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London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q) (202315212)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202315212

London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q)

16 December 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 reports about repairs to windows, and damp and mould.
  2. The Ombudsman has investigated the landlord’s complaint handling.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord.
  2. The resident reported to the landlord on 28 February 2023 that her windows were rotten, the sills were broken, they were not secondary glazed and were draughty, and the front room window did not close properly. The resident said she suffered with chest infections and bronchial problems, and the damp and mould and was affecting this. She asked the landlord to assess the windows.
  3. The landlord treated the report as a complaint and responded at stage 1 of its complaints process on the same day. It said it would only carry out renewals of windows if the current ones were beyond a state of repair. It said there were no plans to renew the resident’s windows in 2023-2024. It confirmed the resident should report specific repairs to it and provided the details of how to do this. The landlord said it had arranged for a contractor to attend to assess the damp and mould and carry out any works related to this.
  4. The resident escalated her complaint on 17 August 2023. She said that an operative attempting a repair the previous day had told her over the phone that the windows were rotten and the kitchen one was beyond repair but they would attempt to repair them. The resident said she had asked the operatives to leave until she was home. She was concerned about toxic products being used when her partner who is disabled, and her pet bird were at the property. She said the kitchen window was beyond repair, window ledges needed replacing, the front room window needed the secondary window taken out, and a rotten ivy plant growing through the wood needed removing. The resident said the household was prone to chest infections and her partner had been in intensive care 2 weeks prior for this. She said it was impossible to keep the draught out.
  5. The landlord provided its final response on 5 March 2024. It said the following:
    1. From the information on the case and the photographs it had seen it agreed the resident’s windows were in poor condition and in need of replacement.
    2. The major works team were not currently replacing windows and this was due to be factored into the overall programme from 2025–2026.
    3. It would look to have a further assessment completed. If the outcome was that it could not be moved forward or that not all windows were in desperate need of replacement, then its minor works team would look at replacing some of the windows which were deemed as beyond reasonable repair.
    4. It apologised for any inconvenience caused. It offered the resident £100 of compensation for the time taken to review the complaint and provide a resolution.
  6. The resident remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s response. The resident confirmed to this Service in December 2024 that the repairs to the windows remained outstanding.

 Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation.

  1. The resident informed this Service that she had reported repairs to the windows prior to 2023. While the historical issues provided contextual background to the current complaint, this investigation has primarily focused on the landlord’s handling of the resident’s recent reports from February 2023 onwards, that were considered during the landlord’s complaint responses. This is because in accordance with paragraph 42.c. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, residents are expected to raise complaints with their landlords normally within 12 months of the matters arising. This is so that the landlord has a reasonable opportunity to consider the issues whilst they are still ‘live’, and while the evidence is available to reach an informed conclusion on the events that occurred.
  2. In her complaint to the Ombudsman, the resident has referred to further issues which arose after the end of the complaints process about the communal stairs. In accordance with paragraph 42.a. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, this investigation centres on the issues raised during the resident’s formal complaint in February 2023 and responded to by the landlord in its final response on 5 March 2024. This is because the landlord needs to be given an opportunity to investigate and respond to any reported dissatisfaction with its actions prior to the involvement of this Service. Any new issues that have not been subject to a formal complaint can be addressed directly with the landlord and progressed as a new formal complaint if required.
  3. The resident referred to the situation impacting her health. While this Service is able to assess the response the landlord provided, and any overall distress or inconvenience this may have caused, it is unable to draw conclusions on the causation of, or liability for, impacts on the resident’s health and wellbeing. This is in line with paragraph 42.f. of the Scheme which explains the Ombudsman may not consider matters which are fairer and more effectively dealt with by the courts.

The landlord’s response to the resident’s reports about repairs to windows, and damp and mould.

  1. The landlord accepted its repairs responsibility under the tenancy agreement.
  2. The landlord’s repairs policy says where age, and wear and tear affect key components such as windows, these will be replaced through planned programmes of work. Residents are responsible for allowing access to carry the work. For routine day to day repairs, it aims to complete the repair in an average of 25 calendar days.
  3. The landlord’s compensation policy says it will award discretionary compensation when its mistake or failure causes a resident distress and inconvenience and/or the need to spend unnecessary time and effort in getting it to put things right. The policy says the landlord will consider paying compensation in circumstances, including where it fails to deal satisfactorily with repairs that are its responsibility, and the resident is continuing to live in poor conditions longer than is reasonable. It would not usually pay compensation where residents have not allowed reasonable access to complete repairs or have refused the necessary repairs needed to resolve the issue.
  4. The landlord’s damp and mould policy says that following a report of damp and mould, 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 within the property and provide the resident with guidance on managing mould within the property. Any remedial works identified will be recorded and raised within 10 working days of the assessment.
  5. The resident raised the issues of damp and mould in her complaint on 28 February 2023. The landlord’s contractor completed a damp and mould report at the property and a mould treatment to all areas with mould on 28 March 2023. This was a timeframe of 20 working days. The report also stated the that during the visit the contractor had discussed best practice to avoid damp and mould with the resident and offered advice on this. This demonstrated the landlord providing the resident with guidance on managing mould within the property in line with its damp and mould policy.
  6. The damp and mould inspection report noted the windows were damaged and in need of repair, all window frames and boards were rotten, and windows did not shut properly. It recommended further investigation and repair. The landlord’s records showed it did not act on this, until the resident contacted it on 30 May 2023 to follow up. This period of inactivity was unreasonable.
  7. On 31 May 2023, the landlord raised a repair to 2 windows. The resident further chased this on 26 July 2023, and stated a contractor had attended to measure but she had not heard since. This demonstrated a poor oversight of the repair by the landlord and a failure to update the resident on the progress of the repair.
  8. The resident stated in her complaint that her and her partner had suffered with chest infections & bronchial problems. She also stated in her escalation that her and her partner were prone to chest infections, and said it was “impossible to keep the draught out of the windows.”  As set out in the Ombudsman’s spotlight on repairs report published in March 2019, landlords must act promptly, particularly where issues are having a significant impact on residents. They should be aware of the needs of vulnerable residents and respond to this. The landlord’s records show it was aware of health vulnerabilities for the resident. There is no evidence that it considered this in the timeliness of its responses. That was not in line with the basic practice recommended in the spotlight report.
  9. On 16 August 2023, the landlord emailed the resident and advised its contractor had attempted to repair the windows that day but the resident had refused the works because she wanted them replaced. The resident explained the reasons for this in her complaint escalation on 17 August 2023. She stated concerns about the use of toxic materials on her household. The decision on whether to repair or replace windows is the landlord’s to make, based on inspections and assessments by its operatives. Nonetheless, the resident had also explained concerns she had about the use of toxic materials in the repairs, and there is no evidence of the landlord responding to that concern. The landlord took no further action until March 2024. The resident refusing the works accounts for part of that delay. However, if the landlord had addressed her concerns about the repair materials it may have been able to proceed with the necessary work sooner.
  10. In its final complaint response, the landlord acknowledged the windows were in a poor condition and in need of full replacement. Its response to the resident’s request for replacement windows was in line with its policy for major planned works. However, the landlord did not identify or acknowledge the limited work done on the windows since the original survey in late March 2023.
  11. The landlord explained that it would consider whether its window replacement major works could be brought forward from the planned 2025/2026 schedule, and if that was not possible it would arrange interim repairs where needed. It said its next step would be a survey of their condition and update about the major works. The landlord’s repair records show an inspection of the windows on 20 March 2024, but no further repair appointments or updates to the resident. The resident told to this Service in December 2024 that no further repairs have been completed.
  12. Overall, while the landlord demonstrated appropriate action in remedying the damp and mould, it delayed taking action after its inspection in 2023 confirmed repair issues with the windows. It failed to identify this delay in its investigation of the resident’s complaint and has not shown evidence of following up on the actions it promised in its final complaint response.

The landlord’s complaint handling.

  1. The landlord’s complaints standard operating procedure says it will respond at stage 1 within 10 working days of logging a complaint. At stage 2 it will respond within 20 working days from the request to escalate. If a decision cannot be sent within these timescales, an explanation and date must be provided to the customer in writing (email or letter). This is in line with the timescales in the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code).
  2. The resident escalated her complaint on 17 August 2023. It provided its final response on 5 March 2024. This was a timeframe of 140 working days. This did not meet the timescales in the landlord’s complaints policy or the Code. The landlord’s escalation acknowledgement on 23 August 2023 stated there was a backlog of reviewing escalated complaints. However, there was no evidence of the landlord contacting the resident after this to agree an extension to its response or provide an update.
  3. In its final response, the landlord apologised for the delay and offered the resident £100 compensation. However, in the circumstances of such an extensive delay the landlord should also have explained what steps it was taking to improve its service and reduce its backlog. Without such an explanation there is no assurance that it will have learnt any lessons from the resident’s complaint. Because of that omission the landlord cannot reasonably be said to have remedied its poor complaint handling.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports about repairs to windows, and damp and mould.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s complaint handling.

Orders

  1. For its poor handling of the window repairs the landlord is ordered to pay the resident compensation of £600 within 5 weeks of this report. This is based on the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance for findings of maladministration. It reflects the significant distress and inconvenience caused to the resident during the prolonged period the repair has remained outstanding.
  2. If it has not done so already the landlord is to pay the resident the £100 compensation it previously offered for its complaints handling, within 5 weeks of this report.
  3. Within 8 weeks of this report the landlord must inspect the windows to confirm their current state (or provide evidence of a recent inspection). It must explain to the resident and Ombudsman its plans in regard to any outstanding repair issues with them and provide timescales in which it intends to resolve them. If any of the windows are in need of replacement the landlord must explain when that will happen and how it intends to provide interim solutions until that time.
  4. Within 8 weeks of this report the landlord must explain to the Ombudsman and the resident how it has improved its complaint handling practices so that it now meets the timescales set in its complaint policy and the Code.
  5. The landlord is to provide evidence of compliance with the above orders to this Service within their respective timescales.