Birmingham City Council (202012909)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202012909

Birmingham City Council

11 May 2021

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. This complaint is about the landlord’s response to the resident’s concerns regarding the condition of her kitchen and bathroom, which she considers need to be replaced.

Background and summary of events

2. The resident is a secure tenant of the landlord. She moved to the property in 2014.

3. The resident contacted the landlord on 22 September 2020 to ask for the kitchen and bathroom at her property to be upgraded. She advised that other properties owned by the landlord in the area had already had their kitchens and bathrooms upgraded several years ago. She explained that the former tenant at her property refused access for the landlord’s contractors to carry out the refurbishment and for this reason the kitchen and bathroom at her property were not upgraded. She advised that the kitchen and bathroom had not been updated since the property was built.

4. The landlord responded to the complaint the same day and advised it had put its kitchen and bathroom replacement programme on hold. It explained this was because the landlord had to use its financial resources to improve fire safety in its high-rise buildings in line with recent government guidance. The landlord explained how the resident could report any repairs needed to the kitchen and bathroom.

5. The resident escalated her complaint on 1 October 2020. She said she understood that the landlord had put its replacement programme on hold. However, the landlord had given no indication concerning when or if the programme would be reinstated or that her property would be included in the programme in future. The resident advised she had previously asked the landlord to fit additional plug sockets in the property as she did not have enough sockets to fit a washing machine. The landlord had refused this request. The resident also said that when she moved to the property there were tiles missing from the kitchen wall and because of this her supplier refused to fit the cooker for health and safety reasons.

6. The landlord issued its final response to the complaint on the same day. It advised that there would be no decision on the reinstatement of the kitchen and bathroom replacement programme until the financial year 2021/2 which would begin in April 2021. The landlord confirmed that the resident’s property would not be excluded from any future refurbishment programme on the basis of the former tenant’s actions. The landlord reiterated that the resident could report any repair issues affecting her kitchen or bathroom and it would respond to repair requests in line with its usual process.

Assessment and findings

7. In line with the tenancy agreement, the landlord is responsible for maintaining the fitted kitchen and bathroom at the property. Therefore, the landlord would be expected for carrying out any repairs to these areas.

8. The landlord’s repairs policy says items will only be replaced when it is not practical or economical to carry out a repair. However, it is accepted that kitchen and bathrooms need to be replaced periodically and the landlord operates a kitchen and bathroom upgrade programme to manage replacements of these areas in its properties. The repair policy does not specify the expected lifespan of kitchens and bathrooms before they would be due to be included in the landlord’s bathroom and kitchen upgrade programme. The government’s Decent Homes Standard provides guidance for social landlords concerning the minimum standards to be met for their properties to be considered habitable. The Decent Home Standard suggests that kitchens should be no more than 20 years old and bathrooms should be no more than 30 years old before they are considered for replacement. The landlord’s repair records for the property show that the bathroom has not been replaced since the property was built and the kitchen was refurbished in 2005. Based on this, it appears that the bathroom should be considered for replacement based on its age, although the kitchen may not be due for replacement until 2025.

9. The landlord has explained that its bathroom and kitchen upgrade programme was on hold at the time of the complaint and therefore it could not currently consider the resident’s request for her kitchen and bathroom to be upgraded. The landlord has said that it put its upgrade programme on hold because it needed to use its budget to complete essential health and safety work to its high-rise properties. Social landlords have limited resources and it was reasonable for the landlord to prioritise fire safety work over routine kitchen and bathroom upgrades. Although, this would inevitably cause inconvenience for the resident as she will be waiting longer for a decision regarding her proposed kitchen and bathroom upgrades.

10. In its response to the complaint, the landlord said it would consider whether it could reinstate its bathroom and kitchen upgrade programme in April 2021. In view of this, the Ombudsman recommends that the landlord should give an update to the resident concerning the status of the upgrade programme and confirm whether her kitchen and/or bathroom will be included in the programme in the near future. If the resident is unhappy with the landlord’s decision regarding the upgrade to her kitchen and bathroom, when the programme is reinstated, she can raise a new complaint about this to the landlord.

11. The resident has suggested that the kitchen and bathroom were due to be upgraded at some stage before the start of her tenancy in 2011. She has advised that other properties owned by the landlord in the area have had updated kitchens and bathrooms.

12. The Ombudsman cannot comment on the reasons why the kitchen and bathroom were not upgraded more recently, prior to the start of the resident’s tenancy in 2014. Due to the passage of time, the landlord is likely to have limited records concerning any contact it may have had with the former tenant about a possible upgrade to the bathroom and kitchen prior to 2014. There is no information about this matter in the landlord’s repair records, which have been provided to the Ombudsman. However, the landlord has confirmed that the actions of the former tenant would not influence its decision regarding the resident’s request for upgrades to her kitchen and bathroom.

The Ombudsman does not have any information concerning the landlord’s other properties, which the resident says have previously benefited from kitchen and bathroom upgrades. We would not be able to request detailed information about other tenants’ properties without consent from the tenants concerned and therefore we cannot investigate this point further.

13. The Ombudsman must also consider that the resident would have had the opportunity to view the property before accepting the tenancy and there is no evidence to suggest that she raised concerns about the condition of the kitchen or bathroom at that time or at any time since, until September 2020. Although there are some records of repairs to the kitchen and bathroom over the years such as repairs carried out to a kitchen cupboard in 2019 and the kitchen sink in August 2020.

14. In her complaint to the Ombudsman, the resident has advised that there is mould on the bathroom ceiling. It does not appear that this was mentioned in her complaint to the landlord and it is not addressed in the landlord’s responses to the complaint. The Ombudsman can only investigate issues which were raised with the landlord as a formal complaint and included in the landlord’s complaint responses. This is so the landlord has the opportunity to respond to any issues before the Ombudsman becomes involved. As above, it does not appear that the issue of mould was raised to the landlord as part of the resident’s formal complaint and therefore, the Ombudsman cannot assess the landlord’s response to this issue.

15. The repair records show that the resident reported mould affecting the bathroom ceiling in February 2021 and the landlord’s contractors attended to carry out repairs. However, it is not clear from the records exactly what work was carried out during this visit or whether this has resolved the issue. If there is still mould in the bathroom, the resident can report this to the landlord and the landlord would be expected to carry out repairs as appropriate, in line with its repairs policy.

Determination (decision)

16. In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there has been no maladministration in the landlord’s response to the resident’s concerns regarding the condition of her kitchen and bathroom.

Reasons

17. The landlord was entitled to place its kitchen and bathroom programme on hold so it could use its budget to fund essential safety measures for its high-rise buildings. In view of this, it was reasonable for the landlord to decline the resident’s request for a new bathroom and kitchen at the time of the complaint. The landlord should now provide the resident with an update on the current status of its bathroom and kitchen replacement programme and how this will affect her property.

Recommendation

18. The Ombudsman recommends that the landlord provide an update to the resident regarding its kitchen and bathroom refurbishment programme and the next steps for assessing the condition of her bathroom and kitchen with a view to deciding whether they are in need of replacement and if so, when this can be arranged.