Landlords can now complete the Complaint Handling Code Annual Submissions form. More information is available online.

Birmingham City Council (202013786)

Back to Top

A picture containing logo Description automatically generated

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202013786

Birmingham City Council

17 December 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. The resident has complained about the landlord’s handling of repairs to her property.

Background and summary of events

Policies and Procedures

  1. At the time the resident complained to the landlord, it had a three stage complaint procedure:             
    1. “Stage 1 – Settle the Complaint Immediately: This is where we are able to resolve the issue on the spot. Our aim is to deal with the complaint straight away. However, we know that this will not always be possible, in which case the complaint will go straight to stage 2.”
    2. “Stage 2 – Investigating the complaint: The department that provided the service will investigate the complaint and respond to you within 15 working days.”
    3. “Stage 3 – Review the complaint: If you are unhappy with our decision at stage 2 you can ask us to review it. You need to explain why  you feel our decision is incorrect. Your complaint will then be looked at by an independent officer and we will respond within 20 working days.
  2. The landlord’s website summarised the landlord’s repair obligations.  It states:
    1. “We will repair and maintain the structure of your council home and the outside of the building (including the roof, drains, gutters and pipes).”
    2. “In blocks of flats and maisonettes, we are responsible for:
      1. entrance doors
      2. halls.
      3. stairways
      4. lifts
      5. rubbish chutes
      6. lighting
      7. other things that are shared by all the tenants and leaseholders.”
    3. “For tenants, our responsibilities also include:
      1. any inside fixtures and fittings that we originally provided, as explained in the conditions of tenancy.
      1. all pipes, wiring, heating systems, drainage, power and light fittings.”
  3. The landlord’s Conditions of Tenancy states:
    1. “You [the tenant] are responsible for repairing  and maintaining all improvements and fixtures and fittings you install at the property.”
    2. “You must take reasonable steps to avoid moisture building up (condensation) within the property and causing damage.” The landlord has a customer information leaflet about controlling condensation or mould.
  4. The landlord’s Service Standards for repairs and maintenance states that “We will respond to repairs within the following timescales:
    1. emergency repairs – within two hours and complete the repair in one, three, seven or 30 working days.
    2. urgent repairs – the response time will depend on the type of repair. Staff at the contact centre will tell you whether we will respond within one, three or seven working days.
    3. routine repairs – 30 working days.”

Summary of Events

  1. The resident is a tenant of the landlord and her property is a maisonette.
  2. The landlord’s repair records indicate that it raised a repair order to repair a leaking roof with the contractor attending the resident’s property on 4 and 5 January 2021.  The repair records further indicate that another trade was required as there was “leaking under bath. Plumber needed booked one … for 6/1/21.”
  3. On 7 January 2021, the resident raised a formal complaint stating that the following repair jobs had not been attended to:
    1. “Bath – 31/12/2020 – 8207121.”
    2. “Shade – 04/01/2021 – 8207125”
    3. “Shower Head – 3437639.”
  4. The resident submitted another complaint form on 12 January 2021 with the same information and adding another repair job:
    1. “Ceiling – 11/01/2021 – 8027112/1.”
  5. On 14 January 2021, the landlord responded to the resident’s complaint of 7 January 2021, copying the response of its contractor:
    1. “8207125/1 cancelled as it was a no access on 05/01 for a plumber to fix a leak under the bath.”
    2. “8207121/1 cancelled as no work required as bath panel is fine. There is also no leak but an issue as the tenant has no shower curtain, the water leaks over the bath.” 
    3. “3437639 not a valid repair.”

The contracted further stated “to me it seems the tenant has reported a leak but the leak is coming from the fact that there is no shower curtain around the bath to keep the water in.” The landlord advised that the resident could escalate her complaint.

  1. On 19 January 2021, the landlord responded to the resident’s complaint of 12 January 2021.  It advised:
    1. “Job reference 8207125/1 (Repair Roof) was cancelled on 8 January 2021 due to no access on 05 January (i.e. the operative who attended was unable to get into your home in order to carry out a repair).”
    2. “Job reference 8207121/1 (Rectify Defective Bath Panel) was cancelled on 5 January 2021, as the bath panel was found to be fine so no work was required. The contractor noted that the water leak in your bathroom was, in their opinion, due to you having no shower curtain which allowed water to escape over the bath and on to the floor when you use the shower connected to the bath taps.”
    3. “Job reference 3437639 is not a valid repair reference number.”
    4. “Job reference 8027112/1 does no exist on any of our repairs systems.”

The landlord concluded that it could not uphold the resident’s complaint and advised her to report outstanding repairs to its repairs service.

  1. On 19 January 2021 the resident responded to the landlord’s email of 19 January 2021 attaching photographs showing repairs issues she stated she reported in December 2020 and were still pending. The resident stated:             
    1. “Repair Reff: 8207121/1 as shown in the photo attached in my email to you has a hole with rats hiding in it. The repair was scheduled for 13:00 on 31/12/2020, the repair man turned up before 10:00 am. The Child in the house let him know that there was no adult present as he was not expected at that time.”
    2. “Repair Reff: 8207125/1 as shown in the photo attached in my email is a worn out / turn Shade, it was scheduled for 13:00 on 04/01/2021.”
    3. “Repair Reff: 8027112/1 as shown in the photo attached in my email is moulding Ceiling, the repair man that attended took a picture and said it was a job for City Council and that he was going to let them know.”

The resident asked the landlord to confirm if the jobs were not valid as the landlord’s contractor had advised her.

  1. On 8 February 2021, the landlord responded to the resident providing additional information in italicised comments on the repairs reported by the resident. It noted:
    1. “Job reference 8207125/1 (Repair Roof) was cancelled on 8 January 2021 due to no access on 05 January (i.e. the operative who attended was unable to get into your home in order to carry out a repair. I am told that an operative attended on 4 January 2021 and booked a follow on appointment on site. However, I understand that the operatives who attended were told that you did not want the repair doing on that day (5 January 2021) and so the job was cancelled due to no access.”
    2. “Job reference 3437639 is not a valid repair reference number. This is correct. There are also no open jobs for a shower.”
    3. “Job reference 8027112/1 does not exist on any of our repairs systems. I believe that this might actually be job reference 8207112/1 (re-plaster ceiling/wall), which was raised on 4 December 2020 and cancelled on 19 January 2021 due to no access on 12 January 2021.”
    4. “Job reference 8207121/1 (Rectify Defective Bath Panel) was cancelled on 5 January 2021, as the bath panel was found to be fine so no work was required. The contractor noted that the water leak in your bathroom was, in their opinion, due to you having no shower curtain which allowed water to escape over the bath and on to the floor when you use the shower connected to the bath taps. This is correct.”
  2. On 12 March 2021 the landlord wrote to the resident in response to her review request of 19 January 2021.  It noted that the resident had previously been advised to ensure that she contained the water in her bath with a shower curtain, and that this was her responsibility.
  3. On 21 April 2021, the landlord wrote again to the resident after being contacted by this Service on 13 April 2021.  It noted that the resident had complained about a leak in her bathroom and a repair required to her bath. It stated that a plumber had attended on 5 January 2021 to fix the leak under the bath but this appointment was cancelled due to lack of access. A further repair was raised for 15 January 2021, but on inspection, the contractor advised that there was no leak in the bathroom. The water was caused due to the resident not having a shower curtain which was her responsibility, not something that the landlord provided. The landlord also stated that the contractor also confirmed that there were no faults identified with the bath and no repairs were necessary.
  4. The landlord also provided a copy of its email of 12 March 2021 and confirmed that its complaint procedure had been exhausted.
  5. On 15 June 2021, this Service wrote to the resident advising that we understood she remained dissatisfied about “Repairs remain to the roof; plastering to ceiling & walls (including mould removal) and fixing a bath panel (water leak).” 90

Assessment and findings

  1. With regards to the resident’s report of disrepair to roof, the landlord took appropriate steps to ascertain what works were required by raising a repair order and arranging for its contractor to attend the resident’s property, although it could not gain access initially.  The landlord’s repair records and its statements to this Service confirm that the contractor ascertained that the resident was reporting a leak in the bathroom but there was no leak from the roof/ceiling.  The contractor further ascertained that there was no disrepair to a bath panel.  The landlord was entitled to rely on the professional opinion of its approved contractors and communicate this to the resident.
  2. The contractor ascertained that the leak reported by the resident was not due to disrepair but by the resident not having a shower curtain.  The landlord’s repair obligation is to maintain the resident’s property in a good state of repair; it is not obliged to improve the resident’s property or to install fittings that it had not previously provided.   It was therefore appropriate that the landlord advised the resident of the cause of the leak from its inspection, and moreover it was her responsibility to resolve, by installing a shower curtain.
  3. However, there were other aspects of the landlord’s responses that were unclear or did not address the issue raised by the resident. The landlord related repair reference 8207125/1 to the report of a roof repair whilst the resident mentioned a “shade”.   Effective communication requires a mutual understanding of the issues and terms employed but the landlord did not seek to ascertain what repair the resident was requesting by mentioning a “shade”.  Furthermore, by simply stating in its response of 8 February 2021 that repair 8207125/1 was cancelled due to no access, the landlord was ambiguous as to whether a further visit was required.
  4. Also with regards to repair 8207121/1, which both parties connected to a bath/bathroom repair request,  the resident in her email of 19 January 2021 made reference to a hole with rats inside.  The landlord did not acknowledge this statement therefore did not take the necessary steps to confirm its position on the repair request.  Nor did it advise what action either party could take in the event of a rodent infestation – in fact, the landlord’s website states that the Council offers a free service for treating rat problems although if there is actually mice in the property, the resident will incur a charge.  It did not therefore fully address this aspect of her complaint.
  5. The landlord also ascertained that repair reference 8027112/1 actually related to works to the ceiling/walls.  The landlord’s repair records indicate plastering works whilst the resident provided evidence of mould.  The landlord simply noted that the job was cancelled after no access was gained on 12 January 2021.  However, it was clear from her formal complaint that the resident wanted this job completed. Therefore, it was unreasonable that the landlord did not take the opportunity to reopen the repair order, rescheduling the works or arranging an inspection, in particular as the resident had provided evidence of the presence of mould and understood the contractor had in fact referred the matter back to the landlord. The Ombudsman’s view is that landlords should adopt a zero-tolerance approach to damp and mould. Landlords should be on the front foot identifying potential issues. When there is a problem, effective diagnosis is critical.
  6. In its further responses to the resident on 12 March 2021 and 21 April 2021, the landlord had further opportunity to review the resident’s complaint and to confirm its position on all the issue she had raised.  However, it missed this opportunity as it only reiterated that she should install a shower curtain and no repair was needed to the bath. 
  7. Whilst this is not an issue that the resident has complained about to this Service it is also noted that the landlord also did not explain why repair reference 3437639, which the resident stated related to a shower head repair, was not valid.  Over the tap showers installed by the resident would be her responsibility to replace; however, the landlord did not make this explicit.

 

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure by the landlord.

Reasons

  1. It was appropriate that the landlord inspected the resident’s property and advised her of the cause of the leak from its inspection, the lack of a shower curtain.  It was also appropriate that it advised the resident that it was her responsibility to install a shower curtain as it was not obliged to do so.
  2. However, there were other aspects of the landlord’s responses that were unclear or did not address the issue raised by the resident. In particular, the landlord did not seek to ascertain what repair the resident was requesting by mentioning a “shade” and by simply stating that repair reference 8207125/1 was cancelled due to no access, the landlord was ambiguous as to whether a further visit was required.  The landlord also did not acknowledge the resident’s statement that there was a hole with rats inside and therefore did not take the necessary steps to confirm its position on repair reference 8207121/1 and therefore fully address this aspect of her complaint. It was also unreasonable that the landlord did not take the opportunity to reopen the repair reference 8027112/1, rescheduling the works or arranging an inspection, in particular as the resident had provided evidence of the presence of mould and understood the contractor had in fact referred the matter back to the landlord. The landlord missed the opportunity to review the resident’s complaint and to confirm its position these issues.

Orders

  1. The landlord pays the resident £100 compensation in respect of the distress and inconvenience caused by the lack of clarity in its complaint responses and failure to address all the issues she raised.
  2. The landlord arranges an inspection of the resident’s property. It should then clearly set out in writing whether it considers:
    1. There are any repairs required to the roof / shade.
    2. There is an issue of a hole in the resident’s property through which rodents enter.
    3. Plastering works are required to the property.
    4. Action should be taken in respect of mould in the property.

If further works or actions are required by either party the landlord should make this clear.