Belgrave Neighbourhood Co-op Housing Association Limited (202013243)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202013243

Belgrave Neighbourhood Co-op Housing Association

29 April 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 heating and hot water system.

Background and summary of events

2. The resident is a secure tenant of the landlord, a co-op housing association. The property is a 2-bedroom house. When the tenancy agreement commenced it was with a Housing Association, this was then transferred to the current landlord. The tenancy commenced on 12 October 2015.
3. The resident complained to the landlord that the boiler had not been functioning correctly for over four years. She stated this resulted in additional expenses and she was seeking £5,000 compensation. In response the landlord asked for evidence of the cost incurred and proof she had made it aware of these issues in the past. It also proceeded to get in touch with the resident’s previous landlord and third parties to find out if there was a record of the issue being experienced over the past four years.
4. On 31 January 2021 the landlord emailed its contractor regarding the resident’s complaint. It stated that an engineer was called out to the property about the issue experienced by the resident, and it fixed the issue on 2 February 2021.
5. The resident was unable to provide evidence of her claims but stated she had previously made an individual aware of the issue. The landlord was also unable to gather evidence to substantiate her claims. However, and in light of being made aware of the fault, it proceeded to have the repairs completed.
6. The resident was unhappy that she had to endure the fault for four years and the increased cost associated with this, therefore raised a complaint to the landlord for compensation.
7. On 24 March 2021 the landlord issued its stage one complaint response. It acknowledged the resident’s complaint and explained it had not seen any evidence to suggest the reported issue had been ongoing for four years or that it had been made aware previously. It concluded that it would not be offering the £5,000 the resident requested but would offer £100 for any disruption caused as a goodwill gesture.
8. Following further escalation by the resident, meetings were held with the complaints panel twice in April 2021, where it reviewed the complaint and evidence provided. Subsequently on 21 April 2021, the landlord issued its stage two response. This outlined that the resident had informed a co-op secretary about the issue in October 2020 but did not inform the landlord’s service provider for it to deal with the issue. Due to there being evidence of prior knowledge about the issue, the panel increased the level of compensation to £500. 
9. The resident subsequently referred the complaint to the Ombudsman as she was dissatisfied with the level of compensation offered.

Assessment and findings

10. The Landlord and Tenant Act Section 11(c) states there is implied a covenant by the lessor to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling-house for space heating and heating water. It is also noted that section 3 of the landlord’s repairs and maintenance policy confirms the landlord’s responsibility for heating.
11. The resident claims that for more than four years the landlord has failed to adhere to these obligations, while the landlord has stated it was unaware of any previous issues. Having reviewed the information, it is clear that the resident informed the landlord of the fault on 26 January 2021, however there is nothing to suggest that it was aware of any issues for the four years that the resident claims.
12. Looking at the evidence, it is clear the landlord checked its repairs records for the resident’s property from 2017 to when the complaint was raised. It did not identify any queries or request for boiler works, except in February 2021 when it attended the property and changed the thermostat. It also looked at the resident’s previous landlord’s records and there were no reports of a faulty boiler. However, in its investigation it found the resident had made a co-op secretary aware of these issues in October 2020.
13. Whilst it is understood that the resident says she complained on numerous occasions, made an individual aware and the landlord has been able to confirm that the individual was made aware in October 2020, it is clear the resident did not follow the landlord’s correct procedure to make it aware of the issue. The landlord’s process for reporting repairs is to either report them online, call a specific team or email. In this instance there is no evidence to suggest this process was followed by the resident. However, the resident did make a member of the co-op’s committee aware of the issues, and it would have been helpful if this individual had then advised the resident how to make a repair report. The Ombudsman has therefore made a recommendation to the landlord regarding ensuring awareness of the correct reporting processes for committee members.
14. When the landlord was informed of the issue, it immediately arranged for the property to be visited and the faults to be repaired. The evidence shows that two work orders were requested on 26 January 2021 and 12 February 2021, and the repair was completed by February 2021. In the Ombudsman’s opinion the landlord has acted in accordance with its responsibilities and the length of time to repair the fault was reasonable.  
15. As the resident is unable to substantiate her claims that any fault resulted in additional expenses or was ongoing for four years and there is no documented evidence to support this claim, the Ombudsman does not consider it reasonable to find any service failure prior to when the landlord reasonably became aware of the issue around 26 January 2021.
16. Despite the resident not following the correct procedure when raising a repair to the landlord, it found that due to an individual having knowledge of the issue in October 2020 it would be fair to compensate the resident £500.
17. While the Ombudsman has not found that the landlord was made reasonably aware of the boiler issues prior to the complaint, through its correct repairs reporting procedures, this was positive and demonstrates that the landlord was seeking to be customer and resolution focused in respect to the issue.

Determination (decision)

18. In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of repairs to the resident’s heating and hot water system.

Reasons

19. When the landlord was informed about the faulty boiler and the resident’s concerns about the time taken to repair the issue, it responded positively and in line with its repair obligations. The landlord made reasonable efforts to put things right for the resident and compensated her fairly.

Orders and Recommendation

Recommendations

20. This service recommends the landlord pay its offer of £500 compensation to the resident if it has not done so already.
21. The landlord should ensure that all co-op committee members are aware of the need to signpost residents as to where to report repairs requests and any other housing management issues.