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Royal Borough Of Greenwich (202203567)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202203567

Royal Borough Of Greenwich

22 May 2023

 

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 kitchen extractor fan repairs.
  2. The Ombudsman has also considered the landlord’s complaint handling.

Background

  1. The resident is a secure tenant of the landlord.
  2. On 13 November 2019 the resident reported that the extractor fan in her kitchen was not working. The landlord’s operative attended the address to assess the issue. Notes from the repairs log dated 18 November 2019 stated that the fan was letting in cold air as there was no shutter to close the vents. The job was then closed by the landlord without the repair being completed.
  3. The resident reported that the extractor fan in her kitchen was not working on 6 January 2022, and an appointment was made for an operative to attend the property. On 22 January 2022 the resident complained to the landlord that a repair had been booked but that no one had attended her property.
  4. The stage one complaint response was issued on 9 February 2022. The landlord apologised that the scheduled appointment was missed, and stated that this was due to emergency callouts taking priority on the day. The landlord acknowledged that it should have contacted the resident to inform her of the cancellation. The landlord confirmed that the appointment had been rescheduled for 18 February 2022.
  5. The rescheduled appointment was cancelled and following this, the resident requested for the complaint to be escalated to stage two. The stage two complaint response was issued on 25 March 2022. The landlord again apologised and said that emergencies may arise which needed to be prioritised, resulting in cancelled appointments. The landlord stated that an appointment was attended on 28 February 2022 and the repair to the extractor fan had been completed.
  6. In her complaint to this Service, the resident said that the repair had still not been completed, and that contractors had informed her that the entire window needed to be replaced. The resident stated that, in order to resolve her complaint, the landlord should complete the repair to stop cold air blowing into her property, and offer her an apology.
  7. Following correspondence from this Service, the landlord issued a further review of the complaint, dated 19 September 2022. The landlord confirmed that a new extractor fan had been ordered, but that delivery issues with the supplier had led to delays in the delivery of the fan. The landlord advised that the window did not need to be replaced. The landlord apologised for the inconvenience caused by the two missed appointments and concluded that it had failed to progress the repairs in a timely manner. The resident was offered £250 compensation.

Assessment and findings

Handling of kitchen extractor fan repairs.

  1. The landlord’s repairs guidance states that the landlord is responsible for repairs to electrical fittings. The guidance states that a broken mechanical extractor fan is an urgent repair which should be dealt with within five working days.
  2. The resident’s initial report in November 2019 was responded to in a timely manner. An electrician attended the property within five working days, which is in accordance with the response times set out in the repairs guidance. The repairs log reflects that the electrician identified that the fan was letting in cold air due to the absence of a shutter to close the vents. Following this visit, the landlord took no further action to complete the repair and the job was closed. The landlord has acknowledged this failing within the further complaint outcome letter dated 19 September 2022. However, no explanation has been provided as to why this failing occurred or whether any steps have been taken to prevent this happening again.
  3. After the resident raised the issue again on 6 January 2022, a repairs appointment was scheduled for 20 January 2022. However, the landlord’s operative did not attend and the resident was not notified that the appointment had been cancelled. Within the stage one response the landlord stated that this was due to prioritising emergency callouts on the day. While it is accepted that appointments for non-emergency repairs may need to be cancelled in such circumstances, the landlord has an obligation to inform the resident and promptly reschedule the appointment. The landlord acknowledged its communication failures within the stage one response. In its further review of the complaint, the landlord stated that the relevant staff had been spoken to regarding ensuring that tenants were informed in advance when appointments needed to be cancelled. This was an appropriate action which should help to ensure that residents are updated when appointments have been cancelled.
  4. The appointment was rescheduled for 18 February 2022. The landlord contacted the resident two days prior to notify her that the appointment had been cancelled due to the operative being on annual leave. The landlord took appropriate action on this occasion by updating the resident ahead of the scheduled appointment. However, it is clear that this contributed to the overall delay in resolving the issue.
  5. The landlord’s operative attended the resident’s property on 28 February 2022.Within its further complaint response dated 19 September 2022, the landlord stated that following this visit, the operative reported back that a new ventrex fan was required. However, this Service has not been provided with any contemporaneous notes made following this appointment. The repairs log does not make reference to a visit to the resident’s property on this date. It is therefore unclear whether the operative made notes to reflect that a new fan was required. This indicates a failure regarding the landlord’s record keeping. The landlord is expected to keep clear and accurate records so that it can understand what repairs are required and to monitor any outstanding repairs. There is no evidence that this was done on this occasion.
  6. The landlord’s stage two response stated that the repair had been completed as a result of the appointment on 28 February 2022. However, as referred to above, in September 2022 the landlord advised that the fan needed to be replaced. As such, the evidence indicates that the repair had not been completed during the previous appointment, and the stage two outcome was therefore incorrect in this regard. It appears that no further action was taken by the landlord to progress the repair until September 2022, after this Service became involved. The significant delay in progressing the repair during this period has not been accounted for by the landlord. However, the stage two response indicates that there was a belief that the repair had been completed. This further highlights the importance of keeping clear repair records so that ongoing repairs jobs are not closed before they have been completed.
  7. In its 19 September 2022 response to the complaint, the landlord gave an undertaking to fit a new extractor fan. Given the landlord had stated it would carry out this work as part of the resolution to the complaint (and while it did manage expectations to an extent in terms of there being delays), it should have ensured this was done as soon as possible, while keeping the resident updated.
  8. The landlord’s internal emails dated 13 September 2022 reflect that a ventrex fan had been ordered and that a job would be raised to replace the existing fan once it had been delivered. The resident provided this Service with emails she sent to the landlord after it had confirmed a new extractor fan had been ordered. On 18 October 2022, 13 December 2022 and 18 January 2023 the resident contacted the landlord to request updates regarding the delivery of the new fan. On two occasions, the landlord responded to state that it was still awaiting delivery. The landlord ought to have taken a proactive approach to communicating with the resident to provide updates on the outstanding repair. Further frustration and inconvenience was caused to the resident during this period as she was required to contact the landlord several times to request such updates.
  9. Within these emails, the resident stated that the temperature outside had dropped, and she described an ‘unbearable’ draught coming into the kitchen via the extractor fan. The resident referred to having a young baby with medical needs and stated that the broken fan, along with faulty heating, was impacting her financially as she needed to use an additional heater to heat the property. The landlord did not acknowledge or address the concerns raised by the resident about the temperature inside the property. It is accepted that delays in deliveries are beyond the control of the landlord. However, given that the ongoing delay occurred over the winter months, it would have been appropriate for the landlord arrange a further appointment to attend the property to establish whether an interim repair was possible.
  10. The landlord contacted the resident on 27 February 2023 and stated that the replacement fan would be fitted on 6 March 2023. The resident emailed the landlord on 8 March 2023 and stated that the operative had attended and informed her that there was no issue with the existing fan, and that he did not have any information regarding the installation of a new fan. The resident explained that the operative “…advised he would raise the job with the windows team as he believes the issue is with the ventilation system on the window.” It is unclear as to whether the ventilation system has since been raised as a possible repair by the landlord.
  11. The landlord responded on 22 March 2023 and stated that the fan is a trickle fan which should be left on constantly, and that the draught was caused because the fan was switched off. The landlord said that previous members of staff who attended the resident’s property were not familiar with this type of fan which resulted in the recommendation for it to be replaced. The landlord stated that it was finding a specialist to give a talk to its operatives about this type of extractor fan. It is unreasonable that, approximately six months after the resident was informed that the fan would be replaced as part of the resolution to her formal complaint, she was then informed that this repair would not take place. The landlord should make efforts to ensure accurate information is provided about repairs, and ensure that repairs are expedited in a timely manner.
  12. The evidence reflects that there have been excessive and unreasonable delays in the landlord’s overall handling of the resident’s reports about the extractor fan. The landlord has failed to provide clear and consistent information to the resident about the repair, and its general communication with the resident has been poor. The landlord has not completed the work set out within its final complaint response, and the resident’s expectation of what repairs would take place have therefore not been met. Taking these factors into account, there was maladministration in respect of the landlord’s handling of the extractor fan repairs.
  13. In its September 2022 letter the landlord concluded that it had not provided the resident with an adequate service and that it had failed to progress the repairs in a timely manner. The landlord offered the resident £250 compensation. As such, the landlord has made some attempt to put things right. However, the compensation offered is not proportionate to the impact that the failings identified in this report had, in particular given the further delays that occurred after this date. The resident has experienced distress and inconvenience caused by the protracted delays in resolving the issue, and as a result of the poor and inconsistent communication from the landlord. The failure to follow up on the undertakings given in the September 2022 response will have been especially frustrating.
  14. An additional compensation amount of £250 would be appropriate redress for the failings identified. This would bring the total amount of compensation to £500 in respect of the landlord’s handling of the extractor fan repairs. This is in line with this Service’s remedies guidance for financial redress, which suggests amounts of £100 to £600 where there has been a failure which adversely affected the resident, but no permanent impact.
  15. It is evident that conflicting information has been provided to the resident about what repairs need to take place. In order to put this right, the landlord should take steps to provide clarity on what action, if any, needs to be taken to resolve the issue. A further inspection should be carried out to assess the extractor fan. This inspection should also look at the ventilation system in the window to establish whether any repairs are necessary. An order is made in this regard below.

Complaint handling

  1. The stage one and two complaint responses were provided to the resident in accordance with the timeframes stipulated in the landlord’s complaints policy and procedure. However, the landlord issued a further complaint outcome after this Service had accepted the complaint for investigation and almost six months after the stage two response
  2. Although the further outcome letter reflects that the landlord had attempted to take steps to remedy the complaint, any such remedies should be identified and offered as part of the initial complaint handling process. A finding of maladministration has therefore been identified due to failures in the landlord’s complaint handling.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in the way it handled:
    1. The resident’s report of a broken kitchen extractor fan.
    2. The associated complaint.

Orders

  1. Within 28 days of the date of this report, the landlord must:
    1. pay the resident a total of £600 compensation, made up of:
      1. £500 for the failings identified in respect of the landlord’s handling of the extractor fan repairs (this includes £250 initially offered by the landlord, which can be deducted from this total if already paid).
      2. £100 for failings relating to the landlord’s complaint handling.
    2. complete an inspection of the kitchen extractor fan and window ventilation system at the resident’s property and identify whether repairs are required to prevent cold air blowing into the property. The landlord should produce a report of this assessment and set out what works are required, and the date that they would be completed by (which should then be met). A copy of this report should be provided to the resident and the Ombudsman.
    3. review how it handled the matter following its further complaint response dated 19 September 2022. The landlord should write to the Ombudsman with the outcome of the review, setting out any lessons learned as a result of the complaint outcome.
    4. send a letter of apology to the resident for the overall delay in handling the repair of the extractor fan.
  2. The landlord should evidence compliance with these orders to this Service within 28 days of this report.

Recommendations

  1. It is recommended that the landlord review its record keeping processes, and take any necessary steps to ensure that robust repairs records are kept.