Northumberland Council (202211307)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202211307

Northumberland Council

3 April 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 the landlord’s response to the resident’s request for heating to be installed in the porch of his property.

Background

2. The resident is a secure tenant of the landlord. The property is a semi-detached bungalow with an enclosed porch. The resident has stated that he and his wife have health conditions that are impacted by the temperature in the porch.
3. In April 2022, the resident asked the landlord to install a radiator in the porch of his property. The landlord declined the request as it did not consider the porch to be a habitable room. It stated that although a radiator had been installed in the porch of a neighbouring property, it did not set a precedent. It recognised that the resident and his wife have health conditions, and in view of this, it said it could arrange an occupational therapist assessment to be completed. It also stated that the resident could submit an improvement request to install a radiator, but that he would need to fund this himself.
4. Following an inspection of the porch in April 2022, the landlord raised works including rendering brickwork, renewing the porch sills, installing cavity insulation, and resealing the porch with silicone.
5. The resident was dissatisfied that his request had been declined, and on 25 April 2022, he raised a complaint. He wanted the landlord to complete a Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) assessment as he felt that the property was not habitable and went against the decent homes standard. He later added that the lack of heating in the porch made the property cold, which exacerbated his and his wife’s health conditions. He was also dissatisfied that he was paying the same amount of rent as a neighbour who did have heating in his porch.
6. The landlord provided its stage two complaint response on 28 June 2022. It stated that a HHSRS assessment had been completed which determined that the porch was not a habitable room, so no space heating would be needed. It added that there was no sign of damp or hazards and the property was fit for human habitation. In view of the resident’s reports of the porch making the property cold, it committed to completing further works to the porch, which included: renewing door and window seals, installing a draught excluder, and sealing joints where the porch connected to the property. In addition, it reiterated its offer of an occupational therapist assessment, in view of the health conditions which had been reported.
7. The landlord attended on several occasions throughout the process to carry out works, and all of the works listed above were completed by 26 August 2022.
8. The resident subsequently escalated his complaint to this Service. He was dissatisfied that a neighbouring property had heating installed in the porch, and wanted the same heating system to be installed in his property. He was dissatisfied that he was paying the same rent level as his neighbour, when his property did not have the same amenities.

Assessment and findings

9. The landlord is required to comply with the terms of the resident’s tenancy agreement and Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. These require the landlord to keep the heating installation in the property in repair; they do not place the landlord under any obligation to install additional heating in the property, including the porch. The landlord was therefore entitled to decline the resident’s request for additional heating when he first requested this.
10. The resident subsequently raised concerns that the property did not meet the decent homes standard and he asked the landlord to carry out an assessment under the HHSRS. The landlord agreed to do this and arranged for an Environmental Health Officer to carry this assessment out. The outcome of this assessment was that the porch was not deemed a habitable space and did not require any form of fixed space heating, and that the property was fit for human habitation. It is the responsibility of the Environmental Health department to carry out assessments under the HHSRS, and therefore, it was appropriate for the landlord to rely on this assessment and conclude there was no requirement to install heating in the porch.
11. Nonetheless, the landlord did explain to the resident that he would be able to request permission to install additional heating to the porch at his own cost, and provided instructions on the process for doing so. This is in line with the landlord’s repairs and improvements information, which is available on its website.
12. As the resident had raised concerns that he needed additional heating installed on health grounds, it was appropriate for the landlord to offer an occupational therapist assessment. Such an assessment would establish whether any changes are needed to the property in view of the health conditions of the resident and his wife. It is unclear whether the resident opted to go ahead with the assessment and it is recommended that the landlord continues to support the resident with the assessment if he does wish to have this carried out.
13. Furthermore, the landlord responded appropriately to the resident’s concerns that the property was cold by arranging an inspection to determine whether any repairs were needed in the property. Several repair issues were identified in the porch and the repairs were subsequently completed within the appropriate timescale listed on the landlord’s website. This demonstrates that the landlord took the resident’s concerns seriously and ensured it had met its repairing obligations. If the resident feels that the repairs have not been carried out to the required standard then he would need to raise this with the landlord so that it can investigate further.
14. It is acknowledged that the resident was dissatisfied that the landlord declined to install heating in his porch, despite it having installed heating in a neighbouring property’s porch. However, the landlord would not be obligated to install heating in the resident’s porch on this basis, and it was reasonable for it to inform the resident that no precedent had been set in this regard.
15. The resident also raised concerns about the level of rent he is paying, as it is the same as his neighbour who has heating installed in their porch. This Service is unable to consider complaints about the level of rent and therefore cannot decide whether the resident is being charged the appropriate amount of rent. However it is noted that the landlord did not address this matter in its complaint responses, and it is therefore recommended that it provides a response to the resident on this.

Determination

16. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was no maladministration by the landlord in respect of its response to the resident’s request for it to install heating in the porch of his property.

Recommendations

17. It is recommended that the landlord does the following within the next four weeks:
    1. Continues to support the resident with an occupational health assessment, if he wishes to go ahead with this.
    2. Responds to the resident’s concern about the level of rent he pays.