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London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q) (202220861)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202220861

London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q)

31 May 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:
    1. The resident’s reports of antisocial behaviour (ASB).
    2. The resident’s complaint.

Background

  1. The resident is a leaseholder of a 1–bedroom flat within a block.
  2. The resident reported ASB from his new neighbour from 10 May 2022. This included loud music, drug use and dealing, dogs barking and the security of the building. The landlord initially asked him to complete diary sheets to record incidents. It contacted him again in July, but did not contact him again until 19 October about the ongoing ASB.
  3. On 27 February 2023, the Ombudsman supported the resident in raising a complaint. This was regarding his concerns with ASB. This included ongoing noise nuisance, drug buying and use, visitors at unsociable hours and security of the communal door. It also included the landlord’s lack of communication and the impact on him.
  4. The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response on 14 April 2023, confirming. It said it had sent a warning letter to the neighbour and was working with relevant parties to mitigate the impact on the resident whilst working on a permanent solution. It said it could not disclose further details but assured the resident it was dealing with the matter accordingly. It believed the situation had since calmed. It offered £60 compensation, made up of £10 for its delay in providing its complaint response and £50 for the inconvenience caused.
  5. The resident reported further ASB in June 2023 and contacted the landlord’s CEO in September 2023 when he received no response. He continued to raise this without reply from the landlord. It decided on 1 November to raise a stage 2 complaint on the resident’s behalf, speaking with him to confirm this.
  6. The landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response on 20 November 2023. It said its stage 1 response addressed the status of the ASB case, but did not address its lack of communication. It said there was a severe lapse in communication and apologised. It offered further compensation of £890 for the inconvenience and distress caused. It confirmed it would update the resident on where it was with the case.
  7. The resident told the Ombudsman on 25 January 2024 that he was happy the case was being handled correctly. However, he asked for his case to be investigated to ensure the landlord reviewed its processes and nobody else was affected as he was.

Assessment and findings

The residents’ reports of ASB

  1. The resident’s initial complaint concerned his reports of ASB and the landlord’s lack of communication on the matter. This included the impact it was having on him, in particular his ability to sleep.
  2. The landlord’s stage 1 complaint response assured the resident that it was managing the situation. It confirmed the steps it had taken in accordance with its ASB policy. This included sending a warning letter to the neighbour and working with third parties, such as the police and council.
  3. Both of the landlord’s complaint responses managed his expectations by explaining that it could not provide further details of the case, which was in line with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). The landlord also reassured the resident that it was working on a “permanent solution.” There is evidence that it took robust steps after its stage 2 response. This included an ASB case review and proceeding with legal action, both in accordance with its ASB policy.
  4. The landlord’s stage 1 complaint response failed to address the resident’s concerns about its lack of communication. However, its stage 2 complaint response did. It said there was a “severe lapse” in its communication. This was an accurate reflection of its records. The landlord had not acted in accordance with its ASB policy. This advises that it must keep in regular contact with the complainant, keeping them updated on its action plan.
  5. The landlord offered the resident total compensation of £940 for the distress and inconvenience caused to him by its failure to communicate. We must make it clear, that the Ombudsman does not award compensation simply because a resident experiences anti-social behaviour. The landlord is not generally responsible for the acts of its tenants. Awards of compensation are to recognise that the landlord’s actions or inactions have likely contributed to the distress and inconvenience caused. This award of compensation was fair to recognise the impact on the resident.
  6. However, there were some matters unresolved. The landlord’s ASB policy confirms it will identify if there are any vulnerabilities or support needs relating to victims. The resident raised the impact on his mental health throughout the complaint. There is evidence it referred the resident for support to his GP or a support network in November 2023. However, this was the only occasion over a 20 month period and was impacted by its failure to communicate.
  7. The ASB policy also states the landlord will complete a risk assessment in high-priority cases. Its policy does not determine what is high risk. However, there is no evidence of the landlord considering this in the evidence or assessing this in its complaint responses. This was a failure to act in accordance with its ASB policy. The complaint would have been resolved with reasonable redress had these matters not been outstanding.

Complaint handling

  1. The Ombudsman raised the resident’s complaint on his behalf on 27 February 2023. The landlord appropriately acknowledged the complaint the same day. The landlord took 33 working days to provide its complaint response. This exceeded the timescale in its complaint response by 23 working days. It did apologise for this delay.
  2. The landlord decided to escalate the resident’s complaint on 1 November 2023 following further contact from its CEO’s office. However, the resident wrote to the CEO on 7 September 2023 with his dissatisfaction with the lack of communication and inaction on the case. The landlord should have escalated the case at this time to ensure it resolved the resident’s concerns at the earliest possible opportunity.
  3. The landlord offered total compensation of £10 for its complaint handling failures. When considered against the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance, the amount offered did not reflect the delays in responding to the stage 1 complaint and in raising the stage 2 complaint. This was particularly relevant as the resident had complained on both occasions about its failure to communicate with him.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was service failure in respect of the landlord’s handling of:
    1. The resident’s reports of ASB.
    2. The resident’s complaint.

Orders

  1. In light of the failings in this report the landlord must, within 4 weeks of the date of this determination:
    1. pay the resident additional compensation of £200. This comprises:
      1. £100 for its failure to complete a risk assessment and offer ongoing support to the resident.
      2. £100 for its complaint handling failures

This is in addition to the compensation of £950, offered during the complaint procedure.

  1. Complete a risk assessment if it has not already completed one within the last 6 months. It must provide this evidence to the Ombudsman and resident of this.
  2. Provide evidence of compliance with this order must be provided by the deadline.