Hyde Housing Association Limited (202012406)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202012406

Hyde Housing Association Limited

5 October 2021


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:
    1. The level of compensation offered to the resident for repair delays.
    2. The landlord’s complaint handling.

Background and summary of events

  1. The resident is a tenant of the landlord. She lives in a block of similar properties.
  2. The landlord’s records show the resident reported “water coming from the communal area from the ceiling and now going into her flat” on 24 February 2020. Contractors attended that day. They found the water tank at the top of the block was overflowing and so “adjusted float and waited for water to drain”. They noted that the resident’s boiler had been damaged by the water. It is unclear when they reattended to fix the boiler.
  3. The resident reported a similar issue with the water tank on or around 14 August 2020 (the exact date is unknown). The landlord’s records show:
    1. “14/08 Tank in the loft back filling, temp works required operative spoke to supervisor job booked and 8 residents to be informed for access.
    2. 17/08 temperately install overflow pipe from cold water storage tank tested and left safe.
    3. 25/09 attend site and investigate back fill to main communal tank flat 24 have done works to pipe work rectified backfill to tank in flat 24 25/09 rectify backflow from flat 24 was back flowing into storage tank and left safe”.
  4. On 21 October 2020 the resident raised a formal complaint to the landlord. She said she had been reporting a leak from the tank since February 2020. She said at one point the water was cascading down and came through her kitchen walls and damaged her boiler. She said she had incurred extra electricity costs from the heaters the landlord had provided in February. She said she was still experiencing the leak. She said she was claiming £500 compensation.
  5. The landlord acknowledged the resident’s complaint on 17 November 2020. It called her on 20 November. Its records show she explained the tank was no longer causing the water to pour out, but had caused damp. The landlord said it would arrange for a surveyor to attend and inspect.
  6. On 23 December 2020 the resident reported no heating or hot water in the property. The landlord’s records indicate contractors attended on 24 December 2020. It is unclear what, if any, work they carried out. Contractors attended on 31 December 2020 and decommissioned the boiler as it was releasing carbon monoxide. They reattended on 7 January to fix it.
  7. On 8 January 2021 the landlord advised the resident that it would delay issuing its stage one response until it had confirmation about what repairs would be undertaken.
  8. The surveyor and a contractor attended on 22 January 2021. They found that the temporary overflow pipe (connected to the water tank) was not leaking, so decided they would remove it (it is unclear when this happened). They reported that the upstairs neighbour’s boiler was leaking and staining the resident’s doors.
  9. On 26 January 2021 the landlord explained to the resident the findings from the visit. It said it would attend to clean her doors once it repaired the neighbour’s boiler. It said it would issue its final response once it had confirmation of the appointment to repair the neighbour’s boiler. It said it would carry out a mould wash on 29 January.
  10. The landlord advised the resident on 2 February 2021 that it would “put in a request for escalation to stage 2 of our complaints process, as discussed in our call”. There is no evidence explaining the details of this phone call.
  11. Contractors attended the neighbour’s property on 19 February 2021 and fixed their boiler.
  12. The landlord issued its stage two complaint response on 6 April 2021. It confirmed that the leak had been resolved. It said it had not responded well to the resident’s repairs, and did not reassure her it would rectify her problems. It offered her £550 compensation “to make up for what happened”. It said before it could issue its stage one complaint response, it escalated her complaint due to a lack of progress with her repairs. It said the water tank issue originated from her neighbour’s flat who had carried out their own plumbing work. It acknowledged the issue began in February 2020, and that it had taken too long to progress the complaint and carry out work. It acknowledged that its communication had been a problem throughout her complaint as she had had to chase it for updates. It said it was unable to reimburse her for increased electricity costs (but did not explain why). It concluded by explaining how the resident could refer her complaint to this Service if she remained dissatisfied.
  13. The landlord called the resident on 13 April 2021. Its records show she was dissatisfied with its offer of compensation. She said she expected at least £2000. The landlord advised that normally its stage two offer was its final one, but as it had not sent a stage one response, it would review its decision. The resident said that the landlord had not appreciated that the leak had been ongoing since February 2020. She said she had no heating for over two weeks over December 2020, and had incurred extra electricity costs from using heaters.
  14. The landlord issued its final complaint response on 25 May 2021. It offered her an additional £100 compensation. It said the resident was dissatisfied with its initial offer due to the increase in her electricity bills when her heating was not working. It said it was difficult to measure if there had been any impact as she did not have regular bills, or meter usage readings from her supplier. It said its additional offer of compensation reflected her increased electricity costs. It said it had also increased its offer as it agreed that it had not fully appreciated in its earlier response the delays, distress and inconvenience she had experienced. It concluded by explaining how the resident could refer her complaint to this Service if she remained dissatisfied.

Assessment and findings

Level of compensation

  1. The landlord’s repairs procedure sets out that it will attend to emergency repairs (ones required to sustain the immediate health, safety or security of the resident) within four hours, and make safe within 24 hours. It will carry out “anytime repairs” (repairs which are not emergencies) within 20 working days.  The landlord is responsible for water leaks in an “individual dwelling”. The resident is responsible for damage to goods following repair issues (such as a leak).
  2. The resident reported water ingress from the block’s water tank in February, and August 2020. She raised a complaint in October 2020, requested compensation, and reported that the leak was ongoing. The landlord inspected in January 2021 and found the water tank was no longer leaking, but identified a leak from the neighbour’s boiler, which it resolved in February 2021.
  3. In its complaint responses, the landlord acknowledged that there had been delays in terms of its handling of her complaint, and resolving her repairs since February 2020. It apologised for its shortcomings, and offered her compensation. It is unclear from the evidence provided whether the leaks reported in February and August 2020 were connected to the one identified by the landlord in January 2021. Nevertheless, the landlord confirmed that it had resolved all leaks. 
  4. In the landlord’s final response dated 25 May 2021 it also addressed the resident’s request for compensation for increased electricity costs from using electrical heaters. The landlord explained why it was unable to accurately determine how her bills had been affected but said its additional offer of compensation (£100) was in recognition of the impact the heaters had. The amount it offered, on the face of it, does not appear unreasonable in the circumstances, and no evidence was presented to the landlord indicating that any extra costs the resident incurred were significantly higher than that.
  5. The landlord’s overall offer of compensation (£650) was in line with the Ombudsman’s own remedies guidance for complaints with similar circumstances. This is because the landlord took reasonable steps to respond to her reports in February and August 2020, as it attended with its target timeframe for anytime repairs (20 working days). Although it delayed inspecting following her complaint, and report of the leak in October 2020, there is nothing in the evidence to show the delay caused a long term or adverse impact, as such the landlord’s offer of compensation was suitable redress.

Complaint handling

  1. The landlord’s complaints policy states that it will acknowledge a stage one complaint within two working days. It will issue its stage one response within ten working days, and its stage two response within 20 working days. The landlord can escalate a complaint to stage two if a stage one complaint has been open for more than twenty working days “with no reasonable extension” agreed with the resident.
  2. The resident raised a formal complaint on 21 October 2020. The landlord acknowledged it on 17 November 2020. It did not provide a stage one response, and confirmed on 2 February 2021 that it had escalated the complaint to stage two. It issued its stage two response on 6 April 2021, and a follow up response on 25 May 2021.
  3. The landlord’s policy allows it to escalate a complaint straight to stage two without issuing a stage one response. However, in this case, the landlord’s approach was unreasonable. It did not bring about a quicker resolution to the resident’s complaint as it took over a month to then issue its stage two response. This, alongside its delay acknowledging the resident’s stage one complaint (almost a month) meant there was overall an unreasonable delay in the completion of its complaint process.
  4. The same officer issued the stage two, and follow up response. The Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code sets out that landlords should carry out complaint investigations in an impartial manner. This is basic good practice, and can be achieved by having a different officer carry out escalated complaint reviews. With no prior knowledge, the new officer can bring a wider perspective and expertise to the complaint, and is able to consider aspects that may have been overlooked.
  5. Ultimately the landlord’s complaint delays were unreasonable, and it failed to carry out a fair, and impartial complaint review.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 55 (b) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress for repair delays prior to the investigation which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily
  2. In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure in respect of the landlord’s complaint handling.

Reasons

  1. The landlord’s offer of £650 was reasonable for its repair delays. However, its complaint handling was poor.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. The landlord is ordered to pay the resident £75 for the inconvenience and delay experienced as a result of the failings identified with the landlord’s complaint handling. It should also pay the compensation offered in its complaint responses, if it has not already done so.
  2. This payment should be made within four weeks of the date of this report. The landlord should update this Service when the payment has been made.

Recommendations

  1. Given the poor complaint handling found in this investigation, the landlord is recommended to review its procedures to ensure that they are as fair, efficient, and straight-forward as possible, in line with the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code, and Dispute Resolution Principles.