Platform Housing Group Limited (202120865)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202120865

Platform Housing Group Limited

22 November 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 is about:
   1. The landlords handling of the resident’s concerns about rear access to their garden, and;
   2. the landlords handling of the resident’s complaint through its internal complaints process.

Background

2. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord.
3. The landlord’s communication logs show that the resident first reported the neighbour blocking rear access to her garden with their vehicle on 14 June 2019. The landlord made contact with the neighbour around this time. The resident raised further concerns in December 2020, with the landlord’s records indicating that it again contacted the neighbour, and would ‘speak to the Tech Officer and Health and safety about this access route.’
4. The resident next made contact with the landlord in March 2021, with no evidence that the landlord responded. The resident made a formal complaint about the matter on 21 June 2021. The landlord logged this complaint as a ‘quick resolution’ with a telephone response provided on 24 June 2021. The next contact with the resident was in July 2021, with a note stating, ‘called re alley way access I have asked grounds team to clear and lay matting to resolve access issues.’. Internal records show the landlord requesting a quote to clear bushes and lay matting on 6 July 2021.
5. The resident contacted the landlord on 24 July 2021 expressing frustration at the lack of action taken. The landlord logged a ‘formal resolution’ on 26 July 2021, informing the resident that a response would be provided by 9 August 2021.
6. A further request for a quote ‘to remove the bushes, level and mat and gravel and install concrete bollards to prevent parking issues’ was made on 9 August 2021. The quote was provided in early September 2021, with internal records noting that this was in excess of what had been expected, and so the landlord asked for a quote just for removal of shrubs and levelling off the ground. This was provided in early October 2021, and a job was subsequently raised and carried out around December 2021.
7. The landlord provided the stage one response on 8 October 2021 in which it recognised that the resident had been reporting the issue since 2019, and that it had not followed up on promised action at that time, and there had been delays in addressing the matter. It said that a job had now been raised to clear and level off the area to allow easier access to the rear garden. The landlord upheld the complaint and offered an apology and a food hamper.
8. The resident requested escalation on 14 December 2021 as she was dissatisfied with the landlord’s actions, and as the neighbour’s vehicle continued to block her access. She asked the landlord to find a way for her to have full access to the garden, and for compensation for the time trouble and stress the matter had caused since 2019.
9. The landlord provided a final response on 27 January 2022. It recognised the issue had been going on for a substantial length of time and that its handling had been poor, and apologised. It offered £100 compensation for its failure to maintain the shrub bed, and £200 for the failure to follow up on the reports about parking impacting access and to ensure effective handover between colleagues. It set out action it would take to resolve the access issue.
10. On 7 February 2022 the landlord visited in relation to the laying of a new path to assist with access. In April 2022 the resident noted that no further action had been taken. The resident referred the complaint to the Ombudsman as she remained dissatisfied with the compensation amount and considered that the issue with the neighbour’s van blocking the pathway had not been resolved.

Assessment and findings

Rear access to garden

11. The resident’s tenancy agreement states that the resident must not park in a way that might obstruct anybody who uses pavements for paths, accessways and so on. It is assumed that the neighbour’s tenancy agreement states the same. The tenancy agreement also sets out that the landlord will keep in repair pathways, steps and other means of access.
12. As such, the landlord had a duty to respond to and address the resident’s concerns about rear access to her garden. As can be seen from the background section above, and the landlord’s own response to the complaint, it failed to carry out this duty in a reasonable and fair manner. As part of its final review response, the landlord accepted a number of failings in its handling of the resident’s concerns:
    1. The matter had been ongoing since 2019
    2. It had failed to follow up the resident’s reports.
    3. By February 2022 the only action that had been taken was the clearing of the shrubs
    4. No solution to the blocking of access to the garden had been successfully implemented.
    5. There had been a lack of effective handover of the issue between officers
    6. The resident had to complain to try and resolve the problem.
13. This demonstrates that the landlord looked into the issues raised in the complaint and was able to identify where things had gone wrong. It was appropriate that the landlord acknowledged its failings. However, it did not detail what action it would take to learn from these failings, and avoid them in the future. Neither did it refer to the communication failures: In particular it is evident that from 6 July 2021 to 10 September 2021 that there was liaison with colleagues, discussing plans to resolve the issues and obtaining quotes, but no evidence that the resident was updated throughout the process.
14. The failings in this case resulted in time and trouble for the resident in pursuing the matter, frustration at the lack of action on the part of the landlord, and continued issues with accessing her back garden via the rear of the property. She has also noted a deteriorating relationship with the neighbour. The landlord’s compensation offer of £300, while appropriate in as much that it was an attempt to ‘put things right’ for the resident, was insufficient as a remedy for the cumulative impact its failings had. In light of this, orders for remedy are made below, taking into account the Ombudsman’s own compensation guidance which sets out amounts of between £250 to £700 where there has been a considerable service failure or maladministration, but no permanent impact on the complainant.
15. The landlord also offered a resolution to the access issues in its final response, saying that it would work with the resident and liaise with its Property Team to resolve the situation and ensure the resident had clear access to her rear garden, and address the parking arrangements of the neighbours, reminding them of their tenancy obligations and ask them to be neighbourly when parking their vehicles. It said that the resident would be kept updated throughout the process.
16. It was appropriate for the landlord to set out what action it would take to address the issue, showing that it intended to ‘put things right’. However, there is little evidence that it then carried out these actions. There is a note from a visit to the resident on 7 February 2022 as a follow up, but no further indication that any action was taken to address the rear access issue or update the resident. The records show the resident reporting in late February and April 2022 a lack of progress and updates.
17. In an email to this service in April 2022, the resident explained that they had heard nothing further from the landlord since the February 202 visit, and no further action had been taken. This indicates a continuing failure on the part of the landlord to follow up its agreed actions and to communicate with the resident. Therefore, orders are made to remedy this below.

Complaint handling

18. The landlord logged the original complaint as a ‘Quick Resolution’ complaint in line with its complaints policy on 22 June 2021. In line with its policy, the quick resolution complaint response was two working days and the landlord met this timeframe.
19. A ‘formal resolution’ complaint was then logged on 26 July 2021, and in line with the landlord’s policy, the landlord should have aimed to have completed investigations within 10 working days. In cases where matters were complex and it needed more time, it would keep in regular contact and keep the resident updated on the progress.
20. The formal complaint was logged on 26 July 2021. There is evidence that the landlord left a voicemail for the resident on 30 July 202, spoke with the resident on 3 August 2021 and left another voicemail on 23 August 2021, to discuss a further extension. However, the landlord provided its first response on 8 October 2021. Based on the evidence, it is clear that the landlord was in regular contact with the resident and the call logs indicate that it spoke with the resident through September 2021 and early October 2021. The landlord provided an update on the actions it had considered, explaining that the cost for the maintenance works were higher than expected, however, agreeing to cut back and maintain the shrubs. The landlord explained at the time that any other works were not guaranteed but advised it would seek further confirmation.
21. However, no formal response was provided until October 2021, 54 working days after the submission of the stage 1 complaint, with little indication that the resident’s expectations were managed, or that she was informed when she would receive a formal complaint, to allow her to escalate this if so felt necessary. This was a failing on the part of the landlord, causing the resident additional frustration, and prolonged the complaint cycle, which has not been recognised or remedied by the landlord.
22. The final response was provided within a reasonable timeframe, just outside of the 20 working days stipulated in the complaint policy.

Determination

23. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in relation to the landlord’s handling of the resident’s concerns about rear access to their garden.
24. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure in relation to the handling of the resident’s complaint through its internal complaints process.

Orders

25. Within one month of the date of this report, the landlord must:
    1. Pay the resident a total of £575 (comprised of £500 for the failings in the handling of the concerns about access, and £75 for the delays in complaint handling). If the £300 previously offered has already been paid, it can be deducted from this amount.
    2. Review the handling of the access issue, to determine the cause of the delays in addressing this, and what action has been/needs to be taken to prevent similar failings in the future. It should write to the Ombudsman with the outcome of this review.
    3. If it has not already done so in the previous 12 months, undertake a staff training exercise for all staff members that deal with complaints, to ensure that these are handled in line with the complaint policy, and the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code.
26. Within two months of the date of this report, the landlord must, in line with the commitments made in its stage two response:
    1. Liaise with the property team to resolve the situation and ensure clear access to the garden.
    2. Address the parking arrangements of neighbours, remind them of their tenancy obligations and ask them to be neighbourly when parking their vehicles,
    3. Keep the resident updated throughout the process.
    4. The landlord should provide the Ombudsman with of evidence of this.