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Kirklees Council (202229077)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202229077

Kirklees Council

30 May 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

  1. The complaint is about:
    1. The condition of the property when it was let to the resident. 
    2. The landlord’s handling of subsequent various repairs at the property.
  2. The Ombudsman has also considered the complaint handling in this case.

Background

  1. The resident lives in a 2-bedroom house on an introductory tenancy with the landlord that began in April 2021 and became a secure tenancy from April 2022. 
  2. The landlord has recorded vulnerabilities for the resident of hyper mobility syndrome, anxiety and depression. The resident’s daughter has hyper mobility syndrome, autism and ADHD.
  3. The landlord’s records showed it arranged around 72 repairs at the property over a 2-year period from the start of the tenancy in 2021 up until June 2023. These include but are not exclusive of drains, leak and associated damage, damp and mould and roof works. These are the repairs identified at various points of the resident’s complaint.
  4. The resident complained to the landlord on 17 November 2022 about the garden flooding when it rained. The landlord responded on 18 November 2022 at stage 1 of its complaints process. The landlord recognised there had been previous repairs and it arranged an assessment and work on the area on 23 November 2022.
  5. The resident complained to the landlord via this Service on 8 December 2022 as she said water came into her home from the garden when it rained and also because of a leak that had not been fixed. The landlord acknowledged the residents complaint on 12 December 2022 and it inspected the property on 19 December 2022 when it identified various works to conduct associated with the leak that consisted of, plaster repairs and the treatment of damp and mould.
  6. The landlord responded at stage 1 of its complaints process on 20 December 2022 about the leak and associated repairs. However, it did not respond to the resident’s concerns about the drains. The landlord said it had investigated and found 2 leaks; one on a shower waste, and a further leak on the boiler condense pipe. The landlord conducted a temporary repair on the damaged bathroom ceiling and it identified plaster repairs. The landlord acknowledged it had provided the resident with conflicting information about source of the leak from various departments within the organisation and it apologised for this.
  7. The resident expressed her dissatisfaction to the landlord on 10 January 2023 as repairs to the ceiling were incomplete. The resident raised her concerns about the number of defects identified since she moved into her home and expressed her dissatisfaction about delays to roof felt works, a separate shower repair that was not associated with the bathroom leak and a drainage issue. The resident told the landlord she wanted to move property as a resolution to her complaint and she wanted the landlord to pay her compensation for the inconvenience of the amount of repairs identified during her time at the property.
  8. The landlord responded to the resident at stage 2 of its complaints process on 21 February 2023. It told her the property met its ‘lettable standard’ before it was let to her. The landlord acknowledged the number of repairs were high. It explained its actions in relation to the leak and associated work and agreed there had been miscommunication in relation to the work. The landlord conducted work on the bathroom ceiling in January 2023 before it subsequently agreed to renew the bathroom ceiling in March 2023.
  9. The landlord acknowledged its delays to complete repairs to the roof were unacceptable and it apologised for this. It explained the shower had been replaced and the drainage issue had been dealt with as a previous complaint and an urgent repair was agreed. It confirmed a gully drain was installed at the property on 23 January 2023 and it apologised for the delay in completion of the work. The landlord directed the resident to its allocations process in relation to her request to move home. It previously offered the resident compensation of £250 before it increased its offer of compensation to £600.

Summary of events after landlord’s complaints process

  1. Between March 2023 and April 2023, the resident made numerous chase up calls to the landlord about outstanding work required to the bathroom. On 24 March 2023, the resident reported to the landlord that plaster repairs to the bathroom had been completed, however, she was concerned because the bathroom had been left in a poor condition with damaged tiles and electrical wires that were left loose. This resulted in the landlord registering a separate complaint and subsequently identifying additional work to a bathroom window, electrical work, renewal of shower doors, the refix of a radiator, repairs to the front and rear door, a handrail and the creation of a ‘soakaway’ to the rear of the property.
  2. The resident and landlord communications continued in May 2023 and the resident reported a further issue with a shower screen that was fitted and was the wrong size.
  3. On 8 June 2023, the landlord made the resident a revised offer of compensation of £1000 to reflect the cumulative failures within its repairs service in relation to a previous stage 1 complaint in November 2022 about drainage, the current complaint of February 2023 that addressed the resident’s concerns about the condition of the property, the drain and roof issues as part of the landlord’s stage 2 complaint, and the more recent complaint it had registered in March 2023. The landlord confirmed to this Service the level of compensation was to reflect the prolonged impact and severe stress on the resident, and the disruption and inconvenience caused to the resident.
  4. In July 2023 and August 2023, the landlord contacted the resident to arrange a damp and mould survey of the property. The landlord’s records showed this was delayed because the resident wanted to wait until the end of the school holidays. It is unclear from the landlord records whether this survey has been conducted.
  5. The resident and landlord have provided updates to this Service. The landlord has offered the resident another property. The resident is keen to move home, however, is awaiting the completion of works on the new property before moving..

Assessment and findings

Lettable standard

  1. The resident expressed her concerns to the landlord on 10 January 2023 about the number of repairs since she moved to the property in 2021. This was after she received the landlord’s stage 1 complaint response. The landlord responded to the resident at stage 2 of its complaints process on 21 February 2023 and said the property met its ‘lettable standard’. The landlord acknowledged the high number of repairs at the property; however, it said it could not have been foreseen.
  2. Section 4 of the landlord’s maintenance policy sets out how it deals with empty properties. It has a void standard and lettable standard that it is committed to meet prior to letting a property. The landlord’s lettable standard aims to check that all repairs stated on its void schedule are complete, all timber has been checked for signs of woodworm, the property is clean, and it meets the ‘lettable standard’.
  3. The landlord has provided this Service with a copy of its void schedule of work on the property prior to the resident accepting the tenancy. This showed work throughout the property that included a substantial amount of joinery, a kitchen replacement, electrical work, plumbing, plastering, redecoration, glazing and a gas test.
  4. The landlord’s lettable standard certificate dated 26 March 2021 showed all repairs as stated on the void schedule were complete, the property met the ‘lettable standard’. Information was provided to the resident on what the landlord’s ‘lettable standard’ consisted of and that the property was ready to let.
  5. On 31 March 2021, the landlord conducted an accompanied viewing of the property with the resident. It has provided the record of its visit that showed there were no concerns of outstanding repairs at that point.
  6. Based on the evidence provided, the landlord acted appropriately in identifying and conducting the necessary work prior to the property being let and complied with its maintenance policy, ‘void’ and ‘lettable standard’. It conducted an inspection of the property with the resident that fairly afforded the opportunity for issues to be raised before the tenancy began.

Leak and associated repairs

  1. On 24 November 2022, the resident reported a leak in the bathroom that could not be contained and the ceiling had “bowed”. The landlord arranged an emergency repair and attended the following day. The landlord’s repair and maintenance policy states it will provide an emergency response (up to 2 working days) where repairs put the health, safety and security of occupants at risk but where there is no immediate danger. The landlord therefore responded appropriately and attended to the leak within its emergency repair target. However, it could not contain the leak and it requested another trades person attend to trace and locate the leak.
  2. The resident contacted the landlord on 29 November 2022 to chase up the leak and report the ceiling had “fallen down”. She then chased the repair up with the landlord a number of times until early December 2022. The resident told the landlord’s housing officer she had found out a repair for the leak had been booked for 7 December 2022, and that she felt this was too long to wait.
  3. The landlord agreed to expedite the job on 5 December 2022 and on the same day contacted the resident. It recorded the resident “was in a terrible state” as despite a visit by a joiner and plumber , the repair had not been completed. The landlord’s notes said, “the resident could not turn the boiler on as it leaked”. It noted there was damp from the leak that was getting worse, the resident was concerned about her health and she had booked an appointment with Citizens Advice Bureau. The landlord’s housing officer agreed with the resident that they would speak to “someone in authority” and get back to her.
  4. On 7 December 2022, the landlord’s housing officer recorded it had spoken to the resident and referred her dissatisfaction with its handling of the leak onto its customer experience team. The housing officer recorded the resident wanted to complain not only about the leak but about the handling of repairs since her tenancy began. It noted the resident had telephoned the landlord on a daily basis to ask for help. The housing officer said she had tried to help the resident by referring the matter to the relevant landlord repairs team. The resident stated she had also spoken to the landlord’s repairs team and described how it had “shown no empathy” to her situation.
  5. The landlord’s maintenance policy (section 3.13) states “If the operative is unable to complete a repair at the first appointment (due to materials or specialist being required), the operative will liaise with their planner to arrange a further appointment whilst in the customer’s home; this may result in a further repair being appointed and the original repair being logged as complete.” There is no evidence to suggest a follow up appointment was made at the time of the first appointment.
  6. The resident became increasingly distressed by having to make numerous chase ups to the landlord to resolve the situation . Internal landlord emails show that despite attempts by its housing officer to progress matters with the repairs department, there was no moved towards repairs being organised for the remainder of 7 December 2022 which added to delays and distress for the resident. The landlord’s failure to arrange a repair during its first visit to the resident and its failure to resolve the matter following the landlord’s housing officer intervention resulted in unreasonable delays.
  7. On 8 December 2022, the resident contacted this Service for advice because the leak had still not been fixed. A complaint was forwarded whichthe landlord acknowledged on 12 December 2022. The landlord arranged an inspection of the property on 19 December 2022 and recommended the following work:
    1. Mould and stain block treatment;
    2. Replaster bathroom ceiling;
    3. Inspection of the landing ceiling;
    4. Patch plaster rear door reveals;
    5. Replace a damaged ceiling in the storeroom below the bathroom.
  8. A further damp and mould inspection was conducted by the landlord on 23 December 2022. This inspection recorded the damaged ceiling to be dry. However, it agreed to apply a mould treatment to the area. The landlord evidence suggests the follow on work was not arranged until 2 months later in February 2023. The landlord’s maintenance policy states it will complete responsive repairs within 25 days and therefore it was inappropriate that the landlord did not comply with its policies and delayed in arranging the work.
  9. The landlord sent its stage 1 complaint response to the resident on 20 December 2022 as follows:
    1. The leak was intermittent and although it could not identify the source of the leak straight away, it found it to be as a result of 2 separate leaks; one from the shower waste and a further leak was discovered from the boiler condense pipe.
    2. It had conducted a temporary repair of the damaged bathroom ceiling and it had also arranged work to plaster a cupboard. There was mould in a cupboard which the landlord said would be resolved once the plaster work had been completed
    3. The landlord had provided conflicting information to the resident about the source of the leak and it apologised to the resident.
  10. The landlord replaced the shower waste and later repaired a leak on the condense pipe from the boiler. However, the work was not marked as complete until 3 January 2023; over 1 month after the resident’s initial report of a leak. This length of time to resolve the situation does not comply with the landlord’s emergency 2-day target, and therefore the delay to fully contain a leak and complete the necessary work for over 1 month was unreasonable and amounts to maladministration. 
  11. The resident expressed her dissatisfaction to the landlord 10 January 2023 stating repairs were still incomplete and she had been left with a hole in the bathroom ceiling. The resident was also concerned about both her and her children’s health due to “the damp conditions” of the property. The resident did not feel the landlord’s apology was enough and she asked the landlord for a move to another property and for it to pay her compensation. The resident said she felt “ashamed” of the property and she had to constantly chase the landlord for action.
  12. On 1 February 2023, the landlord acknowledged the resident’s complaint and on 21 February 2023 it provided its stage 2 response to the resident as follows:
    1. A leak was first reported on 24 November 2022; plumbers attended but did not correctly identify the cause of the leak which delayed the repair.
    2. Its surveyor had inspected the damp and mould on 23 December 2022. The damaged ceiling was assessed and it was confirmed it was dry. An order would be raised to apply a mould treatment to the area. The landlord had a backlog of damp and mould repairs to undertake, but it would allocate the work and schedule appointments that week.
    3. It confirmed the work to plaster repairs to a ceiling were to a satisfactory standard and were completed on 12 January 2023. However, it made a decision to renew the ceiling in March 2023. The landlord did acknowledge there had been a miscommunication issue in relation to the source of the leak.
    4. The resident had emailed the landlord on 10 January 2023 about her dissatisfaction but it did not receive the email due to an email address error. It confirmed it did not receive the email until 31 January 2023.
    5. In conclusion, it had found the resident’s complaint to be justified and it apologised for the disruption, upset and stress the repairs had caused.. It had previously offered the resident £250 compensation but now increased its offer to £600. However, this was to reflect not only the leak and associated work, but other repair handling failures.
  13. The resident continued to chase up outstanding repairs after the landlord’s final complaint response throughout March 2023. The resident complained to the landlord about damage and the poor condition of the bathroom after plaster work had been conducted. The landlord had also fitted a plastic sheet to the bathroom ceiling after it conducted asbestos work and while it was awaiting to complete renewal of the bathroom ceiling. The resident raised concerns to the landlord because her child who is autistic was scared to use the bathroom with the sheet present. The landlord registered another stage 1 complaint regarding; a missed appointment, work not being completed to a good standard, damage caused and alack of coordination and communication of work. The landlord inspected the property and identified numerous repairs and later in June 2023 after some repairs were incomplete, it increased its compensation offer from £600 to £1000.  
  14. In conclusion, the landlord did not comply with its maintenance policy timeframes for conducting the work. While it should be noted, the leaks may have been intermittent and the landlord was investigating the source of the leak, it delayed inappropriately in resolving leaks in the bathroom for over 1 month and this was unreasonable. Its lack of communication to the resident meant that she was not informed of the landlord’s plan and felt compelled to chase the landlord on many occasions in an attempt to resolve the situation. The resident was clearly distressed by the landlord’s lack of proactive management of the leak. Its lack of communication to the resident meant that she was not informed of the landlord’s plan and felt compelled to chase the landlord on many occasions in an attempt to resolve the situation. The resident was clearly distressed by the landlord’s lack of proactive management of the leak.  The required follow-on work to the bathroom ceiling was delayed until January 2023 (2 months after the leak) and the damp and mould treatment were not ordered until February 2023; 3 months later. It was therefore inappropriate that the landlord did not comply with the timescales set out in its repair policies and the delay in conducting the necessary work was unreasonable.
  15. The landlord did recognise its failings, acknowledged its delays and miscommunication to the resident and offered her £600 compensation as part of its stage 2 complaint resolution. This offer of compensation was not only for the delays identified in repairs to the leak and the associated work, but also other repair handling failures which the landlord acknowledged.
  16. Four months after the landlord’s final complaints process and because further issues developed, the landlord increased its compensation final offer to £1000. It is unclear what proportion of compensation the landlord attributed to its delay in resolving the leak and conducting the associated repairs, however, it is appropriate for the landlord to pay the resident £500 compensation specifically in recognition of this element of failure to reflect the impact the situation had caused a vulnerable resident and her family. This amount of compensation aligns with the Ombudsman’s Dispute Resolution Principles.

Roof repairs

  1. The resident reported concerns to the landlord about missing roof felt. While it  is unclear of the date of the initial report, the resident chased the work up on 28 June 2021 and the landlord arranged a necessary works order. The work  showed as being complete on the landlord’s record 2 months later on 2 August 2021. The landlord then arranged another repair to the roof felt on 10 December 2021. That repair did not show as complete until 10 June 2022. The landlord has not provided the details of the work it completed as part of each of its repair orders.
  2. The resident raised her dissatisfaction to the landlord about the roof felt work in mid-January 2023 after the landlord had provided its stage 1 complaint response about the leak and associated work. Within the landlord’s stage 2 complaint response to the resident in February 2023, it advised the resident the roof work was completed mid-January 2022. However, this information conflicts with the landlord’s repair records, and therefore it is unclear when the full roof works were completed. The landlord, however, did acknowledge it had delayed in completing roof work and it apologised to the resident for this delay.
  3. The landlord’s repair and maintenance policy states it aims to conduct responsive repairs within 25 working days. Section 5 of this policy states the landlord may, in some cases, defer certain types of commonly occurring repairs as part of a longer-term improvement programme. It commits to advise residents of its planned improvement programmes in advance.
  4. Due to the nature of the work involved in re-felting part of the roof, it is unclear if the landlord chose to conduct the repair through its capital improvement programme and batched work of this nature within a programme of works. If so, the planned improvement work would naturally take longer to complete. However, there is no indication the landlord had chosen this route or that it had informed the resident of an estimated timescale for work of this nature. In either case, while the landlord delayed in conducting the work and did not keep the resident updated, it did recognise its failures and apologised to the resident.
  5. The landlord offered the resident a total of £600 compensation through its complaints process which it then increased  to £1000 after the landlord’s internal complaint process had ended. However, it is unclear if any of the landlord’s compensation offer was attributed to the roof work delays. It is therefore appropriate for the landlord to pay the resident £150 compensation to reflect its delay in completing the roof work, initially of 2 months in regard to the first repair (June 2021 to August 2021) and 6 months delay with the second repair (December 2021 to June 2022). In total this resulted in a delay of 8-months. This amount of compensation is reflective of the inconvenience caused to the resident experienced through her need to conduct many chase ups to the landlord to progress the complaint and understand the landlord’s planned course of action.

Shower

  1. The landlord arranged a repair to the shower on 28 April 2021 and this showed as complete on 29 April 2021. This was a prompt response by the landlord that demonstrated complied with its maintenance policy of conducting a repair within its emergency 2 working day timeframe.
  2. The next repair to the shower was on 17 September 2022, when the landlord arranged another repair when an operative attended on an emergency out of hours call out. A new shower was required and this was fitted on 21 September 2022. The landlord therefore acted appropriately in accordance with its policy timeframe and service levels and fulfilled its repair and maintenance obligations.

Drain

  1. The resident raised a complaint with the landlord about the garden drainage on 17 November 2022 and the landlord responded at stage 1 of its complaints process on 18 November 2022. It concluded there had been previous repairs on 13 April 2022 and 28 June 2022 and these were recorded as complete. The landlord then raised another works order and an appointment was arranged for 23 November 2022 for an urgent repair to assess the area and conduct the necessary works. A landlord officer telephoned the resident (date unknown) to update her on the status of the appointment, however, it is unclear from the landlord’s records what work was completed on the appointment date.
  2. The landlord’s records showed on 13 December 2022, it arranged for a gully drain to be installed at the side of the door to help with water ingress to her home from the garden. The work showed as complete on 17 January 2023.
  3. The resident expressed her dissatisfaction to the landlord 10 January 2023 because the garden flooded when it rained. On 21 February 2023, the landlord responded to the resident at stage 2 of its complaints process when it apologised for the delay in completing work. It offered the resident a total of £600 and then increased its offer to £1000 after the  complaints process had ended. This amount of compensation was in recognition of its failures not only with the drainage work but other repair handling failures.
  4. In conclusion, the landlord conducted various drainage work at the property as early as April 2022. The resident continued to report an issue with her property flooding when it rained and an urgent assessment was conducted in November 2022. However, the landlord delayed in conducting work to create a gully drain until mid-January 2023. The landlord’s maintenance policy states it will conduct routine repairs within 25 working days. Given the resident was vulnerable and she had raised concerns on a number of occasions about her property flooding when it rained, it was unreasonable that the landlord delayed did not complete the work for a further 2 months. While the landlord offered the resident £600 as part of the stage 2 complaint process and increased this to £1000 after the internal complaint process, it is unclear what proportion of compensation has been apportioned to the drainage issue. In recognition of the significant impact on the resident and her home, it is appropriate for the landlord to offer the resident £300 compensation to put things right for the resident.

Complaint handling

  1. The resident’s initial complaint on 17 November 2022 was about the garden that flooded when it rained. The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response on 18 November 2022. The Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code states a landlord should respond to a stage 1 complaint within 10 working days and therefore the landlord provided a prompt response to the resident.
  2. The resident raised a complaint on 8 December 2022 via this Service about  the garden flood issue and a leak that the landlord had not resolved. The landlord acknowledged the resident’s complaint on 12 December 2022 and provided its stage 1 complaint response to the resident on 20 December 2021. While the landlord responded to the resident about the leak, it did not acknowledge the garden flood. The landlord should have progressed this issue to stage 2 in accordance with the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code. Section 5.9 of this Code states “If all or part of the complaint is not resolved to the resident’s satisfaction at stage 1, it must be progressed to stage 2 unless exclusion grounds apply. There are no known reasons for exclusion of progression of the complaint and therefore the landlord’s actions in not responding to all of the complaint issues were inappropriate.
  3. The resident expressed her dissatisfaction to the landlord on 10 January 2023 about not only the leak and garden flood but a shower repair and other issues in relation to the number of defects with the property since she moved in. The landlord sent the resident its stage 2 complaint on 21 February 2023; 23 working days later and slightly outside of the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code target of responding within 20 working days.
  4. The landlord increased its level of compensation throughout the complaint process from £250 to £600 then to £1000 after the landlord’s internal process had ended in June 2023. This was to reflect not only this complaint but a complaint after the landlord’s complaint’s process had ended. It is acknowledged, the complaint was complex given different aspects of the complaint were introduced by the resident at various points in the timeline. However, given there were complaint handling failures and the landlord’s complaint handling did not progress the resident’s concerns about the garden flood on time, it is appropriate for the landlord to offer the resident £100 compensation to reflect its failures and put things right for the resident. This amount of compensation is aligned to the Ombudsman’s Dispute Resolution Principles.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with Paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint about the condition of the property when it was let to the resident. 
  2. In accordance with Paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of subsequent various repairs at the property.
  3. In accordance with Paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s complaint handling.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of this report, the landlord to pay compensation to the resident of £1050 as follows:
    1. £500 for failures in the handling of reports of a leak and the associated repairs;
    2. £150 for failures in the handling of roof repairs;
    3. £300 for failure in the handling of reports caused by flooding in the garden and delays to install adequate drainage;
    4. £100 for the failures in the landlord’s complaint handling.
  2. Within 4 weeks of this report, the landlord to provide the resident and this Service with its action plan including timescales for completing any outstanding associated work at the property.
  3. Within 8 weeks of this report, the landlord is to review the handling of the repairs and provide this Service with its action plan for improvement.

Recommendations

  1. Within 4 weeks of this report, the landlord to provide the resident and this Service with an update on when the resident’s new home will be ready for her to move into. 
  2. The landlord should reply to this Service with evidence of compliance with the orders within the timescales set out above.