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London & Quadrant Housing Trust (202312176)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202312176

London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q)

9 June 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 the resident’s reports of repairs to the outside steps.

Background

  1. The resident is a leaseholder. She has owned a 2-bedroom flat since 2018 and the landlord is the freeholder. The resident’s property is accessed by some steps that lead up to only the resident’s front door. The landlord had a record of the resident’s disability, which affects her mobility.
  2. On 19 December 2022 the resident reported to the landlord that tiles attached to the steps leading to her front door had come loose and she was concerned that they were a trip hazard. The landlord attended and removed the loose tiles. On 10 March 2023 the resident reported the repair again because the tiles had not been replaced. Five days later the resident reported to the landlord that the repair was causing a health and safety issue because the steps were unsafe.
  3. The resident made a complaint on 24 March 2023 because she had not received a response from the landlord about the repair. She described how she and others had tripped on the steps a few times since they were broken. The resident made the landlord aware of the increased risk of having a fall because of her disability.
  4. The landlord sent its stage 1 complaint response on 11 July 2023 and apologised for the delay in completing the repair. It stated that it had instructed a contractor to complete the work and offered the resident £60 in compensation for the repair delay and inconvenience.
  5. On 11 September 2023 the resident escalated her complaint to stage 2 because the repair was still outstanding. The landlord responded in January 2024 after being contacted by this Service. It stated that a contractor had been instructed to complete a full tile repair and offered the resident a further £525 in compensation, including £250 for poor complaint handling.
  6. In April 2024 the landlord completed a repair to the steps using wooden battens which the resident recently stated are starting to warp because of exposure to the elements outside.
  7. In bringing the complaint to this Service the resident wants the landlord to complete a full tile repair.

Assessment and findings

Scope of the investigation.

  1. Throughout the complaint and in communication with this Service, the resident said this situation had a detrimental impact on her health and wellbeing. The courts are the most effective place for disputes about personal injury and illness. This is largely because independent medical experts are appointed to give evidence. They have a duty to the court to provide unbiased insights on the diagnosis, prognosis, and cause of any illness or injury. When disputes arise over the cause of an injury, oral testimony can be examined in court. While the Ombudsman cannot consider the effect on health, consideration has been given to any general distress and inconvenience which the resident experienced because of any service failure by the landlord.
  2. The resident reported that the tiles on the steps needed to be repaired in 2015, 2016, and 2018. In 2016 the resident reported that she was concerned about health and safety because of the issue, and in 2018 the resident reported that she had tripped and fallen. We encourage residents to raise complaints in a timely manner, normally within 12 months of issues arising, so that the landlord can consider them while they are still ‘live’ and while the evidence is available to properly investigate. Therefore, this investigation deals with matters leading up to the resident’s complaint in March 2023. References to earlier periods are for context only.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of repairs to the outside steps.

  1. The resident’s lease states that the landlord is responsible for maintaining, repairing, and renewing the structural parts and external walls of the building, and all the parts of the building which are not the responsibility of the leaseholder. The plan attached to the lease shows that the access steps to the front of the building are outside of the resident’s ownership and therefore fall under the landlord’s responsibility to maintain.
  2. The landlord’s repair policy states that routine repairs will be completed in an average of 25 calendar days. It also states that it can adjust its service standards where a delay would put the resident at risk because of a disability.
  3. The landlord recorded multiple times when logging the repair that health and safety was a concern, but this did not result in a quicker repair. The landlord raised at least 12 separate repair jobs over a period of 18 months before it addressed the health and safety concern by leveling the steps with wood.
  4. When the resident raised her stage 1 complaint on 24 March 2023 it was because she had raised the issue a number of times and the landlord had not booked in the repair or updated her. The resident received an update on the repair the same day that she submitted her stage 1 complaint.
  5. However, the repair was not completed, and the resident contacted the landlord again on 23 June 2023. Because of the lack of response from the landlord, the resident reported the issue to this Service 5 days later. She advised us that, while waiting for the repair to be completed, she had received multiple dates for the work to be carried out for which the landlord had not turned up.
  6. The resident advised that she was offered £60 for 3 missed repair appointments. The Ombudsman has not seen evidence of this goodwill payment being made to the resident. However, the landlord’s compensation policy states that it will consider paying compensation where it fails to attend a booked appointment without good reason.
  7. The landlord’s stage 1 response on 11 July 2023 apologised for the delay in completing the repair and advised that it had arranged for a contractor to complete the work. It offered the resident compensation of £30 for the repair delay, and £30 for her inconvenience.
  8. Two months later the resident escalated her complaint to stage 2 because she had received no further updates, and the work was still outstanding. In October 2023 the landlord obtained a quote from its contractor to replace all the tiles instead of just the missing ones. In January 2024 the landlord considered amending the quote it had received so that it would repair only the damaged steps. While it is for a landlord to decide how to manage its budgets and maintenance, it does not appear that the landlord considered the history of the repair case going back to 2015 when deciding to carry out a patch repair.
  9. On 5 January 2024 the resident informed the landlord that she was nervous to leave the house due to previously hurting herself on the steps. The landlord raised a new repair request and flagged it as urgent.
  10. After intervention from this Service, the landlord’s stage 2 response was sent on 9 January 2024. It explained to the resident why it had been difficult to arrange the works and advised that it had instructed a contractor to proceed with a full tile repair. It added that a second repair job had also been raised in the event of the contractor being unable to complete it. The landlord offered the resident compensation of £525, broken down as follows:
    1. £200 for distress and inconvenience caused by the failure to recognise the impact due to vulnerabilities.
    2. £75 for the time and effort of getting the complaint resolved.
    3. £250 for poor complaint handling.
  11. The landlord’s vulnerable resident’s policy states that providing priority repairs for health and safety reasons can help residents to live as independently as possible.
  12. The landlord closed the job on its system after repairing the steps with wood in April 2024. This was 18 months since the resident first reported the repair to the landlord, and 3 months after the stage 2 response. The landlord’s delay in repairing the steps likely affected the resident’s confidence in leaving the property and her ability to live independently in her home with her disability.
  13. The resident has reported to this Service that the wood is beginning to degrade due to the exposure to the rain. The work does not appear to be a full and lasting repair.
  14. Where there are admitted failings by a landlord, this Service will consider whether the redress offered by the landlord put things right and resolved the resident’s complaint satisfactorily in the circumstances. In considering this we take into account whether the landlord’s offer of redress was in line with the Ombudsman’s dispute resolution principles of: be fair (follow fair processes and recognise what went wrong), put things right, and learn from outcomes.
  15. The landlord’s complaints policy states that after writing to the resident with its complaint investigation outcome, it will monitor the progress of agreed actions until they are completed. The landlord’s stage 2 response stated that it was going to complete a full tile repair. Since a full tile repair has not been done, it has not monitored the agreed actions to completion and put things right for the resident.
  16. The landlord’s compensation policy states that it may consider paying compensation to leaseholders where its failure has caused a loss of amenity that it is responsible for. The compensation offered by the landlord during its complaint handling did not address the loss of amenity that the resident had experienced up to April 2024 when the steps were made safe.
  17. The landlord’s compensation policy states that when assessing the level of discretionary compensation, it will consider how it communicated with the resident. The landlord’s communication with the resident about the repair was minimal. The compensation of £75 for time and effort offered at stage 2 by the landlord does not adequately address this failing. The landlord’s compensation guidance states that a payment of up to £200 may be considered in situations where the impact on the resident has been high.
  18. The landlord’s compensation guidance also states that £60 may be paid for both distress and inconvenience where the impact has been high. The landlord has currently offered £60 for delays and inconvenience in its stage 1 response.
  19. The landlord considered the impact of its handling of the repair on the resident’s vulnerability when it awarded £200 in compensation for this at stage 2. However, since the landlord did not remedy the health and safety aspect of the repair for a further 3 months, this sum did not satisfactorily put things right for the resident.
  20. The landlord has therefore not offered proportionate compensation to the resident and has not put things right. We find that there has been maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of repairs to the outside steps. We order the landlord to pay £370 to the resident, in addition to the sums offered by the landlord at stage 1 and 2, calculated as follows:
    1. £60 for 3 missed appointments if not already paid.
    2. An additional £60 for the distress and inconvenience likely caused to the resident, in accordance with its compensation guidance.
    3. £150 for the resident’s inconvenience likely experienced by the loss of use of the stairs as an amenity until April 2024.
    4. £100 for the impact on the resident in particular regard to her disability, covering the period since the stage 2 response until the steps were made safe in April 2024.
  21. These sums are in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance where the landlord has made some attempt to put things right but the offer was not proportionate to the failings identified by our investigation.
  22. The Ombudsman published a report in July 2023 about the landlord following a special wider investigation. It found multiple systemic failings that were impacting its residents. These included that the landlord was failing to take effective ownership and management of repairs leading to delays and poorly communicating with residents. The Ombudsman required the landlord to make changes including improvements to its handling of repairs, complaints and how it kept records. The failings identified by this complaint largely mirror those identified by the special investigation that are part of the ongoing improvement work ordered, for which this Service remains in liaison with the landlord. As such, and in view of the age of this complaint, we have therefore not made any similar orders.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was maladministration in relation to the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of repairs to the outside steps.

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks, the landlord is ordered to:
    1. Pay the resident £370 broken down as:
      1. £60 for 3 missed repair appointments if not already paid.
      2. £60 for distress and inconvenience likely experienced by the resident because of the landlord’s delay in repairing the steps.
      3. £150 for the resident’s inconvenience likely experienced by the loss of use of the stairs as an amenity until April 2024.
      4. £100 for the impact of the repair delay on the resident’s independence because of her vulnerability, covering the period since the stage 2 response until the steps were made safe in April 2024.
    2. Pay the resident the sum of £585 offered by the landlord in its stage 1 and 2 responses, if not already paid.
    3. Send a written apology to the resident for the distress likely caused to her by the landlord’s failure to recognise and take appropriate action over the increased health and safety risk caused by the broken steps due to her vulnerability.
  2. Within 8 weeks, the landlord is ordered to make a full tile repair to the outside steps as offered to the resident in the stage 2 response. If it is unable to meet this deadline the landlord must notify both the resident and us, providing a clear explanation for the delay.
  3. The landlord should reply to this Service with evidence of compliance with these orders within the timescale set out above.