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London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q) (202412469)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202412469

London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q)

24 April 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:
    1. A balcony repair.
    2. The associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident has an assured tenancy of a first floor flat. The resident has no noted vulnerabilities. The landlord has a leasehold interest in the resident’s property. There is a managing agent for the block.
  2. Following an inspection on 25 January 2024 the landlord noted a 3-inch gap to the edge of the resident’s balcony floor. On 26 March 2024 the resident complained this repair was outstanding.
  3. On 20 May 2024 the landlord provided it stage 1 response and said it would work with the managing agent and accepted there were no follow-on repairs. It awarded the resident £20 for the delayed response. The resident escalated her complaint on 27 May 2024.
  4. The landlord said in its stage 2 response of 21 October 2024 that it had “mis-informed” the resident previously. This is because it told her the balcony was the managing agent’s responsibility. It agreed to obtain quotes to complete the repair and offered the resident £410 compensation made up of:
    1. £60 for time and trouble
    2. £130 for its complaint handling and the delay in it providing a stage 2 response
    3. £100 for a “right to repair”
    4. £120 for distress and inconvenience.
  5. The resident has confirmed she received the £410 compensation. She told this Service that the landlord sent someone to take measurements of the gap in February 2025. The resident said the operative placed a piece of wood in the gap as a temporary measure, but the balcony gap repair is outstanding. The resident wants the landlord to complete the repair and pay additional compensation.

Assessment and findings

The landlord’s handling of a balcony repair

  1. The resident’s tenancy agreement says that the landlord is responsible for the structure and exterior of the resident’s property. The landlord’s repairs policy says that it is responsible for repairs to balconies.
  2. The resident reported a gap to her balcony on 10 January 2024. The landlord inspected the balcony on 25 January 2024 and noted the gap. It was appropriate of the landlord to have inspected the balcony. This enabled it to see if the gap was a hazard and what repairs were necessary.
  3. Between 25 January 2024 to 17 October 2024 the landlord appears to have believed the managing agent was responsible for the balcony, including repairing the gap. Therefore, it provided the resident with the managing agent’s contact details so she could make contact.
  4. The landlord agreed in its stage 1 response to contact the managing agent and while it did not accept responsibility for the balcony it failed to explain its reasons. This was a failure as the onus was on the landlord to explain why it was not responsible given the obligations outlined in the resident’s tenancy and the landlord’s repair policy. We have also not seen evidence that the landlord made reasonable attempts to contact the managing agent or update the resident regarding the repair. This was a failure as it promised to do this in its stage 1 response. 
  5. By 17 October 2024 the landlord was aware the managing agent did not accept responsibility for the balcony gap unless it was a defect. It was evident from the landlord’s stage 2 response that it accepted responsibility for the balcony repair thereafter. Therefore, the landlord ought to have completed this repair within a reasonable time in line with its repairs policy. This required the landlord to complete routine repairs within an average of 25 calendar days.
  6. The resident has told this Service that the repair is outstanding, and we have not seen any evidence to show the landlord has completed the repair. Based on the evidence the landlord failed to complete the balcony repair within a reasonable time. This amounts to maladministration.
  7. When there are failings by a landlord, as is the case here, the Ombudsman will consider whether the redress offered by the landlord puts things right and resolved the resident’s complaint satisfactorily in the circumstances. When considering this the Ombudsman must have regard to whether the landlord’s offer of redress was in line with our dispute resolution principles; be fair, put things right and learn from outcomes.
  8. The landlord paid the resident £220 compensation during the complaint process for the delays to the repair. It also agreed to get quotes to complete the repair. Although the landlord carried out a temporary repair in February 2025 the repair is therefore still outstanding, and the landlord has not put things right.
  9. The delay in repairing the gap likely caused the resident distress and inconvenience, especially between January 2024 and when the landlord completed the temporary repair in February 2025.The landlord offered £220 compensation. However, as the repair is still outstanding this amount is not proportionate to the impact on the resident of the landlord’s failings in handling the balcony repair. Therefore, we have ordered the landlord to pay an additional award of £200 in line with our remedies guidance. This reflects the awards we can make where a landlord’s failing caused a resident distress and inconvenience but had no permanent effect.
  10. The resident has said that she lost earnings by having to take time off work to attend appointments. As a general principle, the Ombudsman does not award compensation for loss of earnings that arise from residents attending appointments. This is because the landlord has a right under the tenancy agreement to access the property on notice to complete repairs. Equally the resident has a duty under the tenancy agreement to provide access to the landlord to carry out repairs.

Special investigation

  1. The Ombudsman published a report in July 2023 about the landlord following a special wider investigation. It found multiple systemic failings that were affecting its residents. These included failings by the landlord to take effective ownership and management of repairs leading to delays and poor communication with residents. The Ombudsman required the landlord to make changes including improvements to its handling of repairs, complaints and how it keeps records. The failures identified by this complaint mirror those identified by the special investigation. As this improvement work is ongoing, we have therefore not made additional orders which would duplicate the recommendations in the special investigation.

The landlord’s complaint handling

  1. The landlord had a 2 staged complaint procedure. Its complaints policy required it to respond at stage 1 of its procedure within 10 working days. It needed to respond at stage 2 within 20 working days. The resident complained on 26 March 2024 and the landlord responded at stage 1 on 20 May 2024. Therefore, it took the landlord 36 working days to respond.
  2. When the resident escalated her complaint on 27 May 2024 the landlord responded at stage 2 on 21 October 2024. It took the landlord 103 working days to respond at stage 2 against a target of 20 working days. The landlord noted on 14 August 2024 that the resident declined an escalation to stage 2. However, the Ombudsman has seen evidence of an escalation request from 27 May 2024.
  3. Paragraph 6.17 of the Ombudsman’s complaint handling Code (the Code) requires landlords to provide a final response when the answer to the complaint is known. This Service also expects landlords to track and action outstanding actions which it agrees to in its stage 2 response, updating the resident appropriately. The landlord agreed to obtain quotes to repair the balcony, this was clearly with a view to completing this work and putting things right.
  4. We have not seen evidence that the landlord actioned or tracked the repair or updated the resident following its stage 2 response. This was a failure as this was not in line with the Code. There were also delays in dealing with the resident’s complaint, especially at stage 2 which were inappropriate and this likely caused the resident distress and inconvenience. The landlord paid the resident £190 compensation for its complaint handling. However, its failure to effectively monitor the actions it agreed to do in its stage 2 response and update the resident likely caused some additional distress and amounted to a service failure. Therefore, we have made an additional award of compensation in line with our remedies guidance which allows for awards of up to £100 for this.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52. of the Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the balcony repair.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52. of the Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s complaint handling.

 

Orders

  1. Within 28 days of the date of the determination the landlord must:
    1. contact the resident to arrange to visit the property to complete the repair.
    2. pay the resident directly an additional £250 compensation made up of:
      1. £200 for the likely distress and inconvenience caused to the resident by its handling of the balcony repair.
      2. £50 for the likely distress and inconvenience caused by its complaint handling failure.
  2. Within 56 days of the date of this determination the landlord must complete the balcony repair. If it is unable to meet this deadline the landlord must notify both the resident and us, providing a clear explanation for the delay.
  3. The landlord must provide the Ombudsman with evidence that it has complied with these orders within the timescales set out.

Recommendation

  1. The Ombudsman recommends within 56 days of the date of this determination that the landlord provide repair staff training on repair responsibilities, particularly in relation to exterior parts of properties and spaces.