Birmingham City Council (202117144)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202117144

Birmingham City Council

14 March 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 response to the resident’s query about window cleaning.

Background

  1. The resident is a tenant of the landlord. She lives in a flat within a tower block of similar properties. In 2018 the landlord installed new windows in the block as part of a refurbishment programme.
  2. The resident raised a complaint with the landlord in June 2021 about who was responsible for cleaning the outside of the windows. She said it was difficult and dangerous for tenants to clean the windows and when she had raised this with the landlord, it had said that it was not its responsibility. The landlord did not uphold the complaint; it said that it was not responsible for cleaning the windows and that it had no plans to set up a window cleaning programme.
  3. In the resident’s complaint to this Service, she said she did not know who was responsible for cleaning the windows. She said she wanted the landlord to find a solution as her windows were dirty.

Assessment and findings

  1. The landlord’s website sets out that the resident is responsible for keeping her property clean and in good decorative order. The landlord is responsible for cleaning the communal and shared areas of the block. No evidence has been provided for this investigation to show that the landlord has any obligation to clean the windows.
  2. However, it would be reasonable to expect the landlord to have considered how the new windows would be cleaned prior to agreeing the specification for the refurbishment works. The window specification states: “The windows shall be designed in accordance with the recommendations of BS 8213 Part 1:2004 to permit cleaning of all external glazed surfaces without providing temporary access”. This therefore indicates that the window design should enable cleaning of the windows. However, there is no evidence that the landlord considered whether the windows met the window specification when responding to the resident’s complaint. If the windows met the specification, then the landlord could have explained to the resident how their design enabled cleaning, potentially resolving the complaint.
  3. The landlord also failed to adequately consider any other ways in which it could resolve the resident’s concerns about cleaning the windows, such as undertaking the cleaning at a cost. It is common practice for landlords to arrange window cleaning in blocks of flats and charge residents for it via a service charge. This ensures residents fulfil their obligations (keeping their property clean), even though they are unable to carry out the work themselves. While the landlord was not obliged to implement such a service, it would be reasonable to expect it to give this matter further consideration and if it decided it would not be possible to provide this service, to explain the reason for that.
  4. Internal email correspondence from July 2021 confirms that the landlord had previously considered implementing an annual window cleaning programme for all its high–rise blocks, because the change in window design meant the windows could no longer be cleaned from the inside, but this had not been concluded. There is no evidence that the landlord sought to clarify the position on this matter before it confirmed to the resident that it would not be implementing a window cleaning service, and it failed to explain the reason why it would not be doing so. The complaint responses also failed to address the resident’s concerns about it being difficult and dangerous to clean the windows herself, and therefore missed an opportunity to show any understanding of the resident’s concerns.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in respect of its response to the resident’s query about window cleaning.

 

 

 

 

Orders

  1. The landlord is ordered to do the following:
    1. Pay the resident £100 compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of her query about window cleaning. This order should be completed within four weeks of the date of this report.
    2. Consider whether the windows meet the window specification in respect of enabling cleaning and clarify the position on this to both the resident and this Service. If the window design does not enable cleaning, then the landlord should consider if it can take any other steps to ensure that the windows can be cleaned. This order should be completed within six weeks of the date of this report.