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Orbit Housing Association Limited (202326502)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202326502

Orbit Housing Association Limited

25 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

  1. The complaint is about:
    1. The landlord’s handling of the resident’s request to replace the fence at her property.
    2. The landlord’s complaint handling.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant in a 3-bedroom ground floor flat owned by the landlord.
  2. On 20 April 2023, the landlord gave the resident permission to change the fencing at the rear of her property. It said it must be under 6 feet tall. The resident confirmed on 29 August she had installed the fencing and it was under 6 feet tall. The landlord inspected the fence on the same day and said the resident must alter it by October to be 4 feet tall, in line with her neighbour’s fences.
  3. The resident raised a complaint on 22 September 2023. She said she had installed the fence for privacy for her disabled adult son and had confirmed permission with the landlord multiple times. She believed by law the fence could be 6.5 feet. The landlord’s response to the complaint has not been provided.
  4. The resident escalated her complaint on 16 October 2023. She said the landlord had offered her £150 compensation, which she refused. This was because she said the fence cost her £500 and she was quoted £300 to alter it, which she could not afford. She asked the landlord for the full costs of the works.
  5. The landlord provided its formal stage 1 complaint response to the resident on 16 January 2024. It upheld the complaint, finding it had initially misinformed her and was delayed in responding. It suggested the resident request an occupational therapy (OT) assessment to see if the fence was required for her son. It said it could support her in requesting this and did so the same day. It offered compensation of £220 (£50 of which was for its delayed complaint response).
  6. The resident contacted the Ombudsman on 15 February 2024 stating she had not received a response to her complaint escalation on 16 October 2023. We asked the landlord to provide its final response to the resident. It did so on 26 February 2024, upholding its stage 1 findings. It said it would chase the OT assessment.
  7. On 13 March 2024, the resident told the Ombudsman removing the fence would cause stress to her son. She also said the landlord insisted on the OT assessment and this caused distress to her son. The resident and her son moved out of the property under a mutual exchange around 31 May.

Assessment and findings

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s request to replace the fence at her property.

  1. The resident raised her initial complaint on 22 September 2023. She said the landlord was telling her to reduce her fence size despite it giving her permission to install it. She said she needed a 6-foot fence to protect her disabled son’s privacy and dignity when using the garden. She subsequently escalated her complaint because the landlord had offered her only £150 compensation whereas the cost of altering the fence would be £300.
  2. In its complaint responses the landlord acknowledged it had incorrectly permitted the resident to install the fence in April 2023. It explained the fence was not a divider fence, so it needed to grant permission.
  3. The landlord’s complaint responses acknowledged the inconvenience the resident experienced due to misadvising her and it apologised for this. It offered £100 for distress and inconvenience and £70 for the service failing. This was in accordance with its compensation policy and appropriately considered the detriment caused to the resident.
  4. In the circumstances, the landlord could also have offered to reimburse the resident for any reasonable costs she incurred altering the fence. This would have been in accordance with its compensation policy for financial loss to the resident, due to it misadvising her.
  5. However, the landlord was unable to take this step as it wanted to wait for the outcome of an OT assessment. This was an appropriate step as it stated its decision on the fence may be influenced by the outcome of the assessment. It confirmed in its reply that it would support the resident with requesting the assessment. The evidence supports that it did do this. It was still awaiting the outcome of this by its final complaint response of 26 February 2024.
  6. The resident initiated a mutual exchange from 12 March 2024, eventually moving out at the end of May 2024. Therefore, the fence remained at the property unaltered up to the resident moving out. It is unclear on the outcome of the OT assessment and if the council completed this before the resident moved out.
  7. In summary, the landlord incorrectly advised the resident she could install a fence at her property. However, it apologised and offered appropriate compensation for this failing. It took reasonable steps to support the resident and her son through an OT assessment to determine if the fence could remain. While this was in progress the resident retained the fence she had installed until she moved out in May 2024, reducing the impact on her and her son.

The landlord’s complaint handling has also been investigated.

  1. The landlord’s complaints policy confirms it will respond to stage 1 complaints in 10 working days and stage 2 complaints in 20 working days.
  2. The resident raised her initial complaint on 22 September 2023. She provided information in her escalation of 16 October indicating that the landlord had provided a reply. However, we have not seen evidence of this. On 10 November, it acknowledged internally it had not formally responded to the resident’s complaints. While it appears to have provided some form of response, not doing so formally was not in line with the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code.
  3. The landlord did not formally respond to the resident’s escalated complaint of 16 October 2023 until 16 January 2024. This exceeded the timescale in its policy by 43 working days. Furthermore it failed to update the resident and did not explain its extended deadline. This was not in accordance with the Code. Its failure to respond prolonged resolution of the case, causing inconvenience to the resident.
  4. It was appropriate for the landlord to apologise for the delay in its complaint response, but the £50 compensation it offered was disproportionately low given the extent of the delay and its lack of communication.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53.b of the Scheme the landlord has offered redress to the resident prior to investigation which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, satisfactorily resolves the complaint about its handling of the resident’s request to replace the fence at her property.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme there was service failure in respect of the landlord’s complaint handling.

Orders and recommendations

  1. Within 4 weeks of this report the landlord must pay the resident compensation of £150. This is comprised of:
    1. £100 for its inappropriate handling of the resident’s complaints of 22 September and 16 October 2023.
    2. £50 it offered in compensation to the resident on 16 January 2024.