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London Borough of Lambeth (202233967)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202233967

Lambeth Council

12 November 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 the landlord’s handling of:
    1. The resident’s concerns of subsidence at her property and repairs to a fence, drainpipe and door repair.
    2. The associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident is a secure tenant of the landlord.
  2. On 6 October 2022, the resident contacted the landlord and reported there were subsidence issues in her property. In addition, the resident stated she reported a damaged fence and door in October 2022.
  3. On 1 February 2023, the resident contacted the landlord and reported that her kitchen drainpipe in her back garden was damaged and required repair.
  4. On 9 March 2023, the resident submitted her complaint to the landlord. She stated she would like to make a formal complaint about her recent repair requests. She explained there was no accountability within the repairs department and stated that she previously reported repair issues, which included a broken drainpipe, a damaged garden fence, an internal door adjustment and subsidence within the property. The resident explained that there were still repairs outstanding, and her property had structural cracks.
  5. The landlord did not provide a stage 1 complaint response to the resident. However, it provided the resident with a member enquiry response on 26 April 2023. It explained that the fence works were complete, and it apologised for any inconvenience caused to the resident and her family.
  6. On 11 May 2023, the Ombudsman contacted the landlord and explained that the resident had not received a response to her complaint and asked it to respond.
  7. The landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response to the resident on 8 June 2023. It apologised for the delay she had experienced with the completion of the repairs. The landlord confirmed the internal door and the pipe in her back garden had been repaired. It also explained that it had carried out plastering works on the cracks, and painting and decoration works had been scheduled for 12 June 2023.
  8. The resident remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s response and submitted her complaint to the Ombudsman. She stated that her desired outcome was for the wall cracks in her property to be fixed and the pipe in her garden to be repaired. The resident also stated that she would like compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused due to the landlord’s delay in completing the repairs.

Assessment and findings

The resident’s concerns of subsidence at her property and repairs to a fence, drainpipe and door repair.

Scope of Investigation

  1. The resident explained to the Ombudsman that the crumbling walls in her property damaged her carpet. The resident did not raise the issue about her damaged carpet as part of her initial complaint to the landlord. And therefore, the landlord was not required to consider this issue through its complaints process. The Ombudsman will not consider it either, because we can only investigate matters which have been through the landlord’s complaints process. This is in line with Paragraph 42(a) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme which states the Ombudsman may not consider a complaint which is made prior to having exhausted a landlord’s complaints procedure, unless there is evidence of a complaint-handling failure, and the Ombudsman is satisfied that the member landlord has not taken action within a reasonable timescale. However, it is recommended that the landlord consider the claim for the damaged carpet itself or provide the resident with its liability insurer’s details, so she can progress this aspect of her complaint. If the resident is dissatisfied with the landlord’s initial response to this issue, she may be able to raise it as a separate complaint through the landlord’s complaints process. The resident may be able to refer the new complaint to the Ombudsman if she remains dissatisfied with the landlord’s final response to the carpet damage.

Policies, Procedures and Tenancy agreement

  1. The tenancy agreement explains that the landlord is responsible for maintaining the structure and the outside of a resident’s property. In addition, it also states that the landlord is responsible for the drains, stack pipes, gutters, and outside pipes.
  2. The landlord’s repairs policy explains that it will complete an emergency repair within 24 hours, routine repair within 28 working days and planned works within 90 working days.

Assessment

  1. On 6 October 2022, the resident contacted the landlord and reported concerns about subsidence in her property. The resident also stated that she reported a damaged fence and internal door in October 2022.
  2. The landlord responded promptly to the resident’s concerns about subsidence at her property and arranged for a surveyor to visit the resident’s property to carry out an inspection on 18 October 2022. The surveyor’s inspection identified that there were cracks in 2 of the bedrooms and the hallway. In addition, it concluded that there were works required to hack off and renew the plaster and redecorate. The surveyor also recommended a repair to the door in bedroom 1. The landlord acted appropriately by arranging for a surveyor to visit the resident’s property. However, there are no records to suggest that the landlord inspected the reported damaged fence in October 2022.
  3. After the surveyor’s visit, there was a delay in the landlord completing any of the recommended repairs. Due to the delay, the resident contacted the landlord on 2 December 2022 asking for an update on the works. Following this, the landlord raised a work order on 23 January 2023 for the recommended works to the 2 bedrooms and the hallway with a target completion date of 2 March 2023. The landlord acted reasonably by raising a work order for the repairs. However, the Ombudsman would have expected the landlord to raise the work order much sooner than it did. This delay would have inconvenienced the resident.
  4. Shortly after, on 1 February 2023, the resident contacted the landlord and reported that the kitchen drainpipe located in her back garden required repair. There was a delay in the landlord responding to the reported drainpipe issue, which was unreasonable.
  5. The landlord’s contractor attended the resident’s property on 10 February 2023 and completed the necessary repairs to the bedroom door. Also, shortly after, the landlord fixed the damaged fence on 16 February 2023. It was a positive step that the landlord repaired the internal door and the fence. However, the delay in completing the repairs was unreasonable and not compliant with the timescales referenced in the landlord’s repairs policy.
  6. On 16 February 2023, the landlord’s contractor attended the resident’s property to complete plastering works. However, the landlord’s notes stated that following the visit, the resident contacted the landlord and explained that all the works had not been completed, and it would arrange for the works to be inspected. The landlord responded appropriately by confirming that it would arrange for the completed works to be inspected.
  7. Due to some of the repairs remaining outstanding, the resident contacted the landlord on 9 March 2023 and submitted a complaint. She explained that she previously reported several repairs, and some repairs remained outstanding, which included wall cracks in the resident’s hallway. Shortly after the resident submitted her complaint, the landlord attended the resident’s property to identify the outstanding works and confirmed that redecoration works to the 2-bedrooms and hallway were outstanding. The landlord’s notes stated it had booked an appointment for 30 May 2023 for these works to be completed.
  8. On 24 May 2023, the landlord’s contractor attended the resident’s property to fix the broken drainpipe. The landlord’s notes state that the contractor glued the pipe back, and no leaks were detected. The landlord responded appropriately by fixing the pipe. However, there was a delay in completing the repair. Also, the repair carried out to the pipe appeared to be a temporary repair rather than a permanent repair as the contractor only glued the pipe and the resident has confirmed with the Ombudsman that the pipe was still damaged. The Ombudsman would have expected the landlord to carry out the necessary repairs to ensure that the pipe was permanently fixed. If it needed to do a temporary repair initially, it should have arranged to return at a later date to complete a permanent repair.
  9. The resident emailed the landlord on 27 May 2023 and explained that the pictures she sent the landlord were of cracks in her hallway and stated that the repair had been outstanding since October 2022. The delay in the landlord completing all the necessary work to resolve the cracks was unreasonable and would have caused distress and inconvenience for the resident.
  10. On 8 June 2023, the landlord provided the resident with its stage 2 complaint response. It apologised for the delay in completing the repairs, and it confirmed that it had booked an appointment for 12 June 2023 for the completion of decoration works to the walls. The landlord also explained in its response that the resident requested for wallpaper to be placed on the walls. However, it confirmed that it could only repaint the walls.
  11. The appointment arranged for 12 June 2023 did not go ahead because the resident was abroad. The Ombudsman recognises that this would have been outside the landlord’s control. Shortly after, on 21 June 2023, the landlord contacted the resident and explained that it had an outstanding repair on its system for internal decorations and had booked an appointment for 29 June 2023 for this work to be carried out. The landlord acted appropriately by updating the resident about the outstanding repair.
  12. The landlord failed to carry out the outstanding repair works to the walls in June 2023 and the resident contacted the landlord in July 2023, explaining that the repair works were still outstanding. The landlord has provided photographs of the completed plastering works on the wall cracks in the 2 bedrooms. However, the resident confirmed with the Ombudsman in October 2024 that repair works to the wall cracks in the hallway were still outstanding. In addition, she also explained that the decoration works to the 2 bedrooms and hallway were outstanding. The Ombudsman expects the landlord to carry out the necessary works to resolve the outstanding repairs. In regard to the decoration works, the landlord should place wallpaper on the walls if there was previously wallpaper on them prior to the repair issues. However, if there was previously no wallpaper on the walls in the bedrooms and hallway, it would be reasonable for the landlord to paint the walls. The landlord should also complete the necessary repairs to permanently fix the drainpipe in the resident’s back garden.
  13. As some repairs are still outstanding and there has been a considerable delay in the landlord completing all the necessary repairs. There has been maladministration by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s concerns of subsidence at her property and repairs to a fence, drainpipe, and door repair. The landlord acknowledged there were delays in completing the repairs in its stage 1 and 2 complaint responses. However, it failed to offer the resident any compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused by the repair delays. Therefore, it would be appropriate for the landlord to pay the resident £350 compensation to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by the delay in completing the repairs. The compensation awarded is in line with the Ombudsman’s approach to compensation, which is set out in our remedies guidance (published on our website). The remedies guidance suggests awards of £100 to £600 where there has been a failure by the landlord, which adversely affected the resident, but there may be no permanent impact.

 

 

The associated complaint

  1. The Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code) sets out the Ombudsman’s expectations for landlords’ complaint handling practices. The Code states that a stage 1 response should be provided within 10 working days of the complaint. It also explains that a stage 2 response should be provided within 20 working days from the request to escalate the complaint. The landlord’s complaints policy explains that it will respond to a stage 1 and stage 2 complaint within 15 working days.
  2. The Code also states that a landlord must accept a complaint unless there is a valid reason not to do so. In addition, it explains when a complaint is made, it must be acknowledged and logged at stage one of the landlord’s complaint procedure within 5 days of receipt.
  3. In addition, the Code defines a complaint as an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service, actions, or lack of action by the organisation, its own staff, or actions on its behalf affecting a resident or group of residents. The landlord’s complaints policy references the same complaint definition as the Code.
  4. The resident emailed the landlord on 9 March 2023, expressing dissatisfaction with the landlord’s handling of the repairs at her property. She explained there was no accountability by the landlord’s repairs department, and she stated there were still repairs outstanding, and her property had structural cracks.
  5. The landlord provided the resident with a member enquiry response on 26 April 2023. However, it failed to provide the resident with a stage 1 complaint response addressing all the issues she raised. The Ombudsman believes this was unreasonable. The resident expressed dissatisfaction and provided valid complaint points for her email to be considered as a complaint. Therefore, we would have expected the landlord to consider the resident’s email dated 9 March 2023 as a complaint and provide a stage 1 complaint response in this instance. The landlord did not comply with its own complaints policy and the Code when it failed to log the resident’s email as a complaint and delayed the resident from bringing her complaint to the Ombudsman.
  6. The landlord acknowledged and logged the resident’s correspondence on 9 March 2023 as a complaint. However, instead of following a 2-stage complaint process, it issued the resident with a stage 2 complaint response on 8 June 2023 instead of a stage 1 response. The landlord explained to the Ombudsman that because we contacted it asking it to respond to the resident’s complaint. It decided to provide the resident with a stage 2 complaint response instead of issuing a stage 1 complaint response. The Ombudsman would have expected the landlord to issue a stage 1 complaint response prior to issuing a stage 2 complaint response. Its failure to do this has resulted in the landlord not complying with its own complaints policy or the Code. It also resulted in the resident not having the opportunity to challenge the landlord’s complaints decision and request a review. The stage 2 complaint response was also issued approximately 3 months after the resident submitted her complaint to the landlord which was significantly outside the timescales in the Code.
  7. In February 2022, the Ombudsman issued a special report about the landlord, highlighting concerns with its complaint handling. The report recommended the landlord review its complaint handling procedures to reduce the risk of similar failures in the future. We continued to identify problems with the landlord’s performance, reaching findings of maladministration and severe maladministration following investigations into 20 separate complaints from residents. In June 2023, we told the landlord of our intention to carry out an inspection to find out the reasons for its ongoing failures in complaint handling. In December 2023, we issued a report setting out our findings with further recommendations for service improvement.
  8. In this investigation we have identified failures similar to those that led to our special report in 2022 and subsequent inspection in 2023. However, we will not be ordering a further review, as one was already carried out at the time of this complaint covering similar issues.
  9. Considering the landlord’s failure to provide the resident with a stage 1 complaint response. There has been maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint. It would be appropriate for the landlord to pay the resident £150 compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused. This amount is compliant with the Ombudsman’s Remedies Guidance as referenced above.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s concerns of subsidence at her property and repairs to a fence, drainpipe and door repair.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.

Orders

  1. The landlord is ordered to:
    1. Pay the resident £350 compensation for distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of the resident’s concerns of subsidence at her property and repairs to a fence, drainpipe and door repair.
    2. Pay the resident £150 compensation for distress and inconvenience caused by its complaint handling errors.
    3. Repair the wall cracks in the resident’s hallway and complete the necessary decoration works in the hallway and 2 bedrooms.
    4. Repair the drainpipe in the resident’s back garden.
  2. The landlord must comply with the above orders within 4 weeks of the date of this report, providing evidence to the Ombudsman that it has done so by the same date.