London & Quadrant Housing Trust (201915906)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 201915906

London & Quadrant H T

     17 December 2020


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:
    1. response to the resident’s reports of uneven floors at the property,
    2. complaints handling.

Background

Tenancy agreement

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of a property owned and managed by the landlord. The property is a ground floor flat in a converted house.

Landlord’s repairs responsibilities policy

  1. Under the terms of the landlord’s repairs responsibilities policy the landlord is responsible for repairs to floorboards at the property.

Landlord’s maintenance responsibilities leaflet

  1. The landlord’s maintenance responsibilities leaflet for tenants says that for non-emergency repairs the landlord will arrange a mutually convenient appointment.

Landlord’s complaints policy

  1. The landlord’s complaints policy says that complaints will be accepted via a number of routes, including completing the online complaints form on the landlord’s website.
  2. The landlord’s complaints policy also says that when a customer makes a complaint, it will contact the customer within one working day to acknowledge the complaint, identify what actions may be needed to resolve it, agree with the customer the frequency and method of contact during the handling of their complaint, ensure the customer is kept up to date about progress and contact the customer before closure to ensure all agreed actions have been completed.
  3. The landlord ‘s complaints policy says that it aims to resolve all complaints at stage 1 of its complaints policy. If the resident remains dissatisfied and wants to escalate their complaint the landlord will consider the request to escalate. Escalation is not warranted if all resolution actions have been completed effectively in line with the landlord’s policy and procedures

 Summary of events

  1. On 20 May 2019 the resident contacted the landlord to report that the flooring in the hallway at the property was uneven and raised in certain areas. The landlord’s contractors attended the property on 6 June 2019 and reported the following to the landlord: “seems to be to do with the age of the building. natural cause, I believe removing carpets and re aligning joists would open up major works, which is not needed”. No further action was taken at the time by the landlord.
  2. On 27 June 2019 the resident contacted the landlord and reported lumps in the kitchen floor. On 2 July 2019 the resident made a number of telephone calls to the landlord asking for it to provide updates about repairs to the floor, provide feedback from its inspection of the floor and address the problems with the uneven floor. The landlord informed the resident that as the property was an older property the floors were slightly uneven and there was no more the landlord could do.
  3. On 3 July 2019 the resident submitted an online complaint form to the landlord saying that she had reported the floor not being level in the hallway and the kitchen. She said that she had been waiting for the landlord to send a surveyor to the property for five weeks.
  4. On 3 July 2019 the landlord sent an email to the resident saying, “Please accept this email as an acknowledgement of the logged complaint.” On 4 July 2019 it sent a SMS to the resident saying that it had raised a works order.
  5. On 16 July 2019 the landlord sent a further email to the resident saying that upon receipt of her complaint it was arranging for a surveyor to visit the property to assess the flooring. The landlord cancelled the works order pending the outcome of the visit.
  6. On 26 July 2019 the resident sent the landlord an email again saying that there were problems with the floorboards. The landlord replied the same day saying that it would let the resident know when the surveyor would visit the property.
  7. On 1 August 2019 the resident again telephoned the landlord. The resident was distressed at not being updated by the landlord as to when the surveyor would attend the property. She also said that the uneven floor was causing her to suffer from a hip complaint. The landlord suggested she contact her GP for evidence that the hip problem was caused by the uneven floor at the property. The landlord said it would get back to her with an update as to when the surveyor would be visiting the property. The resident sent a further repair report concerning the floorboards to the landlord on 23 August 2019 and telephoned the landlord on 28 August 2019 for an update on when it would be inspecting the property.
  8. On 3 September 2019 the landlord emailed the resident to ask if she could provide access to the property the following day for an inspection. The landlord’s surveyor, case manager and contractor’s representative attended the property on 4 September 2019 to determine if any works were required to the property. The landlord’s surveyor and contractor agreed that the flooring issues were in the living room and hallway. The other flooring in the property was inspected and the surveyor confirmed it as having no issues. The landlord’s surveyor handed the resident a completed and signed repair appointment confirmation form saying that on 24 September 2019 the landlord would ‘lift carpets in lounge, hallway and board flooring, relay existing carpets to lift area.” 
  9. On 14 September 2019 the resident sent an email to the landlord saying that the floors in the property remained uneven and this was causing her pain when she walked.
  10. The resident also made a number of telephone calls to the landlord on 24 September asking when the floor would be repaired.
  11. The works identified by the landlord during the visit to the property on 4 September 2019 were completed by the landlord on 8 October 2019. Following further reports from the resident about the bedroom floor being uneven the landlord attended the property on 25 October 2019 and informed the resident that there was nothing wrong with the bedroom flooring.
  12. On 15 November 2019 the resident again contacted the landlord to say that the floors in the property were not level and were causing damage to her body alignment.

Formal complaint

  1. On 9 December 2019, following contact from this Service the landlord issued a stage 1 complaint response concerning its response to the resident’s reports about uneven floors at the property.
  2. In its stage 1 response to the resident’s complaint the landlord detailed what actions it had taken following her reports of uneven floors at the property. It explained that its contractor had inspected the property following her reports on 20 May 2019 and found that repairs were not necessary. Following further reports about the floor being uneven the landlord had raised a new repair order on 4 July 2019 and allocated it to a contractor. The landlord’s direct maintenance experts had reviewed the resident’s repair request and decided the best solution would be for the landlord’s surveyor to inspect the property. During the surveyor’s inspection on 4 September 2019 the surveyor identified that the flooring in the hallway and living room would benefit from repairs and this work had been completed on 8 October 2019.
  3. The resident responded to the landlord’s stage 1 complaint on 18 December 2019 and repeated that the floor was uneven at the property. The landlord replied the same day and said that it had arranged for another surveyor to attend the property the following day to “assess the bedroom flooring and the other floors at your home which have not already been inspected, to ensure they are all in good condition.”. The landlord said that the surveyor who had previously inspected the property had confirmed that the flooring in the kitchen was level and in good condition and therefore no repairs would be organised for the kitchen floor. The landlord said that there was no need for the resident to submit further repair reports about the floors on the basis that repairs had already been completed and the surveyor would be attending the following day to assess the bedroom.
  4. On 19 December 2019 the landlord’s surveyor attended the property and explained to the resident that she needed to take up the bedroom carpet to enable closer full inspection of the floor timbers underneath. The landlord asked the resident to let it know when this had been done. The landlord subsequently instructed its contractor to assist the resident by attending the property and lifting the carpet on her behalf to determine if repairs were needed. The landlord’s contractor attended the property on 15 January 2020.The contractor reported back to the landlord on 23 January 2020 that the bedroom floor was “sound, fine, safe” and did not require repairing. Whilst it was not 100% level it was not uneven enough to warrant taking up. The contractor said that there were a couple of dents in the kitchen floor but again nothing that warranted attention.
  5. On 23 January 2020 the resident again emailed the landlord asking for the sloping floors to the property to be repaired. On 28 January 2020 the landlord sent the resident its final response to the complaint. The landlord said that it had reviewed the complaint and confirmed that the surveyor who visited the property on 4 September 2019 had confirmed that the works identified for the hallway and living room floors had been completed and that the floors in the other rooms, particularly the kitchen were level, in good condition and did not require attention. The landlord also said that the contractors who had attended the property on 15 January 2020 had confirmed that the bedroom and kitchen floors did not require repair.
  6. The landlord concluded its letter dated 28 January 2020 by saying that all issues had been addressed and that the escalation of the complaint or further review would have no influence on the outcome and her complaint had therefore exhausted the landlord’s internal complaints procedure.

Assessment and findings

The complaint about the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of uneven flooring at the property

  1. In reaching a decision we consider whether the landlord has kept to the law, followed proper procedure and good practice, and acted in a reasonable way. Our duty is to determine complaints by reference to what is, in this Service’s opinion, fair in all the circumstances of the case. This Service has a very specific role in considering whether the landlord has met its obligations to a resident and taken reasonable steps to resolve the complaint.
  2. The resident has mentioned in correspondence with the landlord that she has suffered a medical issue as a result of the floors in the property being uneven. It is not for the Ombudsman to determine the cause of a medical condition, nor is this Service qualified to do so.
  3. It is also not for the Ombudsman to comment on the adequacy of the checks to the flooring the landlord carried out during its inspections on 6 June 2019, 4 September 2019 and 15 January 2020. The Ombudsman’s role is not to determine what repairs, if any, are needed in a property nor is this Service qualified to do so. Instead this investigation has considered the fairness of the landlord’s actions following these checks.
  4. The landlord’s contractors visited the property on 6 June 2019 and advised the landlord that no work was needed to the flooring. However, there is no record of this decision having been communicated to the resident until after she contacted the landlord for an update on 27 June 2019 and again on 3 July 2019.
  5. On 16 July 2019 the landlord informed the resident that it would be arranging for a surveyor to inspect the property. The landlord acted reasonably and demonstrated a resolution focused approach in arranging a surveyor to inspect the property, even though its contractors had informed it in June 2019 that the floors did not require any repair.
  6. Although the landlord informed the resident on 26 July 2019 that it would contact her when it knew when the surveyor would be visiting it did not provide any update about this until 3 September 2019, after the resident had contacted the landlord for updates on at least 3 further occasions. This was a failure by the landlord which it neither recognised in its complaint response nor took any steps to put right.
  7. Following the surveyors visit to the property on 4 September 2019 the landlord acted fairly in carrying out the works recommended by the surveyor within a reasonable amount of time from when they were identified.
  8. The landlord also acted reasonably in December 2019 in arranging for a further visit to assess the bedroom flooring and the other floors at the property which had not yet been inspected. The landlord demonstrated a fair and resolution focused approach in arranging for its contractors to lift the carpet on 15 January 2020, instead of the resident having to do so in order that the inspection could go ahead without any further delays.
  9. The landlord’s obligation under the tenancy agreement is to carry out repairs to the flooring where these have been identified and following the inspection on 4 September 2019 it carried out the repairs identified. The inspection on 15 January 2020 did not identify any repairs. It was reasonable for the landlord to rely on the opinion of qualified staff inspecting the flooring and, as no repair was identified in January 2020, it was reasonable for the landlord not to offer to carry out any further works to the floors at the property.
  10. However, as set out in paragraphs 28 and 30 the landlord’s communication with the resident was unreasonable. It failed to inform her about the result of the flooring inspection on 6 June 2019 and, having informed the resident on 16 July 2019 that it was arranging for a surveyor to inspect the flooring, it did not provide any further information about the surveyor’s visit, despite requests from the resident for updates (see paragraphs 12 and 13) until 3 September 2019.

The landlord’s complaints handling

  1. On 4 July 2019 the landlord acknowledged receipt of the resident’s complaint made via its online complaints form and on 16 July 2019 informed the resident that, following her complaint it was arranging for a surveyor to visit the property. However, there is no evidence that the landlord acted in accordance with the provisions of its complaints policy by contacting the resident following the surveyor’s visit to update her on the progress of the complaint. The landlord’s failure to update the resident about the progress of her complaint caused her to incur time and trouble in contacting this Service in order to ensure that she received a response.

Determination (decision)

Complaint about the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of uneven floors at the property

  1. In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was a service failure by the landlord in respect of the complaint. 

The landlord’s complaints handling

  1. In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was a service failure by the landlord in respect of the complaint. 

Reasons

Complaint about the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of uneven floors at the property

  1. The landlord acted reasonably in carrying out the identified repairs to the floors. However, the landlord failed to inform the resident about the result of the floor inspection on 6 June 2019 and delayed in updating the resident with details of the surveyor’s visit following its email on 16 July 2019.

The landlord’s complaints handling

  1. The landlord failed to update the resident about her complaint.

Orders and recommendations

  1. The landlord is ordered within four weeks of the date of the determination to:
    1. pay the resident £50 for the distress and inconvenience incurred by the resident as a result of the landlord’s failings in communication concerning its response to her reports of uneven floors at the property.
    2. pay the resident £75 for the distress and inconvenience incurred by the resident as a result of the landlord’s failings in complaints handling.