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Leeds City Council (202201683)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202201683

Leeds City Council

04 April 2024

 

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:
    1. Repairs to a bedroom window.
    2. Repairs to walls in the bedroom and kitchen.

Background

  1. The resident is a secure tenant of the landlord at the property since 25 June 2018. The property is a one bedroom flat in a 2 storey back to back house. The landlord confirmed that it had no vulnerabilities recorded for the resident but had noted during the repairs process that the resident has Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
  2. In January 2021, the resident reported that his bedroom window had cracked following a repair to the handle. Following damage to the resident’s bedroom and kitchen wall due to a leak from a neighbour’s property, the resident reported areas of visible dampness to the landlord on 8 July 2021. The landlord inspected the resident’s property on 14 July 2021.The report from the inspection included photos of moisture meter readings which indicated parts of walls in the kitchen and bedroom were wet. The landlord identified a schedule of repairs required to the walls. This included hacking off, replastering and painting the affected areas with fungicidal paint.
  3. The resident contacted the landlord on 10 September 2021 to raise a formal complaint. He said he had not heard from the landlord about the repairs outstanding since January 2021. The resident also said he had been told that the work identified by the landlord at the surveyor inspection in July 2021 would be completed within 60 days, but when he had called the landlord, the work had not been raised.
  4. The landlord responded to the resident at stage 1 of its complaints process on 18 October 2021. It said that it had spoken to its contractor about the repair to the window and there had been several attempts to install this, but no access had been provided. It said the contractor would be in touch with the resident that week to confirm a date to install the window. In regard to the repairs to the walls in the kitchen and bedroom, it said that there had been mitigating circumstances that had impacted the raising of the works order. It apologised for the delay and confirmed it had asked the contractor to prioritise the works and contact the resident to arrange an appointment.
  5. The resident escalated his complaint on 19 November 2021. He said he was unhappy with being called a “liar” when the landlord said he had not allowed access. He said the landlord needed to contact him first to make an appointment and that contractors should have left no access cards. The resident said that the landlord was due to attend that day but had not arrived. He said there was no communication.
  6. The landlord provided its final response on 16 December 2021. It said the following:
    1. An operative had attended to replace the window on 29 September 2021 and 22 October 2021 but had been unable to gain access.
    2. The resident was correct that visits should always be pre-booked but in circumstances when it had been unable to reach a resident, operatives can be asked to call at a property to attempt to arrange an appointment.
    3. The resident was correct that a contact card should be left with the reason for the visit and contact details to make an appointment.
    4. There was insufficient evidence available to demonstrate that the landlord had made sufficient attempts to contact the resident via phone to arrange an appointment prior to calling at the property. It was also unable to evidence that a contact card had been left.
    5. It apologised that the correct procedure was not followed and advised this had been addressed with the repairs team.
    6. There had been an issue with the repair appointment on 19 November 2021 to rectify the cracks in the kitchen. This had been due to issues with a new IT system which had since been resolved.
    7. The resident would be contacted as soon as possible to arrange a date for the work to take place.
  7. The resident remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s response and contacted this Service in April 2022 to request an investigation into his complaint. The landlord advised this Service in August 2023 that it had cancelled the repairs to cracks in the kitchen wall due to the resident refusing access on 22 December 2021. The landlord said that it had cancelled the repair to the damaged walls in the kitchen and bedroom in February 2022 due to no access and had reraised this work in August 2023 as well as work to the guttering. It advised that this work would be completed by the end of August 2023. The resident confirmed to this service that the walls repaired in August 2023 had become damaged again and the landlord was restarting the repairs in April 2024.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation.

  1. In correspondence with this Service, the resident has referred to further issues which do not relate to the complaint under investigation. The Ombudsman cannot consider the complaints about the further damage to the internal walls following repair work in August 2023, damp and condensation to the sealant around the bath rising to the tiles and exterior walls, and the replacement of the cellar door. This is because these complaints were not raised through the landlord’s internal complaints process. In accordance with paragraph 42(a) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme and the interest of fairness, the scope of this investigation is limited to the issues raised during the resident’s formal complaint. This is because the landlord needs to be given a fair opportunity to investigate and respond to any reported dissatisfaction with its actions prior to the involvement of this Service. Any new issues that have not been subject to a formal complaint can be addressed directly with the landlord and progressed as a new formal complaint if required.
  2. In raising his complaint, the resident referred to the situation impacting upon his health. While this Service is able to assess the service the landlord provided, and any overall distress or inconvenience this may have caused. The investigation cannot directly assess any reported impact on health or the liability for impacts on health and wellbeing, as this is better suited for the courts.

The landlord’s handling of repairs to a bedroom window.

  1. Under the terms of the tenancy, and in accordance with Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 the landlord is obliged to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the resident’s home. The tenancy agreement states that the resident is responsible for decorating the inside of the property, and for small repairs like the filling of minor cracks in internal plasterwork. It also says that the landlord is responsible for making good internal decorations that are affected during a repair.
  2. The tenancy agreement states that the resident must allow the landlord and its contractors, agents or other statutory bodies to enter the property at all reasonable hours when reasonable written notice (usually 24 hours) has been given, to carry out maintenance, repairs, or safety checks.
  3. The landlord’s repairs and maintenance handbook states that the landlord is responsible for repairs which include window glazing, windowsills and frames, plastering work, and the structure and outside of buildings including roofs, and external walls. The landlord categorises responsive repairs as emergency repairs which will be completed within 24 hours, priority repairs completed within 7 working days and general repairs completed within 20 working days.
  4. The handbook says that batched repairs are non urgent repairs and items of replacement that may require a pre-inspection or need time to order materials. It says these repairs are completed within 60 days and include minor repairs to external walls, small to large areas of loose plaster, and damp proofing works. The handbook states that before the repair, the landlord will give the resident a target completion date. Surveyor’s pre inspections are carried out for complex repair issues such as reports of damp prior to beginning repair work. The landlord’s service standards states that it will complete all repair within target date timescales and will keep the appointments it makes with residents.
  5. The landlord’s goodwill, time and trouble, request for compensation guidance for staff states that payment of financial redress is at the landlord’s discretion. Compensation of up to £100 can be offered for instances where a resident has been moderately inconvenienced, up to £600 for where a resident has been adversely affected or suffered inconvenience over a sustained period, and up to £1000 where a resident has a significant impact and avoidable disruption for a period.
  6. The landlord’s repair records noted that the resident had reported the crack to the glazing on the bedroom window in January 2021 and a repair was raised by the landlord to reglaze the unit on 12 January 2021. The landlord confirmed that this repair was completed on 13 October 2021, which was a timeframe of 9 months. The landlord’s repair records stated that a further repair order was made in regard to the window on 2 June 2021 to install a double glazed unit. It was not clear from the records provided if this related to the same repair. The landlord’s repair records noted that this further repair was completed on 22 October 2021. This was over 4 months after it had raised the order for the repair work.
  7. Given that the window glass required an inspection and then the manufacturing of the window unit, it would have been reasonable for the landlord to have considered this a batched repair. The timeframes here were not in line with the landlord’s repairs and maintenance handbook which states that these repairs would be competed within 60 days. The excessive delay here to the completion of the window repairs was inappropriate.
  8. The landlord confirmed to this service that the window repair had been delayed due to the glass not being available when an operative went to collect this. While it is accepted that manufacturing delays can occur, the delay here was excessive and can not be attributed fully to a delay in the availability of the glass. Furthermore, it was evident that this reason for the delay was not explained to the resident at the time, or in the landlord’s complaint response. The landlord had here failed to manage both the repairs process and its communication with the resident.
  9. The landlord said in its final complaint response that an operative had attended to replace the window on 29 September 2021 and 22 October 2021 and had not been provided access. The landlord acknowledged here that it had insufficient evidence to demonstrate that it had contacted the resident prior to attending at the property, or that a contact card had been left. This demonstrated a poor standard of record keeping, which had impacted upon the service the resident had received. Furthermore, the date referenced by the landlord of 22 October 2021, appears to be incorrect, as the landlord confirmed to this service that the window repair took place on this date. It was evident here that the landlord had not kept up to date records on the progress of the repair.
  10. The landlord acknowledged in its final response that it had not followed its process correctly when arranging the repair of the window. It did not demonstrate that it had arranged appointments for access with the resident, provided the resident with a target date for completion or kept the resident updated on the progress of the repair. The landlord did not follow the repairs process set out in its repairs and maintenance handbook. This resulted in the resident experiencing a poor level of customer service from the landlord over the 9 month period. The resident did not know when the repair was going to be completed, and this caused him distress and inconvenience. He also had to take the time and trouble to follow up with the landlord in the form of a complaint.
  11. To provide a fair response, landlords are expected to resolve complaints by addressing both the main issue raised and any inconvenience that happened. When a landlord agrees that it failed to provide a service, the expectation is for the landlord to offer redress. While the landlord offered the resident an apology in its final complaint response for not following the correct process, it failed to acknowledge the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident as a result of the excessive delay in completing the repair.
  12. Overall, the resident experienced a delay to the repair of his window. The landlord failed to communicate with the resident and keep him updated on the progress of the repair. The landlord did not follow its repairs process and did not demonstrate that it had arranged repair appointments with the resident or left contact cards following attempts to complete the work. The landlord’s record keeping here was poor and impacted upon its ability to manage the repair. As a result, the resident experienced the distress and inconvenience of the outstanding repair for 9 months. As such there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of repairs to a bedroom window. Compensation of £350 has been ordered to account for the distress, and inconvenience caused to the resident. This is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance for issues affecting a household over a protracted period where the detriment is not considered as having had a major impact on the ability to live in the property.

The landlord’s handling of repairs to walls in the bedroom and kitchen.

  1. The resident advised this service that he had reported damage to a wall in the kitchen and bedroom following a leak from a neighbour’s property. The landlord’s repair records noted that the resident had reported several areas of visible dampness on 8 July 2021. The landlord raised works for a surveyors inspection of walls in the kitchen and bedroom following this report of possible damp. The landlord took the appropriate action here of arranging a survey which took place on 14 July 2021 and identified a schedule of works to be completed. This initial action demonstrated a pro active approach from the landlord once if had been made aware of the possible damp and damage to the walls.
  2. It was evident that the schedule of works was not ordered until the resident raised this as a complaint in September 2021. The landlord acknowledged in its stage one complaint response on 18 October 2021 that it had not raised the orders for this work due to mitigating factors which it had since addressed. It said it had advised the resident on 5 October 2021 that it was likely to take at least 4-6 weeks for the plastering to be completed. However, the landlord confirmed to this Service that the work was completed in August 2023. This was in excess of 2 years after the resident had first raised the issue.
  3. The landlord confirmed to this service that the work was raised on 1 October 2021 and subsequently cancelled in February 2022 due to no access to the property. No evidence had been provided to demonstrate the reasons this order was cancelled. It was evident that the landlord had not contacted the resident about this repair again until August 2023. It was not clear if the resident had continued to follow up with the landlord during this time, however from the photos taking during a housing officer’s visit to the property on 5 August 2023 it was evident that the repair to the kitchen wall and bedroom wall had remained outstanding. The timeframe for repair here was excessive and not appropriate. As a result, the resident endured the distress and inconvenience of the outstanding repairs for a prolonged period. He also confirmed to this Service that he had not been able to fully decorate his property due to the outstanding repair to the walls.
  4. The landlord had also raised further works to cracks on the wall in the resident’s kitchen in November 2021. The landlord had told the resident in its final complaint response on 16 December 2021 that it had missed the appointment to attend to this on 19 November 2021 due to issues with a new IT system. The landlord’s records noted that the repair job was cancelled because the resident had not provided access and had refused to book the job in on 22 December 2021. Under the terms of the tenancy agreement, the resident must allow the landlord access to the property to carry out repairs. However, the landlord did not demonstrate that it had provided the resident with reasonable notice of this appointment. It had also not provided any evidence to demonstrate the communication it had with the resident in arranging the repair or following up after this missed appointment. The landlord had here not demonstrated a customer focused approach.
  5. The landlord had here again demonstrated a poor standard of record keeping. It had failed to demonstrate to this Service that it had arranged appointments in advance with the resident. It had also not demonstrated that it had taken learning from its complaint investigation, in which it acknowledged that it had failed to follow its repair process. This Service expects a landlord to keep accurate records of repairs and communication with residents. The landlord’s explanation here demonstrated a poor standard of record keeping, which had resulted in an excessive delay to the resident’s repair.
  6. The failure to create and record information accurately can result in landlords not taking appropriate and timely action, missing opportunities to identify that actions were wrong or inadequate, and contributing to inadequate communication and redress. As a result of the landlord’s record keeping failures, it had here failed to fully oversee the repair process for the resident on the repairs to the damaged kitchen and bedroom walls, and the cracks to the kitchen wall. As such a recommendation has been made for the landlord to complete a self assessment against the Ombudsman’s Spotlight report on Knowledge and Information Management.
  7. The landlord also failed to communicate effectively with the resident on the progress and status of the repairs to the kitchen walls and bedroom wall. The landlord offered no explanation for the lack of communication or action on the repair to the bedroom wall and kitchen wall between its final complaint response in December 2021 and August 2023. While it was not clear if the resident had followed up with the landlord during this time, the landlord had been aware from July 2021 that a wall in the kitchen and a wall in the bedroom was damp.
  8. The resident had also made the landlord aware during the repairs process in January 2021 that he had Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). He also raised this again in his complaint escalation in November 2021. The Ombudsman cannot draw conclusions on the cause of, or liability for, impacts on health and wellbeing. Nonetheless, consideration has been given to the general distress and inconvenience which the situation may have caused the resident. No evidence was provided to this Service to demonstrate that the landlord took this into consideration when handling the outstanding repairs. The landlord should have taken reasonable steps to understand the impact on the resident of the continued delay to the repairs. The landlord did not demonstrate that it considered the vulnerabilities of the resident in its response to the repairs to the walls which had been noted as damp at the inspection in July 2021.
  9. In summary, the landlord excessively delayed in actioning the repair work required to damp on the walls in the kitchen and bedroom which had been identified in a surveyor report in July 2021. The landlord was delayed in raising the work and once it had, it failed to demonstrate that it sufficiently communicated with the resident to arrange repair appointments. The landlord did not provide sufficient evidence for the reasons it cancelled this repair in February 2022 and then failed to follow up on the outstanding repair again following the cancellation until August 2023. It also failed to demonstrate that it had taken into consideration the resident’s health vulnerabilities in its response to the damp identified to the walls. The landlord’s record keeping here was poor and it had not overseen the repair fully.
  10. The landlord did not demonstrate that it had learnt from the acknowledgement of its errors during its complaint investigation. While it had apologised to the resident for the delays, it did not offer the resident redress to account for the continuation of the repair issues for a further 20 months. The resident had to endure the outstanding repair to both walls for a total period of 2 years, causing him significant distress and inconvenience. Therefore, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of repairs to walls in the bedroom and kitchen. Compensation of £800 has been ordered. This is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance for cases where the landlord’s failures have had a serious, and detrimental impact.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of repairs to a bedroom window.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of repairs to walls in the bedroom and kitchen.

Orders and recommendations

Orders.

  1. The Ombudsman orders the landlord to apologise to the resident for the failings identified in this report.
  2. The Ombudsman orders the landlord to pay the resident a total of £1150 compensation. Compensation should be paid directly to the resident, and not offset against any arrears. The compensation comprises of:
    1. £350 for the distress, and inconvenience caused by the landlord’s handling of repairs to a bedroom window.
    2. £800 for the distress, and inconvenience caused by the landlord’s handling of repairs to walls in the bedroom and kitchen.
  3. The landlord is to provide evidence of compliance with the above orders to this Service within four weeks of the date of this report.

Recommendations.

  1. The landlord should review its staff training needs in regard to the importance of communicating with residents throughout the repair process.
  2. In May 2023, the Ombudsman published a spotlight report on knowledge and information management. Although this report was issued after this case, it is recommended that the landlord, if it has not already done so, completes a self-assessment against this report and identifies any potential improvements to its service delivery in the future.
  3. If the landlord has not already done so, it should contact the resident to find out if he is satisfied with the repair work completed in August 2023, and if necessary, arrange a further inspection.