Longhurst Group Limited (202116735)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202116735

Longhurst Group Limited

26 May 2022


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 repairs to the resident’s windows, rear door, and outhouse roof.

Background

  1. The resident occupies the property, a 2-bedroom house, under an assured tenancy agreement with the landlord, which began on 5 November 2007. The resident is a carer for her disabled child, who also lives at the property.
  2. In 2019, the resident reported to the landlord that the roof of her brick outhouse was leaking. She also reported ongoing issues with the property’s windows and the presence of damp. With several unresolved issues, the resident made formal complaints to the landlord in November 2019 and May 2020.
  3. In a complaint response in December 2020, the landlord confirmed that there had been service failure by its contractor and awarded £100 compensation. The landlord acknowledged at this time that there had been a failure in communication and advised it would address this with its contractor. The landlord considered the matter to be resolved at this time.
  4. In April 2021, however, the resident contacted the landlord to report that repairs to the windows and outhouse roof were still outstanding, as was a repair to her back door, which was not closing or locking properly. As such, the landlord registered a new complaint for the resident in June 2021. In its response, it again acknowledged service failure due to poor communication, unproductive repair visits and failure to progress the promised works. The landlord apologised and offered £50 compensation at stage 1 and £50 at stage 2. The landlord also shared a timetable in which it proposed to complete the outstanding works.
  5. The resident has advised this Service that she remains dissatisfied. She has reported that some works were not completed by the specified dates and also that some have been finished to a poor standard.

Assessment and findings

Repairs history and scope of investigation

  1. According to the landlord’s records, a job was first raised to provide a temporary repair to the outhouse roof on 19 November 2019 and works were subsequently completed on 13 December 2019 and 30 July 2020. The correspondence provided to this investigation indicates that the resident had also reported issues with condensation relating to the property’s windows some time prior to 28 October 2019 but the landlord’s repair logs show that a job was first raised on 20 January 2020 to ‘repair all windows’. This was later altered to the application of a mould wash, which was initially reported to be effective. The mould later reoccurred and on 11 May 2020 the resident made a formal complaint to the landlord, describing the windows as one of several outstanding repairs.
  2. There is no evidence that the resident contacted the landlord to chase repairs, or to report further issues, between July 2020 and April 2021, although the correspondence does suggest that further events may have taken place during this period. In the absence of documentary evidence, the Ombudsman cannot draw inferences about what happened. The landlord did provide a response to the resident’s complaint of 11 May 2020 on 17 December 2020, acknowledging that there had been service failure by its contractor and offering £100 compensation. There is no evidence that the resident sought to escalate the complaint at that time.
  3. This investigation is therefore focussed on what occurred in the six months prior to, and the time following, the formal complaint of 16 June 2021, although the repairs and complaint history dating back to 2019 provides useful context for the Ombudsman’s assessment.

Landlord’s handling of repairs

  1. The landlord’s Repairs Policy states that non-emergency repairs should be completed within 21 days. Where this is not possible, the Ombudsman would expect the landlord to explain why and to keep the resident informed. Sometimes a landlord may take action that only resolves an issue temporarily. Should an issue reoccur, the Ombudsman looks for evidence that the landlord responded appropriately by seeking advice, considering the options to provide a permanent solution, and arranging further works where necessary. It is best practice to ensure that works are post-inspected, and the landlord should be proactive in following up with residents to ensure the issue has been resolved.
  2. The resident contacted the landlord on 15 April 2021 to complain that the outhouse roof had not been repaired, despite an independent contractor attending to assess it ‘weeks ago’. She also reported that the windows throughout the property were in poor condition and had not been repaired. It is not clear from the information provided to this Service when the resident first reported an issue with her back door not closing and locking correctly. The landlord’s notes from an inspection on 13 May 2021 evidence that it was aware of this issue at that time.
  3. Although a job was raised on 21 April 2021 to carry out an inspection of the outhouse roof and windows the recommended follow-up works from a visit on 13 May 2021 were not progressed. On receipt of the resident’s email of 15 June 2021, the landlord advised her to contact the contractor directly to discuss the door repair and log new jobs. This was inappropriate, as the landlord was already aware of the ongoing issues. As the party responsible for completing the repairs under the terms of the resident’s lease, it fell to the landlord to follow-up on her behalf to ensure works were completed.
  4. The landlord’s failure to investigate the resident’s concerns and to assist her in progressing the repairs resulted in the formal complaint of 16 June 2021. The landlord missed an opportunity to resolve the issues at an earlier stage and the resident’s frustration was increased by the landlord’s decision to carry out an inspection in May, when a contractor had already visited in March.
  5. The repairs records provided to this investigation are incomplete and some events referenced in correspondence, such as the inspection in March 2021, are not recorded in the landlord’s system notes. There is no evidence of the contractor’s report following an inspection on 28 June 2021. This raises concerns about the landlord’s management of its contractor and its record keeping. As the landlord was aware that this was an ongoing issue that had been the subject of several previous complaints it would have been particularly important to monitor the progress of the repair and to keep the resident updated.
  6. The resident was forced to escalate her complaint after a further inspection by a different contractor, who the resident stated had already visited and recommended replacement of the roof ‘months ago’. Repeated inspection visits to the property, with no action plan for completing any works, prolonged the delay and increased the inconvenience to the resident. As the landlord identified during the complaints process there were several ‘unproductive’ repair visits and works that the landlord said it would arrange as part of the resolution of the stage 1 complaint did not take place.
  7. Following the stage 2 response, works to replace the outhouse roof were not carried out in the week commencing 16 August 2021 as promised. The landlord’s repairs records indicate that works were completed on 29 September 2021 and following further issues reported in November 2021 the resident confirmed on 11 January 2022 that the outhouse roof had been replaced.
  8. The landlord’s repairs records show that on 21 January 2021, the roofing contractor had recommended the removal and replacement of the roof’s corrugated sheets. There is no evidence that works were completed at that time, and so there was an unreasonable delay of almost a year before the landlord took the recommended action. This was significantly in excess of the 21–day non-emergency repairs target set out in the landlord’s Repairs Policy, the landlord provided no update to the resident until a formal complaint was made, and it has failed to explain the delay.
  9. Works to address condensation and disrepair to windows, which according to the evidence had been an ongoing issue since 2019, were re-raised in April 2021 but not completed until 29 October 2021, although some works were carried out on 6 August 2021. This was again an unreasonable and unexplained delay. The landlord was aware as early as 13 May 2021. There is no evidence that the landlord assessed whether this repair should be treated as an emergency or non-emergency repair, given the resident’s security concerns, and it is unclear when this repair was completed.
  10. Although the landlord acknowledged service failure in its complaint responses and offered compensation, the amount awarded was not sufficient to reflect the significant delay and its poor communication with both the resident and its contractor. In the circumstances, the Ombudsman considers that an award of £400 compensation is appropriate, to reflect the time and trouble the resident took to pursue the issue and the inconvenience caused by prolonged correspondence and providing access for multiple appointments.
  11. The resident informed this Service on 8 March 2022 that one window still requires replacement, that additional repairs to the outhouse door identified during the complaints process have not been completed, and that the brickwork supporting the new outhouse roof has come loose. She has also highlighted a new issue with the property’s front door and that the rear door repair has not been entirely effective. The landlord is therefore ordered to carry out an inspection of the resident’s property and to resolve the remaining issues.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of repairs to the resident’s property.

Orders

  1. Within 28 days of the date of this report the landlord is ordered to:
    1. Arrange an inspection of the resident’s property, following which, it should arrange for the completion of any outstanding repairs.
    2. Pay the resident £400 compensation in recognition of the landlord’s poor handling of the repairs.

Recommendation

  1. It is recommended that the landlord review its processes for recording repairs information and contractor reports, to ensure all detail is captured accurately.