Longhurst Group Limited (202108509)
REPORT
COMPLAINT 202108509
Longhurst Group Limited
18 November 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
This complaint is about:
a. repairs to communal areas of the building which the resident’s property is in.
b. cleaning of communal areas.
c. the associated formal complaint.
Background
1. The resident is a tenant in a block of flats managed by the landlord.
2. The resident raised an earlier complaint which the Ombudsman investigated on 23 July 2020 regarding the landlord’s response to repairs required to her kitchen. Maladministration was found and the landlord ordered to pay compensation, confirm that all outstanding repairs had been carried out and to review its complaints procedure.
Summary of events
3 The resident complained to the landlord on 5 March 2021 that the communal areas of the block had not been cleaned properly, a missing boiler room lock had not been replaced as promised and that the front and back communal entrance doors did not close properly. The landlord replied on 9 March 2021 promising a reply within 10 working days. [p1.23]
4. The landlord issued its stage one complaint response on 19 March 2021 saying:
a. That it agreed that the cleaning was not to the required standard and that it had asked the contractor to improve cleaning in the areas the resident had taken photos of (the photos were not provided to the Ombudsman).
b. The landlord advised that the request to replace the lock had not been issued to a contractor and apologised for this. The job had now been issued and will be fast tracked because of the delay already incurred.
c. The landlord admitted that there was a delay in repairing the doors and advised that a contactor had an appointment arranged for 22 March 2021 to see what needed to be done. [p1.25-26]
5. The resident then requested an escalation to stage two of the landlord’s internal complaints process. The landlord asked for this request to be put in writing, but it appears this was not done, based on the information provided to the Ombudsman. [p1.15]
6. The resident rang the landlord on 22 March 2021 and thanked them for repairing the front and back communal entrance doors. [p1.15]
7. The landlord had a discussion with the resident on 25 March 2021 and advised that time needed to be allowed for the promises made in the stage one complaint response to be fulfilled and that the complaint wouldn’t be escalated to stage two at that time. [p1.15]
8. The resident rang the landlord again on 28 March 2021 to advise that the standard of cleaning was still poor and that the cleaners were wearing dirty facemasks. [p1.24]
9. The resident rang the landlord on 19 April 2021 to express concern that there was plaster falling off the walls and mould in the communal areas. She requested an update on the promises made in the stage one response and asked when the boiler room lock would be replaced. The landlord said that the work would be done as advised in its email to the resident on 18 February 2021. This Service has not got a copy of this email.
10. The landlord rang the resident on 23 April 2021 with an update on previous promises; the fitting of the replacement boiler room lock would be arranged; the cleaning was being monitored and a visit would take place to assess the plastering the following week. The landlord promised a further call in approximately two weeks time. [p1.17]
11. The resident rang the landlord on 14 May 2021 as the phone call promised by the landlord on 23 April 2021 was not made. [p1.17]
12. The landlord emailed the resident on 20 May 2021 advising that a complete cleaning audit would take place the following week, the boiler room lock would be replaced the following day and a list of repairs would be carried out on doors in the communal areas. These repairs do not form part of the resident’s complaint. [1.18-19]
13. The cleaning contractors emailed the landlord on 18 June 2021 to confirm that the windows were cleaned on 25 March 2021 and would be cleaned again before the end of June and that the touch points were cleaned on 30 April and 18 June 2021. [p1.20-21]
14. The landlord responded to the stage two complaint on 2 July 2021 confirming that regular cleaning audits would take place, that the boiler room lock had been fitted and that 12 repairs to floors, doors, windows and drain covers (including replacing the boiler room lock) and six necessary repairs to fire doors were notified to its contractor. It is not clear from the information provided to the Ombudsman whether all or any of these works have been completed.
Assessment and findings
Policies and Processes
15. The resident’s tenancy agreement promises that communal areas in the block will be kept in good repair by the landlord. [p2.20]
16. The landlord has a two stage complaints policy. Under stage one the resident should be contacted within two working days of the complaint being raised. A complaint can be escalated to stage two in writing within one month of te stage one response. The stage two response must be issued within 20 working days of escalation.
Repairs to Communal Areas
17. In line with both the tenancy agreement and repairs policy the landlord will take reasonable care to keep communal areas in good repair. [p2.20 and 3.18]
18. The resident reported poor cleaning in the communal areas of the block, a missing lock on the boiler room and problems closing the front and rear entrance doors on 5 March 2021.
19. There were visible signs of ingrained dirt on touchpoints in communal areas when the cleaning quality was inspected on 30 April 2021 and an audit was scheduled for 25 May 2021, 81 calendar days after the original report. The landlord did not update the resident with progress or offer any explanation for the delays. While no timescales are laid down in the landlord’s repairs policy for this, the Ombudsman is of the opinion that this would constitute service failure.
20. The resident advised that the boiler room lock had first been reported in November 2020 and that the landlord admitted that they failed to instruct a contractor to carry out the work. The matter was raised as part of the resident’s complaint on 5 March 2021, but the work was not carried out until 21 May 2021. The landlord did not update the resident with progress or offer any explanation for the delays. This would constitute service failure and the Ombudsman will make a compensation order for £150 in respect of both this and the delayed repair referred to above.
21. The resident rang the landlord on 22 March 2021 to thank it for the repairs to the front and rear entrance doors the previous date. This repair was carried out 16 days after the report and is therefore within the 21 day timescale for an appointed repair. The landlord also apologised for the delay.
22. The site inspection carried out in April 2021 identified a list of repairs which do not form part of the resident’s complaint and will therefore not be investigated. It is unclear whether these works have been carried out, but the Ombudsman will recommend that the landlord advise the resident on the status of these repairs and, if not, to draw up a schedule of work to complete them. If the resident wishes to complain that these repairs have been delayed she would need to raise a new complaint with the landlord.
23. The landlord responded to the stage two complaint on 2 July 2021 confirming that the boiler room lock had been fitted and that several repairs had been identified from a site inspection as well as the introduction of the regular cleaning audits referred to above.
Cleaning of communal areas
24. In line with the tenancy agreement, the landlord is expected to maintain communal areas of the building. The landlord employs cleaning contractors to assist it with fulfilling this responsibility. The resident complained to the landlord about the lack of cleaning in communal areas on 5 March 2021 and the landlord accepted that the cleaning was not of the required standard in its stage one complaint response on 19 March 2021. The requested work was carried out promptly after this complaint was raised and the cleaning contractor also introduced regular audits.
25. The landlord also confirmed that the walls that needed re-plastering would be reported to the repairs team and that although cleaning marks off are outside the scope of the cleaning contract, residents will be written to asking them not to bring bicycles into the building as this is the most likely cause the walls being marked. The landlord has acted appropriately by taking this action.
26. The Ombudsman believes that the landlord’s actions of raising the complaint with the contractor, arranging for onsite visits, and introducing ongoing monitoring of standards amounts to reasonable redress in regard to cleaning of communal areas.
Complaint Handling
27. The resident complained to the landlord on 5 March 2021 that the communal area of the block of flats she lived in had not been deep cleaned, that there were black marks on the wall and that the standard of cleaning was poor. Additionally, the lock to the boiler room door had been missing for five months and there was also an outstanding issue regarding the front and rear entrance doors not closing properly. It is not clear from the information provided when then issue relating to the doors was first raised, but the resident believed that this was a security risk.
28. The landlord sent the resident an email summarising her complaints on 9 March 2021 and promised a response within 10 working days. As the complaint was raised on a Friday, this response was within the landlord’s commitment to an acknowledgement within two working days.
29. It was appropriate for the landlord to contact the resident on 25 March 2021 to advise that some time would need to be allowed to enable it to fulfil its promises but not appropriate to delay the resident’s request to escalate to stage two for this reason. It would have been appropriate for the landlord to either provide a timescale for carrying out the repairs or an explanation of the cause of the delays and an estimated time for a further update.
30. The landlord called the resident on 23 April 2021 with an update on the promises made in its stage one response and promised a further call approximately another two weeks later.
31. The landlord failed to provide the above update which caused the resident to make an unnecessary call to the landlord on 14 May 2021 which did not result in any information being given to her. The landlord did not ring the resident until 18 May 2021 two working days later. Considering that this was a protracted complaint, this is not considered appropriate behaviour and the landlord did not apologise for the delay or explain the reasons for it.
32. The resident made a further call on 19 May 2021 to ask when the scaffolding was taken down as the windows had not been cleaned as promised.
33. The landlord sent a written update on 20 May 2021 regarding her original complaints and was given a list of the repairs identified from the site inspection.
34. The landlord responded to the stage two complaint on 2 July 2021 advising
a) that it agreed with the resident that the cleaning had not been of the required standard and that the touchpoints has been closed on 30 April and 16 and 19 June 2021.
b) the windows were cleaned on 25 March and 4 June 202, that the boiler room lock had been fitted on 21 May 2021.
c) the front and rear doors was reported as an emergency on 30 April 2021 (this is in addition to the original report made as a result of the original complaint in March 2021.
35. The landlord had acted inappropriately by not notifying the resident when it had opened its stage two investigation resulting in the resident being unaware of this until she received the response on 2 July 2021. This lack of communication is inappropriate.
36. The unexplained delays to carrying out the repairs and the failure to get the boiler room lock replaced sooner, in the Ombudsman’s opinion amount to service failure and he will award £150 compensation to the resident for time and trouble caused.
37. The above is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedy guidelines (published on our website) which suggests awards of compensation of between £50 and £250 for instances of service failure resulting in some impact on the resident but which may not have significantly affected the overall outcome for the complainant. For example.
- repeated failures to reply to letters or return phone calls
- failure to meet service standards for actions and responses but where the failure had no significant impact on the resident.
Determination (decision)
38. In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure with respect to the repairs to communal areas of the building which the resident’s property is in and its handling of the formal complaint.
39.In accordance with paragraph 55(b) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme the landlord has offered redress to the resident prior to investigation which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily.
Reasons
40. There was a considerable delay in repairing the front and rear entrance doors and replacing the boiler room lock and the landlord failed to provide an adequate explanation for this.
41. While the landlord admitted that the standard of cleaning was poor it made appropriate efforts to rectify this situation by taking the matter up with the contractors and ensuring that there was ongoing monitoring and auditing of standards
42. There was also a lack of pro-active contact from the landlord to the resident resulting in a failure to keep her informed of the progress of the repairs she requested. This was unacceptable and may have led to an increase in the distress experienced by the resident.
Orders
43. The landlord is ordered to pay the resident £150 compensation within four weeks in recognition of the distress and inconvenience she experienced because of delays and miscommunication relating to:
- the cleaning of and repairs to communal areas of the building which the resident’s property is in
- the associated formal complaint.
Recommendations
The Ombudsman recommends that the landlord:
44. Prepares a schedule of works for all outstanding repairs within four weeks and to share this with the resident and the Ombudsman. Once the schedule of work has been produced, the outstanding repairs should be completed in line with the timescales listed in the landlord’s repairs policy.
45. Reviews staff training with the aim of ensuring that residents are kept informed of the progress of repairs using proactive contact.
46. Reviews record keeping ensuring that up to date repair records are available to all customer facing staff.