London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q) (202231216)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202231216

London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q)

14 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

The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of:
1. Damp and mould in her home, including a mould damaged shower stand and shower head.
2. A faulty heating and hot water system.
3. Faulty bedroom door handles.
The Ombudsman has also considered the landlord’s complaint handling.

Background

The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord. The landlord is a housing association. The property is a 3 bed maisonette, which the resident lives in with her husband and children. The tenancy commenced on 2 November 2009.
There are household vulnerabilities noted in the landlord’s records. The resident’s husband has recently undergone chemotherapy and radiotherapy and the resident and her children are asthmatic. The resident has also reported suffering from anxiety.
The landlord’s repair logs show that the residents household was marked as ‘vulnerable’.
The landlord’s repair logs show that the resident reported damp and mould all over her bathroom on 5 July 2022. Further to this report, the landlord commissioned a specialist contractor to carry out a damp and mould inspection report to the resident’s home on 8 July 2022.
The damp and mould report found no structural defects but stated that the property suffered from mould/ mildew and identified several issues which needed addressing:
1. The extractor fans were inadequate and needed an upgrade. The bathroom (which had no window) may benefit from a more powerful extractor fan.
2. The extractor fan in the downstairs toilet (which also had no window) was not working and needed replacing.
3. The thermostat in the property was not working. A repair would be needed to enable the resident to control the temperature adequately (as the resident should maintain the heating between 16 and 21 degrees Celsius).
4. The inspector stated the heating was a community heating system. He adjusted the heating and hot water programmer.
5. The inspector identified mould on the bathroom ceiling, bathroom tiles and grout, mould around the main bedroom window, and around the third bedroom window. He also identified condensation around the kitchen and living room front walls.
6. The seals around the bathroom floor and downstairs toilet needed resealing.
7. He gave the resident lifestyle advice such as ventilating the property and de-cluttering for better air flow.
The inspector reported the necessary repairs to the landlord on the same day of 8 July 2022.
The landlord’s contractor cleaned and shielded the mould in the bathroom, bedroom, living room and kitchen on 13 July 2022.
The landlord asked its heating contractor to repair the broken thermostat on 20 July 2022. This was marked as ‘complete’ on the landlord’s repair logs, as of 25 July 2022.
The landlord raised a job for its contractors to reseal/repair the seals around the bathroom floor and downstairs toilet on 26 July 2022. This work was completed on 17 August 2022.
It also raised a job for the bathroom and toilet extractor fans to be repaired/replaced on 26 July 2022.
The landlord’s electrical contractor attended to the extractor fans on 3 November 2022. It removed some dust from the fan in the upstairs bathroom and ordered a replacement for the downstairs toilet fan. It attended again on 24 November 2022, and installed new fans in both the bathroom and the downstairs toilet.
The landlord raised a job to ‘service boilers’ on 9 January 2023, but its repairs log shows that this action was marked as ‘closed’. There is no evidence to show this was attended to.
The resident contacted the landlord on 13 January 2023 to state that the mould had returned around the bathroom and tiles. The landlord repair log shows that this was marked as ‘complete – no action’ as of 10 February 2023.
The resident contacted the landlord on 13 January 2023 to report that her heating and hot water was not working. The landlord’s repair logs identified her as a ‘vulnerable resident’ and logged the repair on 14 January 2023. This is marked as ‘complete’ on the landlord’s repair logs as of 14 January 2023.
The resident called the landlord again on 1 February 2023 to advise that the thermostat had still not been repaired.
On 2 March 2023, the landlord’s repair logs show that a job was raised to renew the sealant and to grout the tiles behind the kitchen sink . A further job was raised on the same day to renew the sealant around the bathroom floor, around the bath and the basin as well as a job to replace the shower head. These jobs were marked as ‘cancelled’.
The resident submitted a stage 1 complaint about her heating on 2 March 2023. She complained that:
1. She had reported her heating as broken in January 2023 and she still had no heating, despite having explained that there were vulnerable people in the household.
2. There had been 3 call outs and the issue remained unresolved. She said that a contractor had gone upstairs and ‘opened one of the taps’ (on the boiler ). Soon afterwards, she had ended up with £210 arrears on her heating/hot water meter. She said that this had also caused a leak under the area.
3. Her husband and children were vulnerable due to health issues and it was ‘freezing cold’.
4. She said that she taken the day off work as she had been expecting a heating engineer that day but nobody had arrived.
5. There had been a very poor response to the emergency call she had raised in January 2023.
6. She wanted the issue to be looked into immediately.
The landlord’s surveyor inspected the resident’s bathroom on 3 March 2023, and ordered the bathroom to be re-sealed again.
The resident added to her stage 1 complaint on 6 March 2023. She reiterated her concerns that her heating was not working. She also complained about the following:
1. The landlord’s surveyor had recently visited the property and she had told him that she and her children suffered from asthma and that her husband was extremely vulnerable. She had told him that although the mould had been cleaned before, it kept returning. She stated he had not taken her concerns seriously.
2. Her shower stand and shower head were severely affected by mould.
3. Her bedroom door handles were broken.
4. She wanted her heating and all other complaint points dealt with as soon as possible.
The landlord’s complaints team acknowledged the resident’s complaint on 6 March 2023. It noted the complaint definition to include the heating issue, damp and mould causing internal damage and reported repairs to her bedroom door handles. It stated it aimed to provide a written response within 10 working days.
The landlord’s complaint staff emailed its surveyor the same day, asking it to provide an update in terms of the shower issue and the bedroom doors.
The landlord’s surveyor responded on 6 March 2022. He stated that he had chased the gas team and the boiler had not been working since January 2022. He said that he had raised the following orders in terms of the damp and mould:
1. The kitchen tiles to be grouted and sealant renewed above sink.
2. The shower head to be changed.
3. The tiles around the bath regrouted and the sealant around the bath, floor and basin to be renewed.
The landlord’s complaints staff emailed a colleague in its energy team on 6 March 2023. It noted that a complaint had been raised regarding the heating system and asked for an update.
The landlord’s energy team provided a complaint response to the resident on 7 March 2023. It did not indicate which stage of the complaints process this was. It stated that:
1. It had called the resident that day and confirmed she still had no heating.
2. It had spoken to the heating contractors and an engineer would be dropping off temporary heaters that night.
3. An appointment had been scheduled for 9 March 2023.
4. It apologised that the resident had needed to make a complaint and was leaving her complaint open.
5. If the resident did not agree with the outcome, she could escalate to a stage 2 complaint.
The resident emailed the landlord’s complaints team again on 7 March 2023 to advise that there were gaps in her bathroom floor, where the landlord had carried out some extreme cleaning to attempt to get rid of mould in the past. She also asked for her bathroom ceiling to be painted due to the mould and said there was embedded damp around the toilet and bathroom sinks. She also said the kitchen sink worktop was damaged due to mould.
She said that her thermostat had not been working for a number of years and that she had reported this on multiple occasions, to be told that parts would be ordered but nothing had been done. She said she could not adjust the thermostat and could only turn the heating controls from the main switch. She stated that her family was suffering and that she wanted to be compensated for the stress and wanted all the repairs to be done.
On 9 March 2023, the resident clarified that she wanted all the requested repairs to be completed, including the heating and hot water. She wanted compensation for the distress and inconvenience and wanted to be re-housed due to her husband’s medical condition, which was known to the landlord.
The resident contacted this Service on 9 March 2023. She asked for guidance with the complaints process and also advised she wanted to change energy companies.
On 10 March 2023, the landlord raised a job with its heating contractor. It asked it to inspect the heating interface unit (HIU) as the resident had reported very high bills. The job was marked as ‘complete’ on the landlord’s repair logs as at 13 March 2023.
On 20 March 2023, the landlord raised a job for the following:
1. The kitchen tiles to be to be grouted and sealant renewed above sink.
2. The shower head to be changed.
3. The tiles around the bath to be regrouted and the sealant around the bath, floor and basin to be renewed.
4. The above jobs were marked as ‘completed’ on 4 July 2023.
The landlord’s complaints team responded to the resident’s stage 1 complaint on 20 March 2023. It said the following:
1. The heating complaint raised on 2 March was being handled by its energy team under a separate case reference.
2. In respect of the damp and mould around the bath and tiles, it had ordered a further specialist damp and mould survey. The resident had declined this as a previous survey had been completed so it closed the job.
3. Following the landlord’s surveyor’s inspection the landlord had contacted its direct maintenance team and confirmed that it had raised orders to renew the sealant behind the kitchen sink and grout the tiles between the kitchen sink, renew the sealant around the bathroom floor and grout the tiles around the bath. It had also raised an order to renew the sealant around the bath and basin and to replace the shower head.
4. The resident could expect contact for the jobs above to arrange a suitable appointment.
5. It gave lifestyle advice to minimise condensation.
6. It apologised for the delays and said it was increasing the amount of contractors it used.
7. It apologised for the communication issues and said it would be carrying out a review of the failings to implement preventative measures.
8. It offered no response regarding the bedroom door handles.
9. It offered the resident £145 compensation, which included £25 for the delay in its stage 1 complaint response.
The resident escalated her complaint and submitted a stage 2 complaint on the same day of 20 March 2023. She said that she continued to have repair issues so wanted these addressed.
The landlord acknowledged the resident’s stage 2 complaint on 21 March 2023. It said it was experiencing a high demand for escalations and advised her that she could contact this Service at any time. It asked for the resident’s desired outcomes as a resolution to the complaint.
The resident responded on 22 March 2023. She said that she wanted all her requested repairs to be completed, including her faulty meter, compensation for suffering and distress, including separation from her family for over 2 months. (her husband had moved out to stay with friends due to his medical condition and the presence of damp and lack of heating).
The resident emailed the landlord’s energy team on 14 April 2023. She said she had been away for 3 weeks and had returned on 9 April 2023. She said the meter had continued to consume a very high amount of energy, despite her being away. She sent photographic evidence of the meter’s usage. She stated that a heating contractor had suggested that the energy company would need to inspect this as the readings ‘did not make sense’. She said that something was seriously wrong with the meter and this was causing her a great deal of stress and anxiety. She did not understand the reason for the high consumption as she had been away for 3 weeks and the heating had not been working. She also stated that although engineers had stopped a leak to her boiler, the problem persisted.
The landlord’s energy team responded on 17 April 2023. It said the resident would need to contact a different department to pursue any compensation and damages from the leak. It said it would offer compensation regarding the lack of heating and hot water once everything was fixed.
The landlord’s repair log shows that on 19 April 2023, a job was raised for the landlord’s heating contractor to repair the heating and check the meter for high consumption. This job was marked as ‘cancelled’.
On 24 April 2023, the landlord raised a job with its heating contractor to attend to the resident’s boiler, as this was leaking and causing damage to her property. The landlord’s contractor attempted to attend to the property on 24 April 2023 but could not gain access.
The landlord’s heating contractor attended on 26 April 2023. It drained some water from the boiler and left the radiators on. The resident emailed the landlord to state that after the contractor’s visit, the radiators had stopped working completely downstairs, apart from the radiator in the downstairs toilet. The resident also said that her previous arrears remained outstanding on her meter, despite the evidence of a leak and a lack of heating for months. She asked someone to look into the excessive energy consumption which remained unresolved.
The resident sent the landlord evidence of the very high energy consumption on 27 April 2023. She said she had used almost £11 in less than 24 hours, even though she had turned the heating off the previous day at 6pm as it was not working downstairs. She asked for this to be dealt with urgently.
The landlord’s energy team responded on the same day and advised that it would give this evidence to the energy company to calculate the amount of refunded credit to her energy account. The landlord also said that it would raise a job with its heating contractors to repair the radiators in the living room and was pleased to hear most of the heaters were working.
The resident responded to the landlord’s energy team on 27 April 2023 to clarify that all the downstairs heating was not working except the downstairs toilet as she had previously mentioned.
The landlord raised a job for the heating repairs on the same day of 27 April 2023. This job was marked as ‘complete’ on 28 April 2023.
The resident contacted this Service on 4 May 2023 to request assistance in progressing her complaint.
This Service contacted the landlord on 4 May 2023 to ask it to respond to the resident’s stage 2 complaint.
The landlord’s customer resolutions team acknowledged the resident’s stage 2 complaint on 5 May 2023, after the intervention from this Service. It also called the resident to discuss the complaint in detail. The resident said that she had deep rooted mould and felt that the landlord’s surveyor had been dismissive on his visit. She said the shower head and stand had not been changed and that two bedroom door handles needed changing as they opened the wrong way and were also very stiff.
She also stated that her heating was costing her a lot of money and was not working properly and that downstairs radiators remained an issue. The landlord said that the heating issue was being dealt with by its energy team but that it would liaise with this team about getting the heating fixed and issuing compensation. The resident also said that there had been a leak from her heating which had damaged her vacuum cleaner and carpet. She said the repairs were outstanding and she could not afford her heating costs and that the issues were affecting her health and wellbeing. The landlord said that it would send her its insurance details to make a claim on its public liability insurance in respect of her damaged belongings.
On 5 May 2023, the landlord’s complaint reviewer contacted its energy team, who confirmed that the resident’s bills were unusually high, particularly as the resident’s heating had not been working for a long period of time. The energy team confirmed the heating system was still faulty, despite replacing valves on 26 April 2023. It said that another engineer had visited that day and noticed that one of the valves for high consumption was open, hence the high bills. It also stated that the heating upstairs came on by itself since it had been previously repaired. It confirmed that a heating contractor needed to attend with a senior officer and repair all the issues. It said the problem had been ongoing for 5 months and there had been recurring issues with the heating contractors. It confirmed that compensation would be provided to the resident once the job was fully completed.
The landlord’s internal email exchange of 5 May 2023, shows that there was some confusion about which department would be dealing with the entire complaint. The landlord eventually decided that the energy team would manage the heating complaint issues and the customer resolutions team would manage the remaining issues.
The landlord contacted its surveyor on 5 May 2023 to highlight the resident’s outstanding repair issues (not the heating issues) and asked if these had been raised during the inspection.
The landlord’s energy team called and emailed the resident on 5 May 2023. The resident thanked the team for accepting her stage 2 complaint. She reiterated the issues with her heating. She thanked the landlord for letting her know that it would compensate her once the repairs were finished, and that the energy company would credit her energy meter. The resident also mentioned that the landlord had agreed to visit her the next day to look at her kitchen sink, work top repair, and all other outstanding repairs.
The landlord’s customer resolutions team called the resident on 10 May 2023. Further to this, the landlord contacted its energy team to advise that the resident’s heating had still not been repaired. It asked the energy team to chase up the heating contractor. It also said that the resident was struggling financially with the costs of her heating. It said that it was aware that its policy stated that compensation was only paid, further to resolution but asked if its energy team could do anything to help the resident in the meantime.
The energy team responded on the same day, saying that it had booked an appointment for a manager to attend the resident’s property on 16 May 2023. It also said that the energy company would be crediting the resident’s energy account and refunding her for her energy use so far. The energy team was awaiting an update on both.
The landlord’s customer resolutions team raised a repair for the bedroom door handles to be replaced on 10 May 2023.
The landlord’s customer resolutions manager chased its heating contractors on 17 May 2023 to ask what was happening with the repair and the contractor responded that an appointment to fit outstanding parts and flush the system was booked for 19 May 2023. The landlord passed this information onto the resident.
The resident emailed the landlord’s customer resolutions team and energy teams on 19 May 2023 to say that a contractor had attended at 5pm that day. Following the contractor’s visit, none of the radiators were working (including upstairs and downstairs). She said the contractor had said there were pressure issues which were affecting the radiators and it would report this. The resident said she was physically and mentally exhausted and that 5 months was a long time to wait for a heating repair.
The landlord’s energy team responded to the resident on 24 May 2023. It said that it would be sending compensation shortly and would be contacting its heating contractors to repair the radiators. It offered £431.08 compensation and told the resident that her meter debit had been cleared and credited with £50. It said that as a contractor had attended on 19 May 2023 the job was considered to be complete and that it would need to raise a new job order as none of the heaters were now working. It said its policy only awarded compensation for failure of heating in the winter months.
The email correspondence of 26 May 2023 shows that the landlord was not clear what works had been done on 19 May 2023 by its heating contractor. The landlord also raised a further job for its heating contractor, who stated it had raised a job ‘for the boiler room’. It is unclear from the correspondence, what this job entailed.
The resident emailed the landlord customer resolutions team on 27 May 2023 to advise that the heating repair was still outstanding. The landlord replied on 30 May 2023 to say that its energy team were investigating this. The landlord said it had been given ‘conflicting information’ from the heating contractor but was ‘sure’ the energy team would contact the resident when it had any updates.
The landlord also confirmed an appointment to fix the door handles had been made for 27 June 2023.
The landlord’s customer resolutions team provided the resident with a stage 2 complaint response on 5 June 2023. It said the following:
1. Its specialist damp and mould contractors had completed a clean and shield of any areas affected by mould.
2. It raised a repair to fix the thermostat on 20 July 2022.
3. The extractor fans had been overhauled on 3 November 2022, then replaced on 24 November 2022.
4. Its property surveyor had attended on 2 March 2023 and raised a repair the same day to; renew the sealant behind the kitchen sink and grout the bathroom tiles, renew the sealant in the bathroom floor and around the bath and basin and to replace the shower head.
5. The repairs for the kitchen and bathroom were currently with its contractors. Its quote had been approved and they would contact the resident directly to arrange the works.
6. It believed the thermostat had been repaired and apologised for the delays in completing this. It relied on its contractors to provide correct information and this had not been the case.
7. It apologised that the door handle repairs were not addressed at its stage 1 complaint response.
8. It apologised to the resident and increased its compensation offer to £475.00
9. It advised that its energy team were dealing with the heating and hot water complaint as a separate complaint and they would be in touch with the resident regarding any compensation.

Post Internal Complaints Procedure

The landlord replaced 2 bedroom door handles on 27 June 2023. The resident advises that one bedroom door handle is still broken and needs replacing.
The outstanding works to the kitchen and bathroom remained outstanding as at 24 October 2023, when the landlord carried out another inspection.
The heating and hot water issue remained outstanding as at 25 October 2023. The records show it breaking down on at least two occasions. The records also show that the meter issue had not been resolved as at 20 December 2023 and that the landlord had ordered a thorough check of the resident’s heat interface unit (HIU) to resolve the matter.
As at 24 April 2024, the resident advises that the damp and mould has been resolved in the kitchen. She says that the damp and mould issues in the bathroom remain outstanding. The shower head and shower stand have not been replaced. She states the bathroom ceiling has mould on it. She also says that there are large gaps in the tiles, where the landlord removed the mould and that the landlord did not re-grout or re-tile the area. She also states that there are gaps in the floor and the sealant was not repaired or replaced around the bath and bathroom floor.
The resident’s claim for her damaged belongings was denied by the landlord’s insurance company.
The resident advises that her heating and hot water has been repaired. She said she had no heating or hot water for 7 months. She states that her meter is still registering an unusually high usage and that she is in arrears of £1300.00 and does not put the heating on.
She states that she never received £431.08 compensation for the heating complaint. She said the landlord had cleared the debt on the meter and put £50 credit on the meter.
She said that she did not accept the £475 compensation for the other elements of her complaint.
As an outcome to her complaint the resident would like all bathroom repairs to be completed and her hot water and heating meter to be repaired/replaced to reflect the correct energy use. She would like her insurance claim to be re-visited. She would also like compensation for the distress and anxiety and time and trouble. Further, she would like an apology.
This Service contacted the landlord on 24 April 2024 to request its correspondence at stage 2 in respect of the heating complaint. The landlord responded that the resident did not escalate this element of her complaint to stage 2 of its complaints process.

Assessment and findings

Scope of Investigation

The resident has asked this Service to investigate the landlord’s insurance company’s refusal of her claim. Whilst we understand the resident’s frustration, we cannot investigate complaints which fall properly within the jurisdiction of another Ombudsman, regulator or complaint handling body. In this case, this aspect of the complaint would be better dealt with by the financial ombudsman. Nevertheless, this Service will investigate the landlord’s actions and whether it followed its repairs and compensation policy.
The resident has also advised that the handling of this matter by the landlord has led to a deterioration in the health of the household. The Ombudsman cannot draw conclusions on the causation of, or liability for, impacts on health and wellbeing. This is outside our jurisdiction, but consideration has been given to the general distress and inconvenience that may have been caused to the resident.

Landlord obligations, policies and procedures

The landlord’s repairs policy states that it works within the Landlord and Tenant Act, Equality Act and Housing, Health and Safety Rating System (HHRS 2006).
It is responsible for maintaining the structure of the home and for fixtures and fittings for water, gas, electricity, heating and sanitation.
It says that in the kitchen, it is responsible for; hot water, splash backs and sink tiles, grouting and silicone sealant around tiling and worktops (when rotten).
In the bathroom it is responsible for hot and cold water supply, showers and shower screens, splash backs to the bath, shower tiles, grouting and silicone seals. It is also responsible for silicone sealant around baths and showers. It is also responsible for any non– slip floor coverings it installed. Further, it is responsible for extractor fans and pull cord strings.
It goes on to say that it is responsible for all types of heating systems and will investigate any reports that this may not be working correctly. This includes boilers, pipes and radiators and faulty thermostats.
It is responsible for all space and water heating including water tanks and cylinders, storage and convector heaters and immersion and water heaters. It is also responsible for heat pumps and any solar panels.
It carries on to say that it is responsible for internal doors when handles need repairing or replacing.
It says that it will investigate reports of condensation and mould via the ‘Healthy Homes programme’
It operates a two tier time scale with repairs as follows:
1. Emergency repairs – the landlord will attend to emergency repairs within 4 hours if reported via its out of hours service or 24 hours if reported within working hours.
2. Routine repairs – the landlord states it will aim to complete the repair at the ‘earliest mutually convenient appointment’
It classes total or partial loss of space or water heating between 31 October and 1 May as a repair which will be attended to within 1 working day.
It advises its residents to take out their own home contents insurance.
The landlord’s vulnerable residents policy states that it will provide priority repairs in respect of health and safety for its vulnerable residents. It says that it is able to adjust its service standards where a repairs delay would put vulnerable residents at risk because of their condition.
The landlord’s damp and mould policy recognises that damp and mould can have serious impacts on the health, safety and well being of its residents and can potentially lead to long term damage to its properties if not dealt with quickly.
The policy states that it will take responsibility for identifying and resolving damp and mould quickly and effectively. It says that following a report of damp and mould, it will establish if an immediate repair is required. Following the report, an assessment of the property will be agreed at a mutually convenient time within 20 working days. The assessment will identify the underlying cause of the damp and mould. The resident will be given advice on managing the issue and any remedial works identified will be raised to its internal and external maintenance teams within 10 working days of the assessment. It says that multiple fixes may be required and that it will be clear with residents on timescales and keep them informed throughout.
The landlord operates a two stage complaints policy. It says it will respond to stage 1 complaints within 10 working days and stage 2 complaints within 20 working days.
This Service’s complaint handling code (the Code) states that landlords must have a person or team assigned to take responsibility for complaint handling. It goes on to say that the complaints officer may allocate complaints to another person. Where this is the case, the complaint handler appointed must have appropriate complaint handling skills.
The Code goes on to say that for both stage 1 and stage 2 complaints, landlords must confirm in writing to the resident:
1. The complaint stage.
2. The complaint definition.
3. The decision of the complaint.
4. The reasons for any decisions made.
5. The details of any remedy to put things right.
6. Details of any outstanding actions.
7. Details of how to escalate the matter if the resident is not satisfied with the answer.
The landlord’s compensation policy states that it expects residents to take out adequate home contents insurance for their personal belongings to insure them against accidental damage, loss, fire or water damage.
The policy goes on to say that where damage occurs because of its’ contractors negligence, it will refer the issue to its insurance team. This includes damage to residents’ personal possessions.
It offers £20 for missed appointments without at least 24 hours notice and £10 for any failure to respond to a query within 10 working days where it is identified as part of a complaint investigation.
It offers compensation for loss of facilities or amenities when a resident is not able to use a room/rooms in their home because of a repair issue that is its responsibility and which caused prolonged and unreasonable disruption. In this case it will consider a partial refund of rent.
It states that it will award discretionary compensation when its mistake causes a resident distress and inconvenience and time and effort to put things right. It says that it considers individual circumstances such as the resident’s vulnerabilities and where this has caused a greater impact.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould in her home, including a mould damaged shower stand and shower head.

The resident reported damp and mould in her bathroom and a broken extractor fan on 5 July 2022. The landlord responded appropriately in raising an inspection to a specialist damp and mould contractor and it was appropriate and within its policy that this inspection was carried out on 8 July 2022.
It was also appropriate that the landlord’s contractor raised works to be carried out to the bathroom and toilet extractor fans, the thermostat, bathroom tiles and grouting and bathroom seals, bathroom ceiling and seals around the bathroom floor and downstairs toilet. It was further appropriate that it identified mould in one of the bedrooms, the living room and the kitchen.
It was also appropriate that the landlord’s contractor cleaned and shielded the mould in the bathroom, bedroom, living room and kitchen on 13 July 2022.
However, it was not reasonable that when the landlord raised a job for its heating contractor to repair the broken thermostat on 20 July 2022, that this repair had not been completed as at 5 June 2023. Although the landlord has stated that its contractor had informed it that the thermostat had been repaired, the landlord is responsible for any contractors it uses and the landlord should have checked its contractor’s repair records. The resident was unable to regulate the temperature in her home, and this may well have contributed to further condensation in the property.
Good record keeping is a prerequisite to providing a good housing management service and neither the landlord, nor this Service has any written record of the heating contractor’s visits. This is a failing on the part of the landlord and may have led to the issue being substantially delayed. This caused the resident distress, inconvenience, time and trouble in pursuing the issue and impacted on the enjoyment of her home.
Although the landlord raised a job for the extractor fans to be repaired/replaced on 26 July 2022, this was not attended to until 3 November 2022 and then 24 November 2022 for a full and final repair. This is 88 working days and considerably outside of the landlord’s published repair time scales. This is an unreasonable delay. This delay may well have contributed to further condensation in the resident’s property as the bathroom and toilet had no windows so there was no way for the resident to manually disperse any excess moisture. This delay caused the resident additional distress and inconvenience and further impacted on her household’s ability to enjoy her home. This is particularly pertinent as the landlord was aware of the resident’s household vulnerabilities, so this Service would have expected the landlord to attend to the repair/replacement as a priority, as per its vulnerable residents’ policy.
Further, although the landlord’s contractor cleaned and shielded the mould in various rooms on 13 July 2022, no further works were carried out for many months. The resident contacted the landlord again on 13 January 2023 to advise it that the mould had returned around the bathroom and tiles. The landlord did not raise a job for this until 2 March 2023. This is an unreasonable delay and caused the resident distress and anxiety and the continued impact on the enjoyment of her home. Further, the landlord’s records show that this job was marked as ‘cancelled’.
Although, on 6 March 2023, following another inspection, the landlord raised jobs for the kitchen tiles to be grouted and sealant renewed above the sink, the shower head to be changed, the tiles around the bath to be regrouted and sealant around the bath, floor and basin to be renewed, the resident advises that most of these jobs remain outstanding as of 24 April 2024. She states that the kitchen repairs have been dealt with but none of the bathroom repairs have been addressed, apart from the extractor fans. This is an unreasonable delay and caused the resident anxiety, distress, time and trouble and the inability to enjoy her home. The repairs were not completed within a reasonable time and this is a failing on the part of the landlord.
It did not take into account the resident’s household vulnerabilities or the severe impact on them, contrary to its repairs and vulnerable residents policies. The resident’s husband had to move out of the home due to the impact of the outstanding repair issues. The landlord did not take this into consideration and this caused the household further adverse effect.
As such a finding of severe maladministration is made, along with orders for redress.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of a faulty heating and hot water system

The resident raised an emergency repair on 14 January 2023 to say that her heating and hot water was not working. The landlord classes total loss of heating and hot water as a repair which it will attend to within 1 working day, as per the right to repair guidelines. The landlord appropriately flagged the resident’s household as vulnerable.
However, the heating and hot water was not repaired within the landlord’s specified timescales. It has not been possible for this Service to determine exactly what actions were taken in respect of the heating and hot water because the landlord does not have full repair logs of its heating contractors’ attendance or works carried out. Instead, it relies on it completing the work after it has raised any works orders. This is not appropriate. The landlord is responsible for its contractors and any work it carries out. The landlord should monitor performance and should maintain clear and accurate records so that service delivery does not impact on its residents.
The landlord’s internal communication and communication with the resident shows that the heating and hot water were not repaired until at least August 2023, but it is not possible to say when exactly this was repaired. This extensive delay is a serious failing on the part of the landlord. The resident and her household were without heating and hot water for a period of 7 months. This is significantly outside of the landlord’s own timescales and a concern when it was aware of the household vulnerabilities. This caused the resident significant adverse effect in terms of distress and anxiety, time and trouble in pursuing the issue and severely impacted on the enjoyment of her home. The landlord failed to adequately monitor the repair and in doing so, did not abide by either its repairs policy or its vulnerable residents policy.
Further, in her stage 1 complaint of 2 March 2023, the resident had reported that one of the landlord’s heating contractors had caused a leak to her property and subsequently requested compensation for damage to her belongings. The landlord gave her its insurance company’s details to pursue the issue. The landlord’s repairs policy says that it will refer any allegations of damage caused by its contractors to its insurance company. It does not say that the residents should contact them directly. This is a failing on the part of the landlord and added to the resident’s time and trouble in pursuing the issue.
Additionally, on 2 March 2023, when the resident complained that subsequent to the boiler leak, she had £210 arrears on her meter, the landlord did not raise a job with its heating contractor to investigate the issue until 10 March 2023. It is unclear from the records exactly what actions the landlord’s heating contractor took to resolve the meter usage issue; however, the internal landlord records show that this job was not attended to until 24 April 2023. This is a significant delay and caused the resident distress and anxiety, time and trouble in pursuing the issue and impacted on her enjoyment of her home, as well as her energy bills.
The resident emailed the landlord’s energy team on at least five occasions between 25 April 2023 and 19 May 2023 to pursue the heating and hot water issue. It is unreasonable that the landlord did not attempt to resolve the issue sooner. Although the landlord contacted its heating contractor, it is the landlord’s responsibility to make sure works are completed.
Although the landlord did contact its heating contractors and may have contacted its energy supplier, it is unclear what specific actions were taken as the landlord does not have its heating contractor’s repair logs and this is a failing on the part of the landlord.
Although the landlord cleared the resident’s heating/hot water meter debt on 24 May 2023 and credited the meter with £50, the resident advises that the meter is still an issue and has not been replaced or repaired. Furthermore, she states that the £431.08 compensation offered to her was never paid. It is not appropriate that the landlord did not fully repair or replace the resident’s meter as this caused her adverse effect in terms of the loss of enjoyment of her home as well as time and trouble and distress and inconvenience.
Additionally, the resident’s husband had to move out of the property for a period of time, due to his health vulnerabilities and the significant delays to the heating/hot water repairs. This had a significant adverse effect on the household as they were unable to enjoy either their home or family life. The landlord did not take account of the resident’s vulnerabilities, contrary to its vulnerable residents policy. Additionally, although the landlord’s compensation policy states that it only pays compensation for loss of heating in winter, it made no adjustment’s for the household’s individual vulnerabilities and it would have been appropriate to do so.
Further, although this Service appreciates that the meter may need to be addressed with the energy supplier as well as its heating contractor, there is no evidence that the landlord continued to pursue this. As this is community heating, the landlord should have pursued this and ensured the issues were remedied. This may well have resulted in the substantive issue being addressed.
Due to the issues above and the significant adverse effect on the resident, a finding of severe maladministration is made, along with orders for redress.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of faulty bedroom handles

The landlord’s repairs policy states that it will repair broken internal door handles. The resident reported these on 6 March 2023, in her stage 1 complaint to the landlord and again in her stage 2 complaint to the landlord. The landlord did not raise a repair for this until 10 May 2023, which is an inappropriate delay. Although the landlord did flag the resident’s household as ‘vulnerable’ and the door handles were replaced on 27 June 2023, it took the landlord 2 months to flag the repair and nearly 4 months to complete the repair and this is not reasonable. The resident states that her children had previously been locked into the room, due to the faulty door handles. This caused the resident distress, time and trouble in pursuing the issue and impacted on the enjoyment of her home.
Additionally, the resident reports that one of the bedroom door handles has still not been repaired or replaced.
As such, a finding of service failure is made, along with orders for redress.

The landlord’s complaint handling

The resident submitted a stage 1 complaint on 2 March 2023 regarding her heating and added to her complaint on 6 March 2023. She reiterated the issue of her heating and advised of the damp and mould issues and broken door handles.
The landlord’s complaints staff acknowledged the resident’s complaint on 6 March 2023, as was appropriate. It also appropriately identified the complaint definition as including the heating and hot water issue, the damp and mould issues and the bedroom door handles.
However, the landlord’s energy team provided a complaint response on 7 March 2023. This complaint response did not indicate which stage of the complaint this was and this was inappropriate. This caused the resident time and trouble in continuing to pursue the substantive issue. The Code states that all complaint stages must be communicated to residents.
The landlord’s complaints team responded to the resident’s stage 1 complaint on 20 March 2023. It failed to address the issue of the faulty door handles which was inappropriate. The Code states that landlords must respond to all complaint matters raised by residents.
It was also not appropriate that the landlord advised the resident that her heating issues were being dealt with as a separate complaint, to be resolved by the energy team. This Service would expect there to be one named complaint handler to deal with all aspects of the resident’s complaint, particularly as the landlord’s initial complaint definition included the heating and hot water aspect. This would have caused the resident time and trouble and frustration in pursuing the issues with various members of staff. This would also have impacted on the time taken for the substantive issue to be addressed.
Further, after the resident escalated her complaint on 21 March 2023, the landlord’s internal communications of 5 May 2023, show that there was confusion about which member of staff should deal with the complaint. It decided to manage the resident’s complaint as two separate complaints. It was not appropriate that the complaint was once again separated into 2 complaints and dealt with by 2 members of staff. This caused the resident additional time and trouble in dealing with the substantive issues and could have contributed to the substantive issues being delayed.
Additionally, the landlord did not respond to the resident’s stage 2 complaint until 5 June 2023, after intervention from this Service. This is 50 working days afterwards and significantly outside of its published timescales. This caused the resident distress and frustration and impacted on the substantive issues being resolved. Further, although the landlord offered compensation to the resident, this was not proportionate to the adverse impact caused by the issues.
Furthermore, although the resident was offered compensation for her faulty heating, she advises this was not paid. Additionally, the repairs to her heating and hot water were not carried out until some months after the landlord’s stage 2 complaint response.
Additionally, since the landlord separated the complaints, this Service contacted the landlord on 24 April 2024 to ask for its stage 2 response to the resident’s heating/hot water complaints. The landlord told this Service that the resident did not escalate her complaint to stage 2 of its internal complaints procedure, which is inappropriate and incorrect. The landlord failed to respond at its stage 2 complaints procedure to the resident’s heating/hot water complaint and this caused the resident distress and anxiety and time and trouble in pursuing the issue.
Furthermore, the landlord identified no learning from the resident’s complaint.
As such, a finding of severe maladministration is made, along with orders for redress.

Special Investigation

The Ombudsman completed a special investigation in July 2023 into the landlord using its systemic powers under paragraph 49 of the Scheme. It found the landlord responsible for a series of significant systemic failings impacting residents. The Ombudsman required the landlord to make changes including improvements to its complaint handling and approach to residents with vulnerabilities and to recording resident vulnerabilities. Many of the failings identified by this complaint mirror the issues noted by this investigation. As such, and in view of the age of this complaint, this Service does not make any wider order.

Determination

In accordance with Paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was severe maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould in her home, including a mould damaged shower stand and shower head.
In accordance with Paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was severe maladministration in the landlord’s handling of a faulty heating and hot water system.
In accordance with Paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of faulty bedroom door handles.
In accordance with Paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was severe maladministration in the landlord’s complaint handling.

Orders

Within four weeks of this report, the landlord is ordered to :
1. Apologise to the resident for the failings identified in this report. The apology needs to be given by a member of the senior leadership team.
2. Pay the resident a total of £3600 for the following:
  1. £1000 for the distress and inconvenience and time and trouble caused by the delays in dealing with the damp and mould, including the damaged shower stand and shower head.
  2. £1500 for the distress and inconvenience and time and trouble caused by the delays to the faulty heating and hot water system.
  3. £100 for the distress and inconvenience and time and trouble caused by its handling of the bedroom door handles.
  4. £1000 for its complaint handling failures.
3. Arrange for a suitably qualified person to inspect all the damp and mould issues in the bathroom and provide a timeline for repairs.
4. Arrange for a suitably qualified person to inspect the resident’s meter and provide a timeline for repairs/a replacement.
5. Arrange for a suitably qualified person to inspect the bedroom door handle and provide a timeline for repairs.
6. Review its record keeping practices in respect of its energy team and reported repairs, unless it can demonstrate it has considered this as part of a previous review within the last 12 months.
7. Reconsider its compensation policy in respect of heating failure, to include paying compensation for heating failure in the summer months, particularly for vulnerable residents.
The landlord should provide this Service with evidence of compliance with the above orders.