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Together Housing Association Limited (202339241)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202339241

Together Housing Association Limited

30 April 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 handling of the resident’s:
  1. reports of repairs to the flooring;
  2. associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident occupies a 3-bedroom semi-detached house under an assured shorthold tenancy. The landlord has recorded that the resident has restricted mobility and breathing problems.
  2. The resident has given permission for her husband to deal with this matter on her behalf.
  3. Following reports of outstanding repair work needed to the flooring in the residents property in 2022, the landlord arranged for a structural survey to be completed on 20 January 2022. The survey identified some distortion to the ground floor living room and recommended the situation be monitored. It also said that if there was further distortion to the living room floor, then further works might be required. The evidence suggests the landlord monitored the flooring and raised repairs around August 2022, which were subsequently cancelled by the resident.
  4. On 28 February 2023, the landlord received a complaint from the resident regarding the disrepair of the flooring. They said that the floors all around the property were rotten, broken and not level. The landlord formally acknowledged this complaint on 1 March 2023.
  5. On 17 April 2023 the landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response and advised the resident that it would arrange for the outstanding repairs to be carried out.
  6. As the repair works were still outstanding by July 2023, the resident then escalated the complaint matter to stage 2. In the complaint, the resident said that the repairs should be completed with clear communication maintained or alternatively, be downsized to a smaller property if the works would be extensive.
  7. On 10 July 2023 the landlord visited the resident to discuss the outstanding repairs and arranged for the hallway, landing and stairs to be decorated. The landlord also arranged for an inspection of the lounge floor on 25 July 2023 and repairs to the bedroom floorboards on the same date. From the evidence supplied, we can see that the landlord repaired various floorboards around the property so that carpet could be put down.
  8. Following the visit, the landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response on 17 July 2023 and acknowledged that it had failed to repair the property in a reasonable amount of time. The landlord apologised and offered the resident compensation of £200 made up of £100 for the delay in completing the works and a further £100 for the upset and frustration caused. The resident accepted this compensation.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. The resident has explained that they were unhappy with the landlord’s handling of the repairs at their property and complained about the flooring again in November 2024. The resident also reported additional issues with the doors and windows. This investigation is only able to consider the landlord’s handling of the flooring in the resident’s property as this was the issue that was considered by the landlord as part of its complaints procedure. We can see the resident brought the complaint of heating in its stage 1 complaint however this was not escalated to stage 2 and therefore this also cannot be considered as part of this investigation because paragraph 42.a. of the Scheme says we may not consider complaints which are made prior to having exhausted a member’s complaints procedure. Any events that occurred after the final response are also outside the scope of this investigation.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s  reports of repairs to the flooring

  1. The landlord’s repairs and maintenance policy classify emergency repairs as presenting an immediate risk to health, safety and welfare their customers or have a potential to cause significant property damage. Emergency repairs will be attended to within 24 hours. Routine repairs are classified as general repairs to customer’s homes resulting from fair wear and tear. Routine repairs will be completed within 28 days.
  2. After the structural survey in January 2022, which recommended the landlord should monitor the flooring in the living room, the evidence suggests that the landlord carried out monitoring work and identified repairs in about August 2022. The resident cancelled the repairs due to concerns about his wife’s health. It would have been reasonable for the landlord to have contacted the resident to see if he wanted it to rearrange these repairs or made it clear to him that he should contact the landlord when he was ready to resume these repairs.
  3. On 28 February 2023, the resident complained to the landlord about the ongoing issues with the flooring. These issues included the living room floor sinking and unsafe floorboards in the bedroom. In its stage 1 response, the landlord said that it would visit the property on 15 May 2023 to inspect and provide a plan of action for repairing the floors. This visit was cancelled however from the evidence it is not clear who cancelled it no further detail has been provided to evidence that the landlord rescheduled it. That was a failing.
  4. In its stage 2 complaint response, the landlord acknowledged its delays in completing the repair. The landlord acted appropriately by agreeing a date for the inspection and repair of the flooring which was 25 July 2023.
  5. The flooring repairs have been an ongoing issue for the resident for a substantial amount of time. The landlord acknowledged its delay in carrying out repairs to the floorboards and it offered compensation totalling £200 for the inconvenience and distress caused. We consider the compensation offered to be reasonable and in line with our remedies guidance which says that such sums are appropriate where there was a failure that adversely affected the resident but which had no permanent impact We consider the landlord’s apology and offer of compensation was a reasonable and proportionate step to take to reflect the inconvenience and frustration caused to the resident by the landlord’s delay in carrying out the floorboard repairs.

Complaint handling

  1. The landlord operates a 2-stage complaints process, and its complaints policy says it is to provide a stage 1 response within 10 working days of a complaint being raised, and to provide a stage 2 response within 20 working days of the complaint being escalated. This is in line with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code.
  2. The resident raised a formal complaint on 28 February 2023. Therefore, the landlord should have provided its stage 1 response no later than 14 March 2023 under its complaints policy. The landlord responded to the resident’s stage 1 complaint on 17 April 2023, some 34 days later. This was not appropriate as it fell outside of the policy’s 10 working days. In line with our remedies guidance as reference above, financial compensation of £50 is appropriate for the frustration caused by that delay.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53.b. of the Scheme, the landlord has offered redress to the resident prior to investigation which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint about its handling of the residents flooring.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52. of the Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.

Orders

  1. The Ombudsman orders that the landlord takes the following action and provides evidence of compliance to us:
    1. Pay £50 for the impact of its delay in issuing the stage 1 complaint response. This amount should be paid directly to the resident, and not offset against arrears where they exist.