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Lambeth Council (202346141)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202346141

Lambeth Council

30 January 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:
    1. Roof repair.
    2. Complaint handling.

Background

  1. The resident is a secure tenant of the landlord. The landlord is a local authority and the property is a 4-bedroom house.

Summary of events

  1. The resident raised her complaint on 20 November 2023, this Service has not been provided with a copy of the complaint. The landlord issued its stage 1 response on 17 January 2024, it apologised for the delay in responding to the resident’s complaint and said this was because it wanted to ensure it had the most up-to- date information to share. It partly upheld the complaint about delays in resolving outstanding roof repairs and said:
    1. It apologised that it did not provide excellent customer service and said this was due to the delays in resolving issues. It understood the resident’s frustration and apologised for any distress caused.
    2. It left a voice message for the resident on 17 February 2023 confirming it would attend and assess the roof the following day.
    3. It accepted its response did not answer the complaint fully. It would update the resident and said it would monitor the situation very closely and see to full completion of work.
  2. The resident remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s response and lack of contact, she escalated her complaint on 15 February 2024. The landlord issued its stage 2 response on 21 March 2024 and said its roof repair works had pending variations and it was unable to complete works until scaffolding was up. It said the scaffolding was erected for solar panels and if its community works team were able to complete the repair on the solar panels this would save additional costs.
  3. The resident responded the same day and told the landlord that the scaffolding was removed on 18 March 2024 and said its response was unhelpful. Following this, the resident asked this Service to look into her complaint about the landlord’s handling of the roof leak/repair and installation of solar panels only. She has since told this Service that the issues remain outstanding.

Assessment and findings

Scope

  1. It is noted that the resident told the landlord that the roof issue contributed to mould within the property. In the interest of fairness, the scope of this investigation is limited to the issues raised during the resident’s formal complaint and the landlord’s stage 2 response from March 2024. This is because the landlord needs to be given a fair opportunity to investigate and respond to further complaints as part of its internal complaints process, prior to the involvement of this Service. As such issues relating mould at the property will not be considered within this report, but the Ombudsman may refer to what the resident told the landlord about mould when considering any impact of its delays, if it is fair and reasonable to do so.

Roof repair

  1. The tenancy agreement says the landlord is responsible for maintaining the structure and outside of the property. The landlord’s repairs and damp policy says it aims to proactively monitor the journey of each repair and if it stalls, it will immediately put a solution in place to ensure it continues its journey before the resident has cause to become dissatisfied or complain. It details its repair priorities and, amongst other things, says a routine repair will be fixed within 28 working days and 90 days for planned repair works.
  2. The resident has expressed dissatisfaction with delays to install solar panels. The evidence available suggests that the landlord determined the resident’s property suitable for the installation of solar panels as part of a retrofit assessment. This Service has not been provided with evidence to show when this was agreed and the timeframe given for the installation of solar panels. However, the Ombudsman would usually expect such improvement work to be completed within a reasonable time. It has not been disputed that between January and March 2024 scaffolding was erected for the installation of solar panels and that in March 2024 the landlord was made aware, by its contractor, that solar panels could not be installed due to the ongoing roof issue. As such, when considering the above points, the Ombudsman will consider delays in installing the solar panels as an impact of the landlord’s handling of the roof repair.
  3. It is unclear when the resident first reported a roof leak. The landlord’s repair log shows it was aware of a leak in to a cupboard, when it rained, in April 2022 and a leaking pipe in the hall from the roof in September 2022, at the latest. While it referred matters to an internal team, the extent of the leaks remains unclear and there is no evidence to show it completed repair work at that time. This was not appropriate.
  4. The resident reported the ongoing issues again on 19 August 2023 and told the landlord that her bedroom was impacted the most and she no longer slept in it due to worry about the ceiling collapsing. She told the landlord of her safety concerns and the impact her living conditions had on her mental health. The landlord has not provided evidence to show it made attempts to alleviate the resident’s concerns or that it attempted to complete work at that time. This was also not appropriate.
  5. On 22 January 2024, the landlord detailed work required to the roof as unblocking outlet and clear and replacing broken slates for the roof. It is understood, that at that time, scaffolding was erected for the installation of solar panels and the landlord sought to gain permission to do the roof work at the same time. While the landlord’s approach of seeking permission to complete the roof repair while scaffolding was erected was reasonable, it has not provided evidence to show it followed up on this. The landlord’s delay in completing work to the roof impacted the installation of solar panels. This was unreasonable.
  6. Within the landlord’s stage 1 response from 17 January 2024, it said it would monitor the situation to full completion of work. However, it did not do this and the resident has since said the issue remains outstanding. This was not appropriate.
  7. Overall, the landlord’s handling of roof repairs was not appropriate. It took around 20 months (from April 2022 until January 2024) to identify the work required to the roof. It failed to proactively monitor a repair it was responsible for and missed opportunities to resolve the issue. It did not keep the resident updated which meant she had to repeatedly contact it about the same issues. It significantly exceeded its repairs timeframe for the roof works and has not demonstrated it has a planned timeframe or approach to complete the outstanding works. Its delay in completing roof work impacted its ability to install solar panels to the property. The combination of failings over a prolonged time would have caused the resident upset and frustration in the landlord’s lack of action. It is noted that in February 2024, the resident told the landlord the roof issue was causing mould build up in the property, adding further to the impact of its failings and it remains unclear what the landlord has done since.
  8. Within the landlord’s stage 2 response the landlord did not acknowledge what it did wrong, attempt to put things right and prevent the same mistake happening again. It missed opportunities to attempt to address the detriment caused to the resident. The landlord repeatedly failed to provide the same service and this would have had an impact on the resident’s enjoyment of her home. Its handling of the roof repairs demonstrates a failure to provide a service, put things right and learn from outcomes. Its response and lack of action would have exacerbated the situation and further undermined the landlord/resident relationship. The landlord’s failings here amount to severe maladministration.
  9. When deciding an appropriate remedy, this Service’s remedy guidance has been considered along with the landlord’s repeated failings and the impact this may have had on the resident’s enjoyment of her home for a prolonged period of time. When considering the landlord’s failings, for around 22 months (up to its stage 2 response), and the impact this would have had on the resident, a compensation amount of £1,000 has been decided as appropriate in these circumstances.
  10. It is important to explain that an award of financial compensation is an attempt to recognise the impact, distress and inconvenience caused to the resident in light of the landlord’s failings. The amount of £1,000 falls within the severe maladministration banding of this Service’s remedies guidance and has been decided as appropriate in the circumstances. In addition to financial compensation, the Ombudsman has made an order relating to outstanding works in attempts to resolve matters.

Complaint handling

  1. The landlord’s corporate complaints policy details it 2 stage complaints process. It says a local resolution (stage 1) response will be provided within 10 working days and a final review (stage 2) response will be provided within 20 working days. It explains how when it is at fault it needs to put things right and prevent the same mistake happening again.
  2. This Service has not been provided with a copy of the resident’s complaint, however, it has not been disputed that this was raised on 20 November 2023. The landlord took around 2 months to issue it stage 1 response, this was not appropriate and exceeded its 10 working day timeframe.
  3. It is accepted that the landlord’s complaint handling would have added to the resident’s frustration with its service. The landlord’s complaint handling amounts to a service failure.
  4. When considering an appropriate remedy, this Service’s remedies guidance has been considered and a compensation amount of £100 has been decided as appropriate to acknowledge the distress and inconvenience caused by the landlord’s complaint handling failings. This amount falls within the maladministration banding of this Service’s remedies guidance and has been considered appropriate in the circumstances.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was severe maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the roof repair.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was service failure in the landlord’s complaint handling.

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of the date of this report, the landlord is ordered to:
    1. Arrange for a director to apologise to the resident for the failings identified within this report. This should be in writing.
    2. Pay the resident a total of £1,100 compensation. This is made up of:
      1. £1,000 for the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of the roof repair.
      2. £100 for the distress and inconvenience caused by its complaint handling failings.
    3. Arrange an inspection of the property, in particular the roof. An appropriately qualified specialist should conduct this inspection. It should confirm in writing:
      1. The work required at the property, a schedule of work and timeframe for completion.
      2. Details of its decided approach for the installation of solar panels.

 Recommendation

  1. The Ombudsman recommends the landlord contact the resident, this can be prior to its inspection, to discuss any further issues with the property.