Great Places Housing Association (202207825)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202207825

Great Places Housing Association

19 September 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. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of repairs to:
   1. the boiler;
   2. the kitchen tap.

Background

2. The resident is an assured tenant at the property of the landlord. The landlord is a registered provider of social housing.
3. On 10 May 2022, the resident reported that his boiler was continuously heating the house, even when turned off. In addition, the resident reported that his kitchen tap was eroded, and particles of metal were coming through into his drinking water.
4. The landlord attended on 12 May 2022 to inspect the boiler and diagnosed the issue. It attended again on 30 May 2022 to inspect the kitchen tap, concluding that it needed to be replaced.
5. The landlord has advised this service that it returned on 31 May 2022, to fit the replacement part to the boiler, but could not access the property; however, the resident disputes this and states that no one attended.
6. The landlord reattended on 24 June 2022, and found that a further issue had developed with the boiler. It ordered further parts and attended again on 29 June 2022, where it fixed the boiler.
7. The resident contacted this service on 15 July 2022. He explained that the issues with his boiler were outstanding for nearly two months. He also stated that there had been an issue with his tap since May 2022, which meant that his drinking water was coming out pigmented and undrinkable. The resident explained that he had submitted a complaint three weeks ago, but had not received a reply. He wanted to be compensated for his distress and inconvenience.
8. This service subsequently forwarded these concerns to the landlord. The landlord responded to this service on 22 July 2022.It stated that it had no record of the resident submitting a formal complaint.
9. The landlord contacted the resident on 22 July 2022. It requested further information regarding his complaint, but did not receive a response. The landlord therefore did not raise a formal complaint. The resident began to withhold rent around this time, due to being unhappy that the landlord had failed to respond to his complaint.
10. The landlord attended the property on 3 August 2022 and installed the new kitchen tap.
11. The resident submitted a further complaint via his Neighbourhood Officer on 1 December 2022. He complained about the length of time his boiler was not functioning, leaving him without hot water and heating. The resident also complained that an issue with his tap has left him without drinking water for several months during the summer.
12. The landlord provided a stage one response on 20 December 2022. It stated that it had no record of the resident reporting that he was without heating and hot water during the repairs in May 2022. It explained that it had followed up with its contractors, who had acknowledged that there had been a delay in the repairs, yet stated that the heating and hot water was working on each attendance at the property. The landlord also explained that if there was an issue with the water, the resident should first contact his water supplier.
13. The resident escalated his complaint on 28 December 2022. He explained that he had complained on several occasions without a response from the landlord. The resident stated that his boiler was turned off on the landlord’s first visit in May 2022, and that he was without heat and hot water until 29 June 2022. The resident was also dissatisfied that the landlord had advised him to contact his water supplier and considered that it was failing to take responsibility for the repair issue.
14. The landlord provided a further response on 6 February 2023. It stated that it had discussed the issue with its contractors, who stated that there was no evidence to suggest that the resident was without heating or hot water. It explained that it would always refer issues with the supply to the water company at first instance, to gain their recommendations. As such, the landlord declined to escalate the resident’s complaint, and signposted him to this service.

Assessment

15. The tenancy agreement notes that the landlord is responsible for repairing and maintaining the installations for room heating, water heating and sanitation and for the supply of water gas and electricity, including water heaters.
16. Based on the landlord’s repairs policy, repairs such as minor plumbing work, heating or hot water faults and breakdowns during the rest of the year are classed as routine repairs. Heating and hot water loss for elderly and vulnerable residents constitutes emergency repairs during the period of 31 October to 1 May. It should respond to reports of emergency repairs within 24 hours. Any repair that is not an emergency will be attended to via appointment as soon as possible. Although the policy does not give a specific timeframe for routine repairs, the industry standard among social landlords is within 28 days. This will be taken as a baseline against which to consider the landlord’s actions in this case.

Boiler

17. On 10 May 2022, the resident reported that his boiler was constantly running and heating the house. The landlord attended on 12 May 2022. This was within the 28 day timescale set out above, which was appropriate for that period in the year. The landlord subsequently identified parts were needed, for which further appointments would be necessary. While this may mean the resolution of the issue is potentially delayed beyond 28 days, this was nevertheless reasonable in the circumstances.
18. The landlord has stated it attended on 31 May 2022, but could not gain access. The resident contests that this happened, stating that the landlord failed to attend. The Ombudsman would expect the landlord to contemporaneously record attempted visits. Best practice would also require it to leave an attempted visit card, or to call the resident to rearrange the visit. The landlord has not provided any evidence to demonstrate it visited on this date and so the Ombudsman is unable to determine that this visit occurred.
19. The landlord’s next visit was on 24 June 2022, some 45 days after the resident first reported the issue. While some delay was reasonable due to the need to obtain parts, the length of this delay went beyond this and was unreasonable in the circumstances. There is also no evidence that the landlord provided reasonable communication at the time to explain the delay or rearrange the visit. This would have caused distress and inconvenience for the resident.
20. The Ombudsman notes that the landlord identified further parts were required, which it subsequently obtained and carried out further works within a reasonable timeframe.
21. The resident has stated that the landlord isolated the boiler during its first visit. The landlord has contested that the issue would not have made isolating the boiler necessary, and that there is no record of its engineers doing so. It also states that its contractors subsequently explained that they left the resident with heating and hot water on each visit.
22. As part of its complaint investigation, the landlord discussed the repair with its contractors, who stated that on each attendance the property had both heating and hot water.
23. In its further responses, the landlord noted it did not have any record that the resident had reported a lack of heating. It asked the resident to provide a copy of his phone records, to support his statement that he had reported a lack of heating and hot water. It is not evident that the resident has provided a record as of yet.
24. In summary, while the Ombudsman does not doubt the resident’s position that the heating was switched off for this period, the landlord nevertheless carried out a reasonable investigation of what happened by making inquiries with its operatives. In the absence of any evidence to contradict its contractor’s reports, it was reasonable for the landlord to conclude that it could not offer compensation for a lack of heating for this period.
25. In its responses, the landlord acknowledged there had been a delay to the overall repairs, and that its communication could have been improved. While it was appropriate to acknowledge this, the delays and lack of communication nevertheless had an impact on the resident. Additionally, the landlord’s poor record keeping regarding its alleged attempted visit demonstrate a need to improve its record keeping systems. In the circumstances, there was service failure from the landlord, for which an order of £100 compensation has been made to reflect the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident.

Kitchen tap

26. The landlord’s repair policy notes it is responsible for repairing and maintaining equipment it has provided for sanitation including basins, sinks, baths and flushing systems.
27. According to the landlord’s repair records, on 10 May 2022, the resident reported that his sink tap was eroded and causing particles to come through into his drinking water. The landlord acted appropriately by attending on 30 May 2022, which was within the 28 day timescale stated above. It inspected the tap and found that it needed to be replaced. It again acted appropriately by ordering a new tap, as it did not have the correct item in stock.
28. The tap became available on 23 June 2022, and the landlord arranged an appointment for 18 July 2022. The landlord has stated that there was no access at the property. It rebooked the appointment for 3 August 2022, where it undertook the repairs to the tap.
29. As with above, the landlord would be expected to communicate with the resident about a missed appointment, rearrange the appointment, and to otherwise continue to manage the repair in line with its repair responsibility.
30. Additionally, while some delay is reasonable when waiting for parts, the evidence shows this part was back in stock for almost a month before the landlord had arranged to attend the property. The landlord has not explained this delay, or provided evidence to show that it was communicating with the resident throughout this time.
31. The repair raised initially was recorded as an issue with the kitchen tap, which was eroding into the kitchen sink. The resident has stated that this affected his drinking water. The landlord would have been aware of this, as on its repair visit in May 2022, it found that the tap was eroding into the water, thus requiring the tap to be replaced. As the repair was outstanding for three months, in line with general service standards, the landlord would be expected to have considered interim measures. However, there is no evidence to suggest that the landlord did consider providing the resident with alternative drinking water. This was not appropriate. Overall, the landlord’s handling of the repairs to the resident’s tap amount to a failing in the circumstances.
32. In both of its complaint responses, the landlord failed to identify that the resident’s tap had been reported as eroded. It did not acknowledge that it was responsible for the repairs, and did not assess the works undertaken to the tap. The landlord signposted the resident to its water supplier, despite the resident’s statement that the issue with the drinking water had been solved with the tap replacement. This was not appropriate, as according to this service’s complaint handling code, the landlord must identify any errors in its provision of service, explain how they occurred and attempt to put this right. Its poor complaint investigation therefore caused confusion and distress for the resident and represents a further service failure. In the circumstances, a further amount of £100 is ordered to reflect the impact caused to the resident.

Determination (decision)

33. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure by the landlord in its handling of repairs to the resident’s boiler.
34. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure by the landlord in its handling of repairs to the resident’s kitchen tap.

Orders

35. In four weeks of the date of this report, the landlord is ordered to:
    1. Pay the resident £100 in recognition of the inconvenience caused by the delays to the repairs to his boiler.
    2. Pay the resident £100 in recognition of the inconvenience caused by the delays to the repairs to his kitchen tap.

36. Evidence of compliance with the above orders must be sent to this service within the same four weeks of the date of this report.