The Community Housing Group Limited (202211038)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202211038

The Community Housing Group Limited

7 May 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 repairs to the resident’s property.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord.
  2. The evidence indicates that the resident raised a formal complaint to the landlord on 19 July 2022, but this Service has been unable to access a copy of the complaint. In its response, the landlord acknowledged that the resident was dissatisfied with the outstanding repairs to her kitchen and toilet and the time it took to complete them. It listed the specific repairs and stated that an appointment had been agreed with the resident to complete the works on 23 August 2022.
  3. Following the landlord’s cancellation of the appointment due to it being unable to locate the required materials, the resident escalated the complaint on 23 August 2022. In her escalation request, the resident stated her dissatisfaction with the landlord’s communication and delays in completing the required repairs. In addition, she detailed a summary of events following her complaint, explaining that repairs to the toilet’s leak and lighting had been completed. However, the works to the kitchen, plastering and guttering were still outstanding.
  4. The landlord provided its final response on 4 October 2022 following a meeting with the resident on 26 September 2022. The landlord acknowledged the delays in completing the outstanding repairs and its cancelled appointments. The landlord apologised and provided a plan of action, including dates for each repair. The landlord offered £100 to the resident for poor communication and the missed appointment.
  5. As repairs were not completed as promised throughout October, and the landlord missed another appointment, the resident brought her complaint to this Service on 26 October 2022. The resident was seeking for the required repairs to be completed in a timely manner and for the landlord to improve its communication and to attend appointments as originally scheduled. The resident requested compensation for the loss of earnings that she incurred due to the landlord’s failure to attend the appointment it had agreed.

Assessment and findings

  1. The landlord’s repairs policy separates repair response times into two categories: Emergencies, to be completed within 24 hours, and all other appointments, to be completed within 14 working days unless specialist work is required. This policy states that the landlord is responsible for repairs to kitchen cupboards, guttering, drains, plastering, lighting and electric sockets. It is agreed by both parties that all the repairs raised by the resident fall under the landlord’s responsibilities.
  2. As this Service does not hold a copy of the resident’s stage one response, it has been unable to ascertain the exact repairs that the resident was complaining about. Therefore, it has relied on the landlord’s records and complaint responses. On 1 August 2022, the landlord issued its stage one response and listed the repairs, which, upon its investigation, remained outstanding. It advised that these would be completed on 23 August 2022 as agreed with the resident. Repairs were required to the kitchen plinths, ceiling, downstairs toilet and a socket in the kitchen. Under normal circumstances, none of these repairs would be considered emergencies and would fall under the 14-working day timeframe for completion. Therefore, it was reasonable for the landlord, at this stage to agree an appointment with the resident. The date agreed seemed to be outside its timeframe; however, the evidence indicates that the resident was on holiday at the time and that this was the earliest possible date. Therefore, relying on the evidence available, delays were not unreasonable at this point.
  3. The landlord failed to complete the repairs as planned on 23 August 2022, which it acknowledged in its final response. The landlord explained that this was due to it being unable to locate the required materials on the day of the appointment. When unexpected issues arise, landlords should update residents as soon as possible, manage their expectations and put things right by, for instance, offering compensation following their internal policy. The information shows that the landlord called the resident on the same day and explained the situation. It attempted to solve the issue throughout the day but failed to succeed. This is considered as a missed appointment by the landlord, as it was unable to carry out the required repairs as agreed. Its compensation policy sets out that compensation of £20 can be claimed if the landlord fails to keep an appointment.
  4. Following the escalation request, where the resident explained its dissatisfaction with the time it was taking to complete the repairs and the landlord’s lack of communication, both parties met on 26 September 2022 and discussed the new target dates for repairs. The resident’s complaint indicates that, at this point, repairs were needed only to the kitchen and the drains. The landlord’s response satisfactorily acknowledged the works needed and stated the dates when these would be completed. The dates established were spread throughout October 2022, which would have constituted a delay of several months to works such as plastering the kitchen ceiling (raised in the original complaint). At this point, the landlord apologised for the delays and inconvenience caused and offered £100 compensation. Given the missed appointment, the time and trouble incurred by the resident in chasing the complaint and that more than three months delay in completing some of the repairs, this sum seems an insufficient attempt to put things right by the landlord.
  5. An update provided by the resident indicates that the landlord missed a further appointment on 15 October 2022. Moreover, the resident has stated that it failed to call the resident or to advise her that it would not be able to attend. Evidence shows that the landlord missed at least two appointments (August and October). Landlords are expected to maintain up-to-date records of its appointment dates and to take the agreed dates seriously. The landlord would also be expected to advise residents as soon as possible of any cancellations and to propose an alternative date. Whilst the evidence indicates that the landlord communicated effectively with the resident during its missed appointment of 23 August 2022, the resident has stated it received no notice nor explanation for the one missed in October. This constitutes a failing by the landlord.
  6. This Service has not been able to identify when each of these repairs were raised and completed by looking at the repair records provided by the landlord, as these seem confusing and incomplete. The landlord is expected to keep robust records of its repairs works. When there is a disagreement in the accounts of the resident and the landlord regarding the condition of the property, the onus would be on the landlord to provide documentary evidence showing how it satisfied itself that the repair work had been completed to a satisfactory standard. However, the landlord failed to provide accurate records showing each repair raised by the resident, which would constitute a failing. Moreover, the information provided in its records is in some cases contradictory to what was established throughout the complaints process.
  7. The resident has complained about the landlord’s lack of communication in its escalation request. The landlord failed to address this issue in its final response. In line with the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code, landlords must address all points raised in the complaint and provide clear reasons for any decisions. In addition, not responding to every point raised by residents throughout the complaints process hinders an effective dispute resolution and prevents landlords’ opportunity to put things right, as well as to reflect on its failings.
  8. It is noted that the resident has claimed compensation for loss of earnings during the days she stayed at home waiting for repairs. In general, the Ombudsman would not propose a remedy of compensation to reimburse a resident for their time off work or loss of wages whilst repairs are carried out. Whilst such works will inevitably cause some inconvenience to residents, their occupancy agreement will require them to give access for repairs to be carried out as needed, and it would not be fair or reasonable for the Ombudsman to order a landlord to pay a resident reimbursement for loss of earnings for routine appointments.
  9. Having considered all the evidence available, this Service does not agree that the compensation offered by the landlord was fair and proportionate to its failings. Given the record-keeping and complaint handling failures identified, the missed appointments, the considerable delays in completing repairs to the kitchen and drains, and the overall time and trouble incurred by the resident, the landlord’s offer was not sufficient to put the resident back to the position they would have been in if there had been no fault.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in the way it handled repairs to the resident’s property.

Orders

  1. The landlord to write to the resident to apologise for the service failures identified in this report.
  2. The landlord is to pay the resident £300 compensation, including the £100 already offered. This sum includes:

a.     £40 for its missed appointments.

b.     £160 for its lack of communication and delays in its handling of repairs.

c.      £100 for its complaint handling and record-keeping failures.

  1. The landlord to provide evidence of compliance to this Service within four weeks of the date of this report.

Recommendations

  1. To reduce the likelihood of a similar situation occurring in the future, it is recommended that the landlord carry out a review of its record keeping practices and consider additional training around the way in which its staff records jobs raised by residents and target dates for repairs.
  2. It is recommended that the landlord review its staff’s training needs in relation to their application of its responsive complaints policies and compensation procedure, to seek to prevent a recurrence of its above service failures.
  3. The landlord to provide evidence of compliance to this Service within four weeks of the date of this report.