London & Quadrant Housing Trust (202011329)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202011329

London & Quadrant Housing Trust

23 December 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:
   1. The resident’s claim of personal injury sustained following a fall in her kitchen.
   2. The landlord’s handling of the resident’s repair requests in relation to damp and mould, the windows, and an external hole underneath the property.

Jurisdiction

2. What we can and cannot consider is called the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. This is governed by the Housing Ombudsman Scheme. 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.
3. After carefully considering all the evidence, in accordance with paragraph 39(i) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the following aspect of the complaint is outside of the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.
   1. The resident’s claim of personal injury sustained following a fall in her kitchen.
4. Paragraph 39(i) of the Scheme confirms that this Service will not investigate complaints which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion “considers it quicker, fairer, more reasonable or more effective to seek a remedy through the courts, a designated person, other tribunal or procedure”.
5. Therefore, as this aspect of the resident’s complaint relates to a personal injury claim, she should refer this to the landlord’s insurance team or seek legal advice if she wishes to pursue this matter any further.

Background and summary of events

Policies and procedures

6. The landlord’s repairs policy confirms that it will carry out routine, day to day repairs at the earliest mutually convenient appointment.
7. The landlord’s compensation policy confirms that discretionary compensation is a goodwill gesture and staff will decide the value and form based on internal guidance. The landlord’s compensation guidance confirms that there are no hard-and-fast rules about the amounts that will be appropriate in making amends (except fixed awards for missed appointments and failure to respond). Awards will depend on the circumstances of each individual case and must be appropriate and proportionate.

Background and summary of events

8. The resident is a tenant of the landlord.
9. During May 2020, the landlord’s contractor completed a “healthy homes” inspection of the property. A copy of the inspection report has not been provided to this Service, but it is evident from the available evidence that the contractor identified that there was: a hole in the external wall of the property; a potential fault with the damp proof course; historic water staining in the property; and mould in the bathroom.
10. On 15 September 2020, the resident requested an appointment to address the hole in the external wall where an animal had been digging.
11. On 6 October 2020, the resident requested the repair of her wooden windows which she said were draughty. The landlord raised a repair order that day.
12. On 5 November 2020, the landlord carried out remedial work to the external brickwork of the property. However, it appears that the hole was not filled as the resident wanted the landlord to complete a camera survey first.
13. On 25 November 2020, the resident raised concerns about damp and mould inside the property and a fox living underneath the property. The landlord advised the resident to contact an animal rescue service. The resident was dissatisfied with its response, and the call terminated. The landlord’s records confirm it had called the resident back, but she did not wish to continue the conversation.
14. On 2 December 2020, the landlord’s records indicate that it completed works to overhaul the resident’s windows.
15. On 6 January 2021, this Service wrote to the landlord to request it respond to the resident regarding her complaint about damp and mould in the property, repairs to the windows in the property, and an external hole underneath the property.
16. On 22 January 2021, the landlord issued its stage one complaint response to the resident, which is summarised as follows:
    1. Its contractor had inspected the property for damp and mould in May 2020. They had found there was mould in the bathroom, which had been treated and washed down. There was also evidence of historic water staining in the property however no ongoing leaks were found.
    2. It was sorry for not having completed the repairs to the windows, which were reported in September 2020. It explained that the delay was due to it awaiting the parts needed to complete the repair work. However, as this was now subject to a formal complaint, it would prioritise the completion of the repair.
    3. In respect to the hole in the ground externally, it had carried out some remedial works to the brickwork but the hole still needed to be filled so it would arrange a further inspection.
17. On 17 February 2021, the resident informed the landlord that it was not convenient for operatives to enter her home, as she was recovering from a fall. She declined the landlord’s request to call back when it was able to attend her property, as she wished to contact this Service.
18. Following this, the resident referred her complaint to this Service as she was unhappy with the landlord’s stage one complaint response. She was advised to escalate her complaint with the landlord.
19. On 5 May 2021, the contractor carried out a follow-up “healthy homes” inspection of the resident’s property. This found that:
    1. The windows were in a satisfactory condition.
    2. There was still a hole underneath the front wall which needed to be repaired.
    3. There was no mould or evidence of damp in the property. The contractor had installed moisture sensors in the property to continue to monitor this, however they were subsequently removed at the resident’s request.
20. On 27 May 2021, the resident reiterated her concerns about damp and mould in the property and the external hole. She also said that several of her windows were full of condensation.
21. On 27 May 2021, the landlord issued its final stage complaint response to the resident, which is summarised as follows:
    1. It apologised for a lack of progress regarding the repairs to the windows, the external hole, and the resident’s concerns about damp and mould in the property. This was due to it operating a “greatly reduced” repair service which was “mainly limited to critical and emergency repair works only”, due to the coronavirus restrictions in force at that time.
    2. It confirmed that it had fallen short “of acceptable standards” in repairs, complaint handling, and customer service. As a result of the complaint, it had briefed its senior management of the complaint, conducted staff interviews and carried out additional training for its staff to improve its service in the future. It would also arrange a surveyor inspection of the property so it did “not miss anything”, and would confirm in writing the actions it proposed to address the resident’s concerns.
    3. It offered the resident £250 for the delayed repairs, and for her time and trouble progressing the complaint.
22. The landlord’s records confirm that it arranged a surveyor inspection for 11 June 2021. The landlord has told this Service that the surveyor did attend but the resident did not allow them access as it was not convenient for her, and she advised she would rearrange the appointment. The landlord says that it has no records to confirm that contact was made or the appointment rescheduled.

Assessment and findings

23. Following the landlord’s stage one complaint response on 22 January 2021, the resident raised concerns about further outstanding repairs; including to the draught excluder to the front door, vinyl flooring not having been replaced following a historic repair and an ineffective heating system. The resident has also raised more recent concerns about flooding to the property. This investigation can only consider matters that have first been considered by the landlord through its complaints procedure. Therefore, the resident will need to contact the landlord and, if appropriate, raise a separate complaint to get these matters resolved.
24. Under the terms of the tenancy agreement, the landlord is obliged to keep the structure and exterior of the property, including the windows and outside walls, in good repair. This includes an obligation to stop any rising or penetrating damp in the property. The landlord also has a responsibility under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), introduced by The Housing Act 2004, to assess hazards and risks within its rented properties. Damp and mould growth are a potential hazard and therefore the landlord is required to consider whether any mould problems in its properties amount to a hazard and require remedying.
25. In relation to the damp and mould, the inspection of May 2020 found that there was mould in the bathroom, and historic staining to the decorations in the property. The available evidence indicates that the landlord treated the mould but it is not known when. A further damp inspection was carried out in May 2021 which found no damp or mould in the property.
26. In relation to the windows, the available evidence indicates that the landlord overhauled the windows in December 2020, around two months after the resident reported that they were draughty. The resident reported further concerns about the windows following this, including that they were full of condensation. However, the inspection of May 2021 found the windows to be in a satisfactory condition.
27. In relation to the hole in the external wall, the landlord has been aware of this since at least May 2020. Some remedial works were carried out to the brickwork in November 2020 but the landlord’s records indicate that the resident would not allow the contractor to complete the works to fill the hole. The inspection of May 2021 confirmed that the hole had not been filled in and no evidence has been provided to confirm that these works have since been completed.
28. Therefore, the available evidence indicates that there have been some delays in completing the repairs, although it has not been possible to establish the exact length of the delays. It is also evident that the resident did not provide access to the property in February 2021 and may therefore have contributed to some of the delays. In its final complaint response the landlord acknowledged that there had been delays in progressing the repairs, for which it apologised and offered £250 compensation.
29. The landlord’s compensation offer provides adequate redress for the delays and is in line with this Service’s remedies guidance. The remedies guidance suggests awards of between £50 to £250 where there has been service failure which had an impact on the complainant but was of short duration and may not have significantly affected the overall outcome for the complainant. In this case, the delays did have an impact on the resident, but this was limited given there was no evidence of an ongoing damp and mould issue, repairs to the windows were completed and there is no evidence the hole in the external wall has impacted on the living conditions in the property.
30. The available evidence indicates that the surveyor inspection promised in the final stage complaint response remains outstanding, although attempts were made to arrange this. Therefore, it is recommended that the landlord arranges this with the resident.

Determination (decision)

31. In accordance with paragraph 55(b) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has offered redress to the resident which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint about its handling of her repair requests satisfactorily.

Reasons

32. There were some delays in completing the repairs which the landlord acknowledged, apologised for and offered an adequate amount of compensation for.

Recommendations

33. It is recommended that the landlord does the following within six weeks of the date of this report:
    1. Pays the resident the compensation it previously offered, if it has not done so already.
    2. Arranges a mutually convenient surveyor inspection and prepares a schedule of work addressing any outstanding repair issues in the property, to be shared with the resident.