London Borough of Brent (202203555)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202203555

London Borough of Brent

28 March 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 repairs to the resident’s property.

Background

2. The resident is a secure tenant of the landlord and resides in a flat.
3. The resident raised a formal complaint with the landlord on 13 December 2021. She said that there were outstanding repairs in her home from her previous stage two complaint, which she had raised more than a year previously. She said there was also a new damp patch in her bedroom, the room was damp and cold, and she was incurring high heating costs. She said the landlord had inspected in September 2021 and agreed to complete the outstanding repairs and to investigate the damp patch, but she had not heard anything despite chasing the landlord. She asked the landlord to transfer her to a more suitable property.
4. The landlord issued its final response to the complaint on 22 March 2022. In this it said that:
   1. It was sorry for the time and trouble the resident and gone to and acknowledged that there had been service failures.
   2. It would arrange an inspection of the outstanding works within two weeks and ensure the outstanding repairs were completed in a timely manner.
   3. It had noted the resident’s request to move property due to the mould and it would confirm whether it would consider the resident for a management transfer within two weeks.
   4. It had reminded its staff about the importance of compliance with its policies.
   5. It offered the resident £350 compensation for the delays in carrying out the repairs and £500 to cover the increase in her heating costs.
5. The resident contacted this Service in May 2022 because there were still outstanding repairs to her property and she had not received the compensation offered by the landlord.
6. The landlord contacted this Service in August 2022, advising that some of the repairs had now been carried out, and that appointments had been made to carry out the remaining repair works. It also advised that it had re-sent the necessary paperwork in relation to its compensation offer to the resident.
7. In February 2023, the resident advised this Service that she was still living in damp conditions and she was having to keep the heating on in order to try and dry her bedroom out. She wanted the landlord to contribute towards her energy bills until this had been resolved. She also said that the landlord had not contacted her about her request to be rehoused.

Assessment and findings

The landlord’s handling of repairs to the resident’s property

8. In its complaint responses the landlord confirmed that repairs were raised following a surveyor inspection in September 2021 which included works to address the damp in the bedroom, the painting of a wall in the bedroom, the installation of a new internal door, and the installation of two extractor fans in the property. The landlord arranged to inspect the property with its contractor on 21 January 2022, however the resident says that this appointment was cancelled and the surveyor failed to attend the subsequent appointment.
9. In its final complaint response sent in March 2022, the landlord acknowledged the delays and failures in its service. It committed to completing the outstanding repairs in a timely manner, and offered compensation for the delays in completing the repairs and for the increased heating costs incurred by the resident. Therefore, it took appropriate steps to put things right. The compensation offer of £350 for the delays was in line with this Service’s remedies guidance for cases where there was a failure which adversely affected the resident.
10. The available evidence indicates that the resident did not provide proof of her increased heating costs, but rather, estimated the costs she had incurred since 2019. The landlord confirmed that it would only consider the period of the current complaint, from September 2021, which was reasonable given that the resident reported the new damp patch around this time. It was appropriate that the landlord offered compensation towards the resident’s heating costs given the affected room was likely to be colder, although its offer was generous given the timeframe concerned and lack of evidence to show the actual costs incurred. This has been taken into account when assessing a further compensation order, as detailed below.
11. Despite the landlord committing to complete the repairs in its final complaint response, there were further delays following this. While the extractor fan in the kitchen was replaced in a timely manner on 5 April 2022, the extractor fan in the bathroom was not replaced until 26 May 2022. It is also noted that the resident has advised that there were two missed appointments and two cancelled appointments in relation to this repair, and that the pull cord to the kitchen extractor fan has never worked. The landlord says that the painting of the wall in the bedroom was completed on 2 July 2022. No evidence has been provided by the landlord to show that there was a good reason why the replacement of the extractor fan to the bathroom and the painting works took nine weeks and 13 weeks respectively after the final response was issued.
12. During August 2022 the landlord confirmed to this Service that the repair to remedy the damp in the bedroom was still outstanding (which required scaffolding and the external brickwork to be inspected), as was the installation of a new internal door. Evidence provided by the landlord shows that the repairs had been “missed” by its contractor. This was a significant failing, particularly given the likely impact the damp will have had on the living conditions in the property. It is also of concern that the landlord failed to monitor the actions agreed in the final complaint response and ensure they were completed in a timely manner.
13. Evidence provided by the landlord shows that the contractor called the resident on 10 August 2022 to arrange a follow on appointment, but the resident was working and unable to arrange the appointment at that time. It is unclear if either party has attempted to arrange the repairs since, although the resident has recently told this Service that the damp in her bedroom has not been resolved.
14. The resident has also advised this Service that she has not been contacted by the landlord about her request to be moved. The landlord has not provided any evidence to show that it has done this, and therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that there has been a further failure by the landlord to follow up on the commitments made in its complaint response.
15. As a result, a finding of maladministration has been made and to put things right the landlord has been ordered to pay the resident additional compensation of £300. The landlord has also been ordered to arrange a surveyor inspection of the property and complete any outstanding repairs, and to implement any necessary remedial action to improve its repairs service going forward. In addition, it has been ordered to confirm its position on the resident’s request to be moved.

Determination

16. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in its handling of repairs to the resident’s property.

Orders

17. Within four weeks of the date of this report, the landlord is ordered to:
    1. Pay the resident £1150 compensation, inclusive of the £850 compensation that it offered in its complaint responses.
    2. Arrange for a surveyor to inspect the property, draw up a schedule of repairs and share this with the resident, and agree a repair appointment with the resident. The landlord should monitor the repairs through to completion.
    3. Review its handling of the repairs in this case and implement any necessary remedial action to ensure that the same failures do not occur again.
    4. Confirm to the resident in writing its response to her request to be rehoused.