One Housing Group Limited (202328323)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202328323

One Housing Group Limited

3 September 2024

 

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 landlord’s handling of reports of leaks in the property.

Background

  1. The resident holds an assured tenancy which started on 8 May 2023. The property is a 3-bedroom house. The resident told the landlord that she was a full-time carer for her husband, and that they both had physical mobility issues such as knee, back and leg pain. She also said the issues in the property impacted both her own mental health and her husband’s health.
  2. The resident made a complaint to the landlord on 30 August 2023. She said that she was disappointed with a lack of communication and missed appointments related to an ongoing leak in her basement, and she asked it to repair the leak. She also mentioned that she did not receive any text message confirmation of the repair appointments and asked it to resolve this issue.
  3. The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response to the resident on 15 September 2023. It said that it had dealt with several reports of leaks within the kitchen and bathroom between 18 July 2023 and 30 August 2023. It upheld her complaint and acknowledged delays in raising follow on works after 2 separate appointments. It said that it had arranged to complete the outstanding repairs on 18 September 2023 and gave her a key point of contact for the works. It offered her £100 compensation, of which £50 was for a statutory right to repair payment, and £50 was for the impact of the delays in completing the repairs.
  4. The resident escalated her complaint to the landlord on 24 September 2023. She said that she was unhappy with the level of compensation offered as she felt it did not reflect the overall handling of the leaks as she experienced a lack of communication from the landlord, delays and missed appointments during this period. She asked it to provide additional compensation for the damages that the leaks caused to her personal items, and for the stress and inconvenience caused by its handling of the repairs.
  5. On 23 October 2023, the landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response to the resident. It upheld the complaint. It apologised for the length of time taken to resolve the kitchen leak and for the inconvenience caused to the household. It said that its surveyor would contact her within 3 working days to arrange an inspection of the property and that it would complete any repairs required. It advised her that it could not pay compensation for damages to her own belongings and signposted her to make a claim through her home contents insurance provider. It offered a total of £200 compensation, of which £50 was for repair delays, and £150 was for the impact and inconvenience caused by its handling of the leaks.
  6. The resident escalated her complaint to this Service as she remained unhappy with the landlord’s offer of compensation and that the landlord had not contacted her to arrange the surveyor inspection. The complaint became one that the Ombudsman could investigate on 20 May 2024.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. It is evident that the resident is currently experiencing issues which she did not raise within this complaint, such as with garden drainage, roof leaks and property adaptations. The resident may wish to log a new complaint for the landlord to investigate her concerns and put things right as the Ombudsman is unable to consider matters that have not exhausted a landlord’s complaints process. She may then bring that complaint to us as a new case to investigate if needed. This is in accordance with paragraph 42(a) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme.
  2. The resident said that the landlord’s handling of the leaks within the property affected the health of the household. While this Service does not doubt the resident’s comments about their health, it is outside our remit to draw conclusions on the causation of, or liability for, impacts on health and wellbeing. This is in accordance with paragraph 42(f) of the Scheme. This Service has considered the general distress and inconvenience which the situation may have caused the resident.

The landlord’s handling of reports of leaks in the property

  1. The resident experienced leaks within both the kitchen and bathroom at the property. She complained to the landlord about its handling of the leaks because she was unhappy with its lack of communication and missed appointments, which meant that the leak within the bathroom (in the basement) remained ongoing.
  2. The landlord’s complaint responses lacked accuracy. Within the landlord’s initial complaint response, and its repair records, it stated that it repaired a leak under the kitchen sink on 18 July 2023, when the resident first reported this. However, within its final complaint response, it said that it failed to repair the leak until 24 August 2023. It is unclear why the landlord’s final complaint response stated this as its repair records showed that the repair completed on the latter date was for a bathroom leak, which the Ombudsman understands is unrelated to the kitchen leak. This would have understandably caused confusion to the resident.
  3. From the repair records, it is evident that the landlord addressed the leak in the kitchen on 18 July 2023, but the resident reported that the leak had returned on 30 July 2023. It dealt with the leak as an out of hours emergency repair on the same day, when it isolated the hot water. It later repaired this on 2 August 2023. While the landlord acted appropriately by isolating the hot water to stop the leak until it could complete a lasting repair, the resident remained without hot water for a period of 2 working days which would have understandably caused distress and inconvenience to her.
  4. As part of the resident’s report on 30 July 2023, she said that the leak in the kitchen had gone through the flooring and caused water damage to the carpet in the bedroom below. On 31 July 2023, the landlord attempted to deliver a dehumidifier to the property to assist with the drying out process, but its records state that it could not gain access to the property to deliver this. It is unclear whether it informed the resident of this appointment prior to attending.
  5. The repair records show that the landlord installed the dehumidifier successfully on 2 August 2023, but they do not show if, or when, it later removed this. The resident has told this Service that the dehumidifier remained at the property for months. Due to a lack of evidence, the Ombudsman cannot assess this. As such, the landlord is ordered to review its records and confirm the dates of when it delivered the dehumidifier and when it removed this. It should then pay compensation to reflect the impact of the dehumidifier running costs during this time.
  6. After the landlord’s final complaint response, the resident experienced 2 further leaks from under the kitchen sink in November 2023. While the repeated occurrences may have caused distress to the resident, the landlord responded appropriately to these reports, attending both instances within 2 working days of the repair requests.
  7. Alongside the handling of the leak itself, the landlord acknowledged its failure to escalate repairs caused by the kitchen leak. It identified that the leak damaged some kitchen cupboards, and it needed to arrange works to box in the electric meter. It identified the need for this repair on 22 August 2023, and it later completed this repair on 20 October 2023. It was appropriate for the landlord to apologise for the impact of this delay.
  8. The resident first reported leaks within the bathroom in the basement of the property on 10 August 2023. The landlord attended on 14 August 2023 and found a leak on the basin waste pipe. The repair notes from this appointment show that it requested follow on works to lift the flooring and floorboards in the room above the bathroom to find and resolve the leak. It is unclear whether the landlord ever completed these works to investigate and repair the leak. The landlord was therefore unable to demonstrate that it completed the actions that it proposed which was not appropriate.
  9. On 18 August 2023, the resident reported that the bathroom leak continued to worsen and she noted issues with being unable to control the temperature in the shower. It attended on 24 August 2023, but it is unclear what works it completed at this appointment. The resident raised a further repair request on 29 August 2023 related to a leak from the toilet when it flushed, which the landlord repaired on the following day. During this appointment, the landlord also noted a fault with the shower control bar affecting the temperature, but there is no evidence available to show that the landlord later raised a repair to rectify this.
  10. Within the resident’s complaint to the landlord on 30 August 2023, she said that the leak in the bathroom remained ongoing. It is unclear where this specific leak originated from, but it is a failing that the landlord has not evidenced its investigation of the leak, particularly given that the appointment on 14 August 2023 suggested further investigation by removing the floorboards in the room above.
  11. In the landlord’s stage 1 complaint response, it said it had arranged to complete the outstanding works on 18 September 2023, but it did not confirm what the works would include. This is a failing as it would have been appropriate for the landlord to have outlined how it intended to put things right for the resident.
  12. The landlord’s repair records do not show any appointments on 18 September 2023, which is a further failing. Where there is a lack of evidence provided by the landlord, the Ombudsman cannot determine whether it completed the works proposed.
  13. On 18 October 2023, the landlord raised a repair to address mould patches within the bathroom and bedroom on the basement level of the property. It completed this repair on 3 November 2023, but it is unclear from the records as to what works it did, and whether it assessed the cause of the mould to prevent it from returning.
  14. The resident reported a further leak within the bathroom on 19 October 2023, which the landlord repaired on the same day. However, it remains unclear as to whether the landlord ever completed the repairs to investigate the source of the leak above the bathroom ceiling but below the flooring of the room above.
  15. Within the landlord’s final complaint response, on 23 October 2023, it said that it would contact the resident within 3 working days to arrange a surveyor inspection regarding the damp present in the property. However, the landlord failed to contact the resident, which prompted her to contact it about this on 20 November 2023.
  16. The landlord has provided evidence of internal emails indicating that it arranged to inspect the property on the same day that the resident chased this, but the repair records do not show this, which is a record keeping failure. Additionally, it is a failing that the landlord did not proactively manage the appointment agreed within its final complaint response. The landlord instead caused further distress and inconvenience to the resident as she continued to experience delays with the repairs which it only responded to after she chased this.
  17. The resident told the landlord that both herself and her husband had physical health conditions, and that she cared full-time for her husband. She said that the ongoing leaks caused stress to them both which also impacted their general health. It is a failing that the landlord has not evidenced any support offered to the resident to discuss her concerns or any efforts to signpost her for additional support.
  18. The resident has told this Service that a leak remains ongoing in the bathroom, and that damp and mould is present in the bathroom. However, the Ombudsman notes that there are additional repairs currently being undertaken, which are unrelated to this complaint and are not investigated within this report, but that may be contributing to the ongoing leak, including to rendering and the roof.
  19. As such, the landlord is ordered to specifically investigate and rectify the source of the leak between the bathroom ceiling and the flooring of the room above, if it has not already done so. If it has already completed such works, it should instead attend the property to assess other options to determine the cause of the leak. A recommendation has been made below regarding outstanding works which were not raised within this complaint.
  20. Within the resident’s complaint, she said that the leaks caused damage to her personal belongings, including storage boxes and frames. The landlord said that the resident needed to refer a claim to her own contents insurance provider. While this advice was correct and in line with the landlord’s compensation policy (which states that personal belongings should be insured for accidental damage and water damage), it would have been appropriate for the landlord to also signpost the resident on making a liability claim against it. This would have allowed the matter to be independently investigated through the landlord’s own liability insurance. An order has been made below regarding this.
  21. Additionally, as part of the resident’s complaint to the landlord, she said that she did not receive any text messages confirming repair appointments. She asked the landlord to investigate this and rectify the issue as she previously received confirmation messages. The landlord did not respond to this aspect of the complaint which is a failing. An order has been made below regarding this.
  22. In summary, while the landlord acknowledged some failings such as delays in completing repairs, it is evident that it continued to fail to appropriately manage the repairs. It therefore did not learn from its mistakes and put things right for the resident as she continued to experience delays with the repairs after the final complaint response.
  23. As such, the landlord’s overall offer of £200 compensation for the repair delays and the impact and inconvenience caused to the resident was not proportionate to the ongoing failings and lack of accuracy within the complaint responses. The landlord is therefore ordered to pay an additional £350 compensation to the resident for the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of reports of leaks in the property.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of reports of leaks in the property.

Orders

  1. Within 28 calendar days of the date of this determination, the landlord is ordered to:
    1. Apologise to the resident in writing for the failures identified within this investigation.
    2. Pay the £200 compensation offered within its complaint response, if it has not already done so.
    3. Pay a further £350 compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of reports of leaks in the property.
    4. Arrange a date to investigate and rectify the source of the leak between the bathroom ceiling and the flooring of the room above, if it has not already done so. If it has already completed such works, it should instead attend the property to assess other options to determine the cause of the leak and then write to the resident with an action plan, including appointment dates, to resolve the leak.
    5. Complete a damp and mould inspection of the property.
    6. Review its records and confirm the dates of when it delivered the dehumidifier and when it removed this. It should then pay compensation to reflect the impact of the dehumidifier running costs during this time, giving the resident an explanation of how it reached this figure.
    7. Update the resident’s contact preferences to ensure that communication is made to the correct telephone number.
    8. Provide the resident with details of how to submit a liability claim through its insurers or insurance team.
  2. The landlord should reply to this Service with evidence of compliance with these orders within the timeframe set out above.

Recommendations

  1. The landlord is recommended to contact the resident and arrange dates to address the outstanding repairs which are unrelated to this complaint, such as the works to address leaks from the roof and issues with the rendering.