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Livv Housing Group (202216910)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202216910

Livv Housing Group

1 November 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 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:

a. The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of repairs.

b. The landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.  

Background

2.     The resident is an assured tenant. The property is a 3 bedroom house. There are no vulnerabilities recorded on the landlord’s records.

3.     The resident reported repairs in July 2022. An inspection was carried out on 20 July 2022 and several repairs were ordered.

 

4.     The resident complained on 8 September 2022 that some of the repairs requested had not been raised. He also complained about the lack of communication and about inappropriate comments made by a member of staff.

 

5.     The landlord shared its stage 1 complaint response on 22 September 2022. An apology was offered for the delay in completing the work and for any miscommunication. The response also noted all the plastering work had been completed.

 

6.     The resident escalated his complaint on 27 September 2022 and said the landlord had failed to answer the concerns he raised.

 

7.     The landlord shared its final response on 17 October 2022. The complaint was upheld and appointments were arranged for the outstanding repairs. The resident was offered £100 compensation because all the repairs had not been ordered following the inspection. The compensation also took into consideration poor communication at stage 1.

 

8.     The landlord did not complete the outstanding plastering work or other overdue repairs on the agreed date. The landlord said this was because a longer appointment time was required. The resident has a different recollection of events. A new appointment was offered but the resident asked for all outstanding repairs to be cancelled. No further contact was made with the resident until 31 March 2023. The landlord apologised again for the delay in completing the repairs and an appointment was made to assess the work. A further £150 compensation was offered for the distress and inconvenience caused. All the outstanding repairs were completed by 17 April 2023.

Assessment and findings

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of repairs.

 

9.     The resident’s tenancy agreement says the landlord is responsible for maintaining the structure and exterior of the property. This includes internal walls and plasterwork. The resident is responsible for reporting repairs to the landlord and allowing access for inspections and repairs.

 

10.  The landlord’s repair policy says it will carry out urgent repairs within 7 days. Routine repairs are done within 28 days. These are repairs ‘which can wait and do not cause unacceptable inconvenience to the resident.’ Repair appointments are confirmed using the contact number provided by the resident.  The repairs requested by the resident fall into the routine repair category.

 

11. The repair policy sets out when it will consider offering a goodwill payment or compensation. While it does not detail the amount that will be awarded, the policy does say that payments will be in line with the Housing Ombudsman’s remedies guidelines. Goodwill payments are made when the landlord accepts it could have provided a better customer experience. Compensation is paid if the resident experiences financial losses or costs because of the actions or lack of action by the landlord. These expenses or losses must be evidenced.

 

12. There is no evidence the landlord confirmed the list of repairs with the resident following its inspection on 20 July 2022. Had it done so, the confusion and delays that later arose could have been avoided. The repair log shows repairs to the door and the replacement of the kitchen fan were completed in August 2022. These repairs were completed within the timescales set out in the landlord’s repair policy.

 

13. The resident complained on 8 September 2022 as some of the repairs he reported had not been ordered. This included stripping the wallpaper and replastering the walls in 2 bedrooms, sealing the bath and sealing around the living room window. He also complained about inappropriate comments made by a member of staff and the lack of communication from the landlord. His complaint was triaged the following day. The landlord was correct to log the complaint in line with its complaints policy.

 

14.  The landlord’s records show it failed to order some of the repairs requested by the resident. This included plastering work, sealing around the bath and sealing under the living room window. Whilst the landlord apologised for the delay in completing the plastering work in its stage 1 complaint response, it did not acknowledge that other repairs were outstanding. No arrangements were made to complete these repairs. The landlord also failed to respond to the resident’s complaint about the inappropriate comments made by a member of staff. This meant the landlord missed the opportunity to put things right or offer redress in accordance with its complaints policy.

 

15. The landlord visited the resident on 7 October 2022 after he escalated his complaint. The list of outstanding repairs was agreed and the landlord said that someone would talk to the member of staff who had made the comments. The steps taken by the landlord were reasonable and demonstrates it wanted to resolve the resident’s complaint prior to issuing is stage 2 response. The repair log shows the outstanding repairs were ordered on 10 October 2022. 

 

16. The landlord issued its final response on 17 October 2022 and confirmed the outstanding repairs would be carried out between 31 October 2022 and 2 November 2022. It said the failure to order all the repairs was due to human error. The landlord also accepted that some of the work had not been correctly issued to its contractor and it did not communicate effectively at stage 1. The landlord said it had spoken to the member of staff about the comments he made. It confirmed that while the comments were not meant to cause offence, it appreciated they could be interpreted in a different way. It also set out the actions it would take to ensure the situation did not happen again. The landlord offered £100 compensation because it failed to book repairs and because of the poor communication at stage 1. The landlord’s actions and offer of compensation were reasonable at the point it issued its final response.

 

  1. While the steps taken by the landlord were reasonable, it is important to note that accurate record keeping is essential and helps ensure it meets its repair obligations. It also ensures accurate information is provided to residents.  The landlord should review its record keeping arrangements for repairs in the context of the Housing Ombudsman’s spotlight review on knowledge and information management.

 

  1.  The repairs booked for 1 November 2022 were not completed as planned. The landlord said this was because a longer appointment time was needed. The resident has a different understanding of events and said the contractor left because he did not have the correct tools. Either way, the contractor did not return and the resident had to contact the landlord for an update.

 

  1. Given an inspection had recently been carried out, it would have been reasonable for the landlord to ensure sufficient time was allocated for the repairs to be carried out. It would have also been reasonable for the landlord to contact the resident as soon as it was established the repairs could not be done. Whilst it did offer a new appointment, this was only after the resident had made contact.

 

  1. The resident subsequently asked for all outstanding repairs to be cancelled. The landlord has acknowledged the resident did this out of frustration. It also accepted that he tried to contact them afterwards but could not get through due to the long telephone waiting times.

 

  1. The landlord failed to contact the resident after he cancelled the repairs and did not arrange for the repairs to be completed. It would have been reasonable for the landlord to have done this given it was aware of his frustration and had previously upheld his complaint. This meant it failed to meet its repair obligations and the resident experienced further delays and inconvenience.

 

  1. No further contact was made with the resident until 31 March 2023, some 5 months after the work was cancelled and only after this Service requested information. It should have not taken contact from this Service for the landlord to make arrangements to reassess and complete the work.

 

  1. It is acknowledged that since the resident raised concerns with this Service, the landlord has apologised again for the delay in completing the repairs and increased its offer of compensation by a further £150. All the outstanding repairs were completed in April 2023. However, the landlord’s most recent actions cannot be considered to be redress offered as part of its internal complaint procedure as they took place almost 6 months after it issued its final complaint response.

 

  1. Even so, the increased offer of compensation is not reasonable given the length of time it took to complete the outstanding repairs. The landlord attempted to put things right in its final response, but the repairs were not completed as agreed. It failed to allow sufficient time for the work to be completed in November 2022 and did not update the resident. The repairs were not completed until April 2023, almost 10 months after the initial request was made. The lack of action by the landlord suggest it has not learnt from its previous mistakes. These failings have added to the inconvenience experienced by the resident.

The landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.

  1. The landlord has adopted the Housing Ombudsman’s definition of a complaint and has a 2-stage complaint process. This says the landlord will:
    1. Acknowledge complaints the same day.
    2. Discuss the complaint with the resident and keep them updated.
    3. Respond to stage 1 complaints within 10 working days.
    4. Respond to stage 2 complaints within 20 working days.
    5. Give an explanation if it cannot reply by the deadline and tell the resident when they can expect to receive a response.
  1. The landlord accepted the resident’s complaint on 8 September 2022 and triaged it the following day. The landlord was correct to log the complaint in line with its complaints policy. It is unclear whether the landlord acknowledged receipt of the complaint.

 

  1. The Housing Ombudsman’s complaint handling code says that landlords should confirm their understanding of the complaint and the outcomes being sought with the resident. The landlord’s complaint policy says that it will discuss complaints with residents and agree an effective solution.

 

  1. The landlord shared its stage 1 response on 22 September 2022. This was within the timescales set out in its complaints policy. There is no evidence the landlord discussed the complaint with the resident prior to issuing its stage 1 response. In not doing so, it missed an opportunity to fully understand all elements of the resident’s complaint and failed to respond to key parts of it.  This led to delays in completing all the repairs and caused the resident inconvenience.

 

  1. The landlord’s final response was issued on 17 October 2022. The response was sent in line with its complaints policy. The complaint was upheld and the landlord acknowledged the failings in handling the resident’s complaint. It also identified actions it would take to put things right. The resident was offered £100 compensation for the delays in carrying out repairs and the poor communication at stage 1. This was reasonable and sufficient to put things right at the time the response was issued.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in respect of its handling of the resident’s reports of repairs.

 

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53(b) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of reasonable redress in relation to its handling of the associated complaint.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. Within four weeks of the date of this report, the landlord is ordered to offer the resident an apology for the failings set out in this report.

 

  1. Within four weeks of the date of this report, the landlord is ordered to review its record keeping practices for ordering, scheduling and notifying residents of repairs work.

 

  1. Within four weeks of the date of this report, the landlord is ordered to pay £200 compensation to the resident for the inconvenience experienced because of delays in completing repairs. This is to be paid directly to the resident and not offset against any rent arrears.

 

  1. Evidence of compliance with the above orders should be shared with this Service within four weeks of the date of this report.

Recommendations

 

  1. The landlord considers developing a remedies policy in accordance with the Housing Ombudsman remedies guidance.

 

  1. The landlord pays the £100 previously offered to the resident, if this has not already been paid.