One Housing Group Limited (202320901)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202320901

One Housing Group Limited

28 March 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

The complaint is about how the landlord handled the resident’s reports of loss of heating and hot water in the property.
We have also considered the landlord’s complaint handling.

Background

The resident is a leaseholder of the landlord, a housing association. The property is a flat within a block of 5 other flats.
On 18 April 2023 the resident reported that the property was without heating or hot water. She also reported that other residents within the block were affected. On 20 April 2023 the landlord emailed the residents within the block and explained it would send engineers to investigate immediately. It also advised it would provide further updates following this inspection.
On 28 April 2023 the resident reported she was still without hot water or heating. On 2 May 2023 the landlord emailed her and advised it would send engineers to investigate. On 3 May 2023 an engineer attended and found that the communal water system pressure and temperatures were correct. On 13 May 2023 the landlord advised the resident that “this [the lack of heating and hot water] will fall under your responsibility as there have been no other issues reported by other residents.”
On 16 May 2023 the resident complained to the landlord about the time it was taking to resolve things and advised that other properties were also without heating or hot water. On 17 May 2023 an engineer inspected the Heating-Interface-Unit (HIU) in the property and found a reduced flow rate. It cleaned the strainer and flushed out the pipework. However, this did not resolve the issue. The engineer also noted that the issue was communal and required further investigations.
On 17 May 2023 the landlord acknowledged the resident’s stage 1 complaint. On 25 May 2023 the resident emailed the landlord and asked it to refund her the cost of the engineer call out on 17 May 2023. She explained that, since the engineer found the issue was communal, the landlord was responsible for any related works.
The landlord issued its stage 1 response on 30 May 2023. It apologised for the ongoing issues with heating and hot water and agreed to meet with the resident on 13 June 2023 to discuss the issues in more detail. It also agreed to reimburse her £140 for the engineer call out on 17 May 2023.
On 1 June 2023 the landlord attended the block and found there was an error message displaying on the communal heating system. It contacted the energy company to attend and inspect. On 27 June 2023 the resident complained again about delays. On 18 July 2023 the environmental contractor attended and completed a series of microbiological and chemical tests on the water from the communal boiler room.
On 20 July 2023 the landlord inspected another resident’s HIU and found poor flow rates and water quality. It also found the strainer was blocked. Despite cleaning the filter, it noted that flow rates of water for heating and hot water remained poor. On 28 July 2023 the resident escalated her complaint. On 31 July 2023 the landlord acknowledged this. On 3 August 2023 the environmental contractor investigated a neighbouring block of the landlord’s which is connected to the resident’s block by communal water systems.
It found some issues in the system of the neighbouring block and recommended a series of works to resolve these. It also recommended the landlord should further investigate the resident’s block and shared some preliminary advice about which repairs would likely need to be completed. It advised that, should it complete the recommended works on both blocks, the heating and hot water would likely be fully restored.
Over the next month the resident continued chasing the landlord to restore her heating and hot water. On 25 August 2023 the environmental contractor attended and inspected the resident’s block. It recommended a number of works which could be attempted to try and resolve the issue.
On 1 September 2023 the landlord issued its stage 2 response. It summarised the actions it had so far taken to address the loss of heating and hot water. It also explained that the environmental contractor had recommended some works to address the issues, and it would attempt these on a “pilot property” on 4 September 2023 before deciding whether the same works could be applied more widely throughout the block. It acknowledged that the resident had been without hot water and heating for some time, and that its communication had been poor.
On this basis the landlord offered the resident £697 in compensation, broken down as follows:
1. £411 for the 137 days she had been without hot water since 18 April 2023.
2. £36 for the loss of heating from 18 April 2023 until 30 April 2023.
3. £50 for complaints handling delays.
4. £100 for communication.
5. £100 for impact.
On 13 September 2023 a contractor attended and asked the landlord to complete a joint site visit to agree on the works required. The landlord responded the day after to advise it would organise this over the coming week. On 18 September 2023 the resident brought her complaint to the Ombudsman.
On 20 October 2023 the landlord completed a series of works on the communal water system which fully restored the resident’s heating and hot water. Despite this, the resident has advised the Ombudsman she does not consider her complaint is resolved. To put things right, she would like further compensation.

Assessment and findings

How the landlord handled loss of heating and hot water in the property.

The resident’s leasehold agreement with the landlord sets out that it is responsible for the maintenance and repair of communal water systems in the building.
The landlord’s repairs policy states that it will respond to emergency heating repairs within 3-hours. This policy also notes the landlord should resolve loss of heating or hot water between 1 October and 30 April within 1 day.
On 18 April 2023 we can see the resident reported that she was without hot water and heating, and that the landlord advised her it had raised a job for this. On 20 April 2023 the landlord then wrote to the resident and a number of other residents in both her block and the neighbouring block to advise it was aware of a wider issue affecting heating and hot water. It advised engineers would attend to investigate within 1 hour and that it would update residents following this.
There is no evidence to indicate any engineers attended as advised, and no evidence the landlord provided any related updates. Given the resident first reported this on 18 April 2023, the landlord should have investigated the issue within 3 hours of this report as per its policy. 48 hours later it had still failed to do so, and then it failed to provide any updates when it reneged on the commitment it made to investigate the issue. We consider this likely caused the resident distress.
On 28 April 2023 the resident chased the landlord to take action to resolve things. The landlord contacted the resident on 2 May 2023 and advised a gas engineer would attend to inspect her HIU. Given it had already exceeded its timescales in investigating the issue by 10 days on 28 April 2023, it is disappointing that it took the landlord another 5 days to reply to the resident and schedule an appointment.
On 3 May 2023 the landlord inspected the communal boilers and found everything was running correctly. On 9 May 2023 it attempted to call the resident but was unable to reach her. At some stage over the next few days the resident got back in touch, and the landlord replied on 13 May 2023 advising her that “this [the issues with heating and hot water] will fall under your responsibility as a leaseholder as there have been no issues reported by other residents.”
We do not consider this was accurate advice, and it contradicted the landlord’s previous acknowledgement on 20 April 2023 that many residents had reported the same issues across both blocks. While we note the landlord observed the communal boilers functioning correctly at its 3 May 2023 inspection, we do not consider it was appropriate to infer from this that the issue was exclusively impacting the resident’s property. In any case, the landlord had yet to inspect the resident’s HIU as agreed on 2 May 2023, and we do not consider it was reasonable to set out definitive positions about relative responsibility for the issue until its investigations were complete.
The landlord’s engineering contractor attempted to visit on 16 May 2023 to inspect the HIU but was unable to access the property. We can see the engineer then attended on 17 May 2023 instead and observed “a reduced flow rate” on the resident’s HIU. To try and address this they cleaned the strainer and flushed the “primary flow pipework”. They noted that, despite this, the flow rate was still poor. They also noted that the issue was communal and affecting several other flats in the building and instructed the landlord to investigate the communal issue.
We note that it took the landlord 30 days to investigate the communal boilers and the resident’s HIU. This exceeded its timescales substantially, and we cannot see any reasonable justification for the delay in the records. We therefore do not consider the delay was reasonable. We also consider this likely caused the resident distress and delayed the eventual resolution of the issue.
On 30 May 2023 the landlord spoke with the resident and advised it would refund her the cost of the 17 May 2023 engineer visit since the issue was communal. Given it is responsible for communal water systems under the leasehold agreement, this was appropriate.
On 1 June 2023 the landlord’s contractors investigated the communal system between both blocks and identified a “communication error” on the system controls. On 2 June 2023 the landlord emailed the gas provider and asked it to attend the neighbouring block to investigate. However, there are no further records related to this, so we are unable to reach a view on whether this visit went ahead, and if so, what it achieved.
On 21 June 2023 the landlord emailed the resident and other impacted residents within her block advising that it had received a quote to inspect the HIUs throughout the block. On 27 June 2023 the resident emailed the landlord to complain that she was still without heating and hot water, and that “nobody is doing anything.”
Given the lack of any documented action following the 1 June 2023 visit, we are sympathetic to the resident’s view. While we accept that the landlord may have been taking steps to organise further works during this time with contractors and the energy provider, there are limited records of these attempts, and therefore we are unable to take the view that it was appropriately progressing the works during this period.
Beyond the 21 June 2023 email there is also no indication the landlord suitably updated the resident throughout June 2023. Considering how the landlord had exceeded its timescales in resolving the issue by 2 months at this stage, it should have attempted to mitigate the impact of this by keeping the resident suitably informed. We consider its failure to do so here likely compounded any distress caused by the delays.
On 18 July 2023 an environmental contractor visited and conducted chemical and microbiological tests on the communal water systems. On 3 August 2023 the environmental contractor investigated a neighbouring block of the landlord’s which is connected to the resident’s block by communal water systems.
They found some issues in the system of the neighbouring block and recommended a series of works to resolve these. They also recommended the landlord should further investigate the resident’s block and shared some preliminary advice about which repairs would likely need to be completed. They advised that, should it complete the recommended works on both blocks, the heating and hot water would likely be fully restored. The resident then chased the landlord for progress updates on 18 and 20 August 2023. The landlord replied and advised it would address this in its stage 2 response by 25 August 2023. Over the next few weeks the landlord communicated regularly with the environmental contractor and discussed the results of the investigations up until this point.
We note that the issues with the resident’s heating and hot water were complex and that addressing it involved liaising with several parties and completing investigations and works across 2 blocks. Given this, we acknowledge that it was difficult for the landlord to provide firm timescales to the resident for when it would resolve things. We also note that the landlord appears to have made suitable efforts to progress things throughout August 2023. However, the landlord could have done more to update the resident and explain this throughout this period. We consider its failure to do so likely compounded her distress.
On 25 August 2023 the environmental contractor provided its report on its investigations on the communal systems in the resident’s block. It recommended a range of options it could attempt to address the issue and outlined the relative pros and cons of each. It also asked the landlord to clarify which of these it would like to proceed with. On 31 August 2023 the landlord offered to install an electric shower in the resident’s property, which she refused. Though she did not take it up on this offer, we consider this was a reasonable strategy to try and mitigate the impact of the lack of hot water.
The landlord issued its stage 2 response on 1 September 2023 and set out a detailed update. It explained that it would attempt some works to “balance out the systems” on a “pilot property” on 4 September 2023 before deciding whether the same works could be applied more widely throughout the block. It also advised that it could not guarantee these works would be successful. It acknowledged that the resident had been without hot water and heating for some time, and that its communication had been poor. As redress it offered the resident a total of £697 in compensation, which she accepted.
This was a positive step towards keeping the resident informed about the progress of works and acknowledging its omissions up until this point. On 13 September 2023 the landlord contacted the environmental contractor and asked to schedule a joint visit to progress the chosen scheme of works. The contractor replied the following day and advised it could schedule this at some stage over the following week.
However, following this there are no related records until repair logs from 20 October 2023. There is also no indication the landlord made efforts to update the resident throughout this period. Given the lack of related records, we are not persuaded that the landlord made every reasonable effort to progress these works from 14 September 2023 to 20 October 2023. Therefore, we consider it likely that it missed further opportunities to resolve things sooner.
The repair logs from 20 October 2023 note that the issue was resolved and this restored heating and hot water across all properties, but does not document how this was achieved. The landlord explained to the Ombudsman on 12 July 2024 that it resolved the issue by fixing a defective filtration system. Given the resident has accepted that the issue was resolved on 20 October 2023, we accept the landlord successfully resolved the issue on this date and via the method it later outlined.
Ultimately, the landlord substantially exceeded its timescales in restoring the resident’s heating and hot water. Though we note that works required to do so were complex, we consider it consistently missed opportunities to progress these works from 18 April 2023 until 20 October 2023. We also consider that its communication was poor throughout this period. For this reason, we will order it pays compensation to put these omissions right.
The landlord’s compensation policy sets out that it will make the following payments for loss of services:
1. Total loss of heating £3 per full day between Oct & Apr.
2. Loss of hot water £3 per full day.
The landlord has paid the resident £411 for the 137 days she was without hot water from 18 April 2023 until 1 September 2023, the date of its stage 2 response. This was in line with its policy. However, she then remained without hot water for another 49 days from 1 September 2023 until 20 October 2023. Therefore, we will order the landlord pays her a further £147 for this.
The landlord has also paid the resident £36 for loss of heating for the 12 days between 18 April 2023 until 30 April 2023. However, she was then without heating for the first 20 days of October 2023. For this reason, we will order the landlord pays her £60 to address this as per its policy.
For discretionary compensation payments, the landlord’s policy outlines how it will calculate these sums based on the severity of the impact. For minor impacts, it will pay up to £50. It defines this type of impact as when a complaint has been upheld and there has been minor inconvenience or distress caused. For medium impacts, it will pay from £50 to £250. It defines this type as inconvenience or distress which has clearly been caused as a result of a failure in service. For high impacts, it will pay from £250 to £500. It defines this type as when a serious failure in service has taken place. This could either be due to the severity of the event or a persistent failure which has occurred over a prolonged period of time.
The landlord has paid the resident £100 for poor communication and £100 for “impact” up until its stage 2 response on 1 September 2023. However, we do not consider this goes far enough to put right its failings until this point or beyond to the point when it resolved the issue.
We note that the resident incurred substantial inconvenience in chasing a resolution of the issue from 18 April 2023 until 20 October 2023. We also note that poor communication and delays in progressing works continued from 1 September 2023 until 20 October 2023. Finally, we note that the resident remained without heating or hot water whilst these omissions occurred, and so the impact of each was likely felt more severely than it would have been otherwise.
Therefore, we consider the impact of these omissions qualifies as high under the landlord’s policy. On this basis, we will order the landlord pays the resident a further £150 each for its poor communication and failure to suitably progress the works between 18 April 2023 and 20 October 2023.

Complaint handling.

The landlord’s complaints policy sets out that it will address stage 1 complaints within 10 working days. When it cannot meet these targets, it will update residents and provide a new timescale which will not exceed a further 10 working days without good reason. It sets out that it will address stage 2 complaints within 20 working days. When it is unable to do so, it will update residents and outline a new timescale. As per stage 1, this will not exceed 10 working days without good reason.
The resident made a stage 1 complaint on 16 May 2023 and the landlord issued a response within its timescales on 30 May 2023. The resident escalated her complaint on 28 July 2023, and the landlord issued a stage 2 response 5 working days late on 1 September 2023. Though we note this was slightly late, we can also see the landlord wrote to the resident on 25 August 2023 to explain why it was delayed. Given the slight nature of the delay, and that the landlord took steps to mitigate the impact of this as per its policy, we consider it handled the resident’s stage 2 complaint appropriately.

Determination

In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in how the landlord handled the resident’s reports of loss of heating and hot water in the property.
In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was no maladministration in the landlord’s complaint handling.

Orders

The landlord is to pay the resident £507, inclusive of:
1. £147 for the loss of hot water from 1 September 2023 to 20 October 2023.
2. £60 for the loss of heating from 1 October 2023 to 20 October 2023.
3. £150 for poor communication from 18 April 2023 to 20 October 2023.
4. £150 for its failure to suitably progress works from 18 April 2023 to 20 October 2023.
The landlord is to evidence compliance with these orders within 4 weeks of the date of this report.