The Guinness Partnership Limited (202112794)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202112794

The Guinness Partnership Limited

6 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 is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of fly– tipping on the estate.

Background and summary of events

2. The resident lives in a one-bedroom, first-floor flat and has had an assured tenancy with the landlord since 2006.
3. The resident reported fly-tipping on her estate in January, June and July of 2021.  The landlord acknowledged the reports and removed the fly-tipping. The Ombudsman notes that the resident confirmed that the issue had been going on for many years.
4. The resident made a formal complaint to her landlord about the fly-tipping on 5 July 2021, as follows:
   1. Fly-tipping had been ongoing for many years and recently many black bags were placed by the pathway of her block, although they should have been cleared, they were still there.
   2. She was told that she would receive a call back to discuss the issues, but had not received one and there were now other items dumped in different areas of her block.
   3. Her bins were always full and over-flowing as neighbours who were not residents of her part of the block used them as well.
   4. To help reduce the ongoing issue, the landlord should consider installing CCTV.
5. On 29 July 2021, the landlord provided its stage one complaint response, stating:
   1. It was aware that fly-tipping was an ongoing issue and the recent fly-tipping had now been cleared.
   2. CCTV would be unlikely to make a difference, as it knew of other areas that had CCTV where the situation was just as bad, if not worse. Also, it would increase the service charges the resident would have to pay. It advised that there was no guarantee that installing CCTV would resolve the problem.
6. On the same day the resident asked for her complaint to be escalated to stage two of the complaints procedure as she was dissatisfied with the landlord’s response, stating:
   1. The fly-tipping had been happening for years and although she did not report it every time, there should be enough evidence on the landlord’s records to support that there was an ongoing issue. 
   2. She received a letter advising her that she should report fly-tipping to the local authority and she felt the landlord was trying to pass the problem onto them.
   3. There needed to be a solution to the problem as the rubbish was a hazard and “embarrassing” and she felt CCTV would help capture the people dumping the items. 
7. On 24 August 2021, the resident reported that there was fly-tipping in and around the meter cupboards and she was unable to gain access to her meter.
8. The landlord called the resident on 2 September 2021, and apologised for the length of time it had taken to remove the items and confirmed that it had asked its contractor to remove them as soon as possible. It also reiterated its stage one response about its position on installing CCTV. It noted that the customer was concerned that it was an ongoing issue and the families in the area only had small bins, which contributed to the problem. It passed the information to its customer liaison officer to respond to the resident’s formal complaint.
9. The resident reported on 6 and 8 September 2021 that there was still fly-tipping on her block, the bins were overflowing, and the fly-tipping that she reported on 24 August was still there.
10. The landlord issued its stage two response on 15 September 2021, in which it:
    1. apologised for any distress the resident endured due to the situation and acknowledged that a significant clearance of a neighbouring property added to the fly-tipping and had now been cleared.
    2. agreed with the resident that although the fly-tipping had been cleared, it was an ongoing issue that had a negative impact on the resident, which it should have taken into consideration and therefore it needed to work on finding a longer-term solution. It acknowledged that it failed to consider some of the suggestions the resident gave as a possible solution for the problems.
    3. acknowledged that there were service failures, as there were delays in how it managed the situation. It offered £50 compensation for the distress and inconvenience the delays caused the resident.
    4. recommended its customer liaison officer to:
       1. contact the local authority and request that the larger families in the area receive larger bins.
       2. send a letter to all the larger family households reminding them that they should not be using the skips as they were for the tenants in the resident’s block only.
       3. update the communal notice boards regularly with information on the outcome of the landlord’s estate inspections and the actions it was taking with timescales, so that residents are informed when the issues will be resolved.
       4. complete a consultation with the relevant residents regarding installing CCTV to help reduce the ongoing fly-tipping.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

11. The resident has advised the Ombudsman that the issue of fly-tipping in the area has been on-going for many years. Whilst the Ombudsman has noted this as background information, the scope of this investigation focuses on the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports in 2021 and subsequent complaint about this matter.

Policies

12. The landlord’s estate management policy states that:
    1. it expects residents to dispose of their household waste appropriately, using the facilities provided and, if it is required to dispose of bulk rubbish because customers have not followed its guidelines, it will seek to enforce relevant tenancy or lease conditions and it may levy a service charge to the estate.
    2. where appropriate, it will work with environmental health departments and other local service providers to prevent a build-up of refuse.
    3. it will attempt to identify people responsible for dumping refuse or fly-tipping (whether in internal or external communal areas). It will pursue enforcement action against perpetrators, which, if they are tenants or leaseholders, will affect their tenancies or leases.
    4. it will work in partnership with relevant local authorities to assist any statutory nuisance investigations. This can be in relation to any customer, other person or organisation that commits an offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (or other relevant legislation), such as fly tipping, on land owned or managed by the landlord.
13. The landlord’s leaflet on ‘managing fly-tipping and bulk rubbish removal’, lists various actions that it can take to prevent and/or reduce fly-tipping on its estate, this includes, but is not limited to:
    1. review or change the number and size of bins.
    2. provide educational material for customers on waste and recycling.
    3. engage customers in a survey asking for their suggestions.
    4. engage with customers who act as the “eyes and ears” on its estates to report when they see fly-tipping.
    5. installation of temporary CCTV at hot spots to try and identify perpetrators – privacy impact assessments are required. 
    6. work closely with Estates/Contractors so that when fly-tipping is spotted it investigates if this can be traced back to an address, then follow up with the customer or occupant.
    7. issue warning letters to known perpetrators, determine whether known fly-tippers can be prosecuted/fined, and refer details of offenders to the police.
    8. work in partnership with the police and local council.

Assessment and Findings

14. The Ombudsman acknowledges that fly-tipping is a nationwide problem which is recognised to be difficult to fully resolve. It is, however, important for landlords to actively explore different options to tackle the problem.
15. In this case, both the resident and the landlord acknowledge that, although the landlord generally removes fly-tipping in a reasonable timeframe, the main issue is that fly-tipping is an on-going problem.
16. In its leaflet, ‘managing fly-tipping and bulk rubbish removal’ and its estate management policy, the landlord outlines different options it can take to help resolve fly-tipping on its estates. It, however, missed the opportunity to look into and discuss these options with the resident when she reported the fly-tipping and expressed her frustration that it was an ongoing problem.
17. It also did not fully take into consideration her proposal of looking into CCTV and advised her that the cost of the CCTV would be added to her service charges with no guarantee that it would stop the problem. Whilst, it is important that landlords ensure that their services and products are value for money for their residents, it is equally important that they avoid making decisions without seeking and taking into consideration their residents’ views.
18. However, in its stage two response, the landlord outlined appropriate actions it would take to help resolve the issue and offered the resident £50 compensation for the distress and inconvenience she incurred because of its delay in managing the situation. Taken altogether, in the Ombudsman’s opinion the action plan and offer of compensation constituted reasonable redress for this complaint.
19. The Ombudsman is aware that the resident has made further reports and complaints to the landlord since the matters considered in this report exhausted the landlord’s complaint procedure and is concerned that the landlord has not taken appropriate action to progress the actions it set out in its final response for this complaint. As these more recent matters have been raised as a separate complaint under the landlord’s internal complaint procedure, the Housing Ombudsman cannot consider them here but has made a recommendation to the landlord at the end of this report to ensure that matters are progressed and the resident is kept updated.

Determination (decision)

20. In accordance with paragraph 53 (b) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord made an offer of reasonable redress in relation to its handling of the resident’s reports of fly– tipping on the estate, which in the Ombudsman’s opinion resolves this complaint satisfactorily.

Reasons

21. In its stage two response, the landlord outlined appropriate actions it would take to help resolve the issue and offered the resident £50 compensation for the distress and inconvenience she incurred because of its delay in managing the situation. In the Ombudsman’s opinion, the proposed actions and compensation, constituted reasonable redress for the issues raised in this complaint.

Orders and recommendations

Recommendations

22. The Ombudsman notes that the resident has raised further concerns about the landlord’s management of fly-tipping since this particular complaint exhausted its complaint process, including whether it has completed the actions it identified in its own final response. It is therefore recommended that the landlord provides a full written update to the resident on the actions it has taken, including those it listed in its stage two response.
23. It is recommended that the landlord pay the resident the £50 compensation it offered at stage two of its internal complaints process, unless this has already been paid.