Hammersmith and Fulham Council (202102637)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202102637

Hammersmith and Fulham Council

27 January 2022

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

The complaint is about the response to leaks into the property.

Background and summary of events

Background

The resident is a leaseholder of a two bedroom property located on the fifth floor of a block. The landlord is the freeholder.
The landlord is responsible for repairs and maintenance to the structure of the building, including the roof.
Prior to 2020, the resident reported a leak in October 2019. The landlord reports that it attended to this but found no leak. It said that it then carried out repairs in December 2019.
The landlord has two stages in its complaints procedure. At stage one, the response time is 15 working days. At stage two, the response time is 20 working days.
The complaints policy states that in the event that the landlord is not able to respond to complaints within the timeframes set out, it can extend the timeframes. If it does this, it must inform the resident of the reason for the delay and when they can expect a response.
The landlord’s response times for urgent repairs are 3-5 working days. The response times for routine repairs is 20 working days.

Summary of events

On 16 February 2020, the resident emailed the landlord about a leak coming into their property following a period of rain. They reported another leak on 5 October 2020. The landlord states that it sent its roofing contractor on the same day.
On 6 October 2020, the resident submitted a formal complaint to the landlord about its response to the leak. In their complaint, they said that they had previously reported the leak and had been told the roof was repaired.
On 28 October 2020, the resident called the landlord and advised that they had previously called on 12 and 26 October 2020, for updates as they had not heard from the landlord about the repair or, their formal complaint. They said that a contractor had attended to look at the roof that day, but they did not provide information about the outcome of the visit, or when they would return to repair the roof.
The resident called the landlord on 30 October 2020 and informed that the contractor attended again and had traced where the leak was coming from. The resident advised that the contractor agreed to attend the following week to address the repair. The landlord informed that it attended on 4 November 2020 and carried out repairs.
The landlord acknowledged the resident’s complaint on 12 November 2020. It advised that the response may not be sent promptly, due to the demand on its repairs service. It said that it would aim to resolve and respond to the complaint as soon as possible.
It provided its stage one response to the resident on 4 December 2020. It said that:
1. After the leak was reported on 5 October 2020, it attended the same day. Following this, it attended on 4 November 2020 and cleared the gutters, refixed roof tiles and repointed the lead flashings.
2. Previously, works were completed to the roof in December 2019.
3. After the leak was reported on 5 October 2020, it had to inspect the roof to ascertain the cause of the leak and authorise the repairs before it completed the repairs.
4. It was sorry for the delays in providing the resident with information and acknowledged that its service delivery fell short of its standards.
After receiving the landlord’s response, the resident requested an escalation to stage two of the complaints procedure. The landlord received this on 7 December 2020. This Service has not been provided a copy of the stage two complaint.
The resident called the landlord on 8,15,26 and 28 January 2021 chasing the stage two response. During the call on 28 January 2021, the resident informed that they had been told the roof was repaired on 13 January 2021 however, they experienced a further leak on 27 January 2021. The landlord raised the recurrence of the leak with its contractors, who attended the following day to inspect.
After the roofer’s visit, they reported that they found the area above the property was dry and therefore, was unable to trace the leak. The roofer confirmed it would attend during the next occurrence of rain to try and trace where the leak was coming from.
The landlord reports that the roofer attended on 4 and 5 February 2021. It said that the chimney breast was inspected and found this to be dry and found no leak into the property even after the presence of heavy rain. It noted that the resident also confirmed on the visit on 5 February 2021, that there was no leak at that time.
The landlord provided the resident with its final response to the complaint, on 2 March 2021. It:
1. It apologised for the delay in its response to the complaint.
2. Found a failure in its delivery of service.
3. Said that although repairs were carried out, the leak recurred which would have caused an inconvenience to the resident.
4. Said that at stage one, the information it received from the contractor was that the roof had been fixed.
5. Attended to a reported leak in October 2019 but found no evidence of a leak.
6. Said that it attended on 29 January, 4 February and 5 February 2021 but found the area was dry and could not trace the leak, despite the presence of heavy rain during this period of time. It said that it heard nothing further from the resident since its last visit.
7. Upheld the complaint and advised that the leak was resolved. It offered £125 compensation in recognition of the delay, inconvenience, and shortcomings in its service delivery.
The resident referred their complaint to the Service on 4 May 2021 and said that the leak was ongoing. The resident also wrote to the landlord on 8 April 2021 advising that the roof was not fixed. The resident also informed this Service that the leak recurred in September 2021 and that they reported to the landlord.

Assessment and findings

The landlord has provided limited evidence of the actions that it has stated it took in response to the leaks. It reported that it attended to the property after the report about the leak on 5 October 2020 and carried out repairs on 4 November 2020. However, there is no evidence to support these claims.
In response to the resident’s report about the leak on 28 January 2021, the landlord has provided this Service with evidence confirming that its contractor attended to inspect the property the following day, in line with its repair timescales.
The contractor’s report confirms that it agreed to attend again during the next occurrence of rain to see whether it could trace the leak. This was an appropriate suggestion, as the presence of water would increase the landlord’s chances of tracing its source. The landlord said that it returned to the property again on 4 and 5 February 2021 but provided no evidence of this.
The landlord concluded when it responded to the complaint, that it had resolved the leak despite not having carried out any repair works to the roof after the leak was reported again in January 2021.
Other than the inspection that took place on 29 January 2021, there is no documentary evidence to confirm the actions the landlord reports that it took in response to the leak. The Ombudsman can only rely on the documentary evidence provided to the investigation to reach conclusions on what was reasonable and appropriate in the circumstances. Given the lack of supporting evidence provided in this case, we are not satisfied that the landlord has taken reasonable actions to address the leak. A separate finding has also been made in relation to the landlord’s record keeping below.
The resident called the landlord several times, between October 2020 and January 2021, chasing updates about the repair from the landlord. The landlord did not respond to these requests which represents a failure to respond in a timely manner and address the concerned raised by the resident about the roof leaks.
It is appreciated that leaks can sometimes be difficult to trace but the fact that the leak is recurring, and the resident made two reports within three months, is evident that repairs are required. The landlord said it completed repairs to the roof in November 2020, but there is no evidence of this.
The landlord reports that it has not been able to trace the leak, as it is dry when it attends but this does not remove its responsibility to undertake a thorough investigation of the roof to inspect whether any repairs are required. There is no evidence that the landlord took appropriate action to satisfy itself that the roof was not in need of repairs, after the resident’s reports in October 2020 and January 2021. An order has therefore, been made for the landlord to take action to investigate the issue, as since the final response was sent, the resident informed the leak has happened again.
In the response to the complaint, it was appropriate for the landlord to recognise the delays in its response to the complaint. Its offer of compensation was proportionate to address this, as well as the failures in its communication about the repairs. However, its conclusions regarding the status of the repair was not supported by any evidence. It was not appropriate for it to assume that the leak had been fixed on the basis that it had not heard from the resident.

Determination (decision)

In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in its response to the leak.
In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in respect of its record keeping.

Reasons

Other than one inspection, the landlord has provided no evidence that it made reasonable efforts to investigate the cause of the leak. In the event that several inspections were unsuccessful in tracing the leak, the landlord did not produce any action plan on how it would deal with the issue. It also concluded that the leak was repaired, with nothing to support this finding.
Landlords are expected to maintain comprehensive repair records. Having such records enables landlords to complete thorough investigations and reflect on whether there are any failures in its service delivery. Only limited information was received from the landlord, which did not include significant evidence such as reports or feedback from its visits.

Orders

The landlord to contact the resident within three weeks of the date of this report to check if any further leaks have occurred, if so, it is to inspect the area, identify and carry out the necessary repairs.
The landlord to provide the Ombudsman with evidence of any inspection carried out, with details of the repairs required and the timelines for completion of those repairs. (Within eight weeks of the date of this order.)
Within three weeks of the date of this order, the landlord is to pay the resident £250 for the handling of the reports of leaks into the property and confirm to this Service once the payment has been made
The landlord is to confirm to this Service, what measures it has in place to ensure its repair records include all key information including, repair reports, appointment dates and inspection reports. (Within eight weeks of the date of this order).

Recommendation

If the landlord has not already paid the £125 offered in the complaint response, it is to pay this to the resident within three weeks of the date of this report.