint response. She chased a response 14 times by phone and email, and specifically asked to escalate her complaint on 3 occasions before the landlord did this. Its lack of response to the resident’s contacts are failings. The landlord’s delay in escalating the complaint and issuing a stage 2 response despite repeat requests are further failings that no doubt inconvenienced the resident and likely caused frustration. Its failures also delayed the resident from bringing her complaint to the Ombudsman for investigation.
Although the landlord’s stage 2 response awarded £200 for delays in completing repairs, it did not stipulate which repairs. This lack of clarity has caused further confusion. The complaints process also did not resolve the flooring issue, which remains ongoing. This is another failing.
The landlord’s failings represent maladministration. In its stage 2 response, the landlord offered £150 for its complaint handling failures. We consider £250 more appropriate to recognise the adverse impact caused by the landlord’s failures.
Our 2024 special investigation into the landlord recommended improvements to its complaint handling. Therefore, it has not been necessary to make a further order on this matter.

Determination

In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was maladministration regarding the landlord’s handling of heating repairs.
In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was maladministration regarding the landlord’s handling of flooring repairs.
In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was maladministration regarding the landlord’s complaint handling.

Orders

Within 4 weeks of the date of this determination, the landlord must:
1. Contact the resident to ascertain whether the flooring issues are ongoing and, if so, provide a timebound action plan detailing the issues and the measures it intends to take to resolve them.
2. Provide a written apology for the failings identified.
3. Pay compensation totalling £1,000, comprised as follows:
  1. £200 for failings regarding its handling of heating repairs
  2. £300 for failings regarding its handling of flooring repairs
  3. £250 for its complaint handling failures
  4. £100 for the resident’s effort
  5. £150 for distress and inconvenience caused
4. Reimburse £100 for energy costs.
The landlord must make these payments directly to the resident, less any amount/s already paid.
The landlord is to confirm compliance with these orders within the timeframe set out above