Southern Housing (202224276)
REPORT
COMPLAINT 202224276
Southern Housing Group Limited
7 November 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
- This complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s request for repairs to a communal fire door.
Background
- The resident is an assured tenant of a 2-bedroom flat owned by the landlord.
- The resident initially complained to the landlord via this Service in January 2023. She said she could not open a fire door in a communal area and was unable to get to work as a result. We shared the resident’s complaint with the landlord on 21 April 2023 and asked it to contact her directly.
- The landlord responded at stage 1 on 9 May 2023. It said the resident reported an emergency repair as the door was stiff and hard to use. Operatives attended but the resident was unable to give access as she was at work. The resident reported another repair on 11 January 2023, which the landlord’s operatives resolved the same day.
- The resident escalated her complaint. She explained there had been ongoing issues with the door since the landlord installed it in 2021 and she was concerned about fire safety. She said a staff member had commented that she could not open the door as she did not have the strength of a man.
- On 13 July 2023, the landlord issued its stage 2 response. It maintained its position in its initial complaint response. It also clarified that under its complaint policy, it only considered issues that occurred within the previous 6 months.
- The resident was dissatisfied with the landlord’s final complaint response. She felt the landlord endangered her life and it failed to apologise or offer compensation. She referred her complaint to this Service.
Assessment and findings
Scope of investigation
- The resident said she has pain in her hands from struggling to open the door and the landlord endangered her life. The Ombudsman empathises with the resident. However, as this Service is an alternative to the courts, we are unable to establish legal liability or whether a landlord’s actions or lack of action had a detrimental impact on the health of a resident. The Ombudsman is therefore unable to consider the personal injury aspect of the resident’s complaint. This matter is better suited for consideration by a court or a personal injury claim.
- Within the resident’s complaint, she said there had been issues with the door since May 2021. The Ombudsman has seen no evidence that the resident raised a complaint to the landlord about this, completed the landlord’s internal complaints procedure, or referred the matter to this Service for support in engaging with the landlord. The Ombudsman encourages residents to raise complaints with their landlords at the time the events happen. This is because with the passage of time, evidence may be unavailable, which makes it difficult for us to conduct a thorough investigation and make informed decisions.
- Paragraph 42.c of the Scheme (that was applicable at the time of this complaint) states the Ombudsman may not consider complaints which were not brought to the attention of the member as a formal complaint within a reasonable period, which would normally be within 6 months of the matter arising. Taking this into account and the availability and reliability of evidence, this assessment focuses on the resident’s most recent reports of issues with the door in January 2023. This investigation considers matters up to the date of the landlord’s stage 2 response dated 13 July 2023. Reference to historical events is to provide context only.
- The resident told this Service she was unhappy with a comment made by a member of staff. Records show she expressed this to the landlord after it had issued its stage 1 response. In accordance with the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (“the Code”) we would not expect a landlord to consider this within the existing complaint. The landlord needs to have an opportunity to investigate and respond under its internal complaint procedure, as per paragraph 42.a of the Scheme. Therefore, we will not address this concern within this report. It is open for the resident to contact the landlord directly and, if appropriate, raise a separate complaint.
Communal door repairs
- The Ombudsman’s role is to assess whether the landlord’s final response put things right and resolved the resident’s complaint satisfactorily in the circumstances. In investigating this, the Ombudsman considers whether the landlord acted in line with our Dispute Resolution Principles: be fair, put things right and learn from outcomes.
- Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 places a statutory obligation on the landlord to keep the structure and exterior of the property in repair.
- The tenancy agreement states the resident must report to the landlord promptly if the property or common parts need any repairs. She must also allow access (with reasonable notice) for repairs. In emergency situations, the landlord or its contractors may need immediate access.
- The landlord’s responsive repairs policy defines an emergency repair as anything causing immediate risk to the health, safety, and security of any occupants and/or visitors to the home; or causing immediate damage to a property’s structure, fixtures and/or fittings. It commits to making safe an emergency repair within 6 hours of a resident reporting it.
- Neither party disputes the landlord received reports of issues with the communal door during 2021. Records show contractors requested a lock change on 2 occasions in 2022.
- On 9 January 2023, the landlord’s records show at 09:35, the resident reported that the door was stiff and difficult to use. The landlord evidenced that its contractors attended under an emergency appointment. Within its stage 1 response, it said its contractors arrived at 10:30. However, there was no access, and the resident could not let them in as she was at work. The resident told this Service she missed a day of work as she was unable to exit the building. Based on the limited evidence available, the Ombudsman is unable to establish the exact course of events here.
- Records show the resident reported further issues with the entry door on 11 January 2023. Contractors attended under an emergency appointment and resolved the matter the same day. The resident left a compliment for the contractors and said they fixed the problem quickly and deserved recognition.
- After considering the information provided to this Service, the Ombudsman is satisfied the landlord acted in accordance with the timescale set out in its responsive repairs policy on 9 January and 11 January 2023.
- The Ombudsman recognises the resident is seeking compensation for loss of earnings and time spent dealing with the repairs. In general, we would not propose a remedy of compensation to reimburse a resident for their time off work or dealing with a repair that the landlord actioned within a moderate timeframe. While repairs will inevitably cause some inconvenience, the tenancy agreement required the resident to give reasonable access for repairs. It would not be fair or proportionate for the Ombudsman to order a landlord to pay a resident compensation for this.
- In the Ombudsman’s view, the landlord acted reasonably in its complaint responses by apologising to the resident for the issues she experienced with the communal door. The Ombudsman is minded that an apology was appropriate in this case and compensation is not warranted.
Determination
- In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s request for repairs to a communal fire door.