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London & Quadrant Housing Trust (202342298)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202342298

London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q)

13 August 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:
    1. reports of no heating and hot water in the property and associated repairs to the boiler.
    2. complaint.

Background

  1. The resident has been an assured tenant of a 2-bedroom flat since August 2006. The landlord is a housing association. The landlord recorded that the resident is vulnerable and that there are children in the property.
  2. On 20 May 2022 the resident reported they had no heat and hot water. On 23 and 25 May 2022 the contractor repaired the boiler and left it in working order.
  3. On 26 September 2022 the resident complained that they had no heat and hot water since May 2022. They said the contractor told them it was waiting for a boiler part, and they had no further updates about the repair since May 2022. The landlord arranged for the contractor to inspect the boiler on the same day, but the contractor did not turn up. The resident wanted the issue resolved.
  4. The landlord arranged an appointment on 7 October 2022 to repair the boiler. The resident reported later that day that the contractor did not turn up and the landlord had not offered them heaters in the meantime. On 19 October 2022 the contractor repaired the boiler, tested it, and confirmed it was working. On 26 October 2022, the resident confirmed the boiler worked.
  5. The landlord sent its stage 1 response to the resident on 28 November 2022. It offered £608 compensation as the resident had no water between 20 May 2022 to 19 October 2022 and offered £80 for the distress and inconvenience caused. The resident escalated the complaint to stage 2 on the same day. They said the compensation did not consider the time they had to take off work, and the household had to withstand not having access to heat and hot water.
  6. The resident chased the landlord for its stage 2 response on 30 December 2022, 5 January 2023, and 24 January 2023.
  7. The landlord sent its stage 2 response to the resident on 6 February 2024. It said it should have treated the issue as a priority, offered heaters, and responded sooner to the resident’s complaint. It offered £1,182 broken down as:
    1. £296 for having no heat.
    2. £296 for having no hot water.
    3. £60 for the appointments it missed.
    4. £300 for the distress and inconvenience caused.
    5. £100 for the time and effort to resolve the stage 1 complaint and for its poor complaint handling.
    6. £130 for the delay providing its stage 2 response.
  8. The resident contacted us on 21 February and 4 June 2024. They said they had no heat and hot water, the contractor missed appointments, the landlord delayed boiler repairs for over 5 months, and they were unhappy with how the complaint was handled. They wanted increased compensation for these issues.

Assessment and findings

Scope of the investigation

  1. The resident said the landlord’s compensation did not consider the time they took off work for boiler repairs. Our remedies guidance sets out that in general we would not propose a remedy to reimburse a resident for their time off work and loss of wages whilst repairs were conducted.
  2. However, there may be circumstances when the Ombudsman decides that it is appropriate to make an order that a landlord pays compensation in recognition of the inconvenience caused, for example where the contractor misses repair appointments repeatedly.

Reports of no heating and hot water

  1. The resident reported that they had no heat and hot water on 20 May 2022.
  2. The landlord’s tenancy agreement says:
    1. the landlord will keep in good repair and proper working order the installations provided for space heating and water heating, including the supply of gas and central heating installations.
    2. it will complete necessary repairs within a reasonable time.
  3. The landlord’s repair policy says:
    1. the landlord is responsible for the loss of heat and hot water.
    2. it will complete emergency repairs within 24 hours and, outside of that, it will set a response time with the resident.
  4. The landlord’s additional needs policy says:
    1. it will consider a resident’s vulnerabilities to complete repairs as soon as possible.
    2. where repairs will take a while it will provide temporary heating measures.
  5. On 23 and 25 May 2022 the contractor repaired the boiler for heating and hot water and said it had left it in working order. Considering the landlord was aware of the resident’s vulnerabilities and children in the property it would have been reasonable to assess the report made and how it would respond.
  6. There is no evidence the landlord assessed the resident’s report of having no heat and hot water when it was raised to decide if it was an emergency to resolve within 24 hours, and whether to provide heat and hot water alternatives in the interim. This was inappropriate and not in line with its additional needs policy and repair policy.
  7. The resident next reported that they had no heat and hot water on 26 September 2022. They said they had been waiting since May 2022 for the contractor to instal a new boiler part. The landlord booked an appointment for the same day. The resident explained to the landlord later in the day that they had taken time off work, but the contractor did not turn up. The landlord accepted that the contractor had missed the appointment.
  8. This Service’s repair Spotlight Report highlights that if a landlord contracts its repair service, the obligation to repair remains with the landlord. Landlords need to ensure it has adequate oversight of its outsourced services and ensure updates are provided to the resident where the contractor can no longer attend. Both the resident and landlord agree the appointments was missed, and the landlord did not have oversight of this to ensure the resident was updated. This was unreasonable.
  9. On 4 October 2022 the landlord made another appointment for 7 October 2022. The evidence shows that the contractor did not attend as its operative was unwell. This was not communicated to the resident. This was unreasonable.
  10. On 7 October 2022 the resident said the landlord had not offered heaters for the property whilst the contractor was repairing the boiler. The evidence does not show the landlord provided temporary heating for the resident. This did not take account of its additional needs policy and the resident’s vulnerabilities. This was inappropriate.
  11. The landlord made a further appointment for 19 October 2022. On that day, the contractor repaired the boiler, tested it, and confirmed to the landlord it was working. The landlord followed up with the resident about this on 20 and 26 October 2022. This was reasonable to ensure the contractor completed the boiler repair. The resident confirmed the boiler was fixed on 26 October 2022.
  12. In the landlord’s complaint responses, it acknowledged the contractor repaired the boiler in May 2022. However, it considered the further contact and complaint from the resident and agreed the boiler was not effectively repaired until 19 October 2022. It had taken 5 months to fix the boiler. This was not in line with the tenancy agreement to complete repairs within a reasonable time. This was inappropriate.
  13. Overall, the landlord did not repair the boiler within a reasonable time, did not offer heaters whilst the resident had no heat and hot water, and the contractor missed appointments. On that basis the landlord failed to comply with the tenancy agreement, and its repair policy and additional needs policy.
  14. The landlord acknowledged its service failures in the complaint responses. The landlord recognised it missed appointments with the resident when attending to the substantive issue. It also set out that it had not considered the resident’s vulnerabilities, prioritised the repair of the boiler, and had not offered interim measures like a temporary heater. To recognise and remedy this, it:
    1. provided feedback:
      1. to the contractor to notify residents within 24 hours if it cannot make an appointment, and to book in an alternative date.
      2. internally so that it recognises vulnerabilities sooner, arranges heat and hot water repairs as a priority, and provides heaters in the interim.
    2. apologised for the service issues.
    3. offered the resident a total compensation amount of £952, broken down as:
      1. £296 for having no hot water.
      2. £296 for having no heating.
      3. £300 for the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident.
      4. £60 for 3 missed appointments.
  15. While there were failures in the landlord’s handling of the repairs as identified in this investigation, the landlord has acknowledged this in its complaint responses. The landlord offered compensation which was in line with our remedies guidance and its compensation policy.
  16. Considering the above, the Ombudsman has therefore found reasonable redress in the landlord’s handling of this element of the complaint.
  17. Our determination of reasonable redress is made on the understanding that the landlord’s compensation offer of £952 is paid to the resident within 28 days of this report, if it has not already paid this to the resident.

Complaint

  1. Under the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code), landlords must ensure it:
    1. acknowledges a complaint within 5 working days of receiving it.
    2. responds to the complaint within 10 working days of logging the complaint.
      1. if the landlord needs an extension, it should communicate the timescale to the resident, and that it is no longer than a further 10 working days.
      2. if the landlord needs a further extension, it should agree this with the resident.
    3. if the resident escalates the complaint to stage 2, the landlord should provide its response within 20 working days of the escalation.
      1. if the landlord needs an extension, it should communicate the timescale to the resident, and that it is no longer than a further 10 working days.
      2. if the landlord needs a further extension, it should agree this with the resident.
  2. The landlord’s complaint policy is aligned with the Code.
  3. The resident raised their complaint to the landlord on 26 September 2022. The landlord acknowledged the complaint on 29 September 2022. It said it had a high number of complaints and may not provide its response by 12 October 2022. It provided our details and told the resident they can contact us at any time. This was appropriate and in line with its complaint policy and the Code.
  4. The landlord had until 13 October 2022 to provide its stage 1 response or confirm an extension. The landlord did not respond by that date or confirm an extension. The landlord inconvenienced the resident as they chased for a response from it on 17 October, 21 October, and 26 October 2022. The landlord provided its stage 1 response 32 working days late on 28 November 2022. The delay was inappropriate, not in line with its complaint policy and the Code.
  5. The resident escalated the complaint to the landlord on 28 November 2022. The landlord had until 28 December 2022 to provide its stage 2 response or confirm an extension. The landlord did not respond by that date or confirm an extension. The landlord inconvenienced the resident as they requested an update from it on 30 December 2022, 5 January, 9 January, and 24 January 2023.
  6. The landlord updated the resident on 6 February 2023 that it could not provide a time as to when it would respond. The resident chased for a stage 2 response at least a further 2 times on 22 and 27 February 2023.
  7. The landlord updated the resident on 27 February 2023 that there was a backlog, and it would not provide a stage 2 response for a while. It provided its stage 2 response 13 months late on 6 February 2024. This delay was inappropriate and not in line with its complaint policy and the Code.
  8. In the landlord’s complaint responses, it acknowledged there was a delay to provide its complaint responses at stage 1 and stage 2. It apologised for this and offered £230 for the resident’s time and effort to resolve the complaint and to recognise the delay.
  9. When a landlord has accepted a failing, it is the role of the Ombudsman to consider if redress offered by the landlord had put things right and resolved the resident’s complaint satisfactorily. In considering this the Ombudsman considers whether the landlord’s offer of redress and commitments to remedy issues, have been in line with the Ombudsman’s Dispute Resolution Principles to be fair, put things right and learn from outcomes.
  10. The landlord acknowledged it had not kept within time to respond to the complaint at stage 1 and 2. It apologised for these service failures and offered:
    1. £100 for the time and effort to resolve the complaint at stage 1 and for its poor complaint handling.
    2. £130 for the delay to resolve the complaint at stage 2.
  11. Taking account of the landlord’s compensation policy and our remedies guidance, the overall compensation offered for the complaint handling failings was fair to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident. However, the landlord’s complaint responses did not set out its learnings from its complaint handling and how it will prevent this happening again in the future.
  12. Considering the above, we find service failure in how the landlord managed the complaint.
  13. The landlord should write to the resident to apologise and set out its learnings as to how it will prevent this happening again in the future. It should also pay the resident £230 it offered for its complaint handling failures if this has not already paid to the resident.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53.b of the Scheme, there was reasonable redress for the landlord’s handling of reports of no heating and hot water.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the complaint.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. Within 28 days of the date of this determination, the landlord should:
    1. write to the resident to apologise and set out its learnings about its complaint handling and how it will prevent this happening again in the future.
    2. pay the resident £230 compensation that it offered in its complaint responses, unless it has evidenced the landlord paid this to them already.
  2. The landlord should provide us evidence of the above within 28 days of the date of this determination.

Recommendation

  1. Our determination of reasonable redress is made on the understanding that within 28 days of this report, the landlord:
    1. pays the resident £952 compensation that it offered in its complaint responses. If the landlord has paid this to the resident already, it should provide evidence of this.