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London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q) (202301773)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202301773

London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q)

6 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 landlord’s handling of repairs to the front door and windows.

Background

  1. The resident is a tenant of the landlord, a housing association. She has lived at the property since May 2022.
  2. In February 2023, the resident reported to the landlord that her property was full of condensation. She said it was cold, as her property was letting out too much heat. The landlord completed an inspection on 17 February 2023. It found that all the windows and the front door needed replacing, as they were rotten. The resident complained to the landlord on 2 April 2023. She said that the landlord had not completed any work and the situation was worsening. She advised that the glass in her windows was starting to crack due to the rotten frames and that her property was freezing.
  3. The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response on 3 April 2023. It apologised that the resident needed to complain to get her concerns addressed. It explained that the next stage of process was to complete an inspection. If this found that new windows and doors were required, it would be arranged by its planned works team. It said that it would update the resident once it had a date for the inspection.
  4. The resident escalated her complaint with the landlord on 14 April 2023, as it had not provided an update or completed any works. The landlord completed an inspection on 4 May 2023. This found that it needed to replace all windows and the front door.
  5. The landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response on 22 August 2023. It advised that it could not provide a date for when it would replace the windows and front doors, but it had raised this as an urgent request. It said that it would keep her updated with the progress. It apologised for the issues the resident had experienced. It offered compensation totalling £1,530, which included £150 for complaint handling failures, and this was subsequently paid to the resident.
  6. The resident asked that we investigate her complaint on 2 October 2023. She said she had not received the compensation offered and she had received no updates as to when the landlord would complete repairs. The resident confirmed to the landlord on 9 October 2023 that she had now received the compensation but had still not had any updates. The landlord replaced the resident’s front door and windows on 9 July 2024.

Assessment and findings

 The landlord’s handling of repairs to the front door and windows

  1. The landlord’s repair policy states that it aims to complete routine repairs within an average of 25 days.
  2. In line with general industry practise, window replacements are not classed as routine repairs, for which specific timescales for completion are not typically defined. The duration of such projects can vary due to factors such as the time taken by the window manufacturer to measure up, make and deliver the windows. However, landlords are expected to act diligently, maintain clear communication with residents, and ensure that necessary repairs are completed as promptly as possible.
  3. When investigating a complaint, 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.’
  4. The evidence shows that the resident reported to the landlord issues with condensation and heat loss in February 2023. The landlord completed an inspection on 17 February 2023, which identified that it needed to replace all the windows and the front door. It completed another inspection on 4 May 2023, which confirmed the findings from the first inspection.
  5. The landlord completed works to replace the windows and front door on 9 July 2024. This was approximately 17 months after it identified this work in February 2023. The landlord has provided no explanation for why it needed to complete a second inspection or for the length of time taken to complete the works from its inspections in 2023 to July 2024. It also provided no evidence that it kept the resident updated with the progress of its works. Given the unexplained length of time, the time taken for the landlord to complete repairs was excessive and unreasonable.
  6. The landlord in its final complaint response acknowledged the distress and inconvenience this issue had caused the resident. It said it had appointed a point of contact for her, who would keep her updated until completion of the repairs. It was appropriate for the landlord to acknowledge the impact this issue had on the resident and to explain what actions it was taking to put things right.
  7. The landlord offered the resident compensation totalling £1,530 for the impact on the resident and for delays in its repair and complaint handling. The compensation offered by the landlord was in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance in circumstances where there have been repeated failings and a significant impact, but where the landlord has acknowledged its mistakes and attempted to put things right. It reasonably reflected the length of time the repair issues had continued unresolved and demonstrated the landlord’s appreciation of the scale of its failings.
  8. If the landlord had gone on to complete all the outstanding repairs within a reasonable timescale, the remedies it offered would likely have been sufficient to put things right and resolve the complaint. However, it took the landlord approximately 11 months to complete repairs from its final response and there is no evidence it kept the resident updated as agreed.
  9. Overall, there were failings in the landlords handling of repairs to the front door and windows. This caused the resident distress, worry and inconvenience over a prolonged period. In its responses to her complaint, the landlord took appropriate steps to acknowledge and compensate for its failures. However, the landlord did not go on to complete the outstanding repairs within a reasonable timescale or keep the resident updated. This would have caused the resident further distress and inconvenience. We have therefore found maladministration in the landlord’s handling of repairs to the front door and windows.
  10. We have ordered that the landlord pay the resident further compensation of £500. This amount is within the range of awards set out in our remedies guidance for situations where the landlord has acknowledged failings and made some attempt to put things right, but the offer was not proportionate to the failings identified by our investigation.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of repairs to the front door and windows.

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of this report, the landlord must pay the resident compensation of £500 for the distress and inconvenience she likely incurred as a result of the landlord’s handling of repairs to the front door and windows. This is in addition to the £1530 compensation already paid to the resident.