East Devon District Council (202210793)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202210793

East Devon District Council

7 March 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 concerns regarding the condition of the property he took over the tenancy of, and the associated repairs.

Background

2. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord. The property is a house.
3. On 11 January 2022 the resident had his third viewing of the property and noted that there were some outstanding repairs including cracks in the walls which the landlord agreed to address. The landlord also took photographs at the property, which showed the second reception room wallpapered and appeared to be in reasonable condition, and the fence in the rear garden appeared to be intact.   On 21 January 2022, following a request from the resident for an update on the repairs, the landlord confirmed which repairs had been completed and said that the surveyor had assessed the surface cracks throughout the property and deemed the walls ready for decoration.
4. The resident’s tenancy started on 21 February 2022 (though he did not move into the property until 2 March 2022). On 23 February 2022 the resident reported to the landlord that plaster was falling off the walls in the second reception room and that his fence needed repairs. He emailed again on 25 February 2022 to say that the falling plaster had got worse and was unsafe. The landlord arranged for its contractor to attend that day. However, the contractor emailed the landlord to explain that the job had not been started as it was more extensive, the landlord said it would need to consider the situation.
5. On 11 March 2022 a contractor inspected the fence. On 29 March 2022 a contractor arrived to skim the walls but was not able to proceed as no preparation work had been carried out. The resident advised that the contractor had said somebody would call him that day. On 4 April 2022 the resident emailed a manager he had spoken to previously with updated photos of the walls and asked that someone contact him urgently.  He said ‘this room is in a dangerous state who is accountable if a lump of plaster falls and hits one of my children? I would urge you ask someone to contact us with an update.’  However, the manager was on annual leave and the email was not picked up.
6. On 8 April 2022 the landlord logged a complaint from the resident, in which he said that he had not received any further contact about the plaster or the fence and that the wall was still “falling off” and dangerous. He noted he did not feel he could contact the repairs team, as he would not be treated fairly given they had been rude to him in the past, and that he was being treated with prejudice as he had escalated previous complaints to the Ombudsman. On 14 April 2022 the landlord requested that a surveyor inspect the property.
7. In its complaint responses in May and June 2022, the landlord reassured the resident that he was not being treated with prejudice. It said that any delays were due to the volume of repairs increasing since normal service had resumed after the Covid pandemic, alongside staffing issues (which it was addressing) had meant that it was “not always in a position to answer enquiries or progress repairs expediently”. It apologised for the position and for its poor communication. It advised that it was only once the resident removed the wallpaper in the second reception room that it became evident that the plaster underneath the wallpaper had blown and was falling off. Therefore, it had agreed to re-plaster the room and that this was scheduled for 27 June 2022.
8. It said in hindsight it should have sent a surveyor out to inspect the property on 25 February 2022, when the contractor first noted that the job was larger than expected. Or, alternatively the contractor could have arranged for a supervisor to attend and “if necessary implement a Variation to the job” which would have eliminated the need to refer the job back to the landlord at all. In its stage one response it added that, in line with the tenancy agreement, repairing the fence in the back garden was the resident’s responsibility. This position changed in its stage two response, as it was unclear on which date the fence had blown down, and agreed to repair the fence.
9. The resident contacted this Service in August 2022, as he said that the landlord had refused to address the repairs for months and that this had caused his family stress. The outcome he sought was an apology and compensation.

Assessment and findings

Relevant policies.

10. The landlord’s voids policy states that it conducts a pre-void inspection prior to a property becoming void and then when the property becomes void it will be re-inspected to confirm if the former tenant has complied with all their end of tenancy obligations. It will also enable the inspecting officer to identify any repairs that may have been missed or hidden by furniture during the pre-void inspection that need to be recharged.” It says that it “aims to identify and complete all necessary repairs to enable a property to be re-let as soon as possible…in exceptional circumstances, minor or non-essential repairs will be undertaken once the tenancy has commenced. These repairs and the timescales for their completion will be agreed with the new tenant. In all cases, these will be charged to the voids budget.” It says “General Needs properties will be left in a suitable condition so that normal internal decoration can take place. As an example, walls, ceiling and woodwork filled and made good ready to accept standard decoration, but will not be painted.”
11. The landlord’s repairs policy states that it will “do repairs in a reasonable time and all repairs will fall into categories; Emergency repairs- within 4 hours. All other repairs to be arranged at convenience of tenants – routine 28 working days.” For all customers reporting emergency repairs we will attempt to respond within 4 hours. This emergency service will be offered 24 hours a day every day of the year. The priority will be to make the property safe for our tenants. Repairs after making safe will be carried out under a longer timescale, It also states “We will try to ensure that repairs are completed in one visit, wherever possible. If the repair cannot be completed in one visit our contractor will agree an appointment to return and complete the work.” And “If a repair requires parts or materials that must be ordered, the repair may not be completed within the timescale. In this case our contractors will inform the tenant of the likely date for completion of the repair.
12. When the landlord took appropriate steps to inspect the property whilst it was void, the photographs it took show that the walls of the second reception room were wallpapered and appeared to be in reasonable condition. Therefore, it was reasonable that no repairs regarding the plastering of this wall were carried out before the resident moved in. And though the resident had raised concerns about surface cracks on the walls in other areas throughout the building during his viewings of the property, the landlord had responded appropriately to those concerns by arranging for its surveyor to inspect the cracks. The surveyor had determined that no further action was needed and those walls were ready for decoration.
13. Once the resident moved in, removed the wallpaper from the walls of the second reception room and reported to the landlord on 23 February 2022, that plaster was falling off, the landlord acted appropriately by raising a repair job. In line with its responsive repairs policy, as this was a routine repair it would have been appropriate for it to be completed within 28 working days. When the resident contacted the landlord on 25 February 2022, to say the plasterwork was getting worse and he had safety concerns, the landlord responded appropriately by sending its contractor out that day.
14. When the contractor notified the landlord that the job was a lot larger than expected, it would have been appropriate for the landlord to have arranged for its surveyor to inspect the property promptly to ascertain the reason for this and what action it should take, however, the landlord failed to do so, (which it acknowledged in its complaint responses). Although the contractor attended again on 29 March 2022 and was unable to carry out any work as no preparation work had been completed, there is no record of the landlord taking any action to investigate the reason for the additional work, between 25 February 2022 and 8 April 2022, when it logged the resident’s complaint. The reason for the landlord not replying to an email the resident had sent on 4 April 2022 was reasonable as the person he had emailed was on annual leave at the time. However, it would have been appropriate for the landlord to have already communicated with the resident during that time period to keep him updated on what action it was taking and it failed to do so. The landlord ought to have been more proactive in resolving this matter, particularly due to the nature of the issue and having an awareness that children were living within the property; and the impact of having plaster falling down would be unsafe for the children.
15. In its complaint responses the landlord appropriately acknowledged and apologised for its poor communication and for the delay in sending out a surveyor and completing the re-plastering.  It also took appropriate steps to arrange for the surveyor to visit in April 2022 and for the re-plastering to be completed in June 2022. However, although it appropriately explained the reasons for the delay and poor communication. and the steps it was taking to recruit staff to address those failings, it did not fully acknowledge the impact that those failings had on the resident or compensate for them. It would have been reasonable for the landlord to keep the resident updated on the actions it was taking, and further provide appropriate steps the resident could have taken to make the space safer for the children whilst it was in the process of repairing the wall. The landlord failed to do so under the circumstances.
16. The re-plastering was not completed until the last week of June 2022, which was four months after the resident initially reported the repair on 23 February 2022. This was unreasonable as it was far outside the 28 working day timeframe quoted in its responsive repairs policy.  In view of these failings there was maladministration by the landlord in respect of its handling of the of the resident’s concerns regarding the condition of the property when he took over the tenancy, and the associated repairs and it failed to provide adequate redress.

Determination

17. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in respect of its handling of the resident’s concerns regarding the condition of the property when they took over the tenancy, and the associated repairs.

Orders and recommendations

18. Within four weeks of the date of this decision the landlord is ordered to
    1. Apologise to the resident for not acknowledging the impact that the delay in re-plastering the room had on the resident.
    2. Pay the resident compensation of £350 in recognition of the delay in re-plastering the room and the impact of this on the resident.