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Anchor Hanover Group (202232424)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202232424

Anchor Hanover Group

24 May 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 the resident’s concerns that his service charge includes communal heating costs.

Background

  1. The resident has a secure tenancy for a 2-bedroomed ground floor flat. The tenancy began on 10 October 2017.
  2. The landlord is a housing association. It is aware of the resident’s disability and vulnerabilities.
  3. The estate the resident lives on consists of a main building containing 30 flats, two external blocks containing four flats each and a single stand alone flat. The resident lives in one of the external blocks. All residents have the right to use the communal areas in the main building, which includes two communal lounges, a games room, a reading room, a laundry room and a guest room.
  1. On 3 November 2020 the resident made a complaint to the landlord. He said he felt it was unfair that the resident’s in the external blocks were being charged for the communal central heating in the main building. The resident wanted the communal heating to be taken off his service charge or the landlord to install heating in the stairwells of both external blocks.
  2. On 20 November 2020 the landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response, it said:
    1. all residents on the estate contribute towards communal heating equally as everyone has the right to use the communal areas in the main building.
    2. It would investigate whether it would be possible to install heating into the external blocks. Due to the COVID-19 lockdown and proximity to the Christmas period, it was unlikely this would take place until the following year.
  3. On 21 May 2021 the landlord contacted the resident and said it had received a quotation to install heating into the external block stairwells. It said there was no budget to undertake any improvement works that year, but it would request funding for the following year.
  4. On 17 August 2021 the landlord contacted the resident and said a surveyor would be attending the estate to see if it could ask for heating to be installed that year and to look at any temporary solutions. The landlord told the resident on 30 September 2021 that the surveyor had said any heating installed would not be effective and would be costly. Although there were no temporary solutions, it would continue to work with its assets team on whether there were any other options.
  5. On 16 January 2023 the resident contacted the landlord and asked to make a complaint that the residents in the external blocks were still paying for the communal central heating in the main building. He asked for an update on this issue. The landlord took a new complaint, however, the resident asked the landlord to investigate the complaint at stage 2 as he felt he had already been through stage 1. The landlord agreed to his request.
  6. In the landlord’s stage 2 complaint response dated 16 February 2023, it said
    1. Its asset evaluation surveyor had completed a stock condition survey of the estate. His view was that the external block with the atrium was not designed to be heated and heating would be of limited value in the other external block.
    2. There were issues with where the supply for any new heating would come from, and the residents would be impacted by additional costs and would need to be consulted about the proposal. Considering the recent increases in utility costs and the overall cost of living rises, it thought an increase in service charge would be a concern for many residents.
    3. Having considered all these factors, due to the limited impact of the proposal, the works could not be considered a priority. The most appropriate and cost-effective time to review the matter would be as part of any heating upgrade works to the whole scheme.
  7. On 3 January 2024 the landlord contacted the resident and said it had carried out a review of his complaint. It said it was not going to change its position on the installation of heating or the reallocation of service charges. However, it arranged to visit him on 18 January 2024 to discuss improving his situation and any support it could offer. It offered the resident £200 compensation for its lack of communication, and its failure to address his concerns about his disability.

Assessment and findings

  1. The Ombudsman’s dispute resolution principles are:
    1. be fair
    2. put things right
    3. learn from outcomes.
  2. This Service will apply these principles when considering whether any redress is appropriate and proportionate for any maladministration or service failure identified.

Scope of the investigation

  1. Under Paragraph 42(d) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, we may not consider complaints which, concern the level of a service charge or the amount of a service charge increase. Complaints that relate to the level, reasonableness, or liability to pay rent or service charges are within the jurisdiction of the First-Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) (FTT(PC)). The resident’s complaint relating to the liability to pay a service charge is outside the jurisdiction of this Service. This investigation has therefore focussed on the steps the landlord took to investigate his concerns. The resident would be advised to seek legal advice in relation to how to proceed with these issues.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s concerns that his service charge includes communal heating costs

  1. The resident’s tenancy agreement states the service charge will be calculated as a fair and reasonable share of the cost of services on the estate. It also states the landlord may vary the apportionment if it is reasonable to do so.
  1. The resident raised a complaint to the landlord about his service charge on 3 November 2020. He felt it was unfair that the residents who lived in the external blocks had to pay for the communal heating in the main building within their service charge. In its stage 1 complaint response the landlord said that all residents contributed equally to the communal heating costs as they all have the use of and benefited from the communal facilities in the main building. This response was appropriate as it was in line with the terms of resident’s tenancy agreement. The tenancy agreement makes it clear that all residents will pay towards the cost of services on the estate, not just for the individual buildings they live in.
  2. Although the landlord said it would not consider changing the resident’s service charge, it listened to his concerns that there was no heating in the stairwells of the external blocks. It was reasonable that the landlord arranged for a contractor to investigate whether it would be possible to install heating into these areas. The landlord told the resident it had received a quote to install heating in the external block stairways on 21 May 2021, this was 6 months after the resident made a complaint. Although the landlord had informed the resident it would not take any action until 2021 due to the Christmas period and the impact of Covid-19, there was evidence of poor communication from the landlord. Between February and April 2021, the resident chased an update from the landlord several times. There is no evidence the landlord responded to the resident. The landlord acted inappropriately by failing to manage the resident’s expectations and failing to communicate effectively.
  3. In May 2021, the landlord told the resident there was no budget to carry out improvement works that year, but it would request funding from the following years budget. The resident asked the landlord if it could install temporary heating in the meantime. The landlord acted appropriately by instructing its surveyor to visit the two external blocks in August 2021. In September 2021, the landlord told the resident that the surveyor had advised it that any heating installed would be ineffective and costly, so it would not install any temporary heating. It was reasonable for the landlord to act on the advice of its surveyor.
  4. In January 2023, the resident asked to escalate his complaint to stage 2 in January 2023. Given the length of time that had passed since the resident made his initial complaint it was reasonable that the landlord initially recorded this as a new complaint. The landlord acted appropriately by listening to the resident’s concerns that he would not be able to escalate his complaint to this Service and issued a stage 2 response on 16 February 2023. The landlord showed it considered all relevant factors when considering the resident’s request for heating to be installed, including the surveyor’s opinion on the effectiveness of heating the stairwells, the cost of the works and the impact of an increase in service charge for all residents. The landlord acted reasonably by stating it would review the residents request again as part of any heating upgrade works to the whole estate.
  5. The landlord was aware of the resident’s disability and vulnerabilities. Under the Equality Act 2010 landlords are required to take positive steps to ensure disabled residents can access their services as easily as non-disabled residents. Landlords should make adjustments when disabled residents are placed at a substantial disadvantage because of their disability compared to non-disabled people. The reasonable adjustment duty is ‘anticipatory’, meaning landlords cannot wait until a disabled resident needs to use its service. It must consider in advance what disabled residents may reasonably need to access its services. No evidence has been provided to show the landlord considered if any wider adjustments were needed or assessed, this was a failing.
  6. The landlord completed a review of the resident’s complaint in January 2024. It contacted the resident and acknowledged and apologised for the failings that were identified in this investigation. The landlord showed learning from this review and took steps to put things right. It offered the resident £200 compensation and visited the resident on 18 January 2024 to discuss any support needs. While the level of compensation is at a level that the Ombudsman would suggest, given the landlord did not use its complaints process to offer this redress and the lengthy period since the final complaint response was issued, a finding of service failure is appropriate.
  7. Based on the above, the Ombudsman finds service failure for the failures identified in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s concerns about the communal heating costs being included in his service charge.
  8. The resident would benefit from a written breakdown of the current service charge, with reference to the area of the estate that these charges relate to. This will equip the resident with the information he needs to challenge any aspects of the service charge that he feels are unreasonable or have been levied in error, and to seek legal advice in relation to his complaint that he should not be paying for the communal heating in the main building.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure in respect of the landlord’s handing of the resident’s concerns that his service charge includes communal heating costs.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of the date of this report the landlord is ordered to:
    1. Apologise to the resident for the failures identified in this report.
    2. If it has not already done so, it must pay the resident the £200 compensation it offered him in January 2024.
    3. Write to the resident providing a detailed description of each of the charges included in the breakdown of his current service charge, including the area of the estate to which those services relate.
    4. Update its records to ensure that the request to consider additional heating in the external blocks is noted for any future heating upgrade.