London Borough of Hackney (202120353)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202120353

Hackney Council

31 May 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 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:
  1. The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of outstanding repairs remaining after its contractor’s works at her property.
  2. The landlord’s complaint handling.

Background

  1. The resident is a tenant residing in a flat in a block of flats.
  2. In 2019, contractors acting on behalf of the landlord attended the resident’s property in order to carry out works, including to fit a fire door and frame. She reported that the works were not satisfactory, and it appointed new contractors that carried out further works on 4 August 2021. While removing the fire door and frame, the landlord’s new contractors accidentally tore one side of the resident’s sofa.
  3. On 12 October 2021, the landlord’s new contractors attended the resident’s property again for a meeting, when she reported that they appeared to have damaged the toilet flush while attempting to resolve a related issue. As a result of that damage, and the previous damage to the sofa, she explained that she did not wish them to be involved in any more repairs at her property. At this point, the resident complained to the contractors regarding the damage to the sofa and unsatisfactory works carried out by them on 4 August 2021.
  4. On 3 November 2021, the resident raised a stage one complaint with the landlord about the damage to her sofa. In her complaint, she advised it that she was not happy with the complaint handling by the new contractors, including their behaviour, and that she was seeking £2,500 to cover the cost of damages to her sofa.
  5. On 4 November 2021, the resident sent an email to the landlord, making it aware of outstanding works required to the ceilings in her living room and two bedrooms to fill and paint gaps left by the electrician when checking the wiring, light fittings and sockets. The electrician had then asked the painter to fill and paint the gaps, but the painter had done an unsatisfactory job according to the resident. The resident also mentioned the outstanding works regarding the toilet flush, but asked for all repairs to be suspended at her property until she had heard back from the contractors regarding her sofa claim. On 5 November 2021, she informed the landlord of outstanding works to her fire door including sanding this down, replacing the threshold, painting the door, and fixing the door to make this easier to close.
  6. On 15 November 2021, the landlord issued its stage one complaint response to the resident. It said that it would take no further action regarding the sofa damage at that point as she was liaising directly with the new contractors. The landlord acknowledged that the resident wanted all outstanding works at her property to be suspended until her sofa claim had been dealt with, and therefore it confirmed that it would close the case until she had received a satisfactory response from the contractors, when it agreed to rectify any outstanding issues.
  7. On 16 November 2021, the resident requested that the case not be closed, and for this to either be reopened or escalated to the final stage of the landlord’s complaints procedure, as she considered it to be responsible for anyone it had coming into her home and causing damages. It responded to her on the same date, and it said that it would escalate the complaint to the final stage of its complaints procedure.
  8. On 26 November 2021, the landlord issued its final stage complaint response to the resident. In relation to her concerns about the contractors, its own repairs team had confirmed that they were happy to carry out the outstanding repairs at her property, but that these would not be for some time due to a high backlog of repairs. The landlord nevertheless also advised the resident to allow its new contractors to complete these repairs.
  9. On 8 December 2021, the resident contacted this Service, and raised a complaint about the landlord in respect of its response to her reports of outstanding works at her property. On 9 March 2022, it contacted us to advise that she had accepted £600 from it to cover the cost of the damage to her sofa.
  10. On 28 March 2022, the resident told this Service of the repair issues that she wished to be resolved with the landlord. On 22 April 2022, we contacted her to advise that her list of defects at her property would be added to this investigation. The resident told this Service that the landlord had been in contact regarding works for the defects that work was scheduled to start at the beginning of May 2022.
  11. On 19 May 2022, the resident informed this Service that the toilet flush at her property had previously been fixed by the landlord. She also said that it had agreed to carry out some of the works that she had notified it as being outstanding, but that it had disputed other works. The landlord had reportedly agreed to carry out all of the outstanding works relating to the fire door on 23 to 25 May 2022. In relation to painting the ceilings after the work carried out by its contractors, however, it was described as having informed her that it was her responsibility to paint them, which she disputed. The resident added that the landlord’s surveyor was due to check that the works were completed satisfactorily on 25 May 2022, but that it had also not yet resolved her more recent kitchen and bathroom extractor fan and low shower pressure repairs.

Assessment and findings

Agreement, policies and procedures

  1. The conditions of the resident’s tenancy agreement oblige the landlord to repair her property’s structure. Regarding redecorating areas on which it had carried out work, its repairs guide states: “…When carrying out repairs to the ceiling and walls of your home, we will redecorate the affected area with paint, but we will not redecorate the entire room or ceiling.”
  2. The landlord’s repairs guide gives the definition of “normal repair” as: “work where the fault or failure does not cause major inconvenience or danger to occupants or the public…” The timeframe to carry out normal works is within 21 working days, but it will notify residents if an extension is needed, and it is responsible for repairing, easing and adjusting damaged doors and frames, fixing toilets, and large patch repairs to or replastering ceilings, as well as making good decorations damaged by its repairs or lack of repairs.
  3. According to the landlord’s website, the landlord aims to respond to stage one complaints about its housing services within ten working days. If possible, cases will be resolved without requiring a full investigation and, where possible, it aims to resolve complaints within five working days of logging the complaint. The landlord will keep the resident updated on related events and of any extensions required, within five working days of logging the complaint.
  4. If the resident is unhappy with the stage one outcome, the resident can ask for the complaint to be escalated to the final stage, and the landlord aims to respond to final stage complaints within 20 working days. Its compensation policy gives it discretion to recognise the length of its avoidable repair delays in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the effect of the resident’s own actions.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of outstanding repairs remaining after its contractor’s works at her property

  1. Due to these being that only repair issues that exhausted the complaints procedure, only the landlord’s responses to the resident’s reports of the following outstanding works were considered during this investigation: the toilet, namely the broken flush; the ceilings in the living room and two bedrooms in the property; and the fire door.
  2. The landlord’s repairs guide states that normal repairs will be carried out within 21 working days and that, if more time is needed, then the resident will be notified of this. She informed it of the outstanding works to her toilet flush on 4 November 2021, and she later informed this Service on 19 May 2022 that the toilet flush had previously been repaired by it.
  3. It is noted that the resident had asked the landlord to suspend all outstanding repairs at her property on 4 November 2021, however it is also noted that, on 26 November 2021, it offered her the use of its own in-house repairs team instead of its new contractors that she had declined as a compromise. Therefore, it would have been reasonable for it to have offered her this alternative arrangement as a compromise at any point after 4 November 2021, rather than only doing so in its final stage complaint response on 26 November 2021. Even if, as advised by the landlord, there would have been an expected delay to the outstanding work being carried out, if the resident had been offered the compromise and had accepted that there would have been a delay, it would have justified the work taking longer than 21 working days.
  4. While the landlord ought to have finished the resident’s toilet flush repairs by 3 December 2021 in order to follow its repairs guide’s normal repairs’ timescale of 21 working days, she wished for repairs to be suspended. Nevertheless, she confirmed on 16 November 2021 that she had not asked for the complaint to be closed, nor had she changed her position with regard to the suspension of works at the time when it investigated its own in-house repairs, but she was not made aware of this alternative until 26 November 2021.
  5. This also applies to the outstanding works to the resident’s fire door and ceilings, which she reports were expected to be carried out between 23 and 25 May 2022 and confirmed were largely aesthetic. As the landlord informed this Service on 9 March 2022 that she had accepted its offer for the damage to her sofa, the repairs ought to have been carried out by 7 April 2022, i.e. within 21 working days to fall within its normal repairs timescale. The resident nevertheless advised us that she was still waiting for the outstanding to  be carried out by 25 May 2022.
  6. Therefore, the landlord ought to have completed the outstanding works at the resident’s property by 7 April 2022 in line with its repairs guide, or at least informed her of any delay by this date. Work had nevertheless not commenced at the property by 7 April 2022, and she advised us that this would take place between 23 and 25 May 2022. There is also no evidence that the resident had been contacted by the landlord by 7 April 2022 with regard to the completion of or delay to the outstanding works. Therefore, it failed to follow its repairs guide and complete these normal repairs within 21 working days, or advise her of any delays to these.
  7. In relation to the outstanding works to the resident’s ceilings, she reports that the landlord has disputed that it should be responsible for painting these. In its repairs guide, it states that it will redecorate and paint areas affected by works it has carried out. The areas of the ceilings that she sought to be painted on 4 November 2021 were nevertheless areas that she reported were affected by its electrician during their checks, which they had then asked the painter to fill and decorate and had done so unsatisfactorily according to her. This suggested that the landlord was responsible for painting and filling those affected areas under its repairs guide.
  8. The outstanding repair works at the resident’s property were therefore delayed over a considerable period of time, and there was a failure by the landlord to follow the timeframe stated in its repairs guide. However, considering the nature of the work needed and her request for this to be suspended, neither the delays nor the failure to follow its repairs guide significantly impacted her or the overall outcome of her case.
  9. Therefore, the landlord has been ordered below to pay the resident £150 compensation, which includes £50 in recognition of the time, trouble, distress and inconvenience caused to her, and £100 for it failing to follow the timeframe stated in its repairs guide. This is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance, where financial remedies from £50 are considered in cases where there has been a failure that has not significantly affected the resident or the overall outcome. The landlord has also been ordered below to complete the above outstanding works to the resident’s fire door and ceilings, if it has not done so already, and recommended to respond to her extractor fan and shower repair requests if has not yet done so, as well as to review its relevant processes and staff training needs.

The landlord’s complaint handling

  1. The resident lodged her stage one complaint with the landlord on 3 November 2021, and it issued its stage one complaint response to her on 15 November 2021. This was within the ten-working-day timescale stated on its website for its complaints procedure for its housing services.
  2. The resident asked for her complaint to be escalated to the final stage of the landlord’s complaints procedure on 16 November 2021, and it issued its final stage complaint response to her on 26 November 2021. This was in line with the 20 working days for such a response stated on its website for its complaints procedure for its housing services.
  3. The landlord’s stage one and final stage complaint responses also sought to address the complaints raised by the resident in the way that she requested. It did so by agreeing to suspend the outstanding works at her property at her request as a result of her sofa damages claim in relation to its new contractors, and it still attempted to resolve the works by offering her the use of its own in-house repairs team to complete these.
  4. Therefore, there were no failings by the landlord in respect of its complaint handling, as both of its complaint responses fell within the timeframes specified by its website’s complaints procedure for its housing services, and it sought to address the complaints and remedy the situation in a way that was acceptable to the resident.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s reports of outstanding repairs remaining after its contractor’s works at her property.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was no maladministration by the landlord in its complaint handling.

Orders and recommendations

  1. The landlord is ordered to:
  1. Pay the resident £150 compensation within four weeks, which includes £50 in recognition of the time, trouble, distress and inconvenience caused to her, and £100 for it failing to follow the timeframe stated in its repairs guide.
  2. Complete all outstanding repair works to the resident’s fire door and ceilings agreed in its final stage complaint response to her, including by making good the ceilings by painting the areas affected by its works in line with its repairs guide, if it has not done so already.
  1. It is recommended that the landlord:
  1. Respond to the resident’s extractor fan and low shower pressure repair requests, if it has not yet done so.
  2. Review its processes and staff training needs for offering residents its own in-house repairs team or other alternatives to its contractors on a timely and ongoing basis where necessary.
  3. Review its processes and staff training needs for keeping residents up-to-date on the timescales and any delays for outstanding works and/or repairs, as per its repairs guide.
  1. The landlord shall contact this Service within four weeks to confirm that it has complied with the above orders and whether it will follow the above recommendations.