Applications are open to join the next Housing Ombudsman Resident Panel – find out more Housing Ombudsman Resident Panel.

London & Quadrant Housing Trust (202324530)

Back to Top

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202324530

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 leaks and repairs, and her complaint on the matter.

Background

  1. The resident’s assured tenancy with the landlord began in 2010. The property is a 3 bedroom house, where she lives with her children.
  2. On 4 July 2023 the resident reported a bathroom leak to the landlord and its impact on her child’s bedroom below. The landlord attended as an emergency repair and further attended over the following days.
  3. The resident complained to the landlord on 7 July 2023. She said that it had renewed her toilet in April 2023 but that the job had been completed incorrectly. She described a leak from the new toilet and the landlord’s actions during May and June 2023. She expressed her unhappiness with the landlord’s workmanship and its handling of her leak 3 days earlier. She asked that it compensate her.
  4. The landlord upheld the resident’s complaint on 12 July 2023, but did not say on what basis. It explained the further works it had booked and offered her £300 compensation. The resident escalated her complaint to stage 2, on 20 July 2023. She said that she wanted the affected areas repainted and that the compensation was insufficient. Over the following days, the landlord confirmed that it would paint the affected areas, the resident reported a further leak, and the landlord reattended.
  5. During August and September 2023, the resident reported further repairs to the landlord, some of which it resolved. On 7 September 2023 it sent her its stage 2 response. It advised its intentions for the remaining works. This included the replacement of a light fitting damaged by the leak and a check for limescale in her toilet pipes. It apologised for its failings and explained how it would use her complaint to improve its services. It offered her £470 compensation.
  6. The landlord replaced the resident’s light fitting on 15 September 2023. Three days later she told it that a leak from either her toilet or bath had come through her new light fitting and the landlord reattended. On 4 October it told her that it would replace her bath in mid-December 2023, which it did.
  7. In January 2024 the resident expressed her unhappiness to the landlord with the type of bath that it had installed. The following month she reported leaks from her bathroom pipework. The landlord attended and agreed to replace her bath again.
  8. The resident asked the Ombudsman to investigate the landlord’s handling of the matters above. She maintained that its compensation was insufficient. She described the unpleasant smells and hygiene issues that her bathroom and toilet continue to cause. She attributed this to “extensive limescale clogging the pipes”, which she said the landlord had not previously resolved.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. The landlord’s decision to replace the resident’s bath was taken the month after her complaint had concluded. Its associated works, and the further leaks that she experienced, occurred more than 3 months after the conclusion of her complaint. Because of that, these matters have not been considered in this investigation. If the resident has concerns about her bath replacements and further leaks she could consider making a new complaint to the landlord. She could then return to the Ombudsman and ask us to consider her new complaint.

Repairs handling

  1. The landlord’s repairs policy states that it will carry out emergency repairs within 24 hours. Its complaint policy states that it will issue its stage 2 response within 20 working days of the resident’s escalation.
  2. The resident’s complaint letter includes the only information seen regarding her April 2023 toilet renewal. It is also the only reference to the associated leak and the landlord’s actions over the following 2 months. The landlord did not dispute these events. Nonetheless, aside from the workmanship issues with the toilet renewal, the resident’s complaint concerned its handling of the further leak that she reported on 4 July 2023.
  3. The landlord’s emergency repair for this leak was done within the timeframe of its policy and it further attended over the following days. However, from that point onwards, and as the landlord later acknowledged, the evidence shows its poor service, workmanship issues, and the distress caused to the resident.
  4. The resident’s complaint to the landlord on 7 July 2023 highlighted its poor toilet renewal, shown by the leaks and issues it had caused. The landlord’s stage 1 response to this was timely and advised its intended works and compensation.
  5. However, on 20 July 2023, the resident reported a further leak, which she said was a “new problem with the bathroom toilet”. She described the damp, decorative, and other damage that this had caused and the impact on her child regarding their neurodivergent conditions. She asked for her complaint to be escalated to stage 2 and for increased compensation. Over the following days, the landlord’s drainage and toilet surveys identified its need to address the buildup of limescale.
  6. The landlord sent the resident its stage 2 response on 7 September 2023. This was 15 working days beyond the 20 working day timeframe in its policy. The evidence shows that it had made earlier efforts to discuss the complaint with her and had advised that it would be delayed. Its response appropriately apologised and offered £70 compensation for its complaint handling delays. This element of its offer was in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance.
  7. The landlord’s stage 2 response accepted that its “repairs and communication should have been managed more effectively and delivered more swiftly”. It acknowledged the household’s vulnerabilities, apologised for their time, trouble, and distress, and appropriately stated its learning. Its compensation calculation also acknowledged its “poor workmanship”.
  8. The landlord offered the resident £300 compensation at stage 1 and £400 at stage 2. Its £700 compensation offer (excluding the £70 for complaint handling failures) was in line with the recommended range of the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance where “there was a failure which had a significant impact on the resident”.
  9. The landlord’s remedies also included two further repairs. It completed its light fitting repair as promised. Its second repair was to “check limescale in toilet pipes”, which was a follow on from its previous drainage surveys. It said that its contractor would contact the resident directly to arrange this. On 18 September 2023 the resident reported further leaks and said that the contractor was yet to arrange the limescale appointment.
  10. Despite the resident raising the issue again the landlord has not been able to show evidence that it completed the limescale check it said it would arrange. The actions it promised in its final complaint response were therefore not fully resolved. During this investigation, it explained its intended drainage and limescale inspections.
  11. Overall, the landlord accepted its service failings, and the disruption and distress caused to the resident. Its remedies, including its compensation, would have represented reasonable redress. However, it has failed to demonstrate that it followed through to resolve the limescale issue, which the resident believes is continuing to cause her significant problems. Her complaint was therefore left unresolved.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of leaks and repairs.

Orders

  1. Within 6 weeks of this report the landlord is ordered to:
    1. Write to the resident to:
      1. Confirm the results of its further drainage and limescale inspections.
      2. Provide an action plan to address any outstanding works related to the limescale issue, including proposed timescales.
  2. Within 4 weeks of this report the landlord must pay the resident £150 compensation in relation to its failure to fully complete its complaint remedies.
  3. This amount is in addition to the landlord’s own compensation awards of £300 and £470 (it must pay the resident any part of those awards that it has not already done so).
  4. The landlord must provide us with evidence of its compliance with the orders within their respective deadlines.