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Paragon Asra Housing Limited (202212140)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202212140

Paragon Asra Housing Limited

31 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 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 response to the resident’s reports that his property was not fit to move into on the start date of his tenancy.

Background

2.     The resident has been a tenant of the landlord of the property, which is a house where he lives with his wife and three children, since his tenancy started there on 5 May 2022, before which he was a tenant of the same landlord of a different property. Its void inspection form from before the start of his tenancy showed that there were already gas and electric meter debts at the new property before he moved in.

3.     The landlord’s records showed that it attended to uncap the gas at the property on 10 May 2022, but it found that the gas and electric accounts there were in arrears, and so it could not turn on the property’s gas supply, heating or hot water. It recorded that it therefore cleared the arrears and re-attended to uncap the gas supply on 12 May 2022, when it found an incorrectly installed ‘smart’ thermostat causing issues with the controls that it attributed the boiler repair delay to, and so it raised another repair for this.

4.     The landlord’s records showed that it then repaired blocked guttering at the property on 16 May 2022, and that it fitted parts for the thermostat on 17 May 2022, which it installed on 18 May 2022 so that the property’s boiler could be turned on and tested, although it found a pressure fault on the same date. On 18 May 2022, the resident raised a stage one complaint, as he said that his tenancy had started 13 days earlier, but that he still did not have gas, hot water or heating. He stated that the property had additional problems, such as a leak from the boiler, no water pressure upstairs, a stained bathtub and blocked guttering.

5.     The resident explained that he had asked for a manager to call him back numerous times, but that this had not occurred. He additionally stated that he had been unable to hand back the keys to his previous home that was also owned by the landlord, as he and his family had needed to use the washing and cooking facilities there. The resident added that he would not be paying the rent for the former property for the three–week overlap between this and his current property, as the delay was due to the landlord. It went on to repair the property’s boiler’s pressure fault on 19 May 2022, which it turned on and tested on 24 May 2022.

6.     However, the landlord also received a report of a lack of water pressure and a water leak from the property’s upstairs boiler on 24 May 2022, which it raised as an emergency repair and resolved on the next day. In its stage one complaint response on 1 June 2022, it apologised for its lack of responses to the resident’s contact requests. The landlord explained that it had completed the above works at the property, found that the incorrectly fitted thermostat there had been installed without its authorisation, and said that the property’s bathtub had been passed during the post inspection by its surveyor.

7.     The resident escalated his complaint to the final stage of the landlord’s complaints procedure on 1 June 2022, however, as he said that the boiler repair had not been fully completed, so that this still could not be used and had a notice that it was unsafe to do so. He additionally explained that its stage one complaint response had not addressed his complaint regarding him having to pay it rent for both his old and new properties at the same time, which he declined to pay until it repaired the boiler. The resident sought to avoid having to pay rent for both properties, the completion of the outstanding repairs at the property, and compensation for this.

8.     The landlord subsequently unblocked the property’s guttering again on 1 June 2022, repaired the boiler there on 7 June 2022, and sent its final stage complaint response on 30 June 2022. It explained that, following a conversation with the resident, he had confirmed that the majority of the works at the property had been completed. The landlord acknowledged that he still had concerns about his low upstairs water pressure, and arranged to raise this as a repair. It also apologised to the resident for his experience of poor service from it, and it awarded him £310 compensation for this.

9.     The resident then complained to this Service as he was dissatisfied with the landlord’s response. He said that he had experienced further problems with the property’s boiler’s low water pressure and blocked guttering leaking. The resident also explained that the landlord agreed replaced the boiler at the property on 9 September 2022, but not the radiators, despite an inspection recommending that it do so.

10. As an outcome, the resident wanted the rent arrears for his former property (of £419.19 written off, compensation for the outstanding repairs at the property when he moved in, and for the bath, bath taps, radiators and guttering to be replaced that it agreed to renew if this continued to get blocked. He also stated that the landlord’s operatives had since stained his kitchen floor.

Assessment

Scope of investigation

11. Under the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, this Service may not consider complaints which are made prior to having exhausted the landlord’s complaints procedure. Although the resident has stated that he would like issues including the property’s radiators, stained floor and bath taps to be considered as part of his complaint to us, there is no evidence that these issues have completed the landlord’s complaints procedure yet. Therefore, in accordance with the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, they are currently outside of the scope of this investigation to consider.

The landlord’s response to the resident’s reports that his property was not fit to move into on the start date of his tenancy

12. The resident’s tenancy agreement confirms that his tenancy of the property began on 5 May 2022. The agreement states that the landlord is responsible for keeping in good repair and maintaining in proper working order the structure and exterior of the property, including the guttering. It is also responsible for bathroom fixtures, such as baths, and for fixed heating systems, gas–fired boilers, radiators and gas supply pipework.

13. The resident must not make alterations or improvements to the property without the prior written permission of the landlord, in accordance with his tenancy agreement. Additionally, he must not tamper with the gas or electricity supplies, meters or fittings, such as a central heating boiler. Under the landlord’s maintenance policy, emergency repairs are to be responded to within four hours and completed within 24 hours. Non–emergency repairs, including to items such as heating faults or breakdowns outside of October to March, baths and blocked gutters, are required to be completed within 15 working days.

14. The landlord’s lettable standard states that every property should be clean and in a good state of repair when the resident moves in. It states that the baths will be clean, washed down, descaled and secure. The drains and gutters will be checked, cleared, safe, secure and free of blockages. The landlord will check the property’s gas supply, boiler, radiators and thermostat, ensuring that they are in working order. The gas system will be ‘capped off’ when the resident moves into the property. An appointment will be made at the resident’s signup meeting to uncap the gas and commission the boiler. This will be arranged for when the resident has both electricity and gas available from their utility company for the first day of their tenancy.

15. After the resident’s tenancy began on 5 May 2022, the landlord attended to uncap the property’s gas supply on 10 May 2022. It found that the gas and electric accounts were in arrears, and so in line with its lettable standard, it could not turn on the supply because these were not available from the utility company. The landlord’s void inspection form showed, however, that the accounts were already in debt during the period before the resident moved in, and so this was not due to him. It therefore should have cleared these before he gained the tenancy, as it would not have been reasonable to expect him to pay for energy that he had not used. Although the landlord then appropriately cleared the debt and reattended to uncap the gas.

16. On its second appointment to uncap the property’s gas supply on 12 May 2022, the landlord found that a ‘smart’ thermostat had been installed on the system. This had not been installed correctly and was causing issues with controls. There is no evidence to suggest that the resident asked permission to install the thermostat, which was contrary to his tenancy agreement’s obligation for him to do so. Nevertheless, the landlord was aware that he was without heating and hot water, and so it acted reasonably by arranging for the thermostat to be properly installed on 18 May 2022.

17. Nevertheless, when the landlord went to uncap the property’s gas system again on 18 May 2022, it found that the boiler was operating at an incorrect pressure. It therefore returned and repaired this on 19 May 2022, uncapping the property’s gas on 24 May 2022. Due to an error by the landlord, however, the boiler was not fully repaired by it until 7 June 2022, meaning that, for just over the first month of the resident’s tenancy, his boiler was out of use.

18. The landlord stated that the property’s boiler repair delay was caused by the resident’s incorrect installation of the ‘smart’ thermostat there. However, this only contributed to part of the delay, from 12 to 18 May 2022. This is because the debt on the property’s energy meter accounts from before the start of the resident’s tenancy was the landlord’s responsibility, and therefore the delay in addressing this from 5 to 12 May 2022 was because of its error. The subsequent further delay in completely repairing the boiler was also due to its error in not doing so from 18 May to 7 June 2022, other than its pressure fault repair on 19 May 2022.

19. As a consequence, the landlord was responsible for 27 of the 33 days that the resident spent without a functioning boiler at the property. This was not appropriate and was a failing on its part as, according to its lettable standard, each property should have a gas supply and boiler in working order at the time that the resident moves in, with both electricity and gas available from the first day of the tenancy.

20. The resident also complained of low water pressure upstairs at the property from at least 18 May 2022, and a water leak from the upstairs boiler was reported on 24 May 2022. The landlord responded to the leak appropriately by attending this within its maintenance policy’s 24-hour emergency timescale on the next day, and left the boiler safe. It then repaired the boiler completely on 7 June 2022 and left this functioning, but the resident subsequently stated that the issues with the water pressure had continued. The landlord nevertheless incorrectly understood that the low water pressure had been resolved on 25 May 2022 when this was still outstanding, which was not appropriate.

21. However, as part of its final stage complaint response on 30 June 2022, the landlord spoke to the resident about his concerns, and it acted reasonably by raising a further repair for the low water pressure. He stated that it then inspected the boiler system, which it replaced on 9 September 2022. The landlord’s final replacement of the boiler was nevertheless outside of its maintenance policy’s 15–working–day non-emergency repair timescale.

22. However, not all repair delays are necessarily a failing, as the landlord acted reasonably by responding to the resident’s concerns about ongoing low upstairs water pressure and inspecting the boiler system. It was also reasonable for it to consider if it would be more economical to repair or replace the boiler before concluding that it should replace this.

23. The landlord has not disputed that, according to its lettable standard, it should have checked and cleared the guttering during the property’s void period, which it missed due to an error. It subsequently acted reasonably by raising guttering repairs on 16 May and 1 June 2022. This was within the landlord’s maintenance policy’s non–emergency repair timescale of 15 working days, with it also appropriately agreeing to renew the guttering if this continued to get blocked.

24. This was reasonable, as the landlord is expected to balance its obligations to keep the guttering in a good state of repair with its need to monitor its expenditure. It was therefore suitable that it continued to monitor the guttering, and agreed to consider replacing this if the blockages continued.

25. The landlord is obliged, under its lettable standard, to inspect the property’s bathtub before the resident moved in, and ensure that this is clean, washed down, descaled and secure. It confirmed that it had done so when it explained that the bathtub was passed during the property’s post inspection by its surveyor. While it is understandable that the resident was unhappy with a stained bath, the landlord acted reasonably, and in line with its policies, by ensuring that the bath was clean and usable for him, which was appropriate in the circumstances.

26. The landlord additionally acted appropriately in its complaint responses by acknowledging that there had been outstanding issues at the property, apologised to the resident, and raising further repairs to remedy the problems. It again acted appropriately by offering him £310 compensation, in recognition of his inconvenience as a result of this.

27. However, the landlord also supplied incorrect information in its complaint responses, such as by stating that the majority of the property’s boiler repair delays were caused by the resident’s installation of the ‘smart’ thermostat, and that the full boiler repair and low upstairs water pressure had been dealt with, when they had not. This was not appropriate and was another failing by it in the circumstances, as this did not follow this Service’s dispute resolution principles to be fair, put things right and learn from outcomes, including by communicating accurately with residents.

28. Additionally, the landlord did not address all of the issues raised by the resident in its complaint responses, particularly about him being required to pay it rent for two properties at the same time. According to this Service’s complaint handling code, it must address all points raised in the complaint, but it did not address the matter of his duplicate rent in either its complaint responses or elsewhere, which was not appropriate.

29. The landlord offered the resident £310 compensation for its poor service, yet he had rent arrears for his previous property of £419.19 as a result of being unable to stay in his current property after the start of his tenancy there. While it was reasonable for it to have offered him compensation for its failings, his boiler did not function for the first 33 days of his tenancy from 5 May to 7 June 2022. The gas supply there was also not reconnected for the first 19 days from 5 to 24 May 2022, while only a six–day delay from 12 to 18 May 2022 was due to the resident’s incorrect installation of the ‘smart’ thermostat.

30. The resident’s household consisted of him, his wife and their three children, and it would have been unreasonable for them to have been without gas, heating and hot water at the property from the start of their tenancy there during the above periods, when they stayed at their previous property. The landlord did not give permission, as required by the tenancy agreement, for the ‘smart’ thermostat to be installed, but it was suitable that it correctly reinstalled this at its own expense to speed up the process of reconnecting the gas supply. However, this was not fully functioning either when the property was given to the resident or after the thermostat was repaired.

31. Therefore, while the landlord’s offer of £310 compensation to the resident partially put things right by recognising its failings in his case, including by offering him over £100 for failures that adversely affected him in accordance with this Service’s remedies guidance, it did not recognise all of the above failings. Its offer also did not put him back in the position that he would have been in but for its failures as a result of his £419.19 rent arrears for his previous property.

32. The landlord has therefore been ordered below to pay the resident £250 additional compensation in recognition of all of its failings in respect of the condition of his new property when this was let to him and his formal complaint, in addition to the £310 that it previously awarded him, if he has not received this already. This order takes into account the effect of his installation of the ‘smart’ thermostat on the boiler repair delays and the cost to it of repairing this. The landlord has also been ordered below to review its staff’s training needs in respect of their application of its lettable standard and this Service’s complaint handling code, to seek to ensure that its failures in the resident’s case do not occur again in the future.

Determination (decision)

33. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure by the landlord in its response to the resident’s reports that his property was not fit to move into on the start date of his tenancy.

Orders

34. The landlord is ordered to:

  1. Pay the resident compensation totalling £560 within four weeks, which is broken down into £250 additional compensation in recognition of all of its failings in his case, plus the £310 that it previously awarded him, if he has not received this already.
  2. Review its staff’s training needs in respect of their application of its lettable standard, in order to seek to ensure that this is met by the date on which each its properties is let to a new tenant in every case.
  3. Review its staff’s training needs in respect of their application of this Service’s complaint handling code, in order to seek to ensure that it responds to all points raised in its residents’ complaints in every case.

35. The landlord shall contact this Service within four weeks to confirm that it has complied with the above orders.