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London & Quadrant Housing Trust (201800178)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 201800178

London & Quadrant Housing Trust

10 August 2021


Our approach

What we can and cannot consider is called the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction and is governed by the Housing Ombudsman Scheme. The Ombudsman must determine whether a complaint comes within their jurisdiction. The Ombudsman seeks to resolve disputes wherever possible but cannot investigate complaints that fall outside of this. 

In deciding whether a complaint falls within their jurisdiction, the Ombudsman will carefully consider all the evidence provided by the parties and the circumstances of the case.

The complaint

  1. The resident is complaining about the landlord’s handling of repairs in their property.

Determination (jurisdictional decision)

  1. When a complaint is brought to the Ombudsman, we must consider all the circumstances of the case as there are sometimes reasons why a complaint will not be investigated.
  2. After carefully considering all the evidence, I have determined that the complaint, as set out above, is not within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

Summary of events

  1. In February 2018, the resident made a formal complaint to the landlord about its handling of repairs in the property.
  2. The landlord issued a response at stage 2 of its complaints procedure on 21 February 2018, addressing the resident’s concerns and advising that some historic issues had not been considered.
  3. The resident responded to the landlord on 19 March 2018, advising that they feel it should make an offer of compensation reflective of the distress and inconvenience they had experienced.
  4. The landlord responded on 22 March 2018, making an offer of compensation. Unhappy with the offer, the resident responded on 23 March 2018 advising that they would like to take their complaint to the next stage of the landlord’s complaints process.


  1. On 29 March 2018, the landlord replied to advise that they would be unable to consider your complaint at the next step of L&Q’s complaints process on the basis of a request for an increase in compensation. It asked the resident to confirm the figure you are seeking and quantify this.
  2. On 6 April 2018, the resident referred their complaint to this Service.
  3. On 31 October 2018, this Service contacted the landlord to find out if the resident’s complaint had completed its internal complaints process.
  4. On 1 November 2018, the landlord confirmed that its last contact with the resident had been on 29 March 2018 – and that the resident had not been in touch to confirm the amount of compensation they were seeking.
  5. On 27 February 2019, this Service contacted the resident to confirm that the complaint had not exhausted the landlord’s complaint procedure. We advised the resident to contact the landlord and provide information to progress their complaint. We notified the landlord of this as well.
  6. On 28 February 2019, the landlord confirmed that it would consider a further request from the resident.
  7. On 29 June 2020, the resident contacted this Service to ask whether their case was still ongoing, or if it had been closed.
  8. This Service contacted the landlord and it confirmed that it had not received any further contact from the resident.

Reasons

  1. Paragraph 39(a) and 39(e) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme states that:

The Ombudsman will not investigate complaints which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion:

(a)are made prior to having exhausted a member’s complaints procedure, unless there is evidence of a complaint handling failure and the Ombudsman is satisfied that the member has not taken action within a reasonable timescale.

(e)were not brought to the attention of the member as a formal complaint within a reasonable period which would normally be within 6 months of the matters arising.

  1. In its email of 29 March 2018, the landlord had explained that it was prepared to revisit the resident’s complaint if they contacted it with information about their request for compensation. The landlord confirmed the same to this Service in its email of for compensation if they contacted it with more information. The resident contacted this Service for advice. In our email of 27 February 2019, we informed the resident that they could still pursue the matter with their landlord.
  2. There is no evidence to show that the resident contacted the landlord to provide it with the information it requested in order to progress their case. Therefore, I do not consider that the matter exhausted its complaint procedure.
  3. Furthermore, the resident did not pursue the matter in a timely manner. The landlord confirmed that the resident could submit further information in February 2019. The resident did not make further enquiries about progressing their complaint,  with either the landlord or this Service, until June 2020. Far in excess of the six months in which we would expect a complaint or further information to be brought to the landlord.
  4. As set out in paragraphs 39(a) and (e), this complaint is not one which the Ombudsman can consider.