Orbit Group Limited (202013201)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202013201

Orbit Group Limited

18 November 2021


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 installation of a trellis on a neighbouring property.

Background and summary of events

Policies and procedures

  1. The landlord’s complaints policy confirms that it aims to respond to stage one complaints within 10 working days, though it could extend by a further 10 working days for more complex complaints. It aims to respond to final stage complaints within 20 working days. At both stages of the complaints procedure, the landlord will keep the person complaining informed if it cannot respond to the complaint within its published timescales.

Summary of events

  1. The resident is a tenant of the landlord.
  2. On 20 March 2021, the landlord received a report from the resident that her neighbour had carried out some extensions to the privacy panel between the two properties, which was also affecting her fence. She said this had encroached on her boundary and would like the matter resolved.
  3. On 21 March 2021, the landlord carried out an inspection of the gardens. It found that a trellis had been installed by the neighbour, and it was attached to a fence and privacy panel previously installed by the landlord. It concluded that the trellis was within the boundary of the neighbour’s front garden and that it did not encroach upon the resident’s boundary.
  4. On 25 March 2021, the landlord carried out a further inspection of the trellis, which reached the same conclusion as its previous inspection.
  5. On 26 March 2021, the resident asked the landlord to escalate her complaint and to provide a response in writing.
  6. On 31 March 2021, the landlord issued its stage one complaint response to the resident. It confirmed that it had carried out several inspections in to inspect the fence. It did not consider the trellis to encroach on the resident’s boundary, and it did not consider it to be a breach any of the terms in its tenancy agreement. The letter confirmed that the resident could contact the landlord within 20 days if she was dissatisfied with its response and the complaint would be reviewed.
  7. The resident has provided this Service with a copy of the email she sent the landlord’s customer relations team on 11 April 2021. In this she said that she wanted her complaint reviewed.
  8. On 19 April 2021, the landlord received a letter from the resident’s solicitor in relation to a separate matter. The solicitor confirmed that it was not dealing with the resident’s complaint regarding the trellis, therefore the landlord should respond to the resident directly about this matter.
  9. Around this time, the resident sought assistance from this Service in relation to several complaints that she was pursuing with the landlord. This led to this Service contacting the landlord on 14 July 2021, to advise that the resident wished to escalate her complaint as she continued to be unhappy about the trellis that had been installed. The landlord was asked to provide a stage two response to the resident. The following day, the landlord spoke to the resident about her complaint.
  10. On 16 July 2021, the landlord issued its final stage complaint response to the resident. It confirmed that as the trellis was not breaching any of its guidelines, it had no reason to ask for it to be removed. It had reviewed the evidence, including photographs, and was satisfied that no part of the trellis was on the resident’s property or impeding or restricting access to the resident’s property. Therefore, it did not uphold the complaint.

Assessment and findings

  1. Following the resident’s reports about the installation of the trellis on a neighbouring property, the landlord took appropriate steps to investigate the matter by inspecting the trellis on more than occasion and then communicating its findings to the resident. The landlord found that none of the terms in its tenancy agreement had been breached or that the trellis was encroaching on the resident’s property. As the landlord had found there to be no tenancy breach by the neighbour, it was reasonable for it to decide that it would not be asking the neighbour to remove the trellis.
  2. During April 2021, the resident asked the landlord to review her complaint and following this, her solicitor confirmed to the landlord that it should respond directly to her about her complaint. However, there is no evidence the landlord responded to the resident’s request or arranged for the complaint to be reviewed at this time. This was inappropriate given that the resident had a right to escalate her complaint through the landlord’s complaints process.
  3. While this shortcoming is acknowledged, there is no evidence that the resident raised concerns about the landlord’s handling of this matter as part of her complaint raised in July 2021. Therefore, it was reasonable for the landlord not to review its complaint handling in its final response. A recommendation has however been made in relation to the landlord’s complaint handling. 

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was no maladministration by the landlord in relation to its response to the installation of a trellis on a neighbouring property.

Reasons

  1. The landlord has taken appropriate steps to investigate the resident’s concerns about the trellis by inspecting the trellis and communicating its findings to the resident. As the landlord had found there to be no tenancy breach by the neighbour, it was reasonable for it to decide that it would not be asking the neighbour to remove the trellis.

Recommendation

  1. It is recommended that the landlord takes steps to ensure that requests to escalate complaints are acted on in a timely manner.