One Housing Group Limited (202328255)
REPORT
COMPLAINT 202328255
One Housing Group Limited
29 November 2024
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 the landlord’s handling of repairs to the boiler in the resident’s property.
Background
- The resident is an assured tenant of the property owned by the landlord.
- The property is heated via a communal boiler located in the boiler room of the building, with each property having its own unit to supply hot water and heating. On 18 September 2023, the resident informed the landlord that her boiler was not working, and she had no hot water in her property. Its operatives attended her property between 18 September 2023 and 26 September 2023 and as part of its investigations she was asked to remove her washing machine, but the issue was unresolved. During this time the landlord was informed the boiler in the boiler room was working and the issue was within her flat.
- The resident made a complaint on 26 September 2023. She said she had no hot water in her flat since 18 September 2023. She had called the emergency repairs number, but no one came to help. She then logged a normal repair through the landlord for 22 September 2023, but the engineer arrived late. She had the washing machine removed as requested and called the repairs line on 25 September 2023 to try to explain the situation but was told she could only log an emergency repair. It had been 9 days without hot water.
- The landlord issued its stage 1 response on 10 October 2023. It acknowledged there had been delays in getting the repair completed and apologised for the poor service she had received. She had been left with no hot water because the system set up in her home was obsolete, making the repair issues a lot harder to resolve. An engineer appointment had been booked for that day. The engineer would remove all parts relating to the issue, replace and rewire the system, which would solve the problem of her hot water. It offered the resident £200 in compensation.
- The resident requested that her complaint be escalated on 16 October 2023 as she was not happy with the stage 1 response. She said it had been weeks without hot water and she was spending extra money on electricity, boiling water and attending a laundrette. This was causing a financial burden and inconvenience.
- The landlord’s stage 2 response of 9 November 2023 discussed its challenges in arranging the repairs. For use of the laundrette, it offered compensation of £3 per day for the time she had been without hot water and said it would also revisit the amount when her hot water was returned to service. An urgent appointment had been arranged for 10 November 2023 for its contractor to carry out reconnection of the washing machine. It apologised for the delays she had encountered and increased the offer of compensation to £373.
- The landlord reconnected the washing machine on 10 November 2023. It has informed the Ombudsman it completed the repairs in September 2024.
Assessment and findings
The boiler repair
- Section 12.3 of the landlord’s repairs and maintenance policy says that it will respond to emergency repairs within 3 hours and make safe within 24 hours with any follow up work to be raised as a new job and placed within its appropriate category. Routine repairs will be attended within 7 working days and completed within 28 working days. The policy also states that it reserves the right to amend the completion category and timescale for individual repair works to take account of unforeseen or other specific circumstances. These include, for example, a requirement to order parts and materials, very specialist works, and additional works being identified when repairs are being carried out. Any amendment to the completion timescale will be clearly recorded in order to create an appropriate audit trail.
- The resident reported having a loss of heating and hot water on 18 September 2023. The landlord’s records show it did attend her building and inspected the boiler room which it found to be in working order. The contractor stated the landlord was to check her flat, but the records do not show there was any inspection of her flat conducted during that visit. This would appear to substantiate her reports in her complaint that no one attended when she initially raised the emergency repair.
- A further works order was raised, and the landlord’s contractor visited the resident’s property on 22 September 2023 where it was noted there was a control and power issue. It believed there was a Heat Interface Unit (HIU) located behind the washing machine. It asked her to remove the washing machine and then call it back. She did so but the operative failed to attend an appointment due on 25 September 2023 requiring another operative to attend. Its records show the boiler house was checked and found to be working but, as with the visit on 18 September 2023, the records do not show that her flat was attended.
- The resident made her complaint to the landlord on 26 September 2023 as the issue remained unresolved and her washing machine was still disconnected. She said:
- She had no hot water in her flat since 18 September 2023. She checked her thermostat, but the display was not working. She tried to reset it, which did not help.
- She had called the emergency repairs number who said someone would be out to her property within 24 hours, but no one attended. She logged a normal repair through the landlord for 22 September 2023 for between 10am to 2pm. The engineer arrived at 3pm which gave him only 20 minutes to check for a fault as she had to leave to pick up her child.
- The engineer had confirmed he did not know where the fault was, she needed to remove her washing machine so further checks could take place and would need another appointment.
- She had the washing machine removed on 24 September 2023, called the repairs line on 25 September 2023 but was told she could only log an emergency repair which meant someone would attend the property within 12 hours. She had tried to explain that no one visited on the previous occasion and that no one could give her an update. She asked if there was another option as she needed the hot water but also needed to attend work and look after her child so could not stay at home all day waiting. She was told that there was no other option, and she should write to the complaints team.
- She left work after speaking to the landlord, stayed home all day but no one attended. It had been 9 days without hot water, and she wanted a resolution which included a date and time for someone to attend and help repair the issue.
- The landlord’s records show that on 26 September 2023 its operatives attended the resident’s building and stated the boiler was working properly and had been checked the day before. However, those records were not clear if it was her own property that was inspected or the boiler room for the building. Its records further stated on 26 September 2023 that the fault was within her property and the building had cylinders and not HIUs.
- It was not until 4 October 2023 that the landlord’s operative determined a programmer needed to be replaced but the replacement part was obsolete and no replacement was available. This was 13 working days after the issue was first reported to the landlord.
- From the evidence provided, there were delays to the landlord acquiring the required part for the repair due to the existing part being obsolete and a compatible alternative needing to be sourced, which was unavoidable. However, whilst these incidents can occur, it should have kept in communication with the resident during that time to assure her that it was working to restore the hot water as soon as possible. There was no evidence provided that it kept her informed of the progress of the repairs and if it considered her statements regarding having no hot water and washing facilities.
- The poor handling of the repairs was also evident by the resident stating the landlord had not attended appointments when its records showed it had attended and inspected the boiler room of the building. Had it communicated more effectively with her, this may have been avoided. This lack of communication meant that she continued to chase it for updates on the repairs and had an unnecessary level of involvement in the repair.
- In the landlord’s stage 1 response, it acknowledged its failings and upheld the resident’s complaint. Given the delays in its restoration of hot water to her property and poor communication, it was appropriate for it to apologise to her and offer compensation. The amount of £200 compensation comprised £63 for her lack of hot water – based on £3 per day as stated in its compensation policy–, £100 for missed appointments, and £37 for the impact on her.
- The amount the landlord offered for the lack of hot water and for missed appointments was in line with its compensation policy and was therefore reasonable. However, the resident was without hot water for 23 days by this time and had disconnected her washing machine at its request for 17 days. Given the lapse of time for these events and the fact the washing machine remained disconnected, the £37 offered by it for the impact to her was not proportionate to the impact its failure to resolve the issue would have had on her.
- The landlord, in the stage 1 response, also stated that an engineer was attending the same day and would remove all parts relating to the issue. They would replace and rewire the system, which would solve the problem of the hot water. Although its records do show an appointment took place, the records show as “appointment work completed” but failed to show what works had been completed or if any follow-on works were required.
- There was also no evidence the landlord discussed with the resident about provision of hot water to the property while she was waiting for the repairs to be completed, until a hot water urn was delivered to the property on 11 October 2023. This was 24 days after she first reported she had no access to hot water. There is also no evidence it enquired and satisfied itself that she had suitable access to hot water for bathing, such as through an electric shower or any other means or if there were any vulnerabilities in the household that may have been affected.
- The delays in the repairs taking place meant the landlord entered the period during which it should consider lack of heating as an emergency. This period, according to its repairs policy, is between October – April. It is acknowledged that the resident’s initial reports were about loss of hot water in September 2023, however, it would have been reasonable to expect it to consider that her heating would be affected and have this in mind in its handling of the repair.
- After the resident’s escalation request of 16 October 2023, the next evidenced visit by the landlord’s contractor to the property was on 20 October 2023 and its records show there was a smart fit system which was obsolete. It could not install another cylinder as the current set up allowed the washing machine to fit directly below it and a replacement would not allow that to happen. It was recommended to install a HIU in replacement and a quote of follow up works required was provided to it.
- Following the recommendations made to the landlord, it would be expected to consider the recommendations from its contractor, make a decision and to communicate its findings to the resident and update her on the steps it would be taking to ensure the repairs would take place. There was no evidence it did so.
- On 7 November 2023, the resident stated as part of her escalation request that she wanted a resolution to no hot water and no heating in her property. The landlord at this stage should already have been aware that the resident had no heating in her property. She said she last had an external contractor visit the property on the 20 October 2023 and that she had not heard anything since. She had a young child living with her, and the property was cold which was affecting their health. She needed the hot water fixed and her washing machine to be put back in place so she could wash clothes and not have to visit the launderette every weekend.
- Section 12.3 of the landlord’s repairs policy states that if works cannot be completed, temporary heating provision will be offered to all tenants until the repair can be completed. The landlord in its evidence submission informed the Ombudsman that it had gifted the resident heaters during a previous issue with her heating in January 2023. However, it has not evidenced that it confirmed with her that those heaters were still with her, were in working order, or if she required any further assistance due to the loss of heating during the period covered in this investigation. Its compensation policy also states a resident would be paid compensation of £3 per day for loss of heating between October and April.
- The landlord issued its stage 2 response on 9 November 2023. It said that regarding the lack of hot water, the heating manager had advised that a new thermal store was required to return her hot water to full service. It was having difficulty in arranging that through its heating contractor and was still arranging for a date that could be carried out. It would be in touch with her separately regarding that. It apologised for the delays she had encountered and acknowledge the impact that those delays had caused, particularly with a child in her household. It offered compensation of £373 consisting of £200 for delays, £20 for 2 missed appointments and £153 for loss of hot water. It also offered an urgent appointment for 10 November 2023 for its contractor to carry out the reconnection of her washing machine. The complaint was upheld as there had been a significant delay in responding to her service request to carry out repairs.
- There had been a further 31 days of delays in completing the repairs despite the landlord’s commitment made in the stage 1 response and the repairs remined outstanding. In addition, the poor communication continued, and the outstanding repair had moved into the months considered as emergency for heating repairs. It was again appropriate for the landlord to apologise to the resident and offer additional compensation. As with the stage 1 response, the offer for loss of water and missed appointments was in line with its compensation policy, however the landlord did not provide sufficient redress for the impact and the distress and inconvenience the ongoing repair had on her.
- It must be noted that, however, that the landlord again failed to evidence that it considered if additional compensation for loss of heating should be paid from 1 October 2023 as required under its compensation policy and for any additional impact that would have on her. It also failed in its response to refer to her reports on 7 November 2023 that her property was getting cold and affecting her child’s health. These reports should have resulted in it enquiring about the heaters and whether they were functional. Her communications with this Service indicate that these issues remained ongoing up to April 2024 which falls within the winter months. We have considered this period in deciding compensation to her but have also considered that it is not clear that there was complete loss of amenities.
- The resident also raised concerns about an increase in her energy bills during the period she had to use fan heaters and additional electricity to heat water. The landlord did not address this in either of its complaint responses. This report has made on order that the landlord contacts the resident for any evidence she has of an increase in her electricity bills. It has been required to reimburse any quantifiable financial loss which may have occurred as a result of its delayed repairs.
- In the landlord’s stage 2 response, it informed the resident that a thermal store was required and due to difficulty in arranging that it would be in touch with her regarding this. It has since confirmed to the Ombudsman that it completed the repair in September 2024. This report therefore takes into consideration the length of time taken for the repair to be completed.
- Given that the issues were raised in September 2023, the works required were established in October 2023 but were not recorded as completed until September 2024, which was around 12 months later and 10 months after the stage 2 response had been issued, this indicates that the landlord failed to learn sufficient lessons from the outcome of the resident’s complaint and similar failings continued for a significant extended period. For those and the additional failures identified in this report, the Ombudsman has found maladministration in its handling of this matter.
Determination
- In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of repairs to the boiler in the resident’s property.
Orders
- By 7 January 2025, the landlord is to:
- Pay the resident compensation totalling £1255 (inclusive of the £375 offered previously as part of its stage 2 response), comprising:
- £300 for the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of repairs to the boiler in the resident’s property.
- £320 for the loss of heating from 1 October 2023 to 30 April 2024.
- £260 for the loss of hot water between 10 November 2023 to 30 April 2024.
- £375 offered as part of its stage 2 complaint response if it has not paid this already.
- Write to the resident, acknowledging and apologising for its failures identified in this report.
- Contact the resident and ask her to provide it with evidence of any increase in her energy bills due to the outstanding repair for it to consider awarding additional compensation for any quantifiable financial loss, which may have occurred as a result of its delayed repairs.
- Pay the resident compensation totalling £1255 (inclusive of the £375 offered previously as part of its stage 2 response), comprising: