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ForHousing Limited (202101687)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202101687

ForHousing Limited

28 July 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 complaint concerns the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of unusual noises from her pipes and boiler.

Background and summary of events

  1. The landlord’s records show that in April 2020 the resident reported a banging noise from her pipes and boiler when she turned the heating on. Contractors attended (the exact date is unclear), bled radiators and repressurised the heating system. On 3 August the resident reported the same issue. Contractors attended on 14 August, ordered parts, and recommended follow-up work. The records indicate that contractors attended on 15 September to fit new radiator valves.
  2. On 14 October 2020 the resident raised a formal complaint to the landlord over the phone. The landlord’s call notes show she was dissatisfied that an appointment for that day (to “flip the pipes and take up the floorboards”) had not gone ahead. She explained that the noise was ongoing.
  3. The landlord’s records show contractors attended on 27 October 2020. They lifted the floorboards where the resident said the noise originated but could not find a problem.
  4. The landlord issued its stage one complaint response on 27 November 2020. It summarised the resident’s complaint to be that there was a banging noise which happened once a day, roughly an hour after she turned the heating on. It said it had attended on 24 November with an engineer. It had replaced all thermostatic radiator valves upstairs, added a silencer into the system, and lifted the floorboards. It confirmed it had not heard any noise whilst the heating was on, nor during its previous visit (two weeks prior). It concluded by explaining how the resident could escalate her complaint if she remained dissatisfied.
  5. The resident escalated her complaint on 2 December 2020. She said the noise problem was ongoing, and that the landlord’s investigation had not addressed all the issues she had raised. She did not specify what issues she was referring to.
  6. The landlord issued its stage two complaint response on 7 January 2021. It said it had carried out all the repairs it thought might resolve the noise. It said it would arrange an independent inspection and carry out any recommendations. It concluded by explaining how the resident could refer her complaint to this Service if she remained dissatisfied.
  7. The inspection took place on 26 January 2021.The landlord then carried out the surveyor’s recommendations from the report, such as fitting a shock arrestor to the cold water supply. It completed all work by 12 March. It advised the resident that it had covered everything within the heating system that could make sounds. It said the system was safe, it was normal for houses to occasionally make noises, and that there was no other avenue for it to take.
  8. In the resident’s complaint to this Service on 21 April 2021 she indicated that the noise was ongoing.

Assessment and findings

  1. The resident’s tenancy agreement sets out that the landlord is responsible for repairs to the installations for room heating and water heating.
  2. The resident was dissatisfied that an appointment scheduled for 14 October 2020 did not go ahead. The landlord did not address this concern in either of its complaint responses, and should have. Nevertheless, despite this omission, it reattended soon after, made multiple attempts to resolve the issue, and then sought external advice to reassure itself and the resident that it had considered all possibilities. The landlord therefore took reasonable and pragmatic steps to locate the source of the noise, and stop the disturbance. The failure to resolve the matter was not due to any apparent shortcomings in its handling.
  3. No evidence has been provided for this investigation to suggest that the landlord could have taken further action to resolve the issue. It was unable to identify the cause of the noise, despite its efforts, and as such would have been limited with what action it could have taken to resolve it. The noise was understandably very frustrating for the resident, but, in the circumstances of this complaint, the landlord’s actions and responses were reasonable.


Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was no maladministration by the landlord in respect of the complaint.

Reasons

  1. The landlord took reasonable action to investigate the resident’s concerns, and carried out repair work that it believed would resolve the issue.

Recommendations

  1. Given that the problem continues, the landlord is recommended to treat any future reports by the resident of changes in the nature or frequency of the noise as new issues, and investigate accordingly.