Brighton and Hove City Council (202126858)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202126858

Brighton and Hove City Council

28 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. This complaint is about the landlord’s response to the resident’s concerns regarding repairs to the property, following a mutual exchange.

Background and summary of events

Background

2. The resident is a tenant of the landlord, and moved into the property on 29 May 2021 via a mutual exchange.

Scope of Investigation

3. When the resident contacted the Housing Ombudsman Service, she raised a number of additional repair issues, which included delays in fitting a ventilation system. This investigation will only focus on the repair issues that the resident brought to the landlord’s attention in her stage one complaint of 3 August 2021.
4. This is because, in accordance with paragraph 42 (a) of the Ombudsman scheme, we will not investigate complaints that, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, are “made prior to having exhausted a member’s complaints procedure”. If the resident remains dissatisfied with the issue, it is recommended that she raises a formal complaint with the landlord. The resident may refer this matter to the Ombudsman if she remains dissatisfied, once she has received the landlord’s final response to her concerns.

 

 

Policies & Procedures

5. The landlord’s Repairs Handbook states that emergency repairs will be attended to within 24 hours, and routine repairs will be completed within 20 working days. A complex repair is work that will take longer than 20 days to complete, and this may be identified by the operative when they first arrive on site.
6. Section 8 (e) of the Tenancy Agreement states that the resident has the right to improve their home as long as they get the landlord’s written permission first. An improvement means an alteration or addition to the home.
7. The landlord’s Mutual Exchange leaflet states that: “A condition of mutual exchange is that each tenant accepts the home in its current condition. We will still carry out repairs for which we are responsible, but please be aware that if the home you are moving to has had any improvements or alterations carried out, you may be expected to take on their maintenance.”

Summary of events

8. The resident raised a number of concerns with the landlord on 3 August 2021 about outstanding repairs to the property. In her email, she confirmed the following:

a)     The resident reported damp that was a foot high all around the bungalow, a large crack in the living room, plasterboard over a plaster wall in a bedroom, plasterboard over the tiled wall in the bathroom and the presence of black mould;

b)     the repairs helpdesk had told her they had a large backlog and could not tell her when an inspection would take place;

c)     five windows that were recently replaced had already blown and misted over, there was an air vent screwed onto a solid back and serving no purpose, and an old gas pipe in the floor with an old gas fire behind;

d)     she and her son are both disabled and had not been able to decorate or put their clothes away.

9. On 10 August 2021, following a telephone discussion with the resident, the landlord acknowledged the resident’s email as a stage one complaint. It confirmed that the repair issues that the resident had raised would be inspected that day by the landlord’s surveyor.
10. Following the inspection on 10 August 2021, the landlord sent the resident a stage one response on 11 August 2021, which confirmed the following:

a)     The landlord had carried out a mutual exchange pre-survey before the resident moved in, and had assessed the property as fully compliant, and that no urgent repair works were identified;

b)     It advised that, with mutual exchanges, residents accept the properties in the condition that they see;

c)     Although the survey found no damp to the walls, it found mould in the bedroom wardrobe due to condensation and would be arranging a mould wash;

d)     It would be arranging for the crack in the living room to be repaired and for the plasterboard in the bedroom to be removed;

e)     It acknowledged the resident’s request to tile her bathroom wall and stated it would remove the plasterboard and replaster. It explained that the resident would have to complete a Tenant Alteration request and provided a link to the relevant form;

f)       It explained that it only replaced misted glass windows that were over 70 per cent misted, and that the survey found the windows did not need replacing; but for the resident to let the landlord know if they got worse;

g)     That, in the surveyor’s opinion, the movement reported by the resident was historic;

h)     It agreed to remove the fireplace and install a working air vent in its place, to cut and cap the old gas pipe, arrange for external render repair and to repair the broken electrical socket in the loft.

11. The landlord also confirmed that it would make a referral for the property to be assessed for a ventilation system and that it would contact the resident to arrange this.
12. The landlord wrote to the resident on 16 August 2021 to give her the work order numbers and the details of the work that was due to take place.
13. On 1 September 2021, the resident wrote to the landlord to enquire whether the works to the bathroom had been scheduled and the landlord confirmed that she would need to complete the alteration request before those works could be booked.
14. The landlord attended on 3 September 2021 and completed three of the works it had agreed to carry out. It had also tried to undertake the mould wash, however; the resident did not agree for this to be done.
15. On 7 September 2021, the landlord fixed the broken electrical socket in the loft.
16. The resident wrote to the landlord on 15 September 2021 to escalate her complaint and, again, on 23 September she raised concerns that the plastering work had still not been booked and that she and her son were living out of bags while waiting for the works to be completed. She also asked for an official damp survey to be carried out rather than a mould wash.
17. The landlord responded on 23 September 2021 to apologise for the impact the damp and mould was having on the resident and confirmed it was in the process of organising a full damp survey.
18. A specialist company, commissioned by the landlord, attended the property on 4 October 2021 to carry out a damp survey. It found no significant surface moisture and ruled out the likelihood of any structural dampness. The report made several recommendations, including the replacement of cavity wall insulation. It also gave recommendations to the resident on how to reduce the risk of condensation.
19. The landlord wrote to the resident on 5 October 2021 to apologise for the length of time it was taking for the outstanding repairs to be addressed and to confirm that it would be receiving the damp survey report by the end of the week. It stated that it would provide a timescale for when the recommended works would start and how long they would last.
20. On 19 October 2021, the resident wrote to the landlord to chase up her stage two complaint of 15 September, and stated that plastering work had been booked to start, but that nobody had arrived.
21. On 22 October 2021, the landlord emailed the resident with its stage two response and stated the following:

a)     The landlord apologised that the resident was still waiting for outstanding works to be completed, and that this was stopping her from properly settling into the property;

b)     It outlined the findings of the damp survey and explained that an appointment had been booked for 1 November 2021 for an expert in damp and condensation to inspect the property, and confirm the works as recommended in the damp report. It said the works would be discussed with her.

c)     It acknowledged that works to repair the crack in the living room, remove the plasterboard in the bedroom and fix the external render had been booked for 6, 7 and 8 December 2021.

d)     Following receipt of a completed Tenant Alteration request, the landlord had arranged for the bathroom to be re-plastered, that the Plastering team would be in contact with her, and that she would be able to tile the bathroom when the work was complete;

e)     It reiterated its advice regarding the windows;

f)       It confirmed it would assess for movement once the cracks have been repaired;

g)     Works to the air vent, old gas pipe and old gas fireplace had been completed on 3 September 2021, and the broken electric socket was repaired on 7 September 2021;

h)     It admitted the request for a ventilation assessment had not been actioned, apologised for the error and confirmed it had asked the Repairs team to treat this as high priority. It also explained that, due to the policy of only attending to emergency repairs during the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a large backlog of repair jobs;

i)        It acknowledged its service was below expectations and confirmed it was in the process of recruiting to its Repairs service to improve the service to residents.

22. The resident contacted this Service on 8 March 2022 and confirmed that the plastering to the living room had been completed, as were works to the wall cavity and loft insulation. However, the work to the bathroom was still not finished. She wrote to this Service again on 18 May 2022 to report that she could not use the toilet or sink for four days.

Assessment and findings

23. The landlord was correct to point out in its response that a condition of mutual exchange is that each tenant accepts the home in its current condition. However, the landlord’s Mutual Exchange Leaflet also states that the landlord will carry out repairs for which it is responsible. This is in line with its repair obligations as set out in legislation and the tenancy agreement.
24. The landlord had completed most of the works within a reasonable timescale, however; there is evidence the plastering work to the living room was not completed until eight months after the landlord’s stage one response. In addition, the plastering work to the bathroom was not completed until seven months after the landlord confirmed that the resident had completed her tenant alteration request. Although these may have been considered complex repairs, under the landlord’s repairs policy, this was still far in excess of what would be a reasonable timescale. In addition, there is no evidence the landlord had informed the resident they were complex repairs or given any indication as to when the resident could expect them to be completed. This demonstrates poor communication on the landlord’s part.
25. The landlord acted quickly to address the report of damp and mould in the property. It attempted to temporarily address the presence of mould by arranging a mould wash on 7 September 2021, and cannot be criticised for the resident’s refusal to allow the operatives to complete the treatment. The landlord was pro-active in arranging a specialist damp inspection, soon after the resident had requested one, and it was correct in relying on the specialist advice provided in the damp survey report. The landlord also acknowledged that its service was below standard, offered apologies for the delays in completing the works and outlined measures it was going to put in place to improve its service.
26. There is evidence the cavity wall insulation work, as recommended by the damp specialist, had been completed when the resident approached this Service. However, it is not clear when this work was undertaken. Although a possible decant was mentioned in an internal email, there is no evidence the landlord explored this further, or that it considered how it could support the residents when, for example, they had no use of the toilet for four days while the bathroom works were taking place.
27. The resident had mentioned to the landlord that she and her son were living in bags while waiting for the work to be done. Although the landlord acknowledged the impact this must be having on them, there is no evidence  any support was explored to lessen the impact. In view of the residents’ vulnerabilities, the landlord could have explored whether offering alternative accommodation would have been appropriate, or liaised with the council’s adult social care team to identify if any support was available, for example, to meet the residents’ sanitary needs.
28. The landlord delayed in carrying out the ventilation assessment it had advised in its stage one response but acknowledged and apologised for this at stage two, and acted quickly to ensure a high priority referral was made to its Repairs team.
29. The landlord advised the resident in its stage two response of 22 October 2021 that the Plastering team would be in contact with her about the plastering work. There is evidence operatives were failing to attend booked appointments and that the resident was finding it difficult to contact the relevant teams. For example, the resident reported that plaster work was booked to start on 19 October 2021 but that nobody attended. The plastering work was not completed until 25 May 2022.  Although it is understandable a large backlog of works may have built up due to Covid restrictions, a delay of seven months following the stage two response was excessive and therefore amounted to maladministration.
30. This Service recognises that the landlord arranged works quickly and completed most of the jobs within a reasonable timescale. It is also commendable that the landlord commissioned and carried out a specialist damp survey within two weeks of the resident’s request. In addition, the landlord acknowledged the delays to some of the works and apologised to the resident for this. However, the landlord’s communication was inadequate regarding the amount of time it would take to complete the plastering works, and the delay in completing this work was excessive. This had a detrimental impact on the resident and her son, particularly considering their vulnerabilities, and meant they had to live in discomfort for longer than was necessary.

Determination (decision)

30. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s response to the resident’s concerns regarding repairs to the property, following a mutual exchange.

Reasons

31. Although the landlord took appropriate action with regard to some of the issues the resident had raised, and apologised for the failings it had acknowledged, it failed to properly manage the resident’s expectations due to poor communication. The landlord did not give any indication of how long the plastering works to the living room and bathroom would take. In addition, it failed to take any steps to lessen the impact the delays were having on the residents or to take their vulnerabilities into account when works were being undertaken. 

Orders

32. The landlord is ordered to pay the resident £100 for its poor communication, £100 for the excessive delay in completing the plastering work and £100 for loss of bathroom facilities and the impact this had on the residents. The total payment of £300 should be made within four weeks following receipt of this report.

Recommendations

33. The landlord to consider any learning in respect to decants and other support it could have provided to the residents while they were waiting for the works, and while works were being carried out.
34. The landlord to consider any adjustments to its policies and procedures such as its vulnerable residents or decants policies, taking into consideration the comments and findings in this report.