Applications are open to join the next Housing Ombudsman Resident Panel – find out more Housing Ombudsman Resident Panel.

Red Kite Community Housing Limited (202317013)

Back to Top

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202317013

Red Kite Community Housing Limited

19 June 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 the landlord’s handling of heating repairs and the resident’s request for compensation.

Background

  1. The resident is a secure tenant of the landlord.
  2. Between October 2021 and February 2022, the resident reported to the landlord that she had no heating or hot water. Following each report the landlord completed repairs. In February 2022, the landlord decided to replace the boiler to resolve the ongoing issues. This work was completed by the end of June 2022. The resident made several complaints during this time which the landlord addressed through both its quick resolution and complaint processes.
  3. In August 2022, the resident told the landlord she wanted compensation for the distress and inconvenience, additional energy costs from temporary heaters, and the impact of the repairs on her health. On 11 November 2022, the landlord offered the resident £50 compensation. The resident told the landlord in December 2022 that she did not agree with the compensation offered and raised a complaint.
  4. The resident told the Service in March 2023 that she had not had a response from the landlord. We asked the landlord to respond in March and May 2023.
  5. The landlord responded at stage 1 of its complaints process on 6 June 2023. It acknowledged delays to completing repairs. The landlord said it had asked the resident for evidence of her additional energy costs but had not received any. It said it understood the resident choose not to use the portable heaters it had provided due to the impact on her health, and she had incurred costs of takeaway food due to not feeling comfortable cooking at home during the repairs. The landlord increased its offer of compensation to £350.
  6. The resident escalated her complaint on 6 July 2023. She said the landlord had not accounted for the impact on both her and her husband who had been ill due to the cold, the temporary heaters supplied, and the dirt and dust caused by the repairs. She said the offer did not reflect the energy costs and other costs she incurred.
  7. The landlord issued a final response on 28 July 2023. It said its offer of compensation at stage 1 included the inconvenience and affect on the household’s wellbeing caused by its delay. It said it could not compensate for costs not directly related to the repair delay. The landlord confirmed the £350 offered included £150 for additional costs, and a £100 goodwill gesture as an apology for the personal impact on the household.
  8. The resident remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s response. She said the compensation offered was not enough for the timeframe of the repair.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. The resident raised stage 1 complaints to the landlord in February 2022, April 2022 and June 2022 which included repairs to the heating system. We have not seen evidence of these complaints having exhausted the landlord’s complaints process, which is one of the requirements for an Ombudsman investigation. Because of that this investigation focuses on the landlord’s handling of the issues addressed in its final complaint response on 28 July 2023.
  2. The resident has referred to the situation impacting her health. The Ombudsman is unable to assess the cause of, or liability for, impacts on health and wellbeing. The resident may be able to make a personal injury claim if she considers that her health has been affected by the landlord’s actions or inaction. This is a legal process, and the resident may wish to seek legal advice if she wants to pursue this option. As this issue is more effectively resolved and remedied through the courts it will not be considered in this report.

The landlord’s handling of heating repairs and the resident’s request for compensation

  1. The landlord accepted its repairs responsibility under the tenancy agreement.
  2. The landlord’s repairs policy says it will complete emergency repairs within 24 hours, respond to urgent repairs within 5 working days and routine repairs within 20 working days.
  3. The landlord’s compensation policy says goodwill compensation is discretionary and may be given where it decides that a level of service, action or inaction is not in line with its service standards.
  4. The landlord’s complaints policy says at stage 1 of the process it aims to acknowledge complaints within two working days and provide a formal response within 10 working days.
  5. Between October 2021 and when the boiler was replaced in June 2022 the resident was intermittently without heating and hot water on multiple occasions. The evidence shows the landlord attended each time and completed a repair in line with its policy for emergency repairs, apart from a repair in December 2021 which took 3 days due to a part, and another in early January in which a part was required. Its handling of these repairs was in line with its timescales, and the two exceptions were due to factors outside its immediate control.
  6. The resident’s frustration and inconvenience from the multiple boiler repairs is understandable, especially over the winter months. However, the evidence shows the repairs were due to various issues. As such, it was reasonable for the landlord to repair the problems prior to considering a replacement boiler, given that the manner in which a landlord meets its overall repair and maintenance obligations is for it to decide. The boiler was recommended for replacement at an appointment on 11 February 2022 and it raised this work on 21 February 2022.
  7. Delays occurred when the landlord attempted to replace the boiler. The evidence shows that the delay to the completion of the boiler installation works was due to the initial delay to starting the work, missed appointments and further work required. The resident said she was told the work would take 2 days to complete.
  8. Complex repairs may require additional time for the landlord to complete them, and the evidence shows the resident still had a working boiler over the period (albeit that it was still intermittently failing and needed further repairs) However, basic customer service is for a landlord to keep in communication with tenants and update them on the progress of repairs. The evidence shows the replacement was due to be completed on 21 and 22 March 2022 with a post work inspection booked for 23 March 2022. When the work was not started as planned on 21 March 2022, the landlord’s records show the resident had to follow up on the work by phone and email. The replacement was completed in June 2022. Some of the delay appears to be due to the nature and scale of the work needed to complete the replacement, and the resident’s and contractors’ availability but there is only limited evidence of the landlord updating the resident about its actions, or when the work might be completed. That poor communication was a failing.
  9. Throughout the repair process the resident told the landlord the situation was impacting her health conditions. The landlord provided the resident with temporary heaters on 4 December 2021, following a repair the previous day. On 11 January 2022, the resident asked the landlord to provide different heaters because the ones provided were causing her health issues. The landlord confirmed to the resident on 10 March 2022 that it had asked its contractor if this was possible but there was no evidence of the landlord considering this further or providing an update to the resident.
  10. The evidence shows the resident told the landlord from December 2021 onwards that her energy costs had increased as a result of using the temporary heaters. The resident told the landlord in an email on 11 August 2022 that the cost of using the heaters was between £8 and £10 per day for the 10 days she had used them. It is not clear from the evidence if the resident provided information showing any increased usage. Nonetheless, the landlord gave her a £49 voucher towards energy bills on 21 December 2021 and explained that £150 of the compensation it later offered was for additional costs she had incurred.
  11. The resident complained to the landlord that she had at times not been able to cook due to dust and dirt from the repairs and the property being cold. There is no evidence that this issue was raised at the time of the repair work. It was reasonable for the landlord to explain it would not reimburse for that specific issue but would compensate her for her overall inconvenience from the repairs.
  12. The resident asked the landlord to reimburse her for taxi costs to travel to appointments. It is not clear from the complaint how the resident felt the taxi costs were related to the delayed repairs. The landlord reasonably explained in its final response that it was unable to do so without evidence to show this was related to the delay in installing the boiler.
  13. The resident expressed her dissatisfaction to the landlord on 7 December 2022. She said she disagreed with the compensation it offered her on 11 November 2022 and asked how to progress a complaint. The resident followed up on this on 23 December 2022. It is noted the landlord contacted her about the complaint in April 2023 following contact from the Service but it did not open a complaint until May 2023 following our further contact. This was not in line with the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code which states a complaint should be raised when the resident raises dissatisfaction with a response to a service request.
  14. The delay to raising the complaint caused a protracted complaints process for the resident. It also delayed her access to the Service because she did not have a final response on the matter until July 2023. The landlord failed to identify this delay in its complaint response.
  15. The £350 compensation offered by the landlord was intended to be for the resident’s overall inconvenience from the repairs, and for additional costs the repairs may have caused her. Given the lack of information about any specific costs she had incurred, the landlord’s approach to the compensation was understandable. However, the amount did not include its poor complaint handling, which had caused significant delays and further inconvenience. The landlord did not acknowledge that further failing, meaning it did not fully resolve the complaint.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of heating repairs and the resident’s request for compensation.

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of this report the landlord must pay the resident compensation of £550 for the failings found in this report. This amount includes the £350 already paid.
  2. The landlord must provide evidence of compliance with this order within the deadline above.