Notting Hill Genesis (NHG) (202322367)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202322367

Notting Hill Genesis (NHG)

4 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 level of compensation offered by the landlord for its delay in repairing the resident’s boiler.

Background

2. The resident occupies a flat under an assured tenancy agreement.
3. The landlord uses a contractor for the maintenance of the heating.
4. On 14 December 2022, the resident reported to the landlord’s contractors she had lost heating and hot water to the property. Due to the boiler needing an annual service, the contractor cancelled the previously raised inspection and told the resident she had to raise another.
5. On 19 December 2022, the resident raised a new inspection, it was created for the following day, but she was unable to meet the time and asked to be rescheduled to 23 December 2022.
6. For the period from 19 December 2022 to 02 February 2023, the contractor visited the property on a few occasions. However, the boiler was not fixed until 02 February 2023.
7. While the Service has not seen clear evidence, the landlord’s file suggests said that the resident raised a complaint regarding the loss of heating and hot water in the property on 02 June 2023.
8. The landlord issued its stage 1 response on 15 June 2023, which stated:
   1. It apologised for the delay and stress the resident had experienced during the issue.
   2. It acknowledged responsibility for the delay to the repairs and its poor service.
   3. It offered compensation of £353.00 comprising:
      1. £153.00 for 57 days loss of heating and hot water.
      2. £150.00 for the inconvenience.
      3. £50.00 gesture of goodwill.
9. The resident responded the following day as she did not accept the stage 1 outcome and asked for more compensation to better reflect the impact the issue had on her.
10. The landlord issued its stage 2 response on 15 August 2023 which stated:
    1. It had reviewed its stage 1 response and reiterates that stance – the compensation it offered was in line with its policy.
    2. It had calculated the compensation of £153.00 as 10% of the daily rent after the first 48 hours – £2.78 x 55 = £153.00:
    3. It set out a timeline of events.
    4. It had made some changes/improvements to ensure that the service it provided going forward was better, including clear communication and monitoring of contractors.
11. The resident remained dissatisfied and explained to the landlord that previous court cases had awarded higher compensation.
12. The resident brought her complaint to the Service on 28 September 2023, in which she confirmed she was seeking higher level of compensation.

Assessment and findings

The level of compensation offered by the landlord for its delay in repairing the resident’s boiler

13. We acknowledge in bringing her complaint to us, the resident cited 2 court case outcomes. However, unlike the courts the Ombudsman does not have the authority and expertise to make findings on liability for damages. We are bound by the Scheme and follow our remedies guidance when making an order following a finding of failure. We adhere to the dispute resolution principles of being fair, putting things right and learning from the outcome.
14. In order to assess whether the compensation offered as part of this complaint is proportionate, we have looked into the landlord handling of the resident’s boiler repair, the length of time of any delays and the inconvenience caused to the resident. 
15. The tenancy agreement states that it is the landlord’s obligation to keep in good repair and proper working order its own installations for supply of water, gas and electricity for sanitation, and for space and water heating:
16. The landlord’s responsive repairs policy states:
    1. An emergency repair is:
       1. A repair that would jeopardise the health, safety or security of the resident.
       2. A serious failure of heating or hot water in the property (during October to March).
    2. Emergency repairs should be attended within 4 hours and a temporary repair should be completed within 24 hours.
17. The resident reported the loss of heating and hot water on 14 December 2022 and an engineer first attempted to inspect the property on 20 December 2022. The repair was completed on 02 February 2023, which is 50 days after it was first reported. This is outside of the timescales set out in the landlord’s repair policy for an emergency repair.
18. There is no evidence that the landlord had put any temporary measures in place for the resident, such as temporary heaters, consideration of a decant or gym membership. Given the issue occurred during the winter months, it would have been reasonable for the landlord to have taken these further steps.
19. The landlord acknowledged the delay in repairing the boiler and made improvements to its processes on the back of this complaint. It also offered compensation and apologised. While these were reasonable steps to take, the compensation offered did not reflect the full impact on the resident. 
20. The landlord’s compensation policy says that loss of heating or hot water will be compensated at 10% of the daily rent after the first 48 hours. However, in this case the resident lost both heating and hot water, but the landlord did not reflect this in the remedy offered.
21. While this was in favour of the resident, the landlord also calculated the number of days that the resident was without heating and hot water incorrectly. It stated the resident experienced the issue for 57 days at stage 1 and for 55 at stage 2. However, the correct number is 50 days from 14 December 2022 to 02 February 2023.
22. The Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code) 7.2 states that “any remedy offered must reflect the impact on the resident as a result of any fault identified”. Landlords are expected to adhere to the Code’s prescriptions.
23. In this case the compensation of £353.00 was insufficient. The resident was left without heating and hot water or any temporary solution for 50 days during the winter months. The landlord did not appropriately apply its compensation policy and consider the impact on the resident of the loss.

Determination

24. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure by the landlord in respect of the level of compensation offered by it for the delay in repairing the resident’s boiler.

Orders and recommendations

25. The landlord is ordered to pay the resident a total of £553.00 compensation (including £353.00 which it had offered during its complaint process), comprised of:
    1. £353.00 offered during its complaint’s process for loss of amenities and distress and inconvenience.
    2. Additional £200.00 for the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident by the failures identified in this report.
26. The landlord must provide evidence of compliance within 4 weeks of the date of this report.