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Regenda Limited (202323400)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202323400

Regenda Limited

31 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 the landlord’s response to the resident’s request for a refund of costs incurred when moving out of her previous property following anti-social behaviour.

Background

  1. The resident and her husband were assured tenants of the landlord at the property from 15 July 2022 until 15 May 2023. The property was a 1–bedroom, ground floor flat.
  2. The resident has said that when she visited the property in July 2022 the landlord asked her if she was aware that the area was known for drug activity. She has said she told the landlord that she was familiar with the area. However, she has said the landlord did not warn her that the other tenants in the block were drug users and that there had been issues in the past. During the resident’s tenancy at the property she made multiple reports of anti-social behaviour (ASB) by her neighbours.
  3. The resident raised her complaint on 21 July 2023. She said they felt they had no option but to move, following an offer from the landlord, on the 15 May 2023 due to the ASB and drug related activities by the other tenants in the block of flats. She said she believed the landlord was aware of the other tenants behaviours before it offered her the tenancy. As such, she said she felt it was unreasonable for them to have to bear the costs of having to move again and wanted the landlord to reimburse them.
  4. The landlord issued its stage 1 response on 25 August 2023. It said that at the time of the residents visit in July 2022 it had not received any reports or complaints of ASB. It said it opened and investigated a case under its ASB policy following the resident’s reports in December 2022. It said that it took appropriate action in January 2023 based on the evidence it had gathered. It said it had offered to rehouse the resident in May 2023 due to the impact of the matters she had reported and concerns for their wellbeing. The landlord acknowledged that the resident had had a negative experience but said it felt it had dealt with the issue appropriately.
  5. The resident escalated her complaint on 1 September 2023. She set out what she had reported to the landlord, the conversations she had had with it about the reports and the behaviours she had experienced during the tenancy. She said that while there may not have been any official complaints prior to her moving in, she believed the landlord had been fully aware of the other tenant’s behaviours and actions. She said a housing officer had told her that property was one of the landlord’s worst and the police had reported the drug situation in the block to it. She also said that during a conversation with the landlord it had told her it could consider a financial contribution to the moving costs. However, the landlord had not addressed this in its stage 1 response.
  6. The landlord issued its stage 2 response on 3 October 2023. It confirmed that when the resident visited and accepted the property there were no reports or open cases of ASB. As such, it said it had not found any information that would cause it to change the outcome reached in its stage 1 response. However, it acknowledged that it had previously told the resident it would consider contributing to the costs of the second move but it had not addressed this previously. As a gesture of goodwill, the landlord offered £500 compensation.
  7. The resident contacted this Service on 23 October 2023 and confirmed that she wanted us to investigate the complaint. She did not raise concerns with this Service about the landlord’s handling of her reports of ASB but said she believed it was aware of the drug use and behaviours of the other tenants when she visited the property. She said that had it warned them about this they would not have accepted the property and therefore would not have incurred the additional costs of moving again in May 2023.

Assessment and findings

  1. In its stage 1 response the landlord confirmed that before the resident’s reports in December 2022 it had not received any reports or complaints about ASB from the other residents or neighbouring properties.
  2. The resident has said that it was the tenants and their visitors that were carrying out the ASB and drug related activities. She said the issues she reported to the landlord included thefts, broken windows, constantly banging doors, fights and drug use. She said it is obvious that they would not report themselves and that is likely why the landlord had not received any official complaints before hers. She said that during her tenancy at the property a housing officer confirmed the police had told the landlord the drug issues with the other tenants were low level. Therefore, she said she still believed the landlord was aware of the behaviour and drug related activities of the other tenants before it offered her the property.
  3. The Ombudsman appreciates why the resident believed the landlord was aware of the activities of the other tenants. Indeed, given the nature of the activities reported by the resident, it would seem unlikely that the landlord was wholly unaware of the behaviour of the other tenants. However, we have not seen any evidence which shows that the landlord received any formal reports or indications of ASB before those raised by the resident in December 2022. Without such evidence, the Ombudsman is unable to reasonably conclude to what extent the landlord was aware of the activities of the other tenants before it offered her the flat.
  4. In its stage 2 response the landlord confirmed it had previously told the resident it would consider contributing to the costs of the second move. It apologised that it had not addressed this in the stage 1 response and acknowledged that this would have disappointed the resident. In recognition of this, the landlord offered the resident £500 as a gesture of goodwill.
  5. The landlord was not responsible for the neighbour’s reported actions nor the resident’s choice to accept the offer of rehousing. As such, we would not expect it to fully reimburse the cost of the resident moving due to the impact of the reported actions. It was therefore reasonable for it to offer this amount despite there being no obligation for it to assist with the moving costs. The information provided by the landlord on 24 May 2024 says that the resident has not yet accepted the £500 offered.
  6. Based on all the information provided, the Ombudsman finds that there was no maladministration by the landlord and it is not required to take any further action to address the complaint.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was no maladministration by the landlord in relation to the resident’s request for a refund of costs incurred when moving out of her previous property following anti-social behaviour.

Recommendation

  1. The landlord should contact the resident and ask if she wishes to accept the £500 it offered in its stage 2 response.
  2. The landlord should write to this Service within 4 weeks of the date of this determination to set out its intentions regarding the above recommendation.