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Southwark Council (202342913)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202342913

Southwark Council

22 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

  1. The complaint is about the landlord’s:
    1. Response to the resident’s concerns relating to the communal heating system.
    2. Complaint handling.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord with the tenancy beginning in October 2007. The property is a 3-bedroom maisonette that is served by a communal heating system.
  2. The repair log shows that the resident reported a lack of heating on 19 January 2023. The landlord attended to this the same day. The repair log shows no further reports being made until January 2024.
  3. On 1 August 2023, the landlord wrote to all residents providing them with a newsletter outlining the works it was carrying out on the boiler house. It said that it had started removing the old boilers in preparation to install new ones.
  4. On 29 November 2023, the landlord provided all residents with a further update in relation to the works to the boiler house. It said that all 3 boilers were in position ready for electrical installation works.
  5. The resident raised a stage 1 complaint on 16 January 2024, saying that:
    1. “Irregular” heating had impacted her and her family’s health and wellbeing.
    2. She requested the heating schedule for the block and details of the law surrounding heating in residential areas.
    3. She requested details of the landlord’s compensation policy.
    4. She asked about the possibility of installing her own heating and being removed from the communal heating system.
  6. A works order was raised to survey the resident’s heating system on 17 January 2024, and this was attended on 31 January 2024. The case said that not all of the radiators were heating up and the radiator valves were in poor condition. Part of the works to replace the valves was completed on 27 February 2024, with some works remaining outstanding as the old valves could not be removed. The landlord therefore recommended to replace the radiators.
  7. The landlord provided its stage 1 response on 14 February 2024 saying that “council tenants are not allowed to be disconnected from a district heating system”. It went on to provide the resident with information in relation to:
    1. Recommended room temperatures.
    2. Details of its complaints policy regarding outages and reimbursements.
    3. Legal standards for heating services.
    4. Compensation – it offered £96 “in line” with its compensation policy.
  8. The resident escalated her complaint to stage 2 on 26 February 2024 saying that the lack of heating and hot water during the cold season constituted an emergency response, which was not met. She said the prolonged issue had caused a significant impact on her health and that of her family. She went on to say she wanted compensation for financial loss and inconvenience.
  9. The case notes show that between 5 March and 20 June 2024 the landlord left the resident 8 messages in relation to replacing the radiators.
  10. The resident chased a stage 2 response on 14 May 2024. The landlord sent its final response on 5 June 2024. It apologised for the delay in sending the response and reiterated what it had said at stage 1. It went on to say that it had received no repair requests from the resident between 18 January 2023 and 17 January 2024. The landlord also outlined that no compensation was provided for historical outages from April 2022 as the outages affected various residents simultaneously and were not confined to the resident’s property.
  11. On 10 September 2024, the landlord advised this Service that there was 1 current works order outstanding relating to the replacement of the radiators. It said that it was awaiting a response from the resident to confirm her availability, following several contact attempts. It also said that the boiler house refurbishment works were due to be completed in December 2024.
  12. During recent contact with the resident, she said that she did not want the radiators replaced as she was concerned they would leak. She said her main concern was the lack of control she had over the heating system and that she would like compensation for the inconvenience she had experienced.

Assessment and findings

Scope of the investigation 

  1. The resident said that she had been reporting issues with the communal heating system over a 16-year period. While we do not dispute this, the Ombudsman encourages residents to raise unresolved complaints to this Service in a timely manner so that any service failure by the landlord can be addressed promptly. As issues become historical, evidence becomes difficult to obtain and authenticate. Therefore, this investigation will focus on events surrounding the resident’s formal complaint of 16 January 2024.
  2. Aspects of the resident’s complaint relate to the impact the lack of heating had on her health and wellbeing. Where the Ombudsman identifies failure on a landlord’s part, we can consider the resulting distress and inconvenience. The Ombudsman does not underestimate the resident’s concerns that the situation impacted her health. However, unlike a court, we cannot establish what caused the health issue or determine liability and award damages. This would usually be dealt with as a personal injury claim. However, the Ombudsman has considered the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident.

The landlord’s response to the resident’s concerns relating to the communal heating system

  1. The landlord’s repairs guide categorises:
    1. Total or partial loss of heating or hot water between 1 October and 31 March as an emergency repair. Its contractors will attend within 24 hours.
    2. Total or partial loss or heating or hot water between 1 April and 30 September as an urgent repair. Its contractors will attend within 3 working days.
    3. Other issues as non–urgent repairs which its contractors will attend within 20 working days.
  2. This Service’s spotlight report on complaints about heating, hot water and energy in social housing makes the following recommendations:
    1. Residents should be given clear information about whether they can disconnect from a heat network and change provider. If the landlord’s consent is required, it should exercise its discretion fairly and give clear reasons if permission is refused.
    2. Landlords should have contingency plans in place for interruptions in supply – for example, access to sufficient temporary heaters.
    3. Landlords should have robust long-term investment strategies that provide for the maintenance and potentially the replacement of the system.
  3. It has been evidenced that there were no reports of heating issues from the resident in the year leading up to her formal complaint. On 16 January 2024, the resident raised a stage 1 complaint in relation to “irregular heating” that had impacted her health. She requested information in relation to the law on district heating systems and for her property to be removed from the communal heating system.
  4. Following this, the landlord raised a works order for a survey to be carried out of her heating system. This was carried out on 31 January 2024. This was 11 working days later and in line with its policy timescale for non-urgent repairs. This was appropriate because the resident was raising issues relating to historical outages, and thus the situation did not warrant an emergency response.
  5. Nevertheless, the landlord identified the need to replace the radiator valves on 31 January 2024, but did not place an order for the parts until 15 February 2024. This was 11 working days later and an unnecessary delay in resolving the heating issue for the resident. It was particularly important to be prompt when placing the order for the necessary parts given the issue occurred during the cold winter months.
  6. The evidence shows that the landlord investigated any outages which may have affected the resident. An internal email of 26 January 2024 said there were “a few dips where we had outages or slightly lower temps from the boiler house”. Furthermore, “residents are automatically compensated for any outage sustained over a 24-hour period, which is credited against their rent accounts.” This was an appropriate step to investigate the resident’s concerns.
  7. The evidence provided to this Service shows that there were no outages of more than 24 hours between April 2022 and February 2024, although this Service is only assessing the period from January 2023. Therefore, it was reasonable for the landlord not to compensate the resident during this period. This is because the landlord’s compensation policy says that compensation will be paid for communal heating or hot water outages lasting longer than 24 hours.
  8. The landlord sent its stage 1 response on 14 February 2024, providing the resident with information relating to recommended room temperatures and details of its complaints policy regarding outages and reimbursements. It also provided her with a link to a website in relation to legal standards for heating services for residents. This was appropriate and resolution focused in providing the resident with the information she requested.
  9. In addition, the landlord offered the resident £96 in acknowledgement for not being able to carry out the radiator repair issue on 31 January 2024. This was appropriate and a positive step to put things right. However, the landlord’s calculation was unclear from its response. It is good practice for a breakdown of any compensation to be provided.
  10. In its stage 1 response, the landlord failed to adequately address the resident’s request to be disconnected from the communal heating system. It did not explain the reasons why this would not be possible. This Service’s spotlight report on complaints about heating, hot water and energy in social housing says residents should be given clear information about whether they can disconnect and be given clear reasons if permission is refused.
  11. Although this Service was provided with a copy of the landlord’s factsheet on “district heating factsheet for leaseholders and freeholders” which clearly outlines the disadvantages of disconnecting and the subsequent reasons why it does not permit disconnection, there is no evidence to suggest this was provided to the resident. This was a missed opportunity to clearly explain its reasonings for not granting permission.
  12. On 26 February 2024 the resident requested to escalate her complaint to stage 2. She said that there had been prolonged issues with the heating system over a period of 16 years, some of which had not been responded to as an emergency.
  13. The landlord attended to the radiator valve repair on 27 February 2024, however, was only able to part complete the repair. It therefore recommended to replace the radiators in the property. The case notes show that between 5 March and 20 June 2024 the landlord left the resident 8 messages in relation to replacing the radiators. This was appropriate and demonstrated the landlord’s willingness to try and resolve the complaint.
  14. The landlord sent its stage 2 response on 5 June 2024. It apologised for the delay in responding and reiterated its stage 1 response. It went on to explain that it had checked its records dating back to 2022 following the resident’s request for historical compensation. It said that some outages were both planned and unplanned, and apologised for any inconvenience caused. This was appropriate and demonstrated that the landlord had investigated the resident’s concerns and was taking her complaint seriously.
  15. It has been evidenced that the landlord is in the process of replacing the boiler house, and updates on progress were provided to the resident on 1 August 2023 and 29 November 2023. This demonstrates that the landlord is adhering to the recommendation in the spotlight report previously mentioned by providing long term investment in the replacement of the boiler house, and is therefore appropriate.
  16. In summary, the landlord took positive steps to investigate the resident’s concerns and was proactive in trying to provide her with new radiators to help resolve the heating issue. However, it could have gone further in providing the resident with an explanation as to why her property could not be removed from the communal heating system. It was clear from the resident’s correspondence that this was her main concern and by failing to provide a full explanation, the landlord delayed in providing a resolution for her. In addition, it took 11 working days to order necessary parts for the radiator valve repair, which in turn delayed it in determining the need to replace the radiators.
  17. A total award of £96 was offered to the resident by the landlord in its response to the resident’s concerns relating to the communal heating system. This is considered reasonable redress for the failings identified above, and is in line with the landlord’s compensation policy for medium impact where a resident has suffered some level of distress and inconvenience by the landlord’s failure to achieve the expected standards. In the Ombudsman’s opinion, the landlord’s compensation offer therefore resolves the complaint satisfactorily.

Complaint handling

  1. The landlord’s complaints policy gives 15 working days for a stage 1 complaint response, and 25 working days for a stage 2 response.
  2. The landlord should note that the Ombudsman’s statutory complaint handling code implemented on 1 April 2024 says landlords must provide a full response to stage 1 complaints within 10 working days and a final response at stage 2 within 20 working days. These timescales did not apply at the time of the resident’s complaint.
  3. The resident raised a stage 1 complaint on 16 January 2024. The landlord acknowledged the complaint on 17 January 2024 and advised it was aiming to provide a response by 31 January 2024. The landlord was prompt in acknowledging the complaint and providing the resident with a timescale for a response, which was appropriate.
  4. On 31 January 2024, the landlord contacted the resident saying it was unable to meet the previously agreed timescale for providing a response at stage 1. While it was appropriate for it to update the resident, the landlord could have demonstrated openness by explaining the reason for the delay. Furthermore, it should ideally have advised the resident of the delay before the due date of the response. The landlord provided its stage 1 response on 14 February 2024, which was in line with the revised timescale provided to the resident.
  5. The resident requested to escalate her complaint on 26 February 2024. She then chased a response 11 weeks later on 14 May 2024. The landlord sent its final response on 5 June 2024, which was 69 working days after the escalation request. This was not appropriate and significantly outside of its policy timescale as well as that of the complaint handling code. It apologised for the delay and offered the resident £50 compensation for its delayed response, which was reasonable.
  6. In summary, the landlord failed to follow its complaint policy, with both responses being delayed. The stage 2 response was provided only after the resident chased a response on 14 May 2024. This was sent 44 working days outside of its policy timescale and 49 working days outside of the complaint handling code timescale. The landlord apologised at stage 2 and offered the resident £50 compensation. Having considered the length of delay and impact on the resident, and being satisfied that the compensation award was in line with the landlord’s policy and broadly in line with our remedies guidance, this is considered reasonable redress that was sufficient to put things right.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53b of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord offered reasonable redress in its:
    1. Response to the resident’s concerns relating to the communal heating system.
    2. Complaint handling.

Recommendations

  1. It is recommended that the landlord:
    1. Pays directly to the resident the compensation totalling £146 previously offered to her, if it has not already done so, made up of:
      1. £96 offered at stage 1.
      2. £50 offered at stage 2.
    2. Arranges for all frontline staff involved in complaint handing to complete this Service’s free online dispute resolution training for landlords if this has not been done recently.
    3. Reviews its position against the recommendations as set out in the Ombudsman’s Spotlight report on heating, hot water and energy in social housing.
    4. If not done so already, provide the resident with a copy of the landlord’s factsheet “district heating factsheet for leaseholders and freeholders”.
  2. The landlord should confirm its intentions with regard to the above recommendations to this Service within 4 weeks.