London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q) (202229276)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202229276

London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q)

29 May 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 response to the resident’s:
   1. Reports of an inadequate hot water system.
   2. Request for a replacement boiler.

Background

2. The resident has lived in the 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom house with her husband and 3 children since 2014.
3. The landlord is aware of the resident and her husband’s medical conditions. The resident has fibromyalgia, and her husband has ankylosing spondylitis. The property is adapted with a wet room downstairs and a bathroom upstairs with a mixer tap for a shower. 
4. The resident contacted the landlord to raise a complaint on 20 January 2023. The resident stated the hot water system was not fit for purpose for the size of the property, resulting in the resident not being able to have a bath for 6 years. The resident said the issue had been ongoing for 3-4 years despite logging previous complaints with the landlord.
5. The landlord or its contractor completed a full system inspection and found the cylinder, which it installed around 2016, was too small for the property. The recommendation was either to install a new cylinder and shower pump or the best solution would be to install a new combination boiler.
6. The landlord raised a job to fit a new cylinder and pump on 9 February 2023. The resident advised the landlord she did not want a larger cylinder and pump, she wanted a combination boiler, and she would not give the contractor access. The contractor attended on 27 February 2023 and the resident did not permit access for this installation. The landlord closed the job, writing to advise her to contact it, should she change her mind. The resident told the Ombudsman the resolution the landlord offered would worsen her financial circumstances.
7. The landlord, in its final resolution letter did not uphold the resident’s complaint. However, due to the delays in dealing with the resident’s escalation it offered her compensation totalling £110, £60 for the delays, £30 for the distress and inconvenience this caused, and £20 for the resident’s time and trouble. The resident did not accept this.
8. The resident remains dissatisfied and as a resolution would like a combination boiler installed or an adequate hot water system which does not add to the financial strain on the household.

Assessment and findings

9. When investigating a complaint, the Ombudsman applies its Dispute Resolution Principles. These are high level good practice guidance developed from the Ombudsman’s experience of resolving disputes, for use by everyone involved in the complaints process. There are only 3 principles driving effective dispute resolution:
   1. Be fair – treat people fairly and follow fair processes.
   2. Put things right.
   3. Learn from outcomes.
10. The Ombudsman must first consider whether a failing on the part of the landlord occurred, and if so, whether this led to any adverse effect or detriment to the resident. If it is found that a failing did lead to an adverse effect, the investigation will then consider whether the landlord has taken enough action to ‘put things right’ and ‘learn from outcomes’.

The landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of an inadequate hot water system

11. Under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 the landlord is obliged to keep installations for space heating and heating water in repair and proper working order. The resident’s tenancy agreement confirms this.
12. In the landlord’s component renewal referral policy, it states it aims to balance financial control, fair allocation of budgetary resources based on property condition, and resident experience.
13. The landlord attended the property to assess the situation following the resident’s complaint. It found the current cylinder at 1050×400 (mm) was too small for the size of the property. The landlord could replace this with one which measured 1500×400 and fit a shower pump or, the best solution would be to convert to a combination boiler and then the taps would feed off the mains water supply.
14. The landlord took the decision to replace the cylinder with a larger one and fit a shower pump. In accordance with the component renewal policy the landlord should consider budgetary responsibilities when making decisions.
15. The landlord installed a cylinder which could not accommodate the needs of a 3-bedroom house. The resident correctly identified she had an inadequate hot water system and has lived with the insufficient cylinder, raising this with the landlord through complaints. The landlord should not have installed an inadequate cylinder, however the Ombudsman is not addressing the installation of the cylinder, but rather the landlord’s response to the issue.
16. The landlord offered the resident a resolution which the resident did not want to accept and refused for work to be undertaken. The Ombudsman finds the landlord was reasonable and fulfilled its obligations to address the issue. The Ombudsman is aware the resident has cited the new cylinder and shower pump would worsen her financial circumstances. We have seen no evidence she communicated this to the landlord, therefore this cannot be considered as part of this determination.
17. In accordance with the Scheme, the Ombudsman finds there was no maladministration from the landlord in its response to the resident’s reports of an inadequate hot water system.

The landlord’s response to the resident’s request for a replacement boiler

18. In the landlord’s component renewal referral policy, it states it will usually repair rather than replace defective components.
19. The landlord’s repairs policy states where age and wear and tear affect key components the landlord will replace these through a planned programme.
20. The landlord confirmed the boiler was replaced in 2016. At the time of the landlord’s final resolution letter, it confirmed the heating system was functioning well. Therefore, as the landlord had offered the resident a resolution for the inadequate hot water provision, it would not be required to install a new combination boiler, unless there were significant repair issues which meant that the current system could not be economically repaired.
21. The landlord illustrated it considered the resident’s request for a combination boiler. Installation of a combination boiler, as suggested in the initial survey, would effectively be considered an improvement to the property rather than a repair, which is not something a landlord would be obliged to do.
22. Social landlords have limited resources and to be fair to all residents and manage their resources effectively, landlords are expected to prioritise upgrades and major repairs. It is more economical to run these upgrades as part of a programme than to individually pick properties to be upgraded ahead of schedule. The landlord would not be expected to replace the space heating and heating water system outside of its planned schedule unless it was beyond economic repair, or it had received a recommendation from an occupational therapist for adaptations to be made for health reasons.   
23. The landlord is expected to assess residents’ requirements and vulnerabilities to establish whether it needs to go further to resolve an issue. The landlord, in its final resolution letter confirmed it noted the resident’s health concerns and vulnerabilities.
24. The Ombudsman does not doubt the resident’s comments regarding her and her husband’s medical conditions, however, we are not qualified to make judgement about how their health and wellbeing was affected. The resident could have approached the local authority or her GP for a referral for an occupational therapy assessment to provide evidence to support the claims that she needed a combination boiler. The landlord would not be able to determine what adaptations may be appropriate without advice from a qualified occupational therapist. The Ombudsman would expect the landlord to have provided the resident with this advice.
25. The decision not to install a combination boiler was made due to the fact the resident had a working heating system. When the Ombudsman spoke with the resident, she advised the landlord had been called out 3 times this month due to issues with the heating. In accordance with paragraph 42a of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme this aspect of the issue may not be considered in this report as it has been made prior to having exhausted the landlord’s complaints procedure and therefore the landlord has not had the opportunity to respond to this. However, this may be something the landlord can further discuss with the resident.
26. In accordance with the Scheme, the Ombudsman finds there was no maladministration from the landlord in its response to the resident’s request for a replacement boiler.

Determination

27. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was:
    1. No maladministration in the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of an inadequate hot water system.
    2. No maladministration in the landlord’s response to the resident’s request for a replacement boiler.