Paragon Asra Housing Limited (202121913)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202121913

Paragon Asra Housing Limited

8 June 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:
   1. The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould in the property and ongoing repairs.
   2. The landlord’s handling of the associated formal complaint.

Background

2. The resident holds an assured tenancy of the property, a ground floor bedsit flat owned by the landlord.
3. The resident raised dampness and mould issues, together with several other repairs in September 2020. The landlord’s surveyor visited the property, but she received no further contact. She raised an initial complaint on 17 December 2020.
4. The landlord issued a stage one response on 21 December 2020. The resident said at a later stage that she had never received this. The works planned in that response were not carried out and she made a further complaint on 13 July 2021. In another stage one response on 18 August 2021, the landlord apologised, set out the works to be done and offered compensation of £250 for “the delays and upset”. It did not offer compensation for mould damage to the resident’s belongings.
5. The resident escalated her complaint to stage two of the landlord’s process as the proposed works had not been completed. She was also very unhappy about the level of compensation offered. In its stage two response of 5 October 2021 the landlord apologised for the delays and set out a more comprehensive list of proposed works. It stated that compensation for mould damage to the resident’s possessions was an insurance issue and repeated its previous offer of £250 compensation.
6. Following the end of its internal process, the landlord made a few attempts to carry out the repairs and arrange a decant for the resident. However, this was delayed due to Covid-19 related issues. In December 2021, the resident brough the complaint to the Ombudsman’s formal investigation.
7. In March 2023, the landlord confirmed to this Service that it had completed the repairs in December 2022. On 13 March 2023, it issued a response to the resident outside of its complaints policy. It apologised for its repairs handling, stated it had taken learning from it and awarded the resident a higher compensation totalling of £3,425.

Assessment and findings

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould in the property and ongoing repairs

8. The landlord’s repairs policy provides that non-emergency repairs should be completed within 15 working days.
9. Following the resident’s initial reports in September 2020, the landlord’s surveyor visited the property and recommended that a specialist firm attends to consider the damp and mould issues. The surveyor also noted that fence repairs were required but was unsure of the internal process to progress these. As such these were never completed by the landlord.
10. A specialist firm attended on 6 January 2021 and recommended work to address the damp, and then a washdown and redecorate. The works identified were related to structural repairs of missing drains. It also involved improvement of the ventilation at the property and insulation of pipes. The resident chased the works on 4 June 2021, and on 13 July 2021 raised a complaint.
11. The landlord’s records of repairs activity and communications with the resident between December 2020 and June 2021, provided to this Service, is incomplete. In its investigation into the complaint, it found that repairs orders had not been raised for all the work required. This Service has seen no evidence that those repairs orders which had been raised were completed (the landlord confirmed at a later stage that they were completed in December 2022). Rather than addressing the identified repairs, it undertook another survey in August 2021. This further survey identified some additional repairs required to the cold pipe in the hallway and some structural issues to the rear brick work.
12. In addition to the issues mentioned above, the landlord agreed to the resident’s request for copies of survey reports but never provided them. There were also missed appointments where the resident took time off work.
13. During the course of its investigation, the landlord also said that the resident’s lifestyle had contributed to the damp and mould despite the clear recommendations of the surveyor’s reports of structural repairs required. This was unreasonable and caused great frustration to the resident.
14. In its final response from 5 October 2021, the landlord admitted failures related to delays in starting some of the repairs. It stated that it had completed some repairs related to the kitchen leak and the drainage but set out further repairs related to the damp and mould that required to be carried out. It apologised for attributing the issue to the resident and her lifestyle.
15. The landlord’s Compensation policy says in clause 3.8 “Residents are encouraged to take out home contents insurance for their furniture, decorations, and personal possessions, to insure them against accidental damage, loss, fire or water damage, burglary etc. Where a resident’s possessions are damaged through building failure which is not covered by their own insurance, compensation for the damaged possessions will be paid if it can be shown that [the landlord] was at fault.
16. The landlord offered the resident £250 in compensation and advised her to follow the insurance process for reported damage to personal belongings While the landlord’s response was in accordance with its policy, in this case, it is evident that its failure to deal with the damp and mould in a timely manner contributed to the damage to the resident’s personal items. Thus, it could have been more proactive about resolving the issue by offering the resident compensation for the damaged items.
17. When there are failings by a landlord, as is the case here, the Ombudsman will consider whether the redress offered by the landlord (apology, compensation and details of lessons learned) put things right and resolved the resident’s complaint satisfactorily in the circumstances. In considering this the Ombudsman takes into account whether the landlord’s offer of redress was in line with the Ombudsman’s Dispute Resolution Principles; be fair, put things right and learn from outcomes. This Service will also consider the resulting distress and inconvenience and the resident’s circumstances will be taken into account.
18. During its complaint’s process, the landlord failed to demonstrate that it took adequate steps to handle the repairs. Even after its final response from October 2021, it failed to carry out the works in a timely and reasonable manner. It completed the repairs in December 2022, which is clearly outside of its policy time frames. This was over 2 years outside the time set out in the landlord’s repairs policy and over a year following the end of the landlord’s internal complaints policy. The multiple appointments and contacts with the resident to arrange surveys and repairs caused additional frustration in the resident to the above-mentioned delays. As such the landlord did not demonstrate that it had provided a reasonable resolution and had learned from the outcome of the complaint.
19. It is noted, however, that in its letter of 13 March 2023, the landlord made a considerable effort to recognise and address the failures in its repairs handling and to put things right for the resident by awarding higher compensation. It also committed to improving its services and learning from the outcome of the complaint. The compensation it awarded comprised:
    1. Damaged personal belongings as detailed in the resident’s letter of 15 September 2021 – £1500.
    2. Delays in getting repairs fully completed from September 2020 until December 2022, total of 28 months at £50 per month – £1400.
    3. Inconvenience and time taken by the resident to get this matter resolved – £500.
    4. Delays in responding to stage one complaint – £25.
20. Whilst it is recognised that the landlord tried to put things right, this was outside of the complaints process and after the Ombudsman’s formal acknowledgement for investigation. Additionally, the delay in doing so was considerable, over 18 months following its final response. As such, there was a service failure by the landlord in its response to the resident’s reports of outstanding repairs.
21. While the compensation for the delay in handling the repairs is reasonable, the compensation awarded by the landlord for distress and inconvenience is not proportionate to the amount of time the resident had experienced those issues. The resident was additionally inconvenienced by chasing responses and bringing the complaint to this Service. Following its stage 2 response, she waited over 18 months for a final resolution by the landlord due to its failure to address this in its formal responses. As such, further compensation is awarded by this Service to reflect to the additional distress caused by the landlord’s failures.

The landlord’s handling of the associated formal complaints

22. According to its complaint’s policy, the landlord has 2 stages of complaints process. At stage 1, it should issue a response within 10 working days, and at stage 2 within 15 working days.
23. The HOS complaint handling code says at 5.12 “The person considering the complaint at stage two, must not be the same person that considered the complaint at stage one.”
24. There was maladministration by the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint, because:
    1. Whilst the resident was not aware of the landlord’s stage one response issued in December 2020, she chased up works and a complaint response in July 2021. The landlord however, responded again at stage 1 in August 2021, rather than escalating her complaint. It would have been reasonable in this case for the landlord to escalate the complaint and provide the resident with an opportunity for an earlier resolution. Additionally, the second stage 1 decision was delayed by 16 days.
    2. The stage 2 complaint was considered by the same person that provided the second stage 1 response from August 2021. This was not in line with the Ombudsman’s Code as it deprives the resident of the opportunity for her complaint to be considered by a more senior member of staff. A review provided by the same member of staff also increases the risk of bias.
    3. Additionally, throughout its complaint handling, the landlord communication and follow up was poor.
25. In its August 2021 stage 2 response, the landlord failed to recognise any failures in its complaints handling. However, in the follow up from March 2023, it identified that it delayed its stage 1 response and awarded compensation of £25. This is not proportionate to the failures identified in this report. As such increased compensation has been ordered.

Determination

26. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was:
    1. Service failure in relation to the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of damp and mould and outstanding repairs
    2. Maladministration in relation to the landlord’s complaints handling.

Orders

27. The landlord is ordered within four weeks of the date of this report to:
    1. Arrange for a senior member of staff to apologise in writing to the resident for the failures identified in this report.
    2. Contact the resident to arrange for a date to carry out a follow up inspection to ensure that all the works have been completed.
    3. Pay the resident compensation totalling £4075. Compensation should be paid directly to the resident and not offset against any arrears. The total amount comprises:
       1. £3425 already offered to the resident, if not paid.
       2. Additional £500 for the distress and inconvenience experienced by the resident caused by the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of ongoing damp and mould and repairs and the resident’s request for compensation.
       3. Additional £150 for the distress and inconvenience to the resident because of its complaint handling failures.
28. The landlord should provide evidence to this Service that it has completed the orders listed above within four weeks of this determination.