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Platform Housing Group Limited (202105359)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202105359

Platform Housing Group Limited

17 September 2021

 

Our approach

What we can and cannot consider is called the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction and is governed by the Housing Ombudsman Scheme. The Ombudsman must determine whether a complaint comes within their jurisdiction. The Ombudsman seeks to resolve disputes wherever possible but cannot investigate complaints that fall outside of this. 

In deciding whether a complaint falls within their jurisdiction, the Ombudsman will carefully consider all the evidence provided by the parties and the circumstances of the case.

The complaint

  1. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the residents’ end of tenancy notification.

Determination (jurisdictional decision)

  1. When a complaint is brought to the Ombudsman, we must consider all the circumstances of the case as there are sometimes reasons why a complaint will not be investigated.
  2. After carefully considering all the evidence, we have determined that the complaint, as set out above, is not within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

Summary of events

  1. The residents were tenants of the landlord.
  2. On 2 September 2019 the landlord contacted the residents to advise they had fallen into rent arrears (their rent account was in credit up until 19 August, and then fell into arrears on 26 August). The landlord spoke to them on the phone on 9 and 20 September. Its records show the residents explained they were still being charged council tax for the property. They said they left their home in January 2019, sent the landlord their keys and a signed notice to quit in March, and cancelled rent payments in May. The landlord advised that it had not received the keys or notice. It explained that it could only take notice from when it was first informed of their end of tenancy. It said their tenancy end date would be 6 October.
  3. The landlord’s records show the residents’ representative contacted it on 5 November 2019 and asked whether it would amend their end date. The landlord reiterated that it took notice from the first date of notification (9 September).
  4. The residents complained to the landlord on 13 August 2020.They said their bank would have informed it about the rent payment cancellation (in May 2019). They said the landlord did not contact them following the cancellation to advise they had fallen into rent arrears. They said the local authority was chasing them for a non-payment of council tax up until October 2019.
  5. The landlord responded to the residents on 27 August 2020. It said it was first notified of the end of tenancy on 9 September 2019. It said it had not notified them about missed rent payments (from May until September 2019) as their rent account was in credit. It said it would have only contacted them if they had fallen into arrears.
  6. The residents raised a formal complaint to the landlord on 4 November 2020. They disputed that their end date was in October, and asked the landlord to amend it. They provided a wide range of reasons why they believed the landlord knew, or should have known, that they had vacated the property. For example, they had been told by neighbours that contractors had been at the property following the residents’ departure, which they believed showed that the landlord would have known they no longer lived there.
  7. The landlord issued its stage one complaint response on 24 November 2020. It reiterated that it was first made aware of the residents’ end of tenancy on 9 September 2019, and that it did not receive their keys or notice before then. It said it would not amend the date. It said it had no record of contractors attending, and addressed the other grounds raised by the residents. It concluded by explaining how the residents could escalate their complaint if they remained dissatisfied.
  8. The residents escalated their complaint on 13 December 2020. They said they did not believe the landlord had not received their keys and notice. They said they believed the contractor identified in their home in May 2019 was carrying out an end of tenancy inspection.
  9. The landlord issued its stage two complaint response on 17 February 2021. It reiterated that it did not receive notification of the residents’ end of tenancy until September 2019. It confirmed that their end of tenancy date was 6 October 2019 in line with the notice period requirements explained in their tenancy agreement. It reiterated that it had no record of anyone attending in May 2019 for repairs, or a property visit. It concluded by explaining how the residents could refer their complaint to this Service if they remained dissatisfied.

Reasons

  1. Paragraph 39(e) of the Scheme states that the Ombudsman will not consider complaints that “were not brought to the attention of the landlord as a formal complaint within a reasonable period, which would normally be within six months of the matters arising”.
  2. The residents’ complaint is based upon their dispute over when the landlord considered they ended their tenancy. The evidence shows the landlord advised them in September 2019 that the end date would be 6 October 2019. The residents contacted the landlord in November 2019 to ask it to amend the date, which it declined to do. They then raised a complaint about the same matter in August 2020. That was approximately 11 months after they first became aware of the landlord’s decision in September 2019.
  3. The Ombudsman encourages residents to raise complaints with their landlords in a timely manner, so that the landlord has a reasonable opportunity to consider the issues whilst they are still ‘live’, and while the evidence is available to reach an informed conclusion on the events which occurred.
  4. Because of the time that elapsed before the residents raised a formal complaint, in line with paragraph 39(e), the Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint.