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Onward Homes Limited (202234079)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202234079

Onward Homes Limited

12 July 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 complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
    1. The resident’s report of a lack of hot water in the bathroom.
    2. The replacement of a grab rail.

Background

  1. The resident has been an assured tenant at the property, which is a two-bedroom 1st floor flat, since 3 February 2014. He has a history of anxiety and depression and is also diagnosed with diabetes and arthritis. The landlord’s records accurately reflect his vulnerabilities.
  2. On 18 January 2023 the resident reported that he had no hot water in the bathroom. The landlord cancelled the job in error but the resident was not informed until he telephoned the landlord on 23 January 2023 to ask when a contractor would attend. Another repairs job was raised on 23 January 2023 and the contractor attended to fix the problem on 30 January 2023.
  3. A new bathroom was installed at the property during week commencing 1 February 2023 as part of a programme of improvement work. On 15 February 2023 a liaison officer for the bathroom contractor (contractor A) told the landlord that the resident was unhappy with the water temperature from the bath taps but said that the problem had existed prior to the bathroom replacement.
  4. On 16 February 2023 contractor A emailed the landlord to tell it that the resident wanted a grab rail refitted next to his toilet. However, the wall was not solid so the contractor would need to pattress the wall before fitting it. Contractor A said that the bathroom was complete and ready for handover and asked the landlord what to do.
  5. On 20 February 2023 the resident reported that there was no hot water in the bathroom. Contractor B attended but could not access the property so returned on 23 February 2023. However, contractor B referred the issue back to the landlord saying that contractor A had installed a new bathroom “but the shower mixer tap is too big to hold temperature”. The landlord discussed the issue with contractor A who said that the mixer tap was the same as all the others fitted in the programme of works but offered to attend the property to check the fitting and settings of the tap.
  6. The resident complained on 20 February 2023. He said that he had no hot water from the 18-30 January 2023 and that he had 3 grab rails prior to the bathroom replacement but only 2 had been replaced. He said that none of the operatives from contractor A had carried identification and were “bad mannered and arrogant”. The landlord acknowledged receipt of the stage 1 complaint on 20 February 2023.
  7. Contractor A emailed the landlord on 21 February 2023 to ask for a response to the email it had sent on 16 February 2023. The landlord emailed back on the same day to ask contractor A to pattress the wall and fit the grab rail.
  8. On 27 February 2023 contractor A told the landlord that the resident had no hot water in the bathroom again. Contractor A said that the issue was there prior to the bathroom replacement and therefore contractor B should attend.
  9. On 28 February 2023 the landlord asked its gas contractor (contractor C) to look at the water temperature issue as part of the gas service including the gas combination boiler, due on 14 March 2023.
  10. On 3 March 2023 contractor A refitted the grab rail.
  11. On 6 March 2023 the landlord provided the stage 1 complaint response. It said that the repair job raised on 18 January 2023 had been incorrectly allocated to the wrong contractor and cancelled in error but had been re-raised and attended to on 30 January 2023. It said that it had asked contractor A to replace the mixer tap and that an appointment would be arranged as soon as possible. It said that it had provided feedback to contractor A about the resident’s experience with the operatives. It offered £250 compensation and an apology for the poor service the resident had received.
  12. On 14 March 2023 the resident asked the landlord to escalate the complaint to stage 2 of the complaints process. He said that he still had no hot water in his bathroom.
  13. On 17 March 2023 contractor A emailed the landlord to tell it that the resident had refused access to replace the mixer tap.
  14. The landlord acknowledged the stage 2 complaint on 21 March 2023 and said that it would send a full response by 18 April 2023.
  15. On 6 April 2023 the landlord spoke to the resident as part of the complaint investigation. The resident said that he had been delaying booking an appointment for the gas service to the boiler because of the issue with the hot water in the bathroom.
  16. On 13 April 2023, in an internal email, the landlord said that because the issue existed before the bathroom was replaced, contractor A was suggesting that they had not caused the issue. However, contractor B was insisting that it was an issue with the new taps. The landlord said that it was hoping to bring in another contractor (contractor D) for an independent opinion but that the resident had refused to allow this. The landlord said that contractor C should be asked for their opinion when the gas service was carried out the following week.
  17. On 17 April 2023 the landlord provided a stage 2 complaint response. It apologised again for the resident’s experience. It said that the grab rails were now fitted. It said that since the stage 1 complaint response it had offered to send contractor D to the property to establish the reason for the low water temperature in the bathroom and that an appointment had been offered for 17 April 2023 but the resident was unavailable. It said that when it was trying to arrange a suitable date the resident had said that he wanted to take the case to the Housing Ombudsman Service, however, it recommended that contractor D visit as soon as possible to rectify the issue. It identified that the resident had not been called back on 1 occasion and offered £25 as a gesture of goodwill to recognise any frustration this had caused. Therefore, in total it offered £275 compensation.
  18. On 3 October 2023 the resident called the landlord. and agreed to an inspection by contractor D.
  19. The landlord called the resident back on 4 October 2023 but received no reply and was unable to leave a voicemail.
  20. The landlord called the resident again on 16 October 2023 and arranged for contractor D to attend on a Monday or Tuesday.
  21. On 8 November 2023 the landlord instructed contractor D to attend the property.
  22. On 13 November 2023 contractor D attended the property at 5pm but the resident refused access because he said that he was expecting them to arrive between 2-3pm. However, contractor D said that they had hoped to be there at that time but had not promised this.
  23. Between 15 and 21 November 2023 contractor D left several messages for the resident to contact them to arrange another appointment but the resident did not return the calls.
  24. On 30 January 2024 the landlord tried to contact the resident on all available numbers and left a voicemail asking him to call it back. The resident called back later in the day and made an appointment for contractor D to attend the property on 14 February 2024.
  25. On 19 February 2024 the landlord told this Service that it had attended the property the previous week with contractor D. It said that it had discovered that the bathroom had hot water but that the resident wanted it to be hotter. It had therefore decided to remove the existing mixer shower and thermostatic temperature valve (TMV) and to install separate taps and an electric shower. It said that a TMV had been installed to avoid scalding however the resident had signed a statement to say that he wanted it removed.
  26. On 16 April 2024 the landlord advised this Service that it had revised its compensation award following contact by the resident. It offered a total of £475 compensation.

Assessment and findings

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of a lack of hot water in the bathroom.

  1. Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 places an obligation on the landlord to keep in good repair and working order, the structure of the property and installations for water and space heating.
  2. The resident reported a lack of hot water in the bathroom on 18 January 2023, prior to the bathroom refit. The landlord admitted that it cancelled the job in error and that the problem was not rectified until 30 January 2023. This error caused the resident distress and inconvenience.
  3. A lack of hot water was reported again after the bathroom was refitted. Due to different contractors being involved there was confusion as to whose responsibility this was which caused delays. However, despite there being an issue with the hot water prior to the new bathroom being fitted, contractor A offered to return to the property to try to rectify the issue but the resident refused access. He also delayed booking an appointment for the gas service which may have highlighted what the problem was.
  4. The landlord acted appropriately when it offered to instruct another independent heating and hot water specialist to assess the issue as part of the stage 2 complaints process. However, the resident refused this offer at that time.
  5. When the resident agreed that the heating and hot water specialist could attend the property in February 2024 they discovered that the bathroom water was hot. However, the resident did not think it was hot enough and the landlord agreed to remove the TMV at the resident’s request, which was a reasonable action to take.
  6. The landlord acted appropriately in arranging for different contractors to try to rectify the issue. Although there was an identified error when it cancelled the initial repairs request it acknowledged this and apologised. It also offered compensation to reflect this error during the complaints process. Therefore, there has been reasonable redress by the landlord in its handling of the residents reports of a lack of hot water.

The landlord’s handling of the replacement of a grab rail.

  1. The contractor emailed the landlord on 16 February 2023 to ask for advice about refitting the grab rail following the bathroom replacement. The landlord did not respond until a week later when the contractor chased it up on 21 February 2023.
  2. An appointment to fit the grab rails was arranged for 27 February 2023 but this appointment was rearranged for 2 March 2023.
  3. All grab rails should have been replaced as part of the bathroom refit and contractor A should have raised any concerns about refitting the grab rail when the site survey took place. The resident was without a grab rail in an important position for 3 weeks which caused distress and inconvenience.
  4. There was a delay in the refitting of the grab rail however the landlord apologised and offered reasonable redress as part of its complaints process.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was reasonable redress in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of a lack of hot water in the bathroom.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was reasonable redress in the landlord’s handling of the replacement of a grab rail.

Recommendations

  1. The landlord should pay the £475 compensation offered to the resident in April 2024 if it has not already done so.
  2. The landlord should review its procedures regarding replacement of grab rails following planned bathroom refurbishments to ensure that there are no future delays.