Tower Hamlets Homes (202127767)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202127767

Tower Hamlets Homes

26 September 2022

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 concerns how the landlord handled the loss of the cold water supply and heating to the resident’s property.

Background

2. The resident is a secure tenant of the landlord, which is a local authority. The property is a flat in a communal building.
3. The landlord has stated that it started to receive reports from many of the residents in the building on 4 December 2021 that said they had lost their cold water supply and that their heating was not working due to the reduced water pressure.
4. The landlord’s repair logs state that it raised an emergency repair on 5 December 2021 for its contractor to distribute bottled water to residents, and further emergency repairs were raised on 6 and 7 December 2021 to complete work to temporarily restore the water supply, while the utility provider’s contractors repaired the water main.
5. The resident wrote to the landlord on 25 January 2022 and requested to raise a complaint. He described the elements of the complaint as:
   1. He was left without water for a total of five days and the landlord’s response was inadequate.
   2. The distribution of bottled water and heaters to residents was poorly handled by the landlord and its contractor.
   3. The landlord’s communication during this period was poor and the resident had to contact a local councillor in order to receive updates on the status of the repairs to the water supply.
   4. The repairs had yet to be completed and there were two large holes at the front and rear of the property.
   5. His concerns that the temporary water supply put in place by the landlord could fail.
6. As a resolution to the complaint, the resident requested compensation for the stress and inconvenience the issue had caused, and to be provided with a timeline from the landlord, as to when all outstanding repairs would be completed.
7. In its complaint responses, the landlord:
   1. Explained that emergency repairs were raised when it was informed of the issue on 4 December 2021. It provided a five-litre bottle of water to every household, heaters to vulnerable residents, and that its contractor informed residents of the availability of a standpipe and a water tap at the rear of the building.
   2. Stated that a temporary fix was carried out on 8 December 2021 to provide water to households in the building while the utility provider worked to restore water to the properties from 10 December 2021.
   3. Informed the resident that work to complete repairs to the main pipe and fill the holes would be completed on 18 March 2022 and that it had written to all residents of the building to inform them that the water supply would be shut off from 9am to 4pm on that day to allow the work to proceed.
   4. It apologised for the poor level of communication the resident had received and the inconvenience the situation had caused. It recognised that its distribution of water bottles should have been more efficient and that it had undertaken a review to improve this service.
   5. If offered £50 compensation for the impact of the water loss and the time and trouble this caused.
8. In referring the complaint to this Service, the resident described the outstanding issues as the landlord had not properly responded to the loss of water to the building and the compensation offer was inadequate. As a resolution to the complaint, the resident requested an increase in compensation and for the landlord to have a policy in place that could be accessed by residents if a similar situation occurred.

Assessment and findings

Relevant policies and procedures

9. Rule 13 of the tenancy terms and conditions states that the landlord will “make sure that the structure and exterior of your home is kept in repair”. Rule 15 states that the landlord will keep in repair “communal facilities where disrepair affects the use of your home or the communal areas”.
10. The landlord’s repairs policy defines an emergency repair as a repair that presents “a serious effect on people or damage to the home”. The landlord aims to respond to an emergency within 24 hours. The policy states that a total loss of water supply is considered an emergency and notes that external mains supply issues are the responsibility of the utility provider to resolve.
11. The landlord’s compensation policy states that it will consider offering financial redress to “recognise and address situations where service delivery has not been to the expected standard”. The policy recommends offering compensation for time and trouble caused to a complainant in the range of £25 to £250.

How the landlord handled the loss of the cold water supply and heating to the resident’s property

12. Once it was informed of the loss of the water supply, the landlord had a duty to respond to the issue in line with the obligations set out in the tenancy agreement and its published policies and procedures. Overall, the landlord acted appropriately to the reports. It raised emergency repairs within 24 hours of the issues being reported, it provided residents with bottled water and temporary heaters, and installed a temporary water supply while the utility provider arranged for the water mains to be repaired.
13. However, the landlord recognised that there was service failure in how it handled the situation. It accepted that the information it provided was inadequate which caused confusion as well as inconvenience to the resident, as he had to contact a local councillor in order to receive updates. The resident has also stated that he was unaware that a standpipe was available to residents until the landlord mentioned it in its complaint response. Therefore, it was appropriate for the landlord to apologise to the resident, offer compensation and explain what steps it had taken to improve its service. This position is also in line with the Ombudsman’s Dispute Resolution Principles: be fair, put things right and learn from outcomes.
14. The landlord acted fairly in acknowledging its mistakes and apologising to the resident. It looked to put things right by improving its communication to the residents (it wrote to all residents in the building to inform them of the status of the outstanding repairs and when they would be completed) and offering £50 compensation. It looked to learn from its mistakes by conducting a review of how it handled the situation and to identify areas of improvement, particularly in how to provide residents with water bottles and heaters in a more efficient manner.
15. The landlord did not explain in its complaint response how it calculated its compensation offer. An internal landlord email sent on 7 March 2022 stated that it paid compensation of £6.50 per day for the five days the resident was without water and heating for a total of £32.50, and a further £17.50 for the resident’s time and trouble.
16. While it was appropriate for the landlord to compensate the resident for the loss of water and heating, the level of compensation it offered for his time and trouble was inadequate and below the recommended payment level stated in its compensation policy detailed above. The Ombudsman’s own remedies guidance (which is available on our website) recommends a payment of £50 to £250 in instances of service failure resulting in some impact on a complainant (the impact experienced by the complainant could include distress and inconvenience, time and trouble, disappointment, loss of confidence, and delays in getting matters resolved).
17. As an example for when this level of redress should be considered, the guidance suggests “failure to meet service standards for actions and responses but where the failure had no significant impact”. Therefore, it would be appropriate for the landlord to pay an additional £75 compensation to the resident in recognition of its lack of updates which caused the inconvenience of the resident having to contact a local councillor, the delay in providing a heater to the resident, and for its contractor not making the resident aware that a standpipe was available. This would make to the total compensation award £125.
18. The landlord has stated that it prioritised vulnerable residents in the building when providing heaters and bottled water. When bringing the complaint to this Service, the resident described himself as a vulnerable resident due to his medical condition and stated that he should have been provided with a heater sooner.
19. It is not clear from the evidence provided that the landlord was aware of the resident’s medical condition or that any vulnerabilities had been flagged on his records. Therefore, it is recommended that the landlord write to the resident to confirm that its records are correct in relation to the resident’s health and determine if any vulnerabilities need to be recorded.
20. As one of his desired outcomes to the complaint, the resident has requested that the landlord implement a new written procedure for how it handles a total loss of water. He also requested to be provided with the policies and procedures the landlord followed at the time that the building lost its water supply. The resident further requested to be informed of when the landlord would consider temporarily rehousing a household as a result of a loss of water supply.
21. It is not within the remit of this Service to order a landlord to make changes to its published policies and procedures documents. However, it is reasonable for the landlord to provide the requested information to the resident.
22. It is further recommended that the landlord should also inform the resident if the review it undertook into how it handled the loss of water to the building has resulted in any change to its policies and procedures.

Determination

23. In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure by the landlord in respect of how it handled the loss of the cold water supply and heating to the resident’s property.

Orders

24. For the service failure and reasons set out above, the landlord is ordered to pay the resident £75, in addition to the £50 already offered, making a total of £125.
25. This payment should be made within four weeks of the date of this report. The landlord should update this Service when payment has been made.

Recommendations

26. It is recommended that the landlord write to the resident and:
    1. Confirm that its records are correct in relation to the resident’s health and determine if any vulnerabilities need to be recorded.
    2. Provide copies of, or links to, the policies and procedures it followed when responding to the loss of water at the building.
    3. Provide copies of, or links to, its decant policy and any other guidance it uses to determine when a household needs to be temporarily rehoused, particularly in reference to a loss of water.
    4. Inform the resident if the review it undertook into how it handled the loss of water to the building has resulted in any change to its policies and procedures.