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London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q) (202327547)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202327547

London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q)

29 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 repairs at the resident’s property.

Background

  1. The resident lives in a 3-bed property and was an assured tenant of the landlord’s since 2017.
  2. On 22 April 2022 the landlord carried out a routine repair’s inspection on the resident’s property and it uncovered some repairs.
  3. The resident complained to the landlord on 14 April 2023. She said the following repairs, picked up at the inspection, had not been completed by the landlord:
    1. The kitchen radiator to be refixed to the wall.
    2. The replacement of frosted glass in the bathroom window.
    3. Replaster the 3-bedroom ceilings.
  4. The landlord responded at stage 1 of its internal complaints process on the same day. It said the following:
    1. The resident had not given access to the landlord at a previous appointment for the kitchen radiator repair. It asked her to contact the landlord to rebook this.
    2. It would be in touch with appointments for the frosted glass in the bathroom window and the replastering of the 3-bedroom ceilings.
  5. The resident escalated her complaint with the landlord. It responded at stage 2 of its internal complaints process on 18 October 2023. It apologised and upheld the resident’s complaint. It offered, in addition to decoration vouchers, £2,660 compensation to her broken down as:
    1. £1,740 for distress and inconvenience caused to the resident.
    2. £120 for her time and effort.
    3. £20 for a missed appointment by the landlord.
    4. £580 for the repair delays.
    5. £200 for its complaint handling.
  6. The resident remained unhappy and brought her complaint to us. She said in 2024 her tenancy was transferred to a new landlord due to a stock transfer. The resident said some repairs raised in her complaint were outstanding when her tenancy was transferred to her new landlord.

Assessment and findings

  1. Paragraph 53.c. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme states that: “the Ombudsman may determine the investigation of a complaint immediately if satisfied that the member has made an offer of redress following the Ombudsman’s intervention which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily.”

The Ombudsman’s Intervention

  1. We spoke to the parties and explained that as the tenancy had transferred it was unlikely that we could order the landlord to complete the outstanding works. The resident said that to recognise that works were still outstanding when the landlord changed, she would like further compensation of £300.

The landlord’s offer of redress

  1. The landlord offered to pay the resident £300 compensation within 4 weeks. The resident has informed us that she is content with this as a resolution to her complaint as the new landlord can take forward the repairs.
  2. We are therefore satisfied that following our intervention, the landlord’s actions will remedy the matters raised. This will resolve the complaint satisfactorily, together with the compensation offered at stage 2 of the complaint procedure. We have, however, made an additional recommendation.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53.c. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the complaint was resolved with intervention.

Recommendations

  1. We recommend that the landlord pay the sum of £300 compensation, if it has not already done so, in any event within 4 weeks of this decision. We have found the complaint resolved with intervention on the basis this is paid.
  2. We also recommend that the landlord completes a learning review to understand why the repairs from the inspection were significantly delayed. It may also wish to consider what approach it should take during stock transfers where repairs remain outstanding. And how it shares outstanding repairs with the new landlords.