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Nottingham Community Housing Association Limited (202320614)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202320614

Nottingham Community Housing Association Limited

8 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 repairs to the resident’s front door.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the property, a 2-bedroom house. The property has an electronic front door entry system and an intercom. The landlord has told us it is aware the resident has vulnerabilities and is a wheelchair user.
  2. On 19 November 2021 the resident told the landlord her door intercom was not working and she was unable to allow her carers access to the property. The landlord’s contactor attended on 19 and 23 November 2023 to complete the repair. While the intercom was fully repaired, the door would not close properly. The resident made 12 further reports of faults with door between December 2021 and June 2023.
  3. On 30 June 2023 the resident formally complained to the landlord. She said that despite numerous attempts to repair her front door, the landlord had failed to find an effective solution. The resident explained:
    1. At times, the door would not lock upon closure leaving her feeling unsafe and vulnerable.
    2. On several occasions the door would not close automatically and she was reliant on the help of others to close the door as she was unable to do this herself.
    3. On one of the repair visits, an engineer broke the glass in the door, which was not repaired for 3 months.
    4. The faulty door entry system caused her to be locked out of her property for a period of 5 hours with no access to medication or toilet facilities.
    5. She was unhappy with the way she had been treated over the past 18 months. She had no support network in the area and the issues with the door had affected her mental health.
  4. The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response on 21 July 2023. It apologised for the lack of communication the resident had experienced and acknowledged that the issues had caused her “considerable” distress. The landlord said it had appointed a new contractor to carry out an assessment of the door in order to find a suitable lasting solution.
  5. The resident attempted to escalate her complaint on 13 September 2023, but the landlord refused the request. On 3 October 2023 we contacted the landlord and asked it to provide the resident with a further complaint response by 7 November 2023.
  6. The landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response on 16 November 2023 and said:
    1. The new contractor had replaced the door and the door entry system on 6 November 2023.
    2. It had attended on 13 November 2023 to inspect the work, and the resident confirmed she was happy with the new installation.
    3. It offered the resident £270 compensation, made up of:
      1. £10 for a missed appointment.
      2. £10 for failing to complete the repair within the timescales.
      3. £250 for the adverse effect on the resident.
  7. The resident remained dissatisfied and brought the complaint to us. She said the compensation offered did not reflect the distress and inconvenience caused to her over the 2-year period.

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. This Service contacted the landlord on 2 April 2025 and provided it with a summary of the Ombudsman’s understanding of the events. This included the Ombudsman’s provisional comments as to what the landlord could do to resolve the resident’s complaint.

The landlord’s offer of redress

  1. On 3 April 2025 the landlord provided this Service with evidence that it had acted on the Ombudsman’s provisional comments which would involve paying the resident £600 compensation.
  2. The resident has informed the Ombudsman that she is satisfied with this as a resolution to his complaint.
  3. The Ombudsman is therefore satisfied, following the intervention of this service, that the landlord has now taken actions to remedy the matters raised which resolve the complaint satisfactorily.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53.c. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress, following the Ombudsman’s intervention which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily.

Recommendations

  1. The landlord should pay the sum of £600 to the resident if it has not already done so.

 

 

 

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