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London Borough of Hounslow (202230191)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202230191

London Borough of Hounslow

29 July 2024


Our approach

What we can and cannot consider is called the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction and is governed by the Housing Ombudsman Scheme. The Ombudsman must determine whether a complaint comes within their jurisdiction. The Ombudsman seeks to resolve disputes wherever possible but cannot investigate complaints that fall outside of this. 

In deciding whether a complaint falls within their jurisdiction, the Ombudsman will carefully consider all the evidence provided by the parties and the circumstances of the case.

The complaint

  1. This complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of a leak into, and the subsequent damage to, his property.

Determination (jurisdictional decision)

  1. When a complaint is brought to the Ombudsman, we must consider all the circumstances of the case as there are sometimes reasons why a complaint will not be investigated.

 

  1. After carefully considering all the evidence, I have determined that the complaint, as set out above, is not within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

Summary of events

  1. The resident is a secure tenant of the landlord, which is a council. The property is a 1-bedroom flat and the tenancy commenced on 1 October 2012. The resident has mental health conditions, which the landlord is aware of.

 

  1. In August 2022, the resident reported a leak into his property, which he said started following the installation of fibre optic cables which caused damage to the external brickwork.

 

  1. On 25 January 2023, the resident logged a formal complaint with the landlord about the delays in its response to his reports of the leak. The resident said:

 

  1. The landlord ‘‘eventually’’ sent an inspector who told him that it would be repaired within 2 weeks. The resident said that at that time the damage to his wall ‘‘was almost non–existent and consisted of 3 tiny little damp spots’’.

 

  1. That he let 3 or 4 weeks pass and as no one had contacted him he called the landlord, only to be told the leak had been fixed. The resident asked how the landlord would know this given there was a drought, and was told that its team had attended, found the problem and fixed the issue.

 

 

  1. When the drought ended things escalated immediately and the leak was ‘‘literally running down the inside’’ of the wall and paint was being ‘‘stripped right off the wall’’.

 

  1. That he had been made ill by the damp and forced out of his bedroom and bed.

 

  1. The complaint progressed through the landlord’s formal complaints process and the landlord issued its final response on 17 April 2023. The landlord upheld the resident’s complaint stating that there had been a considerable delay in processing the repairs to the defective brickwork and external areas, causing water to penetrate the resident’s home. There was also a lack of communication regarding the completion of works and with regards to the expected timescales for the remedial works to the internal and external areas of his home to take place. The landlord apologised for this and offered the resident £150 compensation.

 

  1. The landlord also explained that:

 

  1. On 2 March 2023, an operative attended to carry out the remedial works to the guttering. The operative reported that the guttering repair had been completed.

 

  1. Unfortunately, the resident had been told that the internal remedial works were due to start on 15 March 2023, however this was incorrect as this was for an internal inspection to be carried out by its surveyor.

 

  1. Following the inspection on 15 March 2023, its surveyor raised an order for remedial works to repoint the defective brickwork and fill in the external holes around the front and right-hand side of the windows of his home. The landlord said that it understood that these works had been completed, on 24 March 2023.

 

  1. Its surveyor had also raised an order for the internal plastering and decorative works to the affected areas of the bedroom, which had been booked for 9 May 2023. The landlord said that it would ensure these works commence on the agreed date.

Reasons

  1. Paragraph 42(e) of the Scheme states that the Ombudsman may not consider complaints which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion concerns matters where a complainant has or had the opportunity to raise the subject matter of the complaint as part of legal proceedings.

 

  1. The Ombudsman’s view is that a matter does not become ‘legal’ until proceedings have been ‘issued.’ The issuing of proceedings involves filing details of the claim, such as the Claim Form and Particulars of Claim, at court. The court will then serve this on the respondent for them to answer to.

 

  1. On 21 June 2023, the resident’s legal representative submitted a Letter of Claim for Housing Conditions to the landlord. The claim was in relation to defective plaster, defective guttering, mould and leaking in the bedroom. The letter referred to notable degradations since August 2022 and that this deterioration stemmed from a leak caused by a broken gutter around 18 months previously. Although the guttering was repaired, the letter of claim stated that the leak had already caused profound damage to the bedroom’s decorations and walls. The letter of claim also referred to a visit the resident had had from the council’s ‘representative’ in May 2023 and stated that no repairs were made following that inspection.

 

  1. On 6 February 2024, the Court issued a Notice of Issue. The claimant being the resident and the defendant being the landlord. The Notice of Issue confirms that the court sent the resident’s claim to the landlord by first class post on 7 February 2024 and that it would be deemed serve on 9 February 2024. The landlord having until 23 February 2024 to reply.

 

  1. The landlord has confirmed this to this Service that it was deemed as being served on 9 February 2024 and that was actively working with its legal partners to address the raised issues.

 

  1. Having reviewed all the evidence relating to this complaint, as all that evidence relates to matters that are now the subject of legal proceedings and as the resident has the opportunity to raise the subject matter of the complaint as part of legal proceedings, I can confirm that under Paragraph 42(e) of the Scheme, the Ombudsman cannot investigate any element of this complaint.