Estuary Housing Association Limited (202127401)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202127401

Estuary Housing Association Limited

1 February 2023


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 concerns how the landlord handled repairs at the property and the level of compensation it offered.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord, which is a housing association. The property is a house.
  2. The resident has had ongoing issues with the landlord and its contractor relating to the quality of work done at the property and damage caused to his personal items during the renewal of the kitchen between 25 November 2022 and 12 December 2022. On 2 February 2022, the resident called the landlord to raise a complaint. The landlord’s notes of the call described the elements of the complaint as:
    1. The resident was unhappy with the level of service he had received from the landlord since he moved into the property in 2017.
    2. During the kitchen renewal, the new worktop caused damage to the hallway carpet when it was stored overnight prior to being fitted.
    3. The side panel of the resident’s cooker was damaged during rewiring.
    4. The resident stated that the kitchen floor wasn’t properly screed before new flooring was laid, which resulted in the floor being uneven.
    5. The new electrical sockets were poorly installed, leaving them uneven.
    6. An operative drilled through an electric cable while fitting a cupboard which had resulted in problems with the property’s heating system.
    7. The resident also raised issues with the front door and patio door, noted that the fire alarm was isolated during the fitting of a new toilet in 2020 and never restored, and stated the outside lighting was not adequate.
  3. In its complaint responses, the landlord:
    1. Confirmed that the contractor had accepted liability for the damage to the resident’s carpet caused by moving the new worktop into the kitchen. It asked the resident to provide information of how much he paid for the carpeting in order to provide reimbursement.
    2. Also confirmed that the contractor had accepted liability to the dent on the cooker panel. The landlord noted that the dent did not affect the use of the cooker and that it would cover the costs of a new panel.
    3. Assured the tenant that the kitchen floor was level, but that there was a fault with the finish of the vinyl flooring which showed up the imperfections of the concrete flooring below.
    4. Stated that on receipt of the resident’s complaint, it had arranged for the contractor to inspect the property. The contractor visited on 15 February 2022 and recommended the following work:
      1. Reinstate the light, light fitting and fire alarm in the hallway then replaster the ceiling.
      2. Overhaul the front entrance door.
      3. Overhaul the patio door and replace the handle and lock mechanism.
      4. Replace the flooring in the bedrooms.
      5. Arrange for a specialist contractor to replace the vinyl flooring in the kitchen.
    5. Stated that it had raised work orders for the recommended work and the contractors would contact the resident to book appointments. It also informed the resident that its contractor had informed it that it was expecting difficulty in agreeing appointment dates with the resident. The landlord requested that the resident provide it with suitable dates and it would work with the contractor to book the work for these dates.
    6. Explained that the existing wiring was located in the kitchen wall where the new wall unit needed to be fitted. It understood that the damaged wiring was repaired on the same day that the damage occurred and the contractor was made aware of any issue of the boiler at this time. The landlord noted that its repair logs showed that the resident reported issues with the new boiler timer on 12 January 2022 and that a gas engineer attended on 13 January 2022 and resolved the issue.
    7. Noted that there were outside lights over the front and rear entrances and at the side of the property. It was therefore satisfied that the property had adequate outside lighting.
    8. Apologised for its poor communication and the delay in agreeing appointment dates. It also offered the resident £20 in shopping vouchers as a goodwill gesture.
  4. In referring the case to this Service, the resident described the outstanding issues of the complaint as the contractor keeps changing the dates to completing the agreed repairs and the quality of the work had been poor. The resident also noted that the level of compensation offered by the landlord was inadequate in light of the level of inconvenience that this matter had caused.

Assessment and findings

Relevant policies and procedures.

  1. Section 2(3) of the tenancy agreement sets out the landlord’s repair responsibilities. This states that the landlord is expected “to keep in good repair the structure and exterior of the Premises including: Internal walls, floors and ceilings, doors and door names, door hinges and skirting boards but not including internal painting and decoration”.
  2. The landlord’s repairs policy categorises its repair types as “Emergency” (make safe within 24 hours) and “Routine” (arrange an appointment within 20 working days). The policy describes circumstances the landlord would consider offering compensation. It notes that if its contractor fails to attend the property at the agreed time without informing the resident, it will offer a £10 shopping voucher as a goodwill gesture. The policy also states that the landlord will consider offering non-statuary compensation when it had failed to deliver a specific service.
  3. The landlord’s compensation policy states that it will consider offering discretionary compensation in circumstances where “our service failure gives rise to a financial loss or severe inconvenience to the customer”. The policy does not give any guidance on recommended payment levels, but does state that it follows this Service’s own remedies guidance (which is available on our website).

How the landlord handled repairs at the property and the level of compensation it offered

  1. Once the landlord had received the resident’s repair reports, it had a duty to respond to the issues in line with the obligations set out in the tenancy agreement and its published policies and procedures. Overall, the landlord responded appropriately to the resident’s complaint. It arranged a joint inspection with its contractor of the property, agreed a schedule of work, accepted liability for the damage to the resident’s personal items, and looked to work with the contractors and the resident to book appointments at a suitable time.
  2. However, there has been clear problems with how repairs had been undertaken at the property prior to the complaint being made. It is not in dispute that the resident experienced delays in work being completed, that there was poor communication from the landlord and that the contractors caused damage to the property during the kitchen renewal. Therefore, it was appropriate for the landlord to apologise to the resident, offer compensation and explain what steps it had taken to improve its service. This position is also in line with the Ombudsman’s Dispute Resolution Principles: be fair, put things right and learn from outcomes
  3. The landlord acted fairly in acknowledging its mistakes and apologising to the resident. It looked to put things right by offering £20 shopping vouchers in compensation and raising work orders to complete the outstanding work It looked to learn from its mistakes by improving its communication with the resident and its contractors by appointing a single-point of contract to progress the repairs.
  4. The £20 shopping vouchers were offered in line with its repairs policy after two appointments did not go ahead following a breakdown in communication between the resident and the contractor. While this offer was appropriate; it would also have been appropriate, and line with its compensation policy, for the landlord to offer further compensation for the inconvenience the matter had caused to the resident. Therefore, there has been service failure by the landlord as the resolution it offered in its final complaint response did not properly reflect the inconvenience caused to the resident by the poor commination and delays in completing the work.
  5. This Service’s own remedies guidance recommends a payment of £100 to £600 in cases of severe service failure or maladministration. This may include distress and inconvenience, time and trouble, disappointment, loss of confidence, and delays in getting matters resolved. It would therefore be appropriate for the landlord to pay the resident £300 compensation in recognition of its poor communication, the delays in completing the work, and the inconvenience caused to the resident in having to raise a complaint in order for the work to progress.
  6. The resident has also stated his dissatisfaction with the quality of the completed work by the contractor. When arranging the 15 February 2022 inspection that agreed the schedule of work, the landlord stated the it would undertake a further joint inspection once all the work had been completed. As the work was currently ongoing at the date of this report, it is not clear if this inspection had now gone ahead.
  7. Therefore, it is recommended, if it has not done so already, that the landlord should write to the resident to inform it of the results of its post-work inspection and whether it was satisfied with the quality of the work. If the landlord was not satisfied with the quality of the finished work, it should consider awarding further compensation to the resident for the added inconvenience caused by the delays to completing the work to an acceptable standard.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure by the landlord in respect of how it handled repairs at the property and the level of compensation it offered.

Orders

  1. That within 28 calendar days of this determination the landlord is to pay the resident £300 for the service failure set out above. This £300 compensation award is separate from the £20 in shopping vouchers offered by the landlord, which it should now re-offer to the resident if it has not already provided these.
  2. That the landlord confirm to this service that it has complied with this order.

Recommendations

  1. If it has not done so already, the landlord should write to the resident to inform him of the results of its post-work inspection and whether it was satisfied with the quality of the work. If the landlord was not satisfied with the quality of the finished work, it should consider awarding further compensation to the resident for any added inconvenience caused by the delays to completing the work.
  2. That the landlord ensure that the resident’s claim for damage to his carpet is progressed in a timely manner and, if the resident has not done so already, to re-issue its request that the resident provide information of how much he paid for the carpeting in order to provide reimbursement.