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Havering Council (202015681)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202015681

Havering Council

6 September 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 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 response to the resident’s request for the replacement of window vents.

Background and summary of events

Tenancy agreement and procedures

  1. Under section 3 of the tenancy agreement between the resident and the landlord, it is responsible for repairs to the windows of the property. On matters relating to housing management, it will consult with affected residents and consider their comments before making a decision.
  2. The landlord’s complaints procedure confirms that residents can request the escalation of a stage two complaint, but that it will decide whether the complaint will be escalated within the procedure.

Background

  1. The resident is a tenant of the landlord.

Summary of events

  1. On 16 February 2021, the resident submitted her stage one complaint to the landlord. She was unhappy that the air vents installed in the windows of the property were letting in draughts and making the property very cold.
  2. The landlord’s records confirm that a stage one complaint response was issued to the resident on 2 March 2021. This Service has not seen a copy of this complaint response.
  3. On 4 March 2021, the landlord’s records note that it had previously inspected the property on 22 February 2021, and that it had found that the air vents on the windows there were permanently open with no option to close. This was recorded as being in order to comply with gas safety regulations but that the vents for the resident’s windows were now obsolete.
  4. However, the landlord did note that her windows had a “night vent” facility, where they could be opened slightly to allow ventilation whilst being locked. It had also suggested the replacement of the glass sealed units to make the draughty vents redundant, but that they might cause mould issues from the lack of air flow. The resident had nevertheless declined these proposed solutions, as she wanted new windows.
  5. On 8 March 2021, the resident submitted her final stage complaint to the landlord. She was unhappy with its proposal to replace the glass panels in her windows, as this would mean that she would need to open windows in order to ventilate her home, which she felt would let in more draughts to her property, making her heating bills more costly. To resolve the complaint, the resident wanted the “correct windows” to be installed, with vents which would allow her to “correctly” ventilate her home without opening the windows.
  6. On 10 March 2021, the landlord issued its final stage complaint response to the resident, stating the following:
    1. In line with its stage one complaint response of 2 March 2021, it confirmed that it had found “no fault” with her windows and therefore it would not replace her windows at this time. It had planned to replace her windows as part of its 2023/24 renewal program.
    2. It did agree to source vents which were “more suitable”, as she was currently unable to close the vents in her windows, and that it would contact her to confirm when these will be replaced. The landlord confirmed that the replacement vents would enable the resident to open and close these to enable her to control the ventilation of her property, and so reduce the draughts that she had experienced there.
    3. As “a further investigation [would] not provide an earlier replacement of her windows”, it declined her request for the escalation of her complaint.
  7. The resident then complained to this Service that the landlord had not replaced her windows, which she sought to resolve her complaint, as she reported that otherwise she and her two young children would either continue to experience draughts at her property and/or mould there.


Assessment and findings

  1. Following the resident’s reports of concerns over the draughts entering her property from the window vents there on 16 February 2021, the landlord was responsible under her tenancy agreement above at paragraph 2 for establishing the repairs that were required to these. It did so on 22 February 2021 by inspecting the property, with this being a fair and timely action for it to take in order to identify any faults with the windows. The landlord’s inspection then determined that the windows in the resident’s property had vents which were designed to stay open permanently to allow for air circulation.
  2. As the windows were not faulty, the landlord confirmed on 4 March 2021 that it had assessed that there was no “repair” necessary. As a result, it explained that it would not be bringing forward the planned replacement of the resident’s windows that was due to take place as part of its 2023/24 renewal program. Instead, the landlord offered alternative solutions to address her concerns, including replacing the glass unit of the window which would have blocked air from passing through the vents, as well as committing to sourcing new adjustable vents, in its final stage complaint response of 10 March 2021.
  3. This was a reasonable action for the landlord to take, and demonstrated its commitment to addressing the resident’s concerns by seeking to resolve her reports of window draughts with new glass window units and adjustable vents, despite it not yet being able to provide her desired outcome of replacement windows.
  4. The landlord declined to escalate the resident’s final stage complaint to stage two of its complaints procedure. This was due to her seeking the early replacement of her windows, which it had already considered and determined above. Under these circumstances, and in line with its complaints procedure above at paragraph 3, this was a fair action for the landlord to take, as the procedure permitted it to decide whether to escalate final stage complaints, and there was no new information or evidence that required it to do so.
  5. In summary, the landlord conducted a fair and reasonable investigation into the resident’s complaint. Although it was unable to agree to replace the windows sooner, it committed to sourcing new adjustable vents, which would allow for suitable ventilation into her property while enabling her to prevent draughts. The landlord has therefore been recommended below to provide the resident with details as to the installation of the new vents at the property or of any alternatives to these, if it has not done so already.


Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was no maladministration by the landlord in respect of its response to the resident’s request for the replacement of window vents.

Reasons

  1. The landlord acted on the resident’s concerns regarding draughts at her property by inspecting her windows, and it determined that there was no fault for it to correct that required the early replacement of her windows.
  2. The landlord offered to source new adjustable windows vents which would allow the resident to control the ventilation into her property.

Recommendation

  1. It is recommended that the landlord contact the resident to confirm whether it has been able to source new adjustable window vents and, if so, when it will be installing these at her property, if it has not done so already.
  2. If it has been unable to source new vents, it should confirm its revised actions to address her concerns over the draughts entering her property from the existing vents, and communicate the proposed works and timescales for these to her.
  3. The landlord should contact this Service within four weeks to confirm whether it will follow the above recommendation.
  4. The Ombudsman accepts that, because of the present restrictions due to the corona virus pandemic, the timing of the above actions will depend on what is reasonable in the light of Government guidance regarding the health of the resident and of the landlord’s staff.