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Community Housing Initiative (202210915)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202210915

Community Housing Initiative

28 July 2023

 

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:
    1. The landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of outstanding repairs to the building.
    2. The landlord’s communication throughout the repairs process.

Background

  1. The property is a ground-floor flat in a building conversion of six separate flats. The landlord is the freeholder of the building.
  2. The resident is a leaseholder who took over the lease on 19 March 2021 following a transfer of equity. The property is a grade II listed building.
  3. The resident e-mailed the landlord on 29 June 2021 requesting a meeting with the landlord to discuss ongoing issues at the property and seeking clarification over questions she had relating to building maintenance. She sent photos of what she considered disrepair on 9 July 2021 and sent a further e-mail to the landlord chasing updates about these issues on 9 September 2021. She felt the landlord was not fulfilling its obligations in maintaining the building and wanted a date when this was due to be addressed. She described the building as ‘in dire need of repair and continuing to deteriorate’. The issues she raised included:
    1. the upkeep of the car park
    2. the exterior of the building
    3. weeds in the courtyard
    4. the condition of the windows and windowsills and window-frames
    5. the iron gates needing painting
    6. issues with the front door
    7. the doors being unsightly and requiring painting
    8. as well as the communal areas requiring deep-cleaning and re-painting.
  4. The resident complained to the landlord on 31 October 2021. She complained about the poor state of the building and the landlord’s handling of the issues she had raised about it. She felt the landlord had breached the lease agreement and its legal requirement to maintain the property. She also felt that the landlord had failed to push through any proactive solution to the problem. The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response on 30 November 2021. It acknowledged the lack of planned maintenance but informed the resident this was due to Covid-19 and its requirement to focus resources on safe day-to-day repair services. It said it would be moving towards a 5-year rolling maintenance programme from April 2022 with the property included as a priority building to complete the necessary works within the next 12 to 18 months. The landlord said it found the complaint to be partially justified.
  5. The resident escalated her complaint to stage 2 on 7 January 2022 as she had still not received confirmation of the works. The resident was also unhappy that the maintenance work was not being undertaken when the landlord completed emergency roof repairs. She felt this may lead to being charged twice for the cost of scaffolding. The landlord provided its stage 2 response on 13 January 2022. Although it did not provide compensation it appeared to uphold her complaint, listening to her issues, and adjusting its approach as a result. It again highlighted that delays had been caused by its decision to halt planned maintenance to focus on emergency repairs throughout Covid-19. It also acknowledged that its lack of maintenance may have resulted in additional repair works. It, therefore, did not charge the resident for the emergency repairs.
  6. The resident referred her complaint to this service on 23 August 2022. She was unhappy that the landlord had still not provided a start date for the beginning of planned maintenance work and felt the landlord had failed to meet its legal requirements to manage the property. She also felt communication from the landlord was poor, and it failed to meet its promised deadlines. To resolve her complaint, she wanted the cyclical maintenance programme started with immediate effect. She also felt that residents should not be charged for any future issues that arise due to the landlord’s failure to manage the property responsibly.

Assessment and findings

The landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of outstanding repairs to the building

  1. The lease agreement states that the landlord will “maintain, repair redecorate and renew (a) the main structure and exterior of the building including the roof, chimney stacks, gutters, rainwater pipes and window frames”. The landlord’s maintenance policy states it will complete this work every six years. For internal works, its policy states: ‘common area works that are achievable within the budget will be confirmed to the Neighbourhood Officer who will discuss and agree the works to take place with the tenants’. The lease also states that “the council will not later than the end of the fifth year hereof and therefore in every fifth year of the said term paint all the outside wood ironwork stucco rendering and plasterwork and outside parts of the building previously or which ought to be painted”.
  2. The resident highlighted the landlord’s failure to complete the exterior maintenance works and to perform the redecorations every 5 years. The landlord’s obligation to perform the exterior maintenance works and the redecoration of internal areas would fall under its six-year policy, whilst the painting of the outside of the building would fall under the 5-yearly cycle specified by the lease.
  3. The landlord last performed its regular maintenance work at the end of 2015, with these works going into 2016. The resident’s property would have been due new maintenance work at the end of 2021 or the beginning of 2022. As for the landlord’s redecoration responsibilities under the lease, the resident could have expected this to occur in the year prior. The resident confirmed in a call to this service that the maintenance and repairs remain outstanding.
  4. The landlord has said that because of Covid-19 it was forced to delay its regular maintenance programme. Since the pandemic has eased, the landlord has been working on developing a new policy. It stated it hoped this will reduce the time between maintenance repairs from 6 years to 5 years.
  5. Some delays to maintenance, redecoration and repairs due to Covid-19 may have been unavoidable to the landlord. However, the landlord is required to complete this under the lease and its own internal policies. As these have not begun, the landlord has failed to fulfil its obligations. The landlord has not treated the resident fairly in failing to complete these and this was compounded by its failure to provide information about when it intended to schedule the work.
  6. There was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the repairs. The landlord should compensate the resident £150 for the distress and inconvenience this has caused. As per this service’s remedies guidance this is an appropriate amount when there is a failure to meet service standards for actions and responses. The landlord acknowledged in its complaint response that its failure to complete the maintenance could potentially result in additional repair work.
  7. It is ordered that the landlord provide the resident with written confirmation of the timeline for completing the outstanding work. It should also confirm its communication arrangement for providing further updates.
  8. The landlord identified additional repair work may be required because of its delays and it appropriately adjusted the charge passed on to the resident. This service recommends the landlord continue to apply this approach when calculating the charges that it intends to pass on to residents until it has caught up with its cyclical/planned works programmes.

The landlord’s communication throughout the repairs process.

  1. The resident raised her issues with the landlord’s communication throughout the repair process. She felt the landlord failed to communicate with her properly, missing its deadlines, and promises.
  2. Although delays to the repair, maintenance and redecoration of the property may have been unavoidable, the landlord was still responsible for keeping residents informed. The landlord did not appear to have provided any update or guidance to the resident about its decision to delay its maintenance repairs. Its omission to do so was a failure from the landlord.
  3. The resident had to chase the landlord for updates on several occasions. The landlord said it would write to all residents affected by its delays. It has not provided evidence of this to this service. The landlord does not appear to have provided the resident with fair or reasonable updates. The resident has had to chase the landlord for updates which caused her distress and inconvenience.
  4. The resident, throughout the complaints process, expressed a desire for a realistic timescale for when she can expect work to begin. The landlord does not appear to have provided this to the resident or provided any realistic expectations about when she can expect to receive this.
  5. The landlord handled the resident’s complaint fairly. It sent its responses in line with the timescales set out in its complaints policy. Its responses were fair in content and tone.
  6. However, the landlord has failed to provide the resident with adequate updates or timescales about the delays to its work. The resident has expressed concern about the state of the building, and the landlord should have done more to keep her updated about its plans. The landlord recognised its delays may have contributed to additional repair works, and that it intended to recommence planned works within a 12–18-month window. However, the landlord does not appear to have communicated further. This lack of communication undermines the landlord/resident relationship. Its actions represented maladministration from the landlord and a failure to treat the resident fairly
  7. For the distress and inconvenience its failure to fairly treat the resident has caused, the landlord should pay the resident £150. As per this service’s remedies guidance this amount is for when there are repeated failures to reply to letters or return phone calls. For this failure it should pay the resident £150. It should also outline a communication arrangement to update the resident until the maintenance repairs are complete.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of outstanding repairs to the building.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s communication throughout the repairs process.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. Within four weeks of the date of this letter this service orders that the landlord:
    1. Pay the resident £300 for its failings. This consists of £150 for its failure to perform the repairs in line with the lease and its own policy terms, and £150 for its failure to communicate with the resident.
    2. Provide written confirmation to the resident of its timescales for providing further updates about the redecoration and the maintenance repairs for the resident’s building.
    3. Provide evidence to this service that it has done so.

 

Recommendation

  1. It is recommended that the landlord continue to adjust the costs of charges passed on to residents if it identifies any additional repair work that is required due to its delays.