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Sovereign Network Homes (Former Network Homes) (202340689)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202340689

Sovereign Network Homes (Former Network Homes)

23 December 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 the resident’s reports of wet room repairs.

Background

  1. The resident holds an assured tenancy a 1 bedroom ground floor flat. The landlord is a housing association. The resident has mobility issues and uses a walking frame.
  2. The resident has reported numerous issues with the wet room to the landlord since August 2022. She made the first report about a leak in the shower in August 2022. Since August 2022 she has also reported issues with the wet room floor being uneven and unsafe. The landlord made attempts to rectify the problem by lifting the flooring and relaying the concrete.
  3. The resident raised a stage 1 complaint on 5 June 2023. She said that the flooring was still uneven and unsafe, and the work the landlord had carried out had been to a poor standard. The landlord responded on 19 June 2023 and said:
    1. There had been a delay with the repairs to the wet room flooring.
    2. It apologised that the repairs were not done promptly.
    3. It offered £467 compensation for the time taken by the resident to chase up the repairs.
  4. The resident continued to report issues with the flooring in the wet room not being laid correctly throughout June and July 2023. She also reported an issue with the drain not being correctly fitted, leading to sewerage smells throughout the property.
  5. The landlord sent another stage 1 response letter to the resident on 31 August 2023. This was in response to a complaint made by the resident on 16 August 2023, about the delayed repairs to the wet room. In its response the landlord:
    1. Apologised for the delay with the repairs and stated that the delay was caused by the incorrect tradesman being allocated the job.
    2. Said that drainage works would be carried out on 4 September 2023 and the flooring would be renewed after this date.
    3. Apologised for the impact the delays had on the resident and offered £70 compensation for the inconvenience and time taken.
  6. The resident escalated her complaint on 16 October 2023 stating she was being “neglected” by the landlord and not getting anywhere with her complaints. The landlord sent its stage 2 response to the resident on 20 November 2023, and said:
    1. The resident had said she had not been able to use the shower since September 2022. The landlord recognised that the resident had been using facilities on the top floor of the scheme, and carers had to carry her up (the resident has informed us that carers did not have to carry her as she could use the lift).
    2. It had failed to ensure that the resident had a usable bathroom, and whilst repairs had been completed, they were of a poor standard causing further delays.
    3. It hoped the repairs would be completed on 20 November 2023.
    4. It made an increased offer of £2,093 compensation. This was broken down into payments for the distress caused, delays in repairs, time and trouble and missed appointments. It recognised that it should have escalated the stage 1 complaint sooner and offered £50 compensation for this.
  7. The landlord offered the resident further compensation on 1 December 2023, when it completed the repairs. It offered a further £113, broken up as:
    1. £60 for missed appointments.
    2. £20 for distress caused.
    3. £20 reimbursement (no details given).
    4. £10 for delays.
    5. £3 for time and trouble.

 

  1. The resident referred the matter to this Service. She said the wet room floor was still dangerous as it was uneven. She said she wanted the repairs completed properly and more compensation for the distress caused.
  2. The resident contacted this Service to say that her carers advised her not to use the shower as it was dangerous. The resident told this Service that the landlord was refusing to engage with her further on the matter.

Assessment and findings

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of wet room repairs.

  1. The resident reported a leak in the wet room to the landlord on 18 August 2022. She said that the walls were wet, and the tiles were becoming black. The resident also reported that the wet room floor was lumpy and difficult to use. The landlord noted on 5 September 2022 that the wet room floor covering had to be lifted, and the floor needed to be levelled because it was uneven and a trip hazard. An appointment made for 3 October 2022 had to be rescheduled due to an emergency. The landlord rebooked the appointment for 18 October 2022 and noted that no leaks were detected, and the floor did not appear uneven.
  2. The landlord’s repairs policy breaks down repairs into 3 categories: emergency, routine and more complex repairs. If the landlord considered the repair to be routine, its policy states it would attend within 2 weeks and complete the repair within 1 calendar month. The landlord took 42 working days to attend to the issue which was an inappropriate delay under its policy, and this was a failing. It ought to have inspected and tried to make good much sooner than this.
  3. The resident again reported to the landlord in January and February 2023, that the wet room floor was uneven and unsafe to use with her walking frame. The evidence the landlord has provided to this Service is not clear and at times contradictory on what work was required. The landlord had previously noted that the wet room floor was not uneven and was safe to use. In a further note on 7 March 2023, the landlord stated that the wet room floor needed to be levelled, and the surface was uneven. This was 7 months after the resident had first reported that the flooring was uneven. The landlord knew that the resident had mobility issues and used a walking frame and therefore this delay and clarity around what was required was a serious failing.
  4. The resident contacted the landlord on 15 March 2023 for an update on the wet room floor. The landlord attempted to contact the resident on 21 March 2023 to book an appointment for the floor repairs but received no reply. The landlord noted that the floor repairs had been booked for 24 May 2023. The landlord’s repairs policy states that more complex repairs require longer to arrange. It states it aims to complete these repairs within 90 days. It is not clear from the evidence provided to this Service when this work order was issued. It is clear however that the resident first reported an issue with the flooring in August 2022, 280 days prior to this work being scheduled. This was a considerable failing under its policy.
  5. The resident reported that the shower mixer tap was leaking on 12 April 2023. The landlord noted that the leak was uncontainable and therefore an emergency. It stated that the shower tiles needed to be removed to determine where the leak was coming from. The landlord attended the leak on 19 April 2023 and noted there were no visible signs of a leak. This was 7 days after the resident reported the leak and therefore a failing under its repairs policy, which states it will attend within 4 hours to an emergency. On 20 April 2023 the resident called back and said the leak still had not been fixed. The landlord attended the property again on 24 April 2023 and checked the pipework and found no evidence of a leak. Although no evidence of a leak was found, the response times were inappropriate and not in accordance with its policy.
  6. The landlord laid the concrete flooring in the wet room on 24 May 2023, and arranged to fit the new floor covering on 30 May 2023. When the landlord attended to fit the new flooring there was a dispute over the colour of the flooring and the resident asked the landlord to leave. It returned to fit the flooring on 31 May 2023, however the resident reported later the same day that the flooring was lumpy and unsafe, and the landlord attended straight away to add strips to parts of the flooring. Following an inspection by the contractor on 31 May 2023, it was determined that the flooring was not laid correctly and needed to be redone. This was then completed on 16 June 2023. These continued delays added to the distress and inconvenience for the resident, who had already suffered unreasonable delays.
  7. The resident’s carers reported to the landlord on 5 July 2023 that the drain had not been fitted correctly when the flooring was laid. They stated that as a result of this the resident was still unable to use the shower. The resident called the landlord on 10 July 2023 and said that she was upset at still not being able to use the shower. She reported that the drain had not been fitted properly and this was causing sewage smells to enter her home. The landlord’s records are unclear on what work was required. The landlord noted on 12 July 2023 that a plumber was required to look at the drainage, but then stated it was not a drainage issue, and the shower trap needed to be renewed. The resident chased the work up again on 21 July 2023 stating the issue still had not been resolved.
  8. The landlord visited the property on 14 August 2023 and said that a camera was needed to assess the drainage. A job was booked for 15 August 2023, but the resident reported that no one turned up. The resident contacted the landlord on 16 August 2023 and was very upset and “crying down the phone” due to the landlord not turning up. She reported that sewage smells were coming into the property through the drain in the wet room. The landlord attended the property on the evening of 16 August 2023 but could not get access. The resident says that no one turned up. The landlord has not said whether it left a no access card. It attended the following day and stated that a new trap was needed. The landlord used the camera and found no issues with the pipes. A camera was used, and no issues were found with the pipes.
  9. The landlord contacted the resident on 23 August 2023 to inform her that the shower trap would be ordered from the manufacturer and could take 7 to 10 days. Having noted on 12 July 2023 that the shower trap needed to be renewed it was unreasonable that the landlord did not order the shower trap from the manufacturer until almost 6 weeks later. On 29 August 2023 the landlord booked a job to replace the trap whilst still waiting for the part on 4 September 2023.
  10. The resident chased the landlord on 12 September 2023 as the work had not been completed. The landlord noted a missed appointment on 19 September 2023. However, the resident said that she had previously informed the landlord she would not be available on this date. The work to the shower trap was completed on 20 September 2023, more than 2 months after the landlord became aware of the problem. This was a failing under its repairs policy. The resident had to call the landlord again on 21 September 2023 because when the works to the shower trap were carried out, the operative did not have the correct screws to fix to the floor.
  11. On 23 October 2023 the resident reported that the new wet room flooring had not been laid properly and was bubbling and uneven. The landlord issued a further work order to fit new flooring in the wet room on 31 October 2023. It arranged for new contractors to attend and carry out the work and the contractor noted that the flooring had been poorly laid and badly cut in places. The landlord said at this time that it was aware that the resident could not use the shower. The resident had to chase the work up again in November 2023 and the landlord missed a further appointment.
  12. The wet room flooring was renewed again in December 2023, after the landlord’s final response to the complaint. However, the resident reported issues with the quality of the work and again reported that the flooring was uneven and bubbling. The resident continued to report issues with the flooring in January and February 2024 and the landlord stated the work had been inspected by 2 separate contractors and it was satisfied the work had been carried out to a good standard.
  13. Therefore, for the reasons set out above, the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of wet room repairs was unreasonable. The landlord apologised for the delays and offered a total compensation of £2,043. The amount offered was for a 61 week period between 18 September 2022 and 20 November 2023 and was broken down into high distress £1,220, medium delays £610, time and trouble £183 and £30 for a missed appointment. The landlord said that the work to the wet room floor had been booked in for 20 November 2023. It made an offer of a further £113 compensation on 1 December 2023 for missed appointments. This brought the total offer of compensation to £2156.
  14. Where a landlord has acknowledged failings within its complaint’s process, we will consider whether the redress offered by the landlord put things right and resolved the resident’s complaint satisfactorily in the circumstances. In considering this, we take into account whether the landlord’s offer of redress was in line with the Ombudsman’s dispute resolution principles: to be fair, put things right and learn from outcomes.
  15. The problems existed in the wet room for at least August 2022 to December 2023. The failures in this case were considerable and were likely to have greatly impacted the resident’s enjoyment of her home. 
  16. In response, the landlord acted fairly by making numerous apologies for delays and poor workmanship within its complaint responses. The landlord’s compensation policy assesses the impact on the resident in 3 categories, high, medium and low. It assessed the distress as high and awarded appropriate compensation. However, it did not appropriately assess the impact on the resident for the delay and assessed this as medium impact. There were significant delays highlighted in this report which had a high level of impact on the vulnerable resident. The offer of £2156 compensation did not therefore fully reflect the impact of the landlord’s failings over a considerable period of time. We have made an order for further compensation of £610 to reflect the high impact of the delays on the resident. The landlord did not keep to promises made within its complaints responses when it said it would complete the repairs on 20 November 2023. The repairs were completed in December 2023 and these continued delays caused the resident further distress.
  17. The resident has informed us that there are still issues with the wet room floor and we have made an order for an independent survey to be carried out.
  18. This landlord has not demonstrated any learning from outcomes within its complaint responses and we have made an order concerning this below.
  19. As set out above there were significant failings in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of wet room repairs. While the landlord acknowledged these failings and made some attempt to put things right the compensation offered was not proportionate to the impact on the resident. Therefore, this investigation has found maladministration.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of wet room repairs.

Orders and Recommendations

Orders

  1. By 7 January 2025, the landlord must:
    1. Pay the resident compensation of £2,766 made up of:
      1. £2156 previously offered by the landlord, if it has not already been paid.
      2. A further £610 for the impact incurred by the resident as a result of the landlord’s response to her reports of wet room repairs. This amount should be paid directly to the resident and not used to offset any monies she may owe the landlord.
    2. Arrange an independent survey of the wet room floor. Within 2 weeks of the survey the landlord is to provide a written report to the resident and the Ombudsman, which identifies what work, if any, is required and timescales for the work to be completed. The report must include timestamped photographs of the flooring.
    3. Confirm compliance with these orders to this Service.

Recommendations

  1. It is recommended that the landlord pay the resident £50 compensation previously offered for complaint handling failures, if it has not already been paid.