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Wigan Council (202320732)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202320732

Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council

7 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:
    1. The resident’s reports of repairs to the windows.
    2. The associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident has lived in a 1–bedroom ground floor flat as a secure tenant of the landlord since August 2006.
  2. The landlord has recorded the resident has vulnerabilities in the form of mobility issues, arthritis, vertigo, and Raynaud’s disease.
  3. The resident reported to the landlord on 29 November 2022 that his windows were draughty and requested an inspection. The resident followed up on this matter on at least three occasions across early 2023.
  4. In early June 2023, a Councillor visited the property and requested the window seals to be replaced due to deterioration. There is no evidence of the landlord’s further action.
  5. Although there is no record, the landlord’s file (the landlord’s complaint acknowledgement letter on 4 July 2023) suggests the resident complained to the landlord over the phone. The landlord noted in its acknowledgement letter, he expressed dissatisfaction with the cancellations of inspections to his windows, flooring and mould in the shower.
  6. The landlord provided its stage 1 response on 6 July 2023. It explained the reasons why 2 appointments had been missed due to lack of access on 15 June 2023, and no inspectors available on 27 June 2023. It said a new appointment was booked for 31 July 2023 and apologised for the service experienced.
  7. The resident escalated his complaint to stage 2 of the landlord’s process on 18 July 2023, and said that the repairs had not been actioned.
  8. The landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response on 8 September 2023. It said as follows:
    1. It apologised for the delay in responding to the stage 2 escalation.
    2. It had already explained at stage 1 the reasoning behind the two missed appointments and believed this to be sufficient.
    3. A visit had taken place to inspect the state of the windows in April 2023 and at that time no works had been considered as required. During the inspection of 5 September 2023, while no defects were noted, it had been agreed to weather seal the windows as an additional measure. 
    4. The inspector had found a small amount of mould near a window. Arrangements could be made for an anti-fungal treatment. The inspector had advised the resident how to use the vents on the window.
    5. The landlord also addressed other repairs raised by the resident relating to the flooring and shower tray (which will not form part of this investigation).
  9. The landlord replaced the window seals in November 2023.
  10. The resident remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s response because the lack of contact from the landlord as to what actions were to be taken to fix the windows. He said to the Service that the windows were still draughty.

Assessment and findings

Scope of the investigation

  1. On 31 March 2025, in a telephone conversation with this Service the resident confirmed that the outstanding issues were related to the landlord’s handling of the windows repairs. He stated that the rest of the repairs that he had raised during the internal complaints process relating to the flooring and shower tray were resolved to his satisfaction. Due to this, we have not included them in this investigation.  

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

  1. The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, highlights that a landlord is to ensure that the structure and exterior of a property is kept in good condition and repair. This includes windows.
  2. The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 makes sure that tenants have the right to live in a property that is not damp or cold. Landlords can be responsible where there is significant heat loss in the property which may impact the resident’s health.
  3. The landlord does not have a repairs policy, however it is important to note that generally for non-urgent repairs a reasonable timeframe to complete a repair can be up to 28 working days.
  4. The resident first raised the issue of the windows being draughty in November 2022. From this, the landlord agreed to book an inspection to look at the windows. However, it is not clear from the landlord’s evidence whether an inspection went ahead or that expectations or timeframes were communicated to the resident about the proposed inspection. The landlord’s final response from 8 September 2023 refers to an inspection from April 2023. It has clarified in a response to a recent information request from the Service, an inspection was raised on 27 April 2023. However, there is no evidence of the outcome of the inspection, where no work was raised from the inspection and no notes were recorded on its internal system.
  5. The landlord’s internal correspondence shows that a Councillor inspected the property in early June 2023 with a landlord’s member of staff and recommended the window seals to be replaced due to being deteriorated. However, there is no evidence of the landlord’s action in relation to the window repairs following the Councillor’s enquiry. The resident continued raising issues with the windows being draughty in June 2023, and July 2023. However, the next action the landlord took to inspect was not until September (the Service does not have a copy of the report). It was at this point that the windows seals were identified to be replaced. The work to replace the window seals took place across 2 October to 13 November 2023. This was a year after the resident had initially raised issue with the windows.
  6. In this situation, the delay is unreasonable. While it took some steps following the September 2023 inspection. The inspection was considerably delayed and its complaint responses did not address the actual length of time the resident was waiting for a repair/inspection. Additionally, other than internal correspondence and notes raising a repair saying “replace gaskets or fit weather stripping…”, the Service has not seen evidence of the April or September inspection reports to be able to assess whether the landlord had taken appropriate follow-up action or resolved the issue. Landlords should have robust records of the work which is performed to evidence what has taken place.
  7. The landlord acknowledged in its stage 1 complaint response it had missed two repair appointments (15 June 2023 and 27 June 2023), and apologised for the inconvenience. It appears the resident was frustrated by this and tried to contact the landlord numerous times (13 July 2023, 17 July 2023 and 19 July 2023) to assign another appointment to review the windows, and the additional repairs. It is also noted that on 1 occasion the resident refused entry. However, the landlord’s file provides no evidence as to the reason for the entry refusal. 
  8. Although, the landlord’s stage 1 complaint response did apologise for missed inspections, it did not acknowledge the above mentioned delays or the impact on the resident where he had to chase the landlord multiple times to get an inspection booked. The uncertainty around securing an inspection caused reported frustration and distress to the resident. It would have been appropriate for the landlord to have apologised and acknowledged the delays and the inconvenience caused to the resident. Additionally, the landlord had record of the resident’s vulnerabilities and it would have been appropriate to consider these when it was arranging inspections. Given his conditions it is likely that draughty windows and resulting cold would have a higher impact on him. At this stage, it should have considered discretionary compensation in acknowledging the impact to the resident.
  9. The landlord’s stage 2 response of 8 September 2023, said after the September inspection that while it determined there were no defects with the windows it agreed to replace the rubber seals. However, the Councillor’ visit and enquiry from 8 June 2023, show that the rubber seals had sighted signs of deterioration.
  10. Overall, the landlord in its responses failed to consider any redress or compensation for the failures it identified. Additionally, it missed an opportunity in its responses to address in full the delays to the resident’s reports of the windows being draughty. The landlord could not demonstrate that it had effectively investigated the window concerns or provide evidence to not warrant further action to be taken. The landlord also did not recognise the impact on the vulnerable resident and its communication caused an understandable frustration in the resident.

The Ombudsman has also considered the landlord’s complaint handling

  1. The landlord’s complaint policy says, it will acknowledge a complaint within 5 working days. The landlord will respond at stage 1 within 10 working days and at stage 2 within 20 working days. 
  2. The landlord acknowledged the complaint on 4 July, but we do not have clear evidence of when the complaint was raised by the resident and whether it was acknowledged by the landlord within 5 working days of receipt. Landlords should keep good record of the resident’s complaint as per the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code) to be able to demonstrate whether their actions in response were appropriate. However, the stage 1 complaint response was provided within the timeframes of the Code (10 working days from acknowledgement).
  3. The resident escalated the complaint on 18 July 2023. The stage 2 complaint response was provided on 8 September 2023, which was 37 working days after the escalation, or 17 working days outside the timeframes of its policy. The landlord did not seek an extension of time and as such this was not in line with its policy.
  4. While the landlord did apologise at stage 2 for the delay in sending its complaint response, it did not identify all of its complaint handling failings or offer redress. As such it missed an opportunity to put things right for the resident.
  5. There was service failure in the landlord’s complaints handling as it failed to record the resident’s stage 1 complaint, its stage 2 response was late, and it did not put things right, offer redress, or demonstrate it had learnt from these failings at either stage.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was maladministration by the landlord in respect of the landlord’s handling of the residents reports of repairs to the windows.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was service failure in respect of the landlord’s handling of the complaint.

Orders

  1. The Ombudsman orders the landlord to apologise to the resident, for the failings identified in this report, in writing within 4 weeks.
  2. The Ombudsman orders the landlord to pay the resident a total of £325 in compensation within 4 weeks, comprised of:
    1. £250 for the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident by the landlord’s delays in handling the resident’s reports of repairs to the windows and for the lack of evidence as to the window inspections and follow on actions.
    2. £75 for any inconvenience, time and trouble caused by its complaint handling failures.
  3. The Ombudsman orders the landlord to conduct a comprehensive inspection of the condition of the windows and share the report with the resident and the Ombudsman within 6 weeks.
  4. The landlord is to provide evidence of compliance with the above orders in their respective timeframes.