One Housing Group Limited (202331504)
REPORT
COMPLAINT 202331504
One Housing Group Limited
25 February 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 the landlord’s handling of the resident’s:
- Reports of works required to the radiators in the property.
- Associated complaint.
Background and summary of events
- The resident is a secure tenant of the landlord and lives in a 2-bedroom flat. It is aware that the resident has physical health issues including respiratory conditions.
- On 24 August 2023 the resident reported issues with the radiators in the property. He believed they required replacement due to their age.
- The resident complained to the landlord on 27 October 2023. He was unhappy that since being inspected on 5 September 2023, he had not been contacted to schedule any work to the radiators. He told the landlord he had no heating due to the radiators leaking. He had health conditions and the property was cold.
- The landlord sent its stage 1 response on 15 November 2023. It said that it had agreed to replace the radiators throughout the property as part of its planned programme. It had discussed the resident’s request for the bedroom radiator to be moved underneath the window and said the engineer completing the work would decide whether this will take place.
- The resident requested the escalation of his complaint on 8 December 2023. He was unhappy that no timescales had been given for the work, and he was still without heating. He stated that he had no response to his communication. He wanted the contractor conducting the work to be instructed to relocate the bedroom radiator.
- The landlord sent its stage 2 response on 5 January 2024. It acknowledged that it had delayed in replacing the radiators. It would not be moving the bedroom radiator and said that it had already explained this. It apologised for the lateness of its stage 2 response and offered the resident £50 in compensation. It offered £100 in acknowledgement of the inconvenience caused to the resident with respect to the works. It said that it would be in touch within the next week to confirm an appointment for contractors to attend.
- The resident escalated his complaint to us as he remained unhappy with the landlord’s response and lack of communication. He wanted it to provide an accurate response to the issues raised in his complaint, for a date to be confirmed for the radiators to be replaced, and to be compensated fairly.
Assessment and findings
Scope of the investigation
- The resident said his health conditions were affected by the lack of heating in his property. The courts are the most effective place for disputes about personal injury and illness. This is largely because independent medical experts are appointed to give evidence. They have a duty to the court to provide unbiased insights on the diagnosis, prognosis, and cause of any illness or injury. When disputes arise over the cause of an injury, oral testimony can be examined in court. Therefore, this element of the complaint is better dealt with via the court.
Reports of issues with the radiators
- The landlord’s responsive repairs policy states that it will keep in repair and working order the installations for room heating including central heating installations.
- The policy also states it will:
- Respond to emergency repairs within 4 hours and ‘make safe’, within 12 hours. This includes where there is a total loss of heating.
- Complete urgent repairs within 5 calendar days.
- Complete routine repairs within 28 calendar days, or 56 calendar days during extreme circumstances such as a pandemic.
- When he reported the issues with his radiators on 24 August 2023, the resident said they were rusting at the inlets and had recently leaked due to their age. He had been advised, during a recent inspection by the landlord for separate works, that they required replacement. He was concerned about using the radiators as he had recently had new carpets fitted throughout the property. He did not want them damaged should the radiators leak again.
- The landlord sent its heating contractor to inspect the radiators on 5 September 2023. This was in line with the timescales set out in its responsive repair policy. The contractor informed the landlord that all radiators in the property required replacement and that the resident had asked for the bedroom radiator to be relocated underneath the window whilst this work was taking place. The resident said that he had been advised during the previous inspection that this position was optimal for energy efficiency. It would also be in line with the position of radiators in the other rooms of his flat. The contractor noted that the resident had heating and hot water in its communication with the landlord.
- There was a delay in the landlord arranging the further works required to the radiators. As the inspection found replacement of the radiators was necessary it is reasonable to assume this would take longer to complete than a general repair job. It would have been appropriate for the landlord to manage the resident’s expectations by contacting him after the inspection and setting out what action it would be taking and the timescales involved.
- When raising his complaint, the resident told the landlord he currently had no heating due to the radiators leaking. He said the property was cold and that he had health conditions that would be worsened by the temperature in his property. A total loss of heating in October would qualify as an emergency repair according to the landlord’s responsive repair policy and thus should have been responded to within 4 hours. The fact that no repair job was raised at this time was a failing by the landlord, particularly given the fact that the resident had mentioned how this was affecting his health.
- Upon acknowledging the complaint, the landlord called the resident on 3 November 2023. During this phone call he reiterated that he was vulnerable and was unable to turn the heating on due to leaks. The landlord’s records show that this was noted, however no repair job was raised. There is no evidence that it considered any further interim solutions to mitigate the impact of the housing conditions on the resident. For example, it should have considered whether it could provide temporary heaters as this was in the cold period of the year. This was another missed opportunity for it to address the loss of heating and respond appropriately.
- In its stage 1 response the landlord agreed that it would be replacing the radiators throughout the property as part of its planned programme. It stated that the engineer attending to complete the work would have discretion on whether to relocate the bedroom radiator. It is good practice for landlords to schedule major works such as heating upgrades in advance and to have a programme for such works so that multiple properties can be renovated at the same time. However, since the resident had said he was unable to use the heating it was inappropriate for the landlord to treat this as planned works. It should have been categorised in line with its responsive repairs policy and responded to as an emergency repair.
- The evidence confirms that the resident chased the landlord numerous times to attempt to schedule the repair work. In his email on 28 November 2023, he refers to the ‘sub zero’ weather temperatures being experienced at the time and the distress that this was causing him. The landlord failed to communicate with him about, explain or remedy its delays. This would have caused the resident to experience unnecessary additional time, trouble, distress, and inconvenience
- The resident’s complaint escalation request on 8 December 2023 was a direct result of the poor communication by the landlord. Despite this it did not make any attempt to contact him over the Christmas period. The evidence presented to this Service shows that the landlord responded after a contractor, arranging separate retrofit work, raised concerns as to progress of the repair work to the radiators. Without the intervention of the contractor on this issue, it is unclear when any action would have been taken by the landlord.
- The stage 2 response of 5 January 2024 said that the resident would be contacted “in the next week” to schedule the work to the radiators. However, this did not happen. The resident visited the office of the contractor arranging retrofit works on 19 January 2024 to explain that he had received no communication on the issue and was still without heating. Their contact with the landlord on this date led to the work being arranged and completed on 30 January 2024.
- Overall, there were delays in the landlord’s response to the reports of issues with the radiators. It did not carry out the repairs in the timeframes set out in its repairs policy nor stage 2 response to the complaint. Its communication with the resident was poor and it did not consider his vulnerabilities in its responses. This was particularly inappropriate given that it was winter. It failed to recognise the level of distress and inconvenience likely caused to the resident having no heating for a 3-month period.
- Where there are failings by a landlord, as is the case here, this Service will consider whether the redress offered by it (including an apology and compensation) put things right and resolved the resident’s complaint satisfactorily in the circumstances. In considering this, this Service considers whether the landlord’s offer of redress was in line with our dispute resolution principles to be fair, put things right and learn from outcomes.
- The landlord’s compensation policy states it will make a payment of compensation should a resident experience a total loss of heating between the months of October and April. This will be at the rate of £3 per full day of total loss. It also states that discretionary compensation can be paid where avoidable inconvenience, distress or detriment have been caused to a resident by their failure or mismanagement of an issue.
- The resident was without heating for a total of 96 days, from his initial report on 27 October 2023 until work to replace the radiators was completed on 30 January 2024. At a rate of £3 per day of loss, a compensation offer of £288 would have been in line with the landlord’s compensation policy.
- In its stage 2 response the landlord offered £100 compensation to the resident in acknowledgment of the inconvenience caused to him by the delay in arranging for the radiators to be replaced. Its offer did not take into account the amounts set out in its compensation policy. Thus, the amount of compensation it offered was not proportionate to its failings and does not constitute reasonable redress. The landlord should consider this learning in its future complaint responses.
- With consideration of our remedies guidance, we have ordered the landlord to pay compensation to the resident of an additional £500 to recognise the likely distress and inconvenience caused by the above identified failings. This is an increase which considers the £288 which it should have offered for the time the resident was without heating, at the rate set out in its compensation policy.
Associated complaint
- The landlord has a 2-stage complaints process. It will acknowledge complaints within 3 working days and respond to stage 1 and 2 complaints within 10 and 20 working days respectively. Its policy states if the response cannot be completed within these timescales, the resident will be notified to inform them of the progress of their complaint and when they will expect a full response. This will not exceed a further 10 days without good reason. This is in line with our Complaint Handling Code timescales.
- The landlord’s complaint policy states that contact will be made with the resident at both stages, within 3 working days to establish the issues and outcomes sought. At stage 2 a senior manager, not previously involved with the complaint, will carry out a robust review of the complaint supported by the complaints team. This is in line with our Complaint Handling Code (the Code).
- The resident requested escalation of his complaint on 8 December 2023 after he was unable to get hold of the landlord to discuss its stage 1 response. The poor communication by the landlord was a missed opportunity to reach a resolution on the issue and was a failure.
- Although it acknowledged his escalation request, the landlord did not contact the resident at stage 2 to discuss the issues leading to the escalation of the complaint. This was not in line with its complaint policy.
- The landlord’s records show that the complaint was investigated by the same manager at both stages. This is not in line with its policy nor the Code. It would have been appropriate for the landlord to ensure that a different member of staff investigated at stage 2, particularly as the resident had highlighted issues with poor communication during the investigation up to this point.
- The stage 2 response was vague and lacked any real assessment of the landlord’s handling of the issue. It did not address the points that the resident had raised nor explain the reasoning behind its decisions.
- Overall, the landlord did not put right its failures in handling the resident’s complaint and the level of the compensation offered. It was positive that the landlord made an offer of redress, however, the £50 offered was not proportionate, given the circumstances. Its decision did not do enough to address all the issues raised and was not transparent as the same staff member investigated the matter at both stages. As such, the Ombudsman has found service failure in the landlord’s handling of the associated complaint and has ordered it to pay additional compensation in recognition of this.
Determination (decision)
- In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme:
- There was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of issues with the radiators in the property.
- There was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.
Orders
- Within 4 weeks of the date of this determination, the landlord must take the following actions and provide evidence of its compliance to this Service:
- Provide a written apology to the resident for the failings identified in this report.
- Pay the resident total compensation of £700 broken down as follows:
- £600 (this includes the £100 previously offered if not already paid) for its failures in respect of its handling of the resident’s reports of issues with the radiators in the property.
- £100 (this includes the £50 previously offered if not already paid) for its failures in respect of its handling of the associated complaint.
- These payments must be paid directly to the resident and not to his rent account.