Mid Devon District Council (202217986)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202217986

Mid Devon District Council

1 August 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 concerns the landlord’s request for the resident to remove a wood burner they had installed in the property.

Background

  1. The resident is a secure tenant of the landlord, which is a local authority. The property is a house.
  2. The landlord wrote to the resident on several occasions between March and July 2022 concerning unauthorised alterations made to the property. Following this, the landlord inspected the property and wrote to the resident in September 2022 about the alterations. It said that the resident had informed it that he not intend to seek retrospective consent for the alterations, and confirmed that permission for the wood burner would not be given and the resident needed to remove it within the next two months.
  3. The resident called the landlord on 10 October 2022 and raised a complaint. The landlord described the elements of the complaint as:
    1. The resident was given verbal consent to install the wood burner in 2017 when he moved into the property and had provided an operative with drawings and an installation certificate.
    2. The wood burner had reduced the heating costs of the property and he did not understand why the landlord wanted to remove access to low-cost heating.
    3. He did not understand why the landlord had raised this issue three and half years after the installation of the wood burner.
  4. The landlord sent a stage one complaint response on 21 October 2022 and a stage two complaint response on 8 November 2022. In its responses, the landlord:
    1. Explained that it had found no evidence that the resident had been given written permission to install a wood burner in 2017 and that the staff member had disputed that they had given the resident verbal permission to install it.
    2. Further explained that in keeping with its commitments to fire safety and the UK government’s commitment to reducing the burning of fossils fuels, it no longer gives consent for the installation of solid fuel appliances.
    3. Stated that it therefore stood by its decision to require the resident to remove the wood burner.
    4. Offered to provide support to the resident in managing his finances and signpost to other organisations who could offer additional help.
    5. Advised the resident that he was still required to request retrospective permission for the other improvements other than the wood burner that had been made to the property.
  5. In referring the case to this Service, the resident disputed the landlord’s position that he was not given verbal consent to install the wood burner. As a resolution to the complaint, the resident requested that the wood burner be allowed to remain in the property.

Assessment and findings

Tenancy agreement, policies and procedures

  1. Section 4.6 of the resident’s tenancy agreement relates to improvements and alterations. This states that: “Secure tenants have the right to apply for written consent to make Improvements…Secure tenants must not make any Improvements, without our Written consent…You must submit requests to make Improvements in advance and in writing and you must support this with diagrams, drawings or plans as appropriate…”.
  2. The landlord’s improvements to properties policy sets out the process for granting permission for improvements. This confirms that:
    1. A tenant who does not apply for written consent before carrying out work will be required to seek written retrospective consent, once the landlord becomes aware of the issue.
    2. Permission will not be unreasonably withheld, however it will be refused on certain grounds such as the intended works making the property unsafe or where they are detrimental to the property.
    3. A tenant who has been refused permission but has carried out works will be required to reinstate the property to its original condition. Failure to do so will result in the landlord arranging for the works to be undertaken. The tenant will be recharged for the full costs of reinstating the property and the cost of rectifying any defects or damage resulting from the works.

Wood burner removal

  1. The resident moved into the property in 2017 via a mutual exchange. The mutual exchange documents include letters sent to the resident at the time and internal emails sent by landlord staff. An internal landlord email chain following an inspection of the property held on 7 June 2017 noted that the resident had raised the possibility of installing a wood burner into the property. These emails explained what steps the resident would need to take and what certification he would need to get prior to installation, and what annual certification he would need to provide relating to servicing of the wood burner by a suitably qualified engineer.
  2. A letter was then sent to the resident on 27 June 2017. This listed the non-standard fittings in the property, which included a solid fuel fire in the lounge. The letter went on to state “I can also confirm that you will be given consent to reinstate the solid fuel fire and I have enclosed a separate letter stating all the conditions that must be met”. The resident’s partner signed this letter on 29 June 2017. Therefore, the evidence shows that while the landlord would allow the resident to reinstate the sold fuel fire at this time, various conditions would need to be met.
  3. The resident has stated that he received verbal permission to install a wood burner in June 2017. However, no evidence has been provided to show that the resident obtained such consent, and moreover, such consent was required in writing in line with the resident’s tenancy agreement and the landlord’s policy on improvements. It is appropriate for a landlord to have a written process to request and grant permission for improvements, as it must be satisfied that the type of work the tenant is proposing is reasonable and will be undertaken to the required standard.
  4. There is no evidence that the resident sought written permission to install a wood burner or that he provided the landlord with the relevant safety certificates involved in the installation prior to the work commencing. Furthermore, there is no evidence that the resident requested retrospective permission to install the wood burner prior to the changes in the landlord’s policy on the installation of such appliances. Therefore, the landlord was under no obligation to give the resident permission to keep the wood burner and, in line with its policy, it was reasonable for it to request that the wood burner is removed from the property.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was no maladministration by the landlord in respect of its request for the resident to remove the wood burner.