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Platform Housing Group Limited (202112105)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202112105

Platform Housing Group Limited

30 March 2022


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 response to the resident’s enquiries about her right to acquire the property, specifically about the tenancy start date.

Background and summary of events

  1. The right to acquire for tenants of housing associations is set out in the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008. It applies to assured and secure tenants of housing associations and can only be exercised where the tenant has been a tenant of the housing association for a qualifying period of three complete years.
  2. The landlord’s website provides the following information about the right to acquire: You can apply to buy your housing association home if you’ve had a public sector landlord for 3 years.
  3. A licence is personal permission for someone to occupy accommodation. It does not give the licensee a legal interest in (or control of) the land.
  4. The resident is currently an assured tenant of a three bedroom semi detached house owned and managed by the housing association landlord.
  5. On 18 May 2019 the resident secured a plot for a shared ownership property. During the purchase process an issue arose with a part of land running in front of the plot. On 7 September 2019, whilst the issue was being resolved, the landlord granted the resident a licence to occupy the property until the legal issues had been resolved and the shared ownership purchase could proceed.
  6. The licence agreement said that:
    1. The licence would end on 31 January 2020.
    2. The licence fee was £800 per month with payment to be made upon legal completion of the property or the term of the agreement.
    3. The licensee (the resident) acknowledges that it shall occupy the property as a licensee and that no relation of landlord and tenant is created between the licensor (the landlord) and the licensee by the licence.
  7. The issue with the land running in front of the plot took longer to resolve than anticipated and the resident continued to live in the property after the end of the licence agreement.
  8. The resident asked if the landlord would agree to a shorthold tenancy so that she could pay monthly rent with an agreement to be made regarding the outstanding debt following completion of the purchase. On 27 January 2020 the landlord informed the resident that it could reduce the rent to £695 a month and that a completion date was hopeful. However, the resident said that this was not acceptable to her.
  9. The problems with the land running in front of the plot remained unresolved and sometime following August 2020 the resident asked the landlord if she could pursue the purchase of another shared ownership property. This purchase did not proceed, and the resident made a formal complaint on 2 October 2020 concerning the purchase process. As part of the resolution to the complaint the resident asked that the tenure of the property be changed to an affordable rent tenancy.
  10. The landlord issued its response to the complaint on 20 November 2020 and as part of the resolution to the complaint it agreed to the resident’s request that the tenure of the property be changed to an affordable rent tenancy. The landlord also offset the resident’s costs for flooring, carpets, blinds etc against the outstanding rent and wrote off the remaining balance.
  11. On 4 January 2021 the resident became an assured tenant of the property.
  12. On 21 January 2021 the landlord sent the resident an email saying that it had taken legal advice and confirming that:
    1.  She had occupied the property under a licence from September 2019 to January 2020.
    2. After January 2020 the licence had expired but the resident had remained in occupation without formal documentation and no rent was paid.
    3. It noted that the resident had requested to backdate the tenancy but said that this was not possible as she had previously been occupying the premises under a licence.
  13. On 22 January 2021 the resident sent the landlord an email saying that she had asked for the length of time she lived at the property to be reflected in the tenancy agreement and that there were “many documents that show this and I will rely on this in future as I may choose to pursue ‘right to acquire’ as homeownership was always my Intention in some form.”
  14. On 23 April 2021 the resident had a telephone conversation with the landlord about purchasing the property under the right to acquire. The notes of the telephone call say that the landlord informed her that she could exercise the right three years after the start of her tenancy. However, the resident maintained that her tenancy started in 2019, when she moved into the property, and she would therefore qualify for the right to acquire the property in 2022.
  15. On 27 April 2021 the landlord sent an email to the resident saying that she was able to purchase the property under the right to acquire, but in order to do this she must have been a public sector tenant for a minimum of 3 years. The landlord confirmed that the resident’s tenancy start date was 4 January 2021. It also confirmed that, prior to 4 January 2021, she had occupied the premises under licence and not as a tenant and therefore she could only apply to purchase the property under the right to acquire three years from 4 January 2021. The resident replied by email the same day saying that she did not accept the landlord’s position and that this was a new complaint, not correspondence about the previous complaint.
  16. On 30 April 2021 the landlord sent the resident an email again saying that the tenancy start date of 4th January 2021 was applicable and therefore she could apply for the right to acquire three years from that date. The resident replied the same day again saying that the issue about the tenancy start date was a new complaint.
  17. The landlord provided its response to the complaint on 18 May 2021, repeating its position that the start date of the resident’s tenancy with the landlord was 4 January 2021. The resident asked to escalate the complaint the same day.
  18. On 21 June 2021 the landlord provided its review response to the complaint. In its response the landlord said that:
    1. The service that the resident had received from the landlord regarding the occupation under licence and attempted purchase were not acceptable and had been fully addressed in the response to the previous complaint.
    2. One of the outcomes of the previous complaint was that, as the resident had requested and to recognise the issues she had experienced regarding the purchase, she had been offered an affordable rent tenancy, with a start date of 4 January 2021.
    3. As the resident had previously occupied the property under a licence, not a tenancy, the affordable tenancy start date of 4th January 2021 was the start date of the resident’s tenancy and therefore the resident would be eligible to apply for the right to acquire scheme three years from 4 January 2021.
    4. It was sorry that it was unable to conclude the complaint to the resident’s satisfaction, but it was unable to change the start date of the affordable rent tenancy.
  19. The landlord’s letter dated 21 June 2021 was its final response to the complaint, confirming that its internal complaints procedure had been exhausted.

Assessment and findings

  1. The situation has evidently been distressing to the resident. However, in reaching a decision about the resident’s complaint we consider whether the landlord has kept to the law, followed proper procedure and good practice, and acted in a reasonable way. Our duty is to determine complaints by reference to what is, in this Service’s opinion, fair in all the circumstances of the case.
  2. The landlord’s response to the resident’s enquires about the right to acquire, specifically about the tenancy start date was appropriate as:
    1. The right to acquire applies to assured and secure tenants of housing associations, not to licensees.
    2. The right to acquire set out in the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 can only be exercised where the tenant has been a tenant of a housing association for a qualifying period of three complete years.
    3. The landlord’s website says, “You can apply to buy your housing association home if you’ve had a public sector landlord for 3 years.”
    4. Under the terms of the licence agreement signed by the resident on 7 September 2019 the resident acknowledged that no landlord tenant relationship was created between the landlord and the resident by the licence. Therefore, the resident was a licensee and not a tenant of the landlord during the licence period of 7 September 2019 until 31 January 2020.
  3. However, it is noted that the relationship between the landlord and the resident during the period from 31 January 2020 until 4 January 2021 is unclear. Ultimately whether the resident occupied the property during this period as a licensee or tenant would be a matter for a court to decide. Therefore, the Ombudsman is not in a position to make a finding about whether the information provided by the landlord regarding its relationship with the resident between 31 January 2020 and 4 January 2021 was accurate. If the resident wishes to pursue this, she should seek independent legal advice.
  4. For the reasons set out paragraphs 22 and 23 there was no maladministration by the landlord in its response to the resident’s enquiries about the right to acquire.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was no maladministration by the landlord in respect of the complaint about the landlord’s response to the resident’s enquiries about her right to acquire the property, specifically about the tenancy start date.

Reasons

  1. The landlord informed the resident of its position regarding her occupation status at different times based on legal advice and provided the resident with accurate information about the right to acquire applying to tenants of a housing association for a qualifying period of three complete years.