Tower Hamlets Homes (202223024)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202223024

Tower Hamlets Homes

23 August 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:
    1. The landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of no heating or hot water.

Background

  1. The resident is a secure tenant. The property is a third floor, 1 bedroom flat. There are no vulnerabilities recorded for the resident on the housing records.
  2. The resident told the landlord on 15 October 2022 that the communal boiler broke down on 12 October 2022 and the residents in the block had been left without heating and hot water. He said he contacted the landlord on 14 October 2022 and was told an engineer would attend within 2 hours, but nobody turned up
  3. The resident said an engineer attended on 15 October and noted he could not carry out the work as he ‘‘only dealt with commercial boilers.’’ He said a further engineer was sent on the same day and noted the pipes were blocked and the heat plate needed replacing. He said he was told another engineer would attend within 2 hours to unblock the pipe but again, no one attended. He was told later that day that the job was closed as the repair had been completed. The resident confirmed he was still without heating and hot water. He also noted there were vulnerable residents living in the block, including residents whose first language was not English.
  4. The resident raised a complaint on 25 October 2022. He said he had been without heating and hot water since 12 October 2022 and had received no response from the landlord.
  5. The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response on 8 November 2022 and said:
    1. Its contractor attended on 20 October 2022 and established that the heating exchange plates were blocked and new plates were required. The parts needed to be ordered and this led to delay in arranging an appointment.
    2. Its contractor attended on 27 October to complete the work but was unable to gain access. The appointment was rescheduled for 28 October 2022 in agreement with the resident.
    3. Its contractor attended on 28 October 2022 and replaced the heat exchange plates. The heating and hot water were restored and left in working order.
    4. A further appointment was arranged for 7 November 2022 (between 6pm and 8pm) given it received further reports from the resident that he had no heating and hot water. The contractor attended later than scheduled as the operative was delayed on a previous appointment.
    5. Upon attendance, the system was isolated and flushed. The heating exchange plates were also changed and the resident was left with heating and hot water.
    6. It raised concerns with its contractor to ensure it was fully equipped for future repairs and reinforced the service levels expected.
    7. It would offer £50 compensation for the resident’s time and trouble having to pursue the matter and for any distress and inconvenience caused. A further £30 compensation would be offered given its contractor arrived late for the appointment.
  6. The resident asked for his complaint to be escalated on 8 November 2022. He said the landlord’s communication was poor and the offer of compensation insufficient given the inconvenience that was caused, which included having to take time off work. He noted the problem occurred at the same time every year and queried why a contingency plan was not in place given many of the residents in the block were vulnerable or did not speak English as their first language. He asked the landlord to confirm the date when the problems with the communal heating system was first reported and noted that he expected a full refund of his heating service charge.
  7. The landlord issued its final complaint response on 25 November 2022 and said:
    1. The resident’s report of no heating and hot water was logged on 20 October 2022. Its contractor attended on the same day and found the hot water supply plates were blocked. A new heat exchange plate was installed on 24 October 2022.
    2. Its contractor attended again on 7 November 2022 following further reports of no heating and hot water. The system was flushed and the heating and hot water left in working order.
    3. The resident was without heating or hot water between 20 October 2022 and 8 November 2022
    4. It would increase its offer of compensation from £80 to £158 for the loss of heating and hot water.
  8. The resident’s complaint was accepted by this Service on 12 January 2024. He said the heating system had broken down on numerous occasions since the landlord issued its final complaint response.

Assessment and findings

The landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of no heating or hot water.

  1. It is important to note that accurate record keeping is essential and helps ensure landlords meet their repair obligations. It also ensures accurate information is provided to residents. As a member of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord also has an obligation to provide this Service with sufficient information to enable a thorough investigation to be undertaken. In this case, the records provided by the landlord were limited and its poor record keeping has made it difficult to determine whether its actions were fair and reasonable in the circumstances.
  2. The housing records confirm the resident contacted the landlord on 15 October 2022 and said the communal boiler had broken down on 12 October 2022 and the residents living in the block had been left without heating and hot water. The landlord was placed on notice at this point and had an obligation to meet its repairing obligations as set out in the resident’s tenancy agreement. This says it is responsible for keeping installations in the property in repair and working order, including heating and hot water. No heating during the winter months and loss of hot water are classified as emergency repairs. The landlord’s repairs policy says it will complete emergency repairs within 24 hours.
  3. The resident noted that the problem happened every winter and that some of the residents were vulnerable or did not speak English as their first language. He said he had contacted the landlord on a number of occasions but was told the computer system was down and he needed to be patient. He also said the landlord told him on 14 October 2022 that an engineer would visit within 2 hours, but no one attended.
  4. The housing records confirm the landlord raised a repair on 15 October 2022 and it asked its contractor to provide the resident with an update. There is no evidence it did this and it is unclear whether it attended and if so, what work was carried out. This was a failure and demonstrates poor record keeping on the part of the landlord. The resident noted an engineer did attend on 15 October 2022 but could not complete the work as he ‘‘only dealt with commercial boilers.’’ He said another engineer visited on the same day and identified the pipes were blocked and the heat plates needed to be replaced. He also said he was told someone would visit and unblock the pipes within 2 hours, but no one attended. There is no evidence the landlord responded to the resident’s email.
  5. The housing records confirm the landlord did not raise a further repair until 17 October 2022. The contractor attended on the same day in accordance with the target timescales set out in the landlord’s repairs policy. It was identified the heat plates needed to be replaced. It was noted on the repair record there were ‘‘no temporary measures available when the heat plates need changing.’’ This suggest the landlord had no effective plans in place to deal with incidents where heat plates needed to be cleaned or replaced. There is no evidence the resident was offered temporary heating. The landlord’s repair policy says it will do this. This was a failure on the part of the landlord.
  6. The landlord contacted the resident on 18 October 2022 and said its contractor attended on the previous day and the job was complete. The resident confirmed on the same day that the repair had not been completed and he had been without heating and hot water since the previous week. He said the problem was an issue every winter and he queried why the landlord did not have a contingency plan in place. There is no evidence the landlord responded to the resident’s e-mail. This was a failure on the part of the landlord.
  7. A further repair was ordered on 20 October 2022. The contractor attended on the same day in accordance with the landlord’s repairs policy and identified the heating exchange plates were blocked and new plates were required. It is unclear from the housing records when the parts were ordered. Again, there is no evidence the resident was offered temporary heating or provided with an update. This was a failure and not in accordance with the landlord’s repairs policy. This says it will tell residents when they should expect repairs to be completed and keep them informed.
  8. The landlord said it replaced the heat exchange plates on 24 October 2022, but there is no record confirming this.
  9. The resident told the landlord on 25 October 2022 that no one had contacted him. It was appropriate for the landlord to contact the resident on the same day and confirm is contractor would be in contact to agree a plan of action. There is no evidence the landlord’s contractor did this. This was a failure, demonstrates poor customer care and was contrary to the landlord’s repairs policy which says it will provide an excellent service that performs to standards agreed with residents.
  10. Whilst the landlord said its contractor attended on 27 October 2022 and was unable to gain access, it is unclear from the housing records whether the appointment was agreed with the resident in accordance with its repairs policy. The resident said he was not told about the appointment. A further appointment was arranged with the resident and the heating system was repaired on 28 October 2022.
  11. A further repair was ordered on 31 October 2022 following a report of no heating or hot water. The landlord’s contractor attended on the following day in accordance with the landlord’s repairs policy and it was identified that the heating plates were blocked again and new ones were required. The landlord told the resident on 3 November 2022 that its contractor would attend on 4 November 2022 to check the communal boiler and heating and hot water supply in the resident’s property.
  12. The housing records confirm the landlord’s contractor attended on 4 November 2022, although it is unclear from the housing records what works were completed, if any or what information was shared with the resident. The resident told the landlord on the same day that the repair did not work and he queried why it used recycled heating plates rather than buy new ones. He said he had been told this was because they cost too much to replace and he asked for an explanation. He also said he could no longer afford to take time off work and asked the landlord to arrange for the contractor to attend out of hours on 7 November 2022.
  13. The landlord confirmed on 7 November 2022 that the heating plates were not recycled but needed to be cleaned by a specialist contractor. It said there was no need to fit new heating plates. It was reasonable for the landlord to ask the resident if he would like the 4pm appointment rearranging to a more convenient time and noted that evening appointments were available between 6pm and 8pm. The resident contacted the landlord later that day and said he left work early to make the 6pm appointment agreed with the contractor, but no one turned up.
  14. The landlord’s contractor confirmed on 8 November 2022 that its engineer turned up late for the appointment on the previous day. It said the heating plates were replaced and the resident was left with heating and hot water. It was reasonable for the landlord to offer an apology and to note it had escalated the matter with its contractor, although no records have been provided to this Service confirming it did this.
  15. It was reasonable for the landlord to offer an apology in its stage 1 complaint response on 8 November 2022 for taking several attempts to resolve the issue with the heating system and for any stress and inconvenience caused. It also said it had reinforced the service standards it expected with its contractor and asked it to ensure its engineers were fully equipped to undertake repairs. It offered the resident £50 compensation for the time and trouble in pursuing the matter and £30 for attending late for the appointment on 7 November 2022. it did not, however, offer any compensation for the loss of heating and hot water.
  16. The resident told the landlord on 9 November 2022 that the offer of compensation was insufficient given the level of inconvenience he experienced and the time he had to take off work. He also questioned why the landlord had not learnt lessons given the previous problems with the heating system and said he expected a full refund of his service charge for the weeks he had been without heating and hot water.
  17. The landlord increased its offer of compensation in its final complaint response on 25 November 2022 from £80 to £158. It said this was for the loss of hot water and heating between the 20 October 2022 and 8 November 2022. It did not, however, address the resident’s request for compensation for having to take time off work or to be reimbursed the service charge for the period he was without heating and hot water. This was a failure on the part of the landlord. Neither did it acknowledge that the resident was without heating or hot water before 20 October 2022.
  18. When considering how a landlord has responded to a complaint, this Service considers not just what has gone wrong, but also what the landlord has done to put things right in response to the complaint. This includes the steps the landlord has taken to address the shortcoming and prevent a reoccurrence, as well as any compensation offered. In this case, the landlord has failed to satisfy this Service that it has learnt from the complaint. This Service’s dispute resolution principles encourage landlords to not just resolve the immediate complaint, but to learn from outcomes in order to improve its wider service delivery.
  19. In summary, the landlord’s poor record keeping has made it difficult to determine whether its actions were fair in the circumstances and in accordance with its policies and procedures. It is, however, evident that it took multiple attempts to repair the resident’s heating system and it did not meet its obligations under his tenancy agreement. Its communication was also poor at times, it failed to offer temporary heating and there is no evidence it learnt from the complaint. It is evident the situation caused the resident distress and inconvenience. In this case, there was maladministration by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s reports of no heating or hot water, for which it is ordered to pay the resident £328 compensation for the inconvenience and distress caused.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s reports of no heating or hot water.

Orders

  1. Within four weeks of the date of this report, the landlord is ordered to offer a written apology to the resident for the failings set out in this report. A copy of the apology must be shared with this Service.
  2. Within four weeks of the date of this report, the landlord is ordered to pay the resident £308 compensation. This must be paid directly to the resident and made up as follows:
    1. £150 compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident in its handling of his reports of no heating or hot water.
    2. £158 compensation previously offered to the resident, if not already paid.
  3. Within four weeks of the date of this report, the landlord is ordered to set out its position to the resident with regards to whether it will reimburse him the service charge whilst he was left without heating and hot water. It must provide this Service with a copy of its decision.
  4. Within four weeks of the date of this report, the landlord is ordered to undertake a self-assessment against this Service’s spotlight review on knowledge and information management. A copy of the self-assessment must be shared with this Service.