Stonewater Limited (202206809)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202206809

Stonewater Limited

13 April 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 roof and ceiling repairs to address an ongoing leak at the resident’s property.
2. The Ombudsman has also considered the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint.

Background

3. The resident is an Assured tenant of the landlord. The property is a two bed, second floor flat.
4. The resident initially reported a leak through the kitchen ceiling to the landlord on 14 October 2019. Although the landlord repaired this relatively quickly, this issue reoccurred on 13 February 2020. The roof was leaking into the resident’s kitchen and caused damage to her kitchen ceiling. She reported this to the landlord on the same day and was allegedly advised by a contractor that a new roof was required. With no progress, the issue was reported again in October 2020.
5. Between 1 February 2021 and 11 November 2021, the resident chased the landlord for an update on the status of the works – having experienced several leaks during this time. The resident subsequently raised a complaint on 11 November 2021 setting out her frustration with the delays in undertaking works and the lack of communication. In response, the landlord explained that it had experienced some difficulty identifying the issue which resulted in a long delay. It acknowledged that there had been poor communication throughout this period and confirmed that it would provide the resident with an update once works had been commissioned to start.
6. The resident submitted a stage 2 complaint on 7 January 2022, as the repairs had still not been completed. The landlord’s final response was subsequently provided on 27 January 2022 within which, the landlord apologised for its service falling short, confirmed that it would expedite the repairs as a matter of urgency, and made an offer of (£750) compensation. It advised the resident that she would receive weekly updates moving forward.
7. The roof repair was finally completed on 5 July 2022, with the ceiling also addressed approximately two weeks later. There are no repairs outstanding. This was followed by a review response from the landlord within which, it awarded an additional £250 to acknowledge its handling of the complaint. The resident has advised this Service, nonetheless, that she remains dissatisfied. She is seeking assurance that lessons have been learnt to prevent similar future issues.

Assessment and findings

Dispute resolution principles

8. When investigating a complaint, the Ombudsman applies its Dispute Resolution Principles. These are high level good practice guidance developed from the Ombudsman’s experience of resolving disputes, for use by everyone involved in the complaints process. There are only three principles driving effective dispute resolution:
   1. Be fair – treat people fairly and follow fair processes;
   2. put things right, and;
   3. learn from outcomes.
9. The Ombudsman must first consider whether a failing on the part of the landlord occurred, and if so, whether this led to any adverse effect or detriment to the resident. If it is found that a failing did lead to an adverse effect, the investigation will then consider whether the landlord has taken enough action to ‘put things right’ and ‘learn from outcomes’.

The landlord’s handling of roof and ceiling repairs to address an ongoing leak at the resident’s property

10. The tenancy agreement states that the landlord is responsible for keeping the roof, chimney and chimney stacks and ceilings in reasonable repair and working order. The landlord’s repairs handbook states that it is responsible for maintenance and repair of the building’s structure, which includes the roof and chimney pots and cowls, slates and tiles, fascia and soffit boards and brickwork/render. It is also responsible for any damp proof courses, plaster and plaster board.
11. The landlord’s repairs handbook states that repairs are prioritised depending on the seriousness of the defect, the impact it will have on the household and the potential damage to the property. Repairs are categorised as ‘High Priority’ or ‘By Appointment’. The handbook goes on to state that ‘major leaks which are uncontrollable and cannot be contained’ are classed as ‘High Priority’ repairs.
12. The landlord’s Responsive Repairs Policy states that all emergency repairs will be carried out within 24 hours. All non-emergency repairs will be dealt with within a maximum period of 28 days and major repairs, where there is a significant amount of work required beyond the original repair, will be repaired within a maximum of 42 days.
13. The Ombudsman has considered the landlord’s actions with the above prescribed approach in mind and there is no dispute that there were failings on the part of the landlord in its handling of this matter. The resident waited over 18 months to have her roof and ceiling repaired, which is significantly longer than the landlord’s published timescales. She experienced  adverse effects, as the leak affected her living situation and damaged the ceiling in her kitchen, leaking onto her cooker and making the kitchen difficult to use. The delays in repair caused the resident inconvenience as she had limited use of her kitchen. Furthermore, she experienced stress and frustration due to the amount of time she waited for the repair, despite reporting the issue several times.
14. It is not disputed that the landlord took some steps to put things right. However, in its Stage 2 response of 27 January 2022, the landlord informed the resident that it would ‘expedite her repair as a matter of urgency’ and would not ‘hesitate to act quickly’ if the repair was further delayed. Despite this, the repair was not completed for another 6 months. This caused the resident additional stress and frustration, as well as further damage to her kitchen ceiling. It was only once the resident advised the landlord that she would be bringing her complaint to this Service, that works were completed.
15. The landlord’s Responsive Repairs Policy states that the landlord and its ‘supply chain partners’ (contractors) are committed to delivering ‘a quality and timely responsive repairs service’ and that it will maintain ‘clear and continuous communication’ with residents, to ensure they know when a reported repair will be completed.
16. In the Ombudsman’s view, however, this was not demonstrated in the service provided to the resident. The records show that the resident had cause to contact the landlord several times during this period, and that there had been clear errors in communication between the landlord, its contractors and in communication with the resident. This was a clear failing on the part of the landlord, which caused adverse affect to the resident in the form of stress and frustration as well as time and trouble in repeatedly reporting the repair to the landlord.
17. While the landlord advised the resident both at stage one and two of the complaint that the communication would improve, this did not take place. The landlord subsequently failed to honour its promises, to ensure that the resident remained informed of what was happening and when works would take place, and to assure the resident that her repair was being taken seriously.
18. Moreover, although the landlord advised the resident that it would reach out to its contractors to address the substandard performance, it is unclear whether it did or if anything came from this. The landlord made no suggestion to the resident that improvements would be made and while it suggested in its final response that contact would be made on a weekly basis, this too was not adhered to.
19. In its final complaint response, the landlord apologised to the resident, acknowledged its failings and offered her compensation of £750 for delays to the repair. It is clear, however, that the landlord failed to approach the matter in line with the above dispute resolution principles. As such, further remedies have been set out below.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint

20. The landlord has a two stage Complaints Policy
    1. Stage 1 Investigation – which states that the landlord will fully investigate and respond to a complaint within 10 working days from receipt of the complaint.
    2. Stage 2 Review – where complaints which are not satisfactorily resolved at stage 1 will be reviewed by a department manager and the response approved by a head of service/director. The policy states that the landlord will respond within 10 working days of the resident’s complaint review request.
21. The Complaints Policy states that they may also offer compensation as a result of a complaint. It goes on to say that ‘payments will be fair and proportionate and accurately reflect the extent of any service failure(s) and the detriment to the customer’.
22. The resident submitted her Stage 1 complaint on 11 November 2021 and the landlord responded on 14 December 2021. This is 24 working days later than its published response timescales. The resident subsequently submitted a Stage 2 review complaint on the 7 January 2022 as she had received no update on the works and no communication from the landlord and its contractor, as she had been promised in the landlord’s Stage 1 response. She received a response to her Stage 2 complaint on the 27 January 2022, four days outside of its published timescales. Despite the landlord’s promises that communication would improve and the contractors would be monitored, this did not happen. The delays in communication and responses from the landlord caused the resident stress and inconvenience and time and trouble.
23. It is not disputed that there were failings on the part of the landlord in respect of its complaint handling. It apologised to the resident, advised the resident that communication would improve and informed the resident that the repairs would be expedited as a matter of urgency. The roof was subsequently repaired on 5 July 2022.
24. Noting this, this Service is aware that the landlord undertook a further review of its handling of matters on 25 August 2022. Within this the landlord apologised for its complaint handling failures and offered the resident £250 to recognise this -which she accepted. Although it would have been more appropriate to offer this in its original Stage 2 response of the 27 January 2022, the Ombudsman has determined that this was reasonable. This Service is aware that the landlord had previously advised it would review the compensation offer once the works were done, and so it was fair that it honoured this as well as offering the  resident an apology. In the Ombudsman’s view, this was sufficient in satisfactorily recognising its complaint handling failures and was in line with this Service’s own remedies guidance.

Determination

25. In accordance with Paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of roof and ceiling repairs, following leaks into the property.
26. In accordance with Paragraph 53(b) of the Scheme, in relation to its handling of the resident’s complaint, the landlord has offered reasonable redress to the resident prior to the investigation which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

27. Within four weeks of the date of this report, the landlord must:
    1. As a remedy to the adverse effect caused by the handling of roof and ceiling repairs, review its responsive repairs policy and procedures to determine what action has been/will be taken to prevent a recurrence of these failures. The landlord should write to the resident with the outcome of this and share this letter with the Ombudsman.
    2. As a remedy to the adverse effect caused by the handling of roof and ceiling repairs, pay the resident £100 compensation. It should advise this Service when it has done so.

Recommendations

28. The landlord to pay the resident £250 compensation previously offered, in relation to its complaint handling, if it has not already done so.