Rochdale Boroughwide Housing Limited (202229750)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202229750

Rochdale Boroughwide Housing Limited

31 July 2024

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 reports of draughts through the floor.
2. This Service has also investigated the landlord’s complaint handling.

Background

3. The resident was an assured tenant at the property from 30 July 2012 to 28 July 2023. The property is a one-bedroom 1st floor flat. The resident is vulnerable due to mental health issues and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The landlord’s records accurately reflect this.
4. The resident reported that draughts were coming through the floor on 11 November 2022.
5. On 14 November 2022 a technical inspector and neighbourhood officer carried out a joint inspection of the property to discuss repairs issues. Works orders were raised following this visit to renew the floorboards in the lounge and to board over the whole floor of the property.
6. On 20 December 2022 the landlord renewed floorboards in the lounge and boarded the completed floor. On 21 December 2022 the landlord also boarded the hallway and bedroom floors.
7. On the 20 December 2022 a Councillor asked the landlord to log a complaint for the resident for the following reasons:
   1. His flat was extremely draughty and there were issues with his floor which was currently being worked on.
   2. There were issues with his skirting and doors.
   3. There had been a fire in the flat next door the previous night and the roof was now exposed.
   4. He had repeatedly been hospitalised with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease due to the condition of his flat.
8. On 3 January 2023 the landlord emailed the Councillor to let them know that it had passed the complaint onto its’ repairs team to investigate and respond to.
9. On 4 January 2023 joiners repaired and boarded the bathroom floor in the property. While on site, they checked all joinery in the property including the internal doors, to make sure that everything was in order.
10. The landlord carried out a post inspection of the work on 5 January 2023. While it was there it told the resident that his bathroom and kitchen were scheduled to be replaced that year. It noted that the resident seemed happy with the repairs that had been carried out and with the update on the programmed works.
11. On 23 January 2023 the resident called the landlord for an update on his complaint.
12. The landlord provided a stage 1 complaint response on 24 January 2023. It said that
    1. The operational manager had inspected the property and found that all joinery repairs had been completed.
    2. The resident had now been updated with works programmed for the property during 2023 -2024.
    3. Approved contractors were currently repairing the damage caused by the fire in a neighbouring flat which would be completed as soon as possible.
13. On 28 January 2023 the resident asked the landlord to escalate the complaint to stage 2 of the complaints process. He said that the work carried out had made things worse and that no-one had checked it. He also said that someone had told him that the boiler needed to be replaced and that “all that happens is ignorance and lies”.
14. On 6 February 2023 the resident told the landlord that the new floor was now creaking and the landlord requested another inspection of the property.
15. The landlord carried out a further post-inspection at the property on 9 February 2023. It told the resident that it could carry out work to resolve any creaking noises that the new floor was making. However, the resident refused to have any further work done to the floor and said that he wanted it to be insulated.
16. The landlord responded to the stage 2 complaint on 14 February 2023. It explained that the construction of the floor between the flats was “block and beam with timber overlay” and it did not insulate between these. It apologised for any miscommunication about this. It advised that it had inspected the loft insulation however, and a contractor would top this up. It advised the resident that the energy performance certificate for the property was a C rating which was a good rating for energy efficiency.
17. The landlord said that it understood that the new flooring was creaking but it had been post-inspected and the work was of satisfactory quality. However, it said that “all timber has a moisture content that will inevitably reduce when installed in an indoor environment and this may temporarily cause creaking”. It said that it had offered to try to reduce the creaking but the resident had refused.
18. The resident remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s response and approached this Service for assistance. However, he complained about some new issues which the landlord responded to separately. These will not be covered in this report.
19. The landlord continued to work with the resident and based on his vulnerabilities it offered him a direct transfer to a new property. This was achieved on 28 July 2023.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation.

20. The resident informed this Service that he had been reporting draughts through the floor since 2019 via his MP. However, the landlord has advised this Service that the only other report of draughts coming through the floor was made on 8 June 2021. As these incidents occurred more than 6 months prior to the stage 1 complaint they are beyond the scope of this investigation.

The landlord’s handling of reports of draughts through the floor.

21. The property has an EPC rating of C. The latest report dated 29 August 2023 advised that there was no potential for improvement and no recommendations to improve the score.
22. The landlord arranged for a joint inspection of the property within 3 days following the residents report on 11 November 2022 that draughts were coming through the floor and carpet. It then fitted extra boarding to all the floors in the flat to help stop any draughts. This was a reasonable action to take and the work was carried out in a reasonable timeframe.
23. In his request to escalate the complaint to stage 2 of the complaints process the resident said that no-one had been to check the work. However, the landlord’s notes, made on its system on the day of the inspection, state that it carried out a post inspection of the work on 5 January 2023, the day after the floors were boarded. Therefore, this Service concludes that there was no fault by the landlord in this regard.
24. When the resident reported that the new flooring was creaking the landlord carried out another inspection. However, the resident asked it not to carry out any more work to the floor, therefore there was nothing more that the landlord could do and it acted appropriately.
25. The resident requested insulation under the floor of his flat. The landlord explained why it would not be able to provide this but acted reasonably by offering to provide further loft insulation as an alternative.
26. The landlord continued to work with the resident and provided a direct transfer to another property.
27. Based on the findings there has been no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of reports of draughts through the floor.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint.

28. The landlord’s complaint’s policy said that it would respond to stage 1 complaints within 10 working days of acknowledgement. It sent an acknowledgement to the Councillor who reported the complaint but this Service has seen no evidence that it sent an acknowledgement to the resident himself.
29. The landlord then took a further 16 working days to respond the stage 1 complaint. This Service has seen no evidence that it contacted the resident to let him know there would be a delay. This lack of communication meant that the resident had to contact the landlord on 23 January 2023 for an update which cost him time and trouble.
30. The Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code in place at the time of the complaint (the Code) said “landlords must address all points raised in the complaint and provide clear reasons for any decisions”.
31. In his request to escalate the complaint to stage 2 of the complaints process, the resident also mentioned that his boiler needed replacement. This was not part of the original complaint. Therefore, the landlord could have either raised it as a new complaint or answered it within the stage 2 response. This Service has seen no evidence that it addressed this at all which was a failing that meant that the resident did not receive a response to this query.
32. Due to the errors identified there has been Service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint.

Determination

33. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of reports of draughts through the floor.
34. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint.

Orders

35. Within 28 days of the date of this report the landlord must:
36. Pay the resident directly a total of £75 in compensation for time and trouble and service failure in complaint handling. Any compensation already paid should be deducted from this amount.
37. The landlord must provide the Ombudsman with evidence of compliance with this order by the above deadline.