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One Housing Group Limited (202116988)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202116988

One Housing Group Limited

22 April 2022


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 handling of:
    1. The resident’s reports of a sewage backflow and drainage issues at the property.
    2. The associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident is a tenant of the landlord. The landlord has advised that there are no listed vulnerabilities for the resident, however, the resident has explained that both she and her child have medical conditions which affect their use of the property.
  2. The resident had previously experienced upsurges of water from her kitchen sink in 2017 and 2020 which were attended to and resolved by the landlord. There was also one incident of an upsurge from her toilet in 2020 which was resolved by the time an operative attended. On 23 April 2021, the resident reported that there was an upsurge from her kitchen sink. An operative resolved the issue on the same day and recommended that the stack pipe was descaled.
  3. The resident raised a complaint as she felt that the landlord had failed to address the underlying cause of the drainage issues and ignored her previous requests for a permanent solution. She felt that the property was not fit for habitation due to the repeated drainage issues and wanted compensation due to the distress and inconvenience caused over the years.
  4.  In response to the resident’s complaint, the landlord explained that whilst it had attended within its published timescales, it had not offered the resident an environmental clean of the affected areas for which it apologised and offered £50 compensation. It carried out a CCTV survey of the stack pipe on 19 May 2021 as well as a descale and found a drain ‘lid’ causing a blockage in the pipe. This was replaced on 18 June 2021. It confirmed that it had also found foreign objects in the stack pipe and believed the issues were due to misuse of the waste pipes by other tenants in the block. It said it would write to other tenants to remind them not to flush unsuitable items. It also confirmed that it had inspected the property on 12 May 2021 and found it to be in a good condition. It said that it attempted to carry out a deep clean of the property on 6 July 2021 but had not been able to gain access to the property. It had also agreed to renew the flooring in the bathroom, kitchen lounge and hallway as a gesture of goodwill and was committed to undertaking this work once the resident had granted access to the property.
  5. The records show that following the complaint, steps were taken to remove and replace the flooring in areas of the resident’s property during September 2021. Once the flooring was removed, water damage to the underflooring was identified and a mould wash was carried out. The landlord also agreed to renew the resident’s kitchen at this stage and all works were reported as completed in November 2021.
  6. The resident referred her complaint to this Service as she remained dissatisfied that the landlord had not acted in a timely manner or provided a deep clean of the areas affected on each occasion which she felt was inappropriate given the potential biohazard exposure. She added that it had failed to act on a report concerning major remedial works needed to the drainage system at the property or find a permanent solution to the stack pipe drainage issue. In addition, she was dissatisfied that the landlord had not provided information about her housing options following the recent incident. She also said that the issues had affected her family’s mental health and medical conditions.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. In her communication with the landlord and the Ombudsman, the resident has referred to historical drainage issues related to the stack pipe in the property in 2016, 2017 and 2020, but there is no evidence of a formal complaint being raised about the drainage problems until April 2021. In view of the time periods involved in this case, considering the availability and reliability of evidence, this assessment does not consider any specific events prior to January 2021. The historical issues provide contextual background to the current complaint and may be referred to for context, but the assessment is focused on the landlord’s actions in responding to the more recent events and, specifically, to the formal complaint made in April 2021.
  2. The resident has also referred to other issues in the property including pests, a lack of ventilation and items being thrown over neighbouring balconies above. As these are separate issues to the complaint raised with the Service, this is not something that this Service can adjudicate on at this stage, as the landlord needs to be provided with the opportunity to investigate and respond to these aspects through its complaints process. The resident will need to contact the landlord and, if appropriate, raise a separate complaint to get this matter resolved. She may then contact the Ombudsman regarding these issues if she remains dissatisfied with the landlord’s final response to her new complaint.
  3. The resident has said she considers that the issues affecting her property have impacted her family’s health. The Ombudsman does not doubt the resident’s comments.  However, it is beyond the remit of this Service to decide on whether there was a direct link between the drainage issues and the resident’s family’s health. The resident therefore may wish to seek independent advice on making a personal injury claim if she considers that her family’s health has been affected by any action or lack thereof by the landlord. Whilst we cannot consider the effect on health, consideration has been given to any general distress and inconvenience which the resident and her family experienced as a result of any errors by the landlord.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of a sewage backflow and drainage issues at the property.

  1. The tenancy agreement confirms that the landlord is responsible for repairs and maintenance needed to the structure and exterior of the property including drains and pipes as well as any installations for the supply of water and sanitation. The resident would be responsible for the interior decoration of the property and minor repairs. The landlord’s repair policy states that emergency repairs should be attended to within 24 hours, urgent repairs should be attended to within three working days and completed within five working days. Routine repairs should be attended to within five working days and completed within 20 working days. The landlord has confirmed that inspections of the drains take place on a reactive basis when an issue occurs.
  2. In this case, the landlord acted appropriately by arranging for the resident’s kitchen sink to be attended to within 24 hours on 23 April 2021 in line with its emergency repairs timescales. Following this, it completed a CCTV survey and descale of the stack pipe on 19 May 2021, within a reasonable timescale. The blockage was identified to be caused by a drain ‘lid’ and other foreign objects in the stack pipe.
  3. It is noted that the resident remains dissatisfied as she did not feel that the clearing of the blockage on this occasion would be a permanent fix to the issues she experienced over the years. The landlord explained that the previous drainage issues were also caused by foreign objects in the stack pipe and other tenants flushing unsuitable items down the drains. The landlord would not be able to continuously monitor or control the actions of other tenants and it took appropriate steps to write to the other tenants of the building to remind them of their responsibilities in this regard. There is no evidence to suggest that the incidents were the result of any failing by the landlord to act on reports of drainage issues.
  4. Following the complaint, the resident raised concern that the landlord had failed to act on previous reports showing that major works were needed to the drainage system to prevent the ongoing issues. As part of this investigation, the landlord was asked to provide documents related to previous inspections carried out following the resident’s reports of drainage issues. Whilst the Ombudsman does not doubt the resident’s recollection of events, the landlord provided various documents but there is no evidence to suggest that any recommendations for major works were made. The most recent CCTV survey did not indicate that there was any structural or design issues which may be contributing to the drainage issues. Furthermore, the resident did not raise this concern as part of her complaint or provide any further evidence to support her claim.
  5. Overall, the landlord acted fairly by acknowledging its failure to offer an environmental clean of the property at an earlier date and apologising. Its offer of £50 is considered proportionate in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance (published on our website) which states that amounts in the range of £50 to £250are proportionate where there has been service failure but it was of a short duration and did not impact the outcome of the complaint. It was also reasonable for the landlord to initially offer to renew the floor coverings in the resident’s property and agree to renew the kitchen units once it was established that there was water damage caused by the drainage issues.
  6. It is noted that the resident felt that the landlord had ignored her and her son’s medical conditions. Where there are recorded vulnerabilities, the landlord would be expected to consider prioritising repairs for affected residents, where it is appropriate and practical to do so. It is not clear from the evidence provided as to whether the resident had made the landlord aware of any medical conditions, however, the drainage issues in this case were resolved on the same day and could not have taken place much sooner. It is noted that the landlord has stated that it had no recorded vulnerabilities for the resident. As such, it is recommended that the landlord contacts the resident and updates its records accordingly.

The landlord’s handling of the associated complaint

  1. The landlord’s complaints policy states that it has a two-stage formal complaints process. At stage one, the landlord should respond within ten working days. If the resident remains dissatisfied, they can escalate their complaint to stage two. At stage two, the landlord should respond within 20 working days. If, at any stage, there is likely to be a delay, the landlord should contact the resident, explain the reason for any delay and provide a new response timescale. The landlord would be expected to respond to each aspect of the resident’s complaint within its complaint responses or, where appropriate, raise a separate complaint for new issues.
  2. In this case, the resident initially raised a complaint on 29 April 2021. The landlord issued its stage one response on 18 May 2021 which was within a reasonable timescale.  The resident initially said that she wished to escalate the complaint on 2 June 2021 and provided clear reasons for her dissatisfaction on 3 June 2021 via email. The landlord did not provide its stage two complaint response until 21 July 2021, which was approximately 15 working days outside of its 20-working day timescale at this stage. There is no evidence to suggest that the landlord had acknowledged or apologised to the resident for this delay or explained the reason why it occurred which is likely to have caused inconvenience to the resident.
  3. Furthermore, as part of her complaint, the resident asked for her family to be permanently moved to another property. There is no evidence to suggest that the landlord had responded to this request in its complaint responses or provided information related to her housing options. The resident explained that she was still awaiting this information as of 20 September 2021. The landlord has since confirmed that the resident’s housing banding was altered in March 2022 which suggests that it had discussed the matter with the resident following the end of the complaints process. However, the landlord’s failure to respond to this in its complaint response was likely to have caused inconvenience to the resident.
  4. In view of the errors in its handling of the complaint, the landlord should pay the resident £100 compensation. This is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance, as set out above.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 55 (b) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress prior to our investigation in respect of its handling of the resident’s reports of a sewage backflow and drainage issues at the property, which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure by the landlord in respect of its handling of the associated complaint.

Orders

  1. The Ombudsman orders that the following actions take place within four weeks:
    1. The landlord is to pay the resident £150, comprised of:
      1. £50 as previously offered in recognition of the inconvenience caused by the landlord’s failure to offer an environmental clean of the property in a timely manner if this has not already been paid.
      2.  £100 in recognition of the inconvenience caused by its poor complaint handling.  

 Recommendations

  1. It is recommended that the landlord contacts the resident regarding her and her family’s medical conditions and updates its records accordingly if it has not already done so.