Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTV) (202222658)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202222658

Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTV)

30 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 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 landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of leaks within the bathroom.
   2. The landlord’s response to the resident’s complaint.

Background

2. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord. He resides in a 1-bedroom flat (the property).
3. On 15 June 2022 the resident reported a leak in his bathroom, an appointment was made for 17 June 2023, however the operative failed to attend.
4. Following a complaint from the resident, the landlord apologised and compensation of £30 was offered in its stage 1 response. £10 in recognition of the missed appointment and £20 for the time and trouble expended by the resident. The leak was repaired on 29 June 2023.
5. The resident contacted the landlord again on 25 October 2022 advising that the leak had returned and requested an escalation of his complaint. He said that the leak had been repaired “about 8 times” and it was causing him stress.
6. The landlord issued its final complaint response to the resident on 21 December 2022. It advised that several attempts had been made to contact him to arrange an inspection. The landlord offered an appointment for 5 January 2023 to repair the leak and asked the resident to make contact if that was not convenient.
7. Following failed attempts to gain access the landlord attended on 29 January 2023 and identified that the leak was in a different location to the original issue. A new shower seal was installed, and the repair was completed on 8 February 2023.

Assessment and findings

Landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of leaks within the bathroom

8. On 15 June 2022 the resident reported a leak in his bathroom. Evidence provided for the purpose of this investigation did not show older reports of a leak made prior to this date. However, the resident has informed this Service that the issue had been ongoing for some time and had taken approximately 8 visits to rectify.
9. The landlord identified that it was a containable leak, therefore, it was appropriately categorised as a routine repair in line with its internal policies. An appointment was made for 17 June 2022, which was a fair and reasonable timeframe.
10. The landlord failed to attend on the given date, resulting in the resident making a complaint. The landlord acknowledged the missed appointment and the inconvenience this caused to the resident. Appropriate action was taken to schedule a new appointment and the leak was repaired on 29 June 2022, 10 working days after the resident’s initial report. This was in accordance with the landlord’s repairs policy, which requires attendance within 20 working days for a routine repair.
11. Following the report that the leak had returned, reasonable attempts were made to arrange access with the resident via email and telephone. In its communications with the resident, the landlord requested a convenient date for an inspection to be carried out to assess all outstanding repairs, including the bathroom leak which was reasonable.
12. During the email exchanges the resident disputed the need for another inspection. While it is understandable that the resident was frustrated and questioned the requirement for a further inspection, it is reasonable to conclude that this contributed to the delay of the second repair.
13. It was determined by the landlord that the second leak was unrelated to the original issue. There is no evidence to suggest that the landlord failed to carry out a full, effective, and lasting repair. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that the landlord could not have foreseen the second leak occurring.
14. Although the landlord exceeded its own policy timescale by 12 working days in this instance, the evidence shows that reasonable efforts were made to gain access.
15. When assessing the landlord’s actions, the Ombudsman will consider the level of detriment caused to the resident by the delays in the works being completed. A bathroom leak would have undoubtedly caused some level of inconvenience to the resident, however, no evidence has been provided to suggest that the delays had a significant impact on the residents’ daily use of his home. In summary, the landlord offered proportionate compensation totalling £30 for the missed appointment and took sufficient steps to put matters right.

Complaint handling

16. The landlord has a 2 stage complaint procedure. The landlord must respond to the resident’s stage one complaint within 10 working days. If the resident remains dissatisfied, they can escalate their complaint to the second stage. The landlord should then respond within 20 working days. The policy states that if it cannot meet this target, it will agree an extension with the resident up to a further 10 working days.
17. In its stage one response on the 25 June 2022, the landlord apologised for the missed appointment. The response was provided within the policy timeframe and appropriate actions were taken to put things right.
18. The landlord’s complaint procedure states, that upon receipt of a stage two escalation, it will acknowledge this within 5 working days and provide details of the named individual responsible for the complaint and adherence to timeframes. In its acknowledgement the landlord stated that due to high demand there may be a delay in its response time. However, it failed to appropriately manage expectations by providing an estimated target date.
19. Following the resident’s escalation request on 25 October 2022 the landlord contacted him on 18 November 2022 and again on 8 December 2022 advising that it was not yet able to provide a full response and that a further extension was required. The final response was not provided to the resident until 21 December 2022. While efforts were made to notify the resident of the delay, this amounted to a total of 41 working days after the escalation request. This was an excessive delay against the timescale detailed in the landlord’s complaints process. The landlord failed to apologise for this and as a result caused further distress to the resident.
20. Since involvement from the Ombudsman, the landlord has acknowledged its failings in relation to complaint handling and offered additional compensation of £150. It is unclear if this has been communicated to the resident. While the amount offered is reasonable in recognition of these failures, it would have been appropriate for this to have formed part of the landlord’s final stage 2 response.
21. In summary, the landlord did not comply with the Code or its internal policies in the aspects set out above. Its failure to do so, resulted in an unacceptable delay that had a negative impact upon the resident. As such, there was a service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint.
22. In recognition of the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident, the landlord is required to issue an apology and compensation in relation to the complaint handling, as set out below. A further recommendation has also been made to help improve future complaint handling.

Determination

23. In accordance with paragraph 53 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was reasonable redress by the landlord in its response to the resident’s reports of leaks within the bathroom.
24. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure by the landlord in its complaint handling.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

25. Within four weeks of the date of this report, the landlord is ordered to:
    1. Write to the resident and apologise for the service failure identified in its complaint handling.
    2. Pay the resident £150 it has offered in recognition of the distress and inconvenience caused by its complaint handling, if not already paid.

Recommendations

26. Pay the resident £30 offered in its stage one response, in recognition of the missed appointment and the time and trouble expended by the resident, if not already paid.
27. The Ombudsman is currently reviewing the Complaint Handling Code. When it is published on 1 April 2024, it is recommended that the landlord reviews its own complaints policy. With a particular emphasis on ensuring that any compensation is offered in a timely manner during the internal complaints process.