Season 6 episode 1 – July 2024

Victoria King, Sector Learning and Development Lead

Welcome to our Housing Ombudsman podcast, I am Victoria King, Sector Learning and Development Lead at the Housing Ombudsman Service. We are here to talk about some of our case work.

I am joined today by Humphrey, one of our Dispute Examiners. Humphrey would you like to introduce yourself and tell us what part of the Housing Ombudsman Service you work in and a little about your role?

Humphrey Narebor, Dispute Examiner

Hello Victoria. Thanks for inviting me to take part. My role with the Triage and mediation team involves assessing complaints brought by residents to the Ombudsman to determine if the complaint falls within its jurisdiction to investigate, if there is scope for resolving the complaint earlier than if it would be if progressed for formal investigation, using the Ombudsman’s mediation process and preparing those cases that aren’t for formal investigation.

Victoria King, Sector Learning and Development Lead

So we are here to talk about a complaint you recently worked on. Would you like to tell us a little bit about what the complaint concerned?

Humphrey Narebor, Dispute Examiner

The complaint concerned:

• the landlord's handling of the repair of the resident's kitchen
• the landlord's handling of the resident's reports about an infestation of mice
• the conduct of members of the landlord's staff and its contractors
• the landlord's communication, complaint handling and the amount of compensation it has offered

The resident explained that the outstanding issues were:

• that the mice infestation persists
• that kitchen repairs have not been completed to a satisfactory standard because the tiling work is poor and the kitchen work top is not level as water pools on it after use of their kitchen tap
• that they are not satisfied with the landlord’s response to their complaint about the conduct of members of its staff and contactors because it was not fully addressed in its complaint response
• that the landlord should increase the amount of compensation it has offered from £500 to £2000 to reflect the length of time it is taking to resolve all of the complaint issues and the consequent stress and inconvenience they report experiencing

Victoria King, Sector Learning and Development Lead

Thank you, Humphrey, could you tell us what the resident was seeking resolution wise from their complaint?

Humphrey Narebor, Dispute Examiner

The resident explained they were seeking:

• that the landlord should increase its offer of compensation from £500 to £2000
• that landlord should post inspect tiling work and the kitchen worktops, assess if these have been completed to a satisfactory standard and carry out any further remedial work it agrees with the resident should be done
• that works to remedy the mice infestation should continue until it is eradicated, and that the landlord should agree a further treatment program with the resident

Victoria King, Sector Learning and Development Lead

What did you do when you started to work on the case?

Humphrey Narebor, Dispute Examiner

I had to read the case file to understand the issues complained about, the issues that remained outstanding and the outcomes or resolution the resident was seeking. I then contacted both parties (i.e. the resident and the landlord) and asked them if they would consider taking part in our mediation process in order to resolve the complaint.

The mediation process is optional for the resident and the landlord. If both agree to take part, and an agreement is reached in this way, we set out the terms in a determination, and ensure that any agreed actions are carried out before closing the case. However, if the landlord offers something different to what the resident proposes to resolve their complaint, we may contact the resident to find out if they will accept the counter proposal or if we think the offer is fair, we may issue a determination explaining that the landlord’s proposed resolution is sufficient to resolve the complaint and take no further action. If either party decides not to take part, or agreement is not reached, the case will usually be progressed for formal investigation.

Victoria King, Sector Learning and Development Lead

How did the landlord respond?

Humphrey Narebor, Dispute Examiner

The LL responded to and agreed with the mediation proposal in a timely manner, and we issued a mediation decision recommending that:

The landlord should arrange payment of the increased compensation of £2000 to the resident within 4 weeks and let us know when its been done. The landlord should inspect the kitchen work and arrange for any remedial work. It should let the resident know in writing about what remedial work needs to be done/not done. Give the resident a schedule of the works and provide the resident with its final response that addresses the conduct of its staff and contractors.

Victoria King, Sector Learning and Development Lead

What was good about the landlord’s engagement in the mediation process?

Humphrey Narebor, Dispute Examiner

The landlord responded to the mediation proposal within a week, did not make any counter proposals, agreed to all the terms proposed by the resident, and did not make any counter proposals. It proceeded in a timely manner to carry out the agreed actions, accommodating the resident’s needs and circumstances, such as:

delaying inspections and works following of the birth of the resident’s granddaughter
carrying out these inspections and works on Saturdays at the resident’s request because they could not get time off weekdays from their teaching job
carrying out repairs the landlord was responsible for but which were not part of the complaint which were identified during the inspections – repair of an immersion heater, replacing failed loft insulation and repairing the resident’s bathroom lighting
carrying our further post inspections and returning to rectify minor issues
responding in a timely manner to enquiries I sent to it about compliance with the mediation determination and recommendations and providing evidence of this

The landlord has in this case taken steps and made an offer of compensation, that has put things right for the resident.  I believe its increased compensation award is reasonable (in comparison with its original award, given the length of time it took to rectify the repairs/maintenance issues and the impact this would have had on the resident), that it redressed any failings in its handling of the kitchen works and the pest infestation, restoring the resident to their original position.  The landlord issued the resident a formal written apology for the conduct of its staff and contractors, its poor complaint handling and because as it stated in the apology letter, it “didn’t resolve your issues promptly to your satisfaction, when you raised them with us”.

The landlord also explained in its letter to the resident changes it had made to ensure improved responses to service requests for repairs and maintenance from residents, including moving all its responsive repairs and maintenance services in-house, staff training, and introducing new digital systems.

The Ombudsman’s Dispute Resolution Principles include outcomes being fair, providing a remedy which is appropriate and proportionate to the severity of any failings by a landlord, that the remedy should put things right and that there should be learnings from the outcomes, such as improvements in terms of process and systems. I believe we have ticked all the boxes in this case.

Victoria King, Sector Learning and Development Lead

Have you spoken to the resident? What did they have to say about the outcome?

Humphrey Narebor, Dispute Examiner

That overall, they were satisfied with the outcomes negotiated by the Ombudsman which they believed either would not have been achieved or would have taken much longer to acheive.

Victoria King, Sector Learning and Development Lead

How can residents contact the Housing Ombudsman Service for support with mediation? Do you require any specific information?

Humphrey Narebor, Dispute Examiner

In the usual ways, by telephoning, emailing, or sending letters to us. The complaint must have exhausted the landlord’s complaints procedure and its final response issued. After assessing the complaint, we would in any case contact residents where we believe their complaint may be suitable for mediation.

For resident’s mediation proposals to have a reasonable chance of being accepted by a landlord, they should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, or realistic and time bound. On our part, we also consider the extent to which the landlord in their formal responses to the resident’s complaint have acknowledged any failings in their handling of the issues a resident has complained about or if they have any responsibility for resolving the issue at all.

Victoria King, Sector Learning and Development Lead

Humphrey thank you so much for your time to discuss this case. If you are a resident who would like to contact us, our number is 0300 111 3000 or you can write to us at

Housing Ombudsman Service
PO Box 1484
Unit D
Preston
PR2 0ET

If you have access to our website, you can complete an online form on there. You can email us at info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk