Lambeth Council (202011897)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202011897

Lambeth Council

27 April 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 is about the landlord’s response to the leaseholder’s reports of a leaking communal roof and the resulting internal water damage to the communal stairwell and the bedroom in the property.

Jurisdiction

  1. It is evident from the parties’ communications with the Ombudsman that since the leaseholder completed the landlord’s complaints procedure on 7 August 2020, the problems with the communal roof have not yet been fully resolved and the damp to the communal ceiling and wall has not yet receded. The landlord told us on 8 March 2021 that whilst the external roof was re-sealed on 26 February 2021, follow-on works to the roof were still required and that a date for the works has not yet been confirmed. The landlord also said that an order has been raised for a full asbestos test to be carried out and that internal repairs cannot commence until the external repair has been completed and the asbestos test has been carried out.

 

  1. In accordance with section 39 (a) of the Housing Ombudsman’s approved Scheme, we are unable to investigate complaints which have been brought to us prior to exhausting a member’s complaints procedure. The Ombudsman is unable to consider the events that have occurred following the end of the landlord complaints process on 7 August 2020 as these issues have not been escalated through the landlord’s complaints procedure and therefore it has not had the opportunity to respond to this complaint or address the outstanding issues. Therefore, this report will focus on the timeframe between 7 May 2019, when the leaseholder first reported the communal roof leak, and 7 August 2020, when the landlord issued its final complaint response (Review response).

 

Background and Summary of Events

Background

  1. The resident is a leaseholder. The property is a two-bedroom property located on the second floor of the building.

 

  1. Under the terms of the lease, the landlord is responsible to maintain, repair, redecorate, renew, amend, clean, repoint and paint as applicable the structure of the building, including the roofs, foundations, external and internal walls.

 

  1. The landlord’s Repair Manual (repair policy) states it can be used by leaseholders to identify repairs to common areas or structural parts of buildings. It classifies repairs as: emergency; urgent; non-urgent; routine; and planned with priority codes ranging from PR1 to PR5, with emergency repairs given a PR1 code and planned repairs given a PR5. The response times range from 24 hours (PR1) for an emergency repair and 90 days for a planned repair (PR5). Its repair policy states repairs to roofs and plasterwork after repairs are ‘planned’ (PR5), although it also states a leaking roof is PR3. Whilst it also refers to ‘communal repairs’ and ‘planned maintenance and major works, no separate timescales are stated.

 

  1. Under section four of the landlord’s Complaints policy, if a complaint is not resolved at its Early Resolution stage on an officer contacting the resident, or if they want a written response, the complaint will be formalised to a Local Resolution. Section six states that a request for a Review should be made in writing within 20 days of receiving a Local Resolution outcome. Reviews are undertaken by an Improvement and Review Officer and a member of Senior Leadership Group. The Review will not normally address new issues that were not previously raised at the Review stage. The outcome of the Review will represent its final response on the matter.

 

  1. Section 15 of the landlord’s Complaints policy states if the complaint is upheld, the primary aim will be to apologise, put right the problem (wherever that is possible, practical and value for money) and to apply any lessons learnt to improve services to try to avoid a reoccurrence of the problem. In exceptional circumstances, compensation may be payable. Any requests for compensation will be dealt with in accordance with a separate Compensation policy. 

 

  1. Under section eight of its Complaints policy, the investigating officer may decide that the payment of financial compensation is appropriate to remedy a service failure that has an adverse effect on the complainant. Section 10 states the investigating officer will need to assess all the relevant factors including if there has been service failure and consider the complainant’s time and trouble pursuing the complaint. Under Appendix A, the scale of compensation for time and trouble is from £50 to £250.

 

  1. The landlord has confirmed in communications with the Ombudsman that repairs to the communal stairwell roof were previously carried out between July and 2 November 2018. It said that the works were to create a new rainwater outlet and to overcoat the original failed asphalt covering with GRP fibreglass. It said that a post inspection was carried out at the time and works were passed.

 

  1. The leaseholder has told the Ombudsman that she was subletting a room in her property prior to May 2019 however on her discovery of damp coming through the top corner of the room when her “lodger” moved out in May 2019, she has been trying to get the damp issue addressed by the landlord and has been prevented from re-letting the room since then.

Summary of Events

  1. On 7 May 2019, the leaseholder called the landlord to report that the roof of the block was leaking, causing internal water damage to the ceiling and wall of the communal stairwell. She also reported that damp was coming through to the property as the bedroom wall was the other side of the communal wall. In its subsequent Review response to the leaseholder dated 7 August 2020, the landlord stated following this report, work orders were raised in May 2019 for inspecting the roof and making good the plasterwork to the ceiling/wall. The Ombudsman has not been provided with evidence of the work undertaken.

 

  1. On 18 September 2019, the leaseholder made a further report to the landlord advising that the issues remained unresolved and damp was coming through the right-hand side of the staircase affecting the property wall. In its subsequent Review response dated 7 August 2020, the landlord stated following this further report, a work order was raised which included making good defective wall plasterwork. It advised however that cracks to the render were then found on 3 October 2019 which had to be rectified before decorative works could be completed. It said this work was completed on 7 November 2019, however, when its operative attended on 18 November 2019 to complete internal decorative works, the operative reported back that the decorations could not be done because of an on-going leak affecting the building/ property. The landlord stated whilst a new work order was raised for this to be investigated, this was then cancelled.

 

  1. On 12 February 2020, the leaseholder raised a formal complaint to the landlord advising that plasterwork to the ceiling now had a damp patch.   She stated that the cause of the problem was a leaking roof and said that she had not seen scaffolding outside the stairwell or any signs of re-roofing so she disputed that the “thirty year problem” had been addressed. The complaint was logged by the landlord as a Local Resolution complaint.

 

  1. On 11 March 2020, the landlord issued a Local Resolution response acknowledging that the leaseholder had previously reported damage caused to her property due to a leaking roof. It stated it had looked into this problem and noted that the required repair jobs were raised and confirmed that the repairs to the roof had been completed. It did not give any further details regarding the roof repair. However, it stated that with regards to internal damage in her property, she would need to report this to her insurance provider so they could appoint a loss adjuster. In the interim, in terms of compensation due to any damage, it said the leaseholder would need to complete an incident claim form and the landlord provided the email address for the form to be sent to.

 

  1. On 27 March 2020, the leaseholder emailed the landlord challenging that any work to repair the leak had been carried out asking it to provide evidence of the roof repair referred to in its Local Resolution response. She said damp was coming through the new plasterwork.

 

  1. On 6 July 2020, the leaseholder emailed the landlord requesting for her complaint to be escalated to the landlord’s Review stage reiterating that despite its advice that the roof had been repaired, there had been no sign of any external work being done and the internal job was unfinished – unpainted, repairs to the damaged wall were not done. She said that more worryingly she saw that damp was coming through the new plasterwork. She referred to her previous request of 27 March 2020 made to the landlord for evidence of the repair completed. The leaseholder attached photos of the damp coming through the new plasterwork.

 

  1. On 7 August 2020, the landlord sent a Review response which detailed the work orders it said it had raised following the leaseholder’s reports of 7 May 2019, 18 September 2018 and 12 February 2020 regarding the leaking roof and damage caused by this, including:
    1. Dated 7 May 2019 to repair defective plasterwork.
    2. Dated 15 May 2019 to inspect the roof, remove debris and provide a report on the roof. This had a target completion date of 25 June 2019.
    3. Dated 18 September 2019 to make safe the defective plaster to the ceiling/ wall in the stairwell.  This was a priority four work order and had a target completion date of 28 October 2019. Cracks to the render were made good on 7 November 2019, however, decorative works were not completed as its operative reported there was an ongoing leak when they attended on 18 November 2019.
    4. A new work order job was raised on 18 November 2019 to investigate the leak however this was cancelled.
  2. In its Review response the landlord referenced the leaseholder’s formal complaint of 12 February 2020, its Local Resolution response dated 11 March 2020, the leaseholder’s communication on 27 March 2020 advising the leak was unresolved, and her 6 July 2020 requesting a review of her complaint. The landlord also said it had spoken to the leaseholder on 23 July 2020 regarding the issues when she informed it that the matter had been on-going since she moved into the property about 30 years ago and that she had reported it previously on several occasions, most recently in October 2019, but the matter had never been resolved.

 

  1. The landlord advised in its Review response its Area Surveyor had attended on 7 June 2020 who confirmed the roof of the block had been renewed “about a year ago” and also referred to the roof being replaced in “June 2019”. This date is different to the information given to us by the landlord on 8 March 2021 which was that the repairs to the communal roof were carried out between July and November 2018. Despite the work order raised on 15 May 2019 for a report on the roof, as referenced in the landlord’s Review response, as there is no evidence to establish work to the roof was carried out in June 2019, on balance, it is accepted the roof repairs took place at the earlier date in 2018 as confirmed by the landlord on 8 March 2021.

 

  1. The landlord stated in its Review response that the outcome of its investigation  review was that whilst it could not find repairs records dating back thirty years, the roof to the leaseholder’s block had been previously replaced and it confirmed there were further repair orders raised in 2019 following reports of an ongoing leak and damp. The landlord confirmed its operative identified there was an on-going roof leak on 18 November 2019, preventing internal decorative works from being completed. Furthermore, it acknowledged that despite a work order raised to investigate this, this was not followed up on as the work order was cancelled.

 

  1. The landlord advised that in conclusion, whilst its Repairs team had taken the necessary actions, as a further leak had been highlighted and was not followed up on, it was upholding the leaseholder’s complaint as the matter has yet to be completely rectified. It apologised for the level of service received in this regard and for the inconvenience caused and stated that it was below the standard it aspired to deliver to its leaseholders. It stated that because the leak was not thoroughly examined after its operative pointed this out in November 2019, in accordance with its Repairs and Compensation policies, it had awarded the leaseholder £190.00.

 

 

  1. It also advised that its Surveyor would be arranging for the contractor to attend for the leak to be addressed and also said remedial works involving patch repairs and painting would be carried out to the communal area once the leak had been stopped. It explained that a full refurbishment to the whole communal area could be done by the Responsive Repairs team as the scale of work was beyond the remit of normal responsive repair. This level of refurbishment would need to be carried out under a Capital Works project but said it did not expect any more delay concerning this matter.

 

  1. The leaseholder has also asked the Ombudsman to consider her claim for the landlord to reimburse her lost rental income for £10,000 during the timeframe she has been unable to re-let the room affected by the damp. This specific was not raised in the landlord’s complaint’s process, therefore it will not be considered in this investigation. However, it is noted that in its complaint response dated 11 March 2020, the landlord advised the lease holder she may wish to make an insurance claim in regards to damage caused to her possessions. In the circumstances, it is appropriate to make a Recommendation below for the landlord to confirm to the leaseholder the correct process for her to follow should she want to pursue a claim for lost rental income. 

 

Assessment and findings

Repairs to the communal roof and internal water damage to the communal stairwell and property bedroom

  1. It is evident that the leaseholder reported to the landlord on at least two occasions in 2019, on 7 May 2019 and 18 September 2019, that the roof was leaking causing internal damage to the communal ceiling and her property. The landlord has confirmed to the Ombudsman and to the leaseholder in its complaint responses that four work orders were raised in 2019. The landlord acted appropriately by raising two work orders in May 2019 to inspect the roof and carry out plasterwork. However, it is of concern that the landlord has not provided any evidence to show it carried out any repairs under these work orders. After the leaseholder reported the same issue again on 18 September 2019, it raised another work order and internal plasterwork was subsequently carried out to make safe a section of the internal communal ceiling/wall following the work order raised on 18 September 2019. However, internal decorative works to address the water damage to the property scheduled for November 2019 were unable to be completed due to a continual roof leak confirmed by the landlord’s operative on 18 November 2019. The fourth work order raised in 2019 to address this, was subsequently cancelled.

 

  1. The landlord’s failure to complete internal decorative work and to follow up on the leak identified meant the leaseholder had to raise the issue again with the landlord on 12 February 2020. In its Local Resolution response 11 March 2020, the landlord advised the leaseholder that the repair to the roof had now been completed. It did not state when it considered the repair was complete and there is no evidence to show a repair was carried out. In its later Review response following challenge from the leaseholder, it accepted it had not addressed the confirmed leak. The landlord failed to acknowledge in its Local Resolution response that a work order raised in November 2019 to investigate the roof leak, was cancelled, nor did it explain why this was not followed up on.  Its failure to recognise the existence of an ongoing leak resulted in the leaseholder having to report the issue again to the landlord. She did so on 27 March 2020 and again on 6 July 2020.

 

  1. In its Review response of 7 August 2020, the landlord acknowledged and apologised for failing to follow up on the leak confirmed by its operative in November 2019 and advised that its surveyor would be arranging for its contractor to attend to address the leak. It confirmed that remedial works involving patch repairs and painting would be carried out to the area once the leak has been stopped. It described the works as a ‘full refurbishment to the whole communal area’ that needed to be carried out under a Capital Works project. It is clear from this that larger scale works were required but the landlord said it did not expect any more delay concerning this matter.

 

  1. Therefore, since the leaseholder first reported the leaking roof in May 2019, despite numerous visits and inspections by the landlord, a resolution to the issue had not been provided by the date of the Review response, some fifteen months later.  This far exceeds the 90-day timescale in its repair policy for planned works including to roofs. In its Review response the landlord confirmed that the nature of the works required were larger scale, but again, given the issues were first brought to its attention in 2019, it is reasonable to have expected the landlord to have properly assessed what work was necessary to resolve the leak much earlier than it did. The failure by the landlord to adequately address the issue or identify the need for larger scale works and its failure to give an estimated timescale to the leaseholder for the outstanding works, is evidence of it failing to handle the reported leak either in accordance with either its repair policy or in a reasonable manner. 

 

  1. It is also evident that the landlord has not always given the leaseholder accurate or clear information regarding the situation with the communal roof repairs. Apart from it failing to acknowledge in its Local Resolution response dated 11 March 2020 that there was an ongoing leak that needed addressing, it is evident that there has also been a lack of updates provided by the landlord, requiring the leaseholder to have to keep going back to the landlord to chase the repair needed to both the communal roof, ceiling/walls of the communal stairwell and the property bedroom. Therefore, due to poor communication by the landlord as well as a failure to resolve the leaking roof which in turn has meant a delay in repairing the internal water damage to the communal stairwell and property wall, this is evidence of service failure by the landlord when handling the repairs.

 

  1. It is noted that the leaseholder is dissatisfied with the compensation offered by the landlord in its Review response in the sum of £190.00. The landlord’s compensation guide for time and trouble provides for up to £250.00 in compensation. In view of the unreasonable length of time taken by the landlord to address the leaking roof and also its failure to always provide accurate information and sufficient updates in regards to the status of the repair, the amount offered does not sufficiently reflect the level of inconvenience caused and time spent by the leaseholder pursuing a resolution over fifteen months from May 2019 and August 2020. The issue has also caused water damage to the leaseholder’s property wall which would have affected useability of the room. In the circumstances, it is reasonable for the landlord to pay the leaseholder an increased amount of £500.00 in compensation commensurate to maladministration. This falls into the lower end of the medium compensation bracket (£250 to £700) in the Ombudsman’s Remedies Guidance which is for considerable service failure or maladministration. Examples given for this category include a failure over a considerable period of time to act in accordance with policy, for example, to address repairs.

 

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord when handling the leaseholder’s reports of a leaking communal roof and internal water damage to the communal stairwell and property bedroom.

Reasons

  1. The landlord failed to provide a permanent repair to leaking stairwell roof of the block either within timescales in its repair policy or within a reasonable timeframe. This has meant in turn a delay in repairing the internal water damage to the communal stairwell and wall of the property. There was also a failure to effectively communicate with the leaseholder during the complaints process regarding the situation with the repairs and a failure to provide a timescale for the outstanding works to the communal roof and to repair internal damage to the communal stairwell and property bedroom. The compensation offered in its Complaint procedure of £190.00 did not reflect the extent of inconvenience caused to, and time spent by, the leaseholder pursuing a resolution to the issues.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. The Ombudsman orders the landlord to:
    1. Pay compensation of £500 to the leaseholder for the delay in addressing the roof leak and for the leaseholder’s time and trouble (within four weeks of the date of this Order).

 

  1. Complete the outstanding repairs to the roof by 30 June 2021.

 

  1. Once completed, advise the leaseholder of a timescale for when it will address:
    1. internal water damage to the communal stairwell and;
    2. the property bedroom.

Recommendation

  1. The Ombudsman recommends that the landlord provides clarification to the leaseholder regarding any appropriate process to follow in relation to her claim for lost rental income.