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Sanctuary Housing Association (202225565)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202225565

Sanctuary Housing Association

8 May 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. This complaint is about the landlord’s responsive repairs service and its handling of the associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord. The tenancy started in July 2016. The property is a 1-bedroom ground floor flat.
  2. The resident complained to the landlord in March 2022 about several issues including delays to a window replacement and missed repair appointments. The landlord paid the resident £125 compensation under reference 8000549022.
  3. The resident made another complaint to the landlord in December 2022 about outstanding repairs and the conduct of an operative. The landlord issued its final complaint response on 9 March 2023, under reference 8000617564. It partially upheld the complaint and offered the resident £700 compensation. The landlord told the resident it had raised work orders for the outstanding repairs, and it would attend the property on 3 April 2023.
  4. The resident raised a third complaint on 11 April 2023. She said she booked time off work for the repair appointment scheduled for 3 April 2023, but the landlord had cancelled the appointment. The landlord recorded a new complaint under reference 8000654449.
  5. The landlord issued its stage 1 response on 22 April 2023. It apologised for cancelling the appointment on 3 April 2023. It confirmed it had raised new work orders and it would complete the repairs by 1 May 2023. It offered £50 compensation for any trouble or inconvenience caused.
  6. The resident escalated her complaint to stage 2 on 9 May 2023. The landlord recorded that it attempted several times to contact the resident to schedule the repairs and discuss the complaint, but it did not receive a response. As such, it closed the complaint.
  7. The resident submitted an online complaint form to the landlord on 5 October 2023 and said the repairs were still outstanding. She wanted reimbursement for the time she had taken off work to facilitate the repairs. The landlord reopened complaint 8000654449.
  8. The landlord issued an ‘investigation stage’ complaint response on 23 November 2023. It said:
    1. Contractors had tried many times to arrange an appointment to complete the repairs.
    2. Contractors attended on 17 October 2023 and resolved the issue with the loose pipes in the kitchen.
    3. It would chase the contractor for a quote for the remaining works.
    4. It recognised its level of communication had fallen below its expected standard and there had been a delay completing the repairs.
    5. Redress would be appropriate in the circumstances, and it would review this once it had received a repair quote from its contractors.
  9. The landlord issued its stage 2 final complaint response on 8 February 2024. It said:
    1. Its sub-contractor attempted to contact the resident on 3 occasions to arrange works to the front door, rear door, and bathroom window, however she refused access. If the resident now wanted the landlord to complete these repairs, she should contact its repair team.
    2. It had raised work orders to replace 2 kitchen units and the lounge door, and to strip the walls in the lounge and repair the holes. It said it would track these repairs through to completion.
    3. It recognised and apologised for its complaint handling failures and that the resident had raised a further complaint about the same issue.
    4. It offered the resident £1522 compensation to recognise:
      1. The loss of enjoyment of her home from the closure of her previous complaint to 30 March 2024
      2. The complaint handling failures identified.
      3. Poor communication.

Events after the completion of the landlord’s internal complaint procedure

  1. The resident asked the landlord to reconsider its compensation due to the impact the situation had on her. On 15 February 2024, the landlord increased its compensation to £1922. The resident accepted this.
  2. The resident contacted the landlord in March 2024 to chase for the repairs. The landlord attempted to complete the outstanding repair on 18 April 2024 and 19 April 2024. However, the resident was not available.
  3. The landlord evidenced that it rescheduled the works for 9 May 2024.

Assessment and findings

  1. This Service provides a dispute resolution service which is an alternative to a legal route. We frame our approach by three principles – be fair, put things right and learn from outcomes.

Relevant policies, procedures, and laws

  1. Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 places a statutory obligation on the landlord to keep the structure and exterior of the property in repair.
  2. The tenancy agreement sets out that the resident must allow the landlord and its contractors access to the property at all reasonable times to inspect and repair the property, upon giving at least 24 hours’ notice.
  3. The tenancy agreement explains the resident is responsible for decorating all internal parts of the property as often as necessary to keep it in a good decorative order.
  4. The landlord’s repairs and maintenance policy says it aims to complete appointed repairs within 28 days. Where unforeseen events occur, the landlord may reschedule appointed repairs.
  5. The landlord’s repair handbook explains that some maintenance works might take longer than 28 days, for example where there is no health and safety risk, and the required work does not disrupt the resident’s quality of life. The landlord may carry out these repairs under a programme of works.
  6. The landlord’s complaints policy says it aims to respond to complaints at stage 1 within 10 working days from the date of complaint acknowledgement. At stage 2, it aims to respond within 20 working days. The policy provides for an extension of up to 10 working days at either stage.

Scope of investigation

  1. The resident explained the situation affected her mental health. She also said she took time off work for the repair appointments, resulting in a loss of annual leave and at times, a loss of earnings. The Ombudsman empathises with the resident. However, as this Service is an informal alternative to the courts, it is unable to establish legal liability or whether a landlord’s actions or lack of action had a detrimental impact on a resident’s health or income. Nor can we calculate or award damages. The Ombudsman is therefore unable to consider these aspects of the resident’s complaint. These matters are better suited for consideration by a court or a personal injury claim. Nonetheless, the Ombudsman has considered the distress and inconvenience experienced by the resident.
  2. The Ombudsman includedreferences to the resident’s previous complaints to provide context. However, this report focuses on the landlord’s response to complaint reference 8000654449 that the resident referred to this Service on 27 February 2024.
  3. The Ombudsman considered events from the date of the resident’s previous stage 2 complaint response dated 9 March 2023, up to the date of the landlord’s increased offer of compensation on 15 February 2024.

The landlord’s responsive repairs service and the handling of the associated complaint

  1. Within the final complaint response dated 9 March 2023 (for the resident’s previous complaint), the landlord said it had scheduled an appointment for 3 April 2023 to assess the front and back doors for replacement and repair the kitchen drawers and loose pipes in the kitchen. Additionally, it confirmed it had raised work orders for the lounge door and bathroom window repairs. The Ombudsman would expect a landlord to follow through with the commitments raised within its complaint response.
  2. In this case, records show that the landlord apologised for the cancelled repair appointment on 22 April 2023 and said it would complete the works by 1 May 2023. It is a failing that a date for the repair was not set with the resident at this time.
  3. The landlord evidenced that it contacted its sub-contractor to follow up with the progression of the works. The sub-contractor said its operatives had attempted to contact the resident several times to arrange an appointment and had been unable to gain access to the property. The landlord provided copies of invoices from the sub-contractor to this Service which state, “we have arranged 3 appointments with the tenant, all of which have been missed by the tenant”. The landlord has not provided dates and times of attempted access to this Service. However, we have seen emails between the sub-contractor and landlord, which reference the resident refusing access, citing a legal case against the landlord. The Ombudsman is aware the resident disputes this. Based on the information provided, the Ombudsman is unable to make a finding on what happened here.
  4. Following the contractors reports of no access, the landlord acted appropriately by attempting to contact the resident directly. Records indicate its communication attempts were unsuccessful and so it decided to close the complaint. The Ombudsman has seen no evidence that it told the resident about its decision. This was unreasonable in the circumstances. If a landlord is unable to contact a resident to discuss repairs or a complaint, the Ombudsman would expect it to write to the resident setting out its final position. The landlord’s failure in this respect caused delays with progressing the complaint and resolving the substantive issue.
  5. On 22 June 2023, the resident told the landlord that she had been unable to respond to its calls as she had been in hospital. She also chased for a response in July 2023. The landlord failed to communicate with the resident until October 2023, after she submitted a complaint form. There is little evidence that the landlord gave the resident’s concerns the appropriate attention in the circumstances during this period. The landlord missed opportunities to proactively deal with the resident’s concerns about the outstanding repairs. This demonstrates the landlord did not treat the resident fairly at this time.
  6. Records show a subcontractor attended the property on 17 October 2023 and fixed the loose pipes, however it needed to provide quotes to the landlord for the remaining repairs. In its final complaint response dated 8 February 2024, the landlord confirmed it had raised work orders to replace two damaged kitchen units, replace the lounge door, strip walls in the lounge and repair the holes. In the Ombudsman’s view, considering the history with this complaint, it was a failing that the landlord did not give a date for the repair to the resident at this time.
  7. In this case, the landlord appeared to be operating outside of the 28-day repair timescale set out in its repair policy, as it said it would complete the work within 60 days. In line with general good customer service standards, the Ombudsman would expect a landlord to explain the delay and communicate effectively with the resident to manage her expectations. The landlord should have explained to the resident why it had not given her a specific appointment date, what it was doing to mitigate wait times, and how it would reduce these in the future.
  8. The landlord told the resident that she needed to contact it if she wanted to progress the work orders to the front and rear door and bathroom window, in view of the failed attempts to complete these works and alleged refusal of access. While the landlord must manage its resources and use of contractor’s time effectively, in this case, the Ombudsman finds the landlord was heavy-handed in its approach. This is because the resident made it clear within her complaint and subsequent communication that she wanted all outstanding works completed. Therefore, it would have been pragmatic for the landlord to schedule these works alongside the work orders it had raised for the damaged kitchen units, lounge door and lounge works, rather than asking the resident to contact its customer service centre. This was a failure in service.
  9. The Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (“the Code”) is applicable to all member landlords. It specifies a stage 1 complaint should be finalised in 10 working days, with no more than a further extension of 10 working days. A stage 2 complaint should be finalised within 20 working days, with a further extension of 10 working days if required. These time frames should not be exceeded without good reason. The Code serves to illustrate that this complaint was kept open for an unreasonable duration at stage 2.
  10. In this case, the landlord issued a stage 1 response on 22 April 2023, an ‘investigation stage’ response on 23 November 2023 and a stage 2 response on 8 February 2024. In issuing 3 responses, the landlord did not act in line with its own complaint policy or the Code. In the Ombudsman’s opinion, this delayed access to the complaints process and delayed the resident in escalating her complaint to this Service. Furthermore, it is evident the resident took considerable time and trouble chasing the landlord and seeking advice from this Service to get a response. The landlord’s actions here added further confusion, frustration, and distress to the resident.
  11. Under the dispute resolution principles, it is good practice for a landlord to evidence learning from a complaint. No specific learning was identified throughout the landlord’s complaint responses, despite the landlord apologising for delays and offering compensation. The Ombudsman is minded that the landlord should have done more to reference specific learning from the resident’s experience to improve its service provision, complaints handling, and management of repairs.
  12. The landlord recognised within its complaint responses the delays progressing the repairs following the resident’s previous complaint. It also recognised its complaint handling failures, including the handling of its stage 1 response and the delay responding at stage 2. It demonstrated that it understood the inconvenience at having to raise a further complaint about the same issue, and that the works remained outstanding. It was appropriate for the landlord to apologise for the communication failings identified, the delays experienced and the overall impact on the resident.
  13. The Ombudsman’s remedies guidance (available on our website) sets out that compensation awards of over £1000 are appropriate in circumstances in which there has been a significant impact on the resident. For instance, with the landlord repeating in its failure to provide a service, and the failures accumulated over a period of time.
  14. To this end, the Ombudsman finds that the overall £1922 compensation awarded by the landlord falls within our guidance, considering all the circumstances of this case and mitigating factors, such as its difficulty gaining access to the property. However, based on the failing identified within paragraph 31 and the lack of learning from the complaint, the Ombudsman has made an overall determination of service failure for this case.
  15. Although this Service is not adjudicating on events which took place after the landlord’s final response, the Ombudsman recognises that the landlord arranged repairs for 18 and 19 April 2024. It informed the resident of this by voicemail, text message, and letter. When the contractors were unable to gain access to the property, the resident said she was at work, and she would contact the landlord to reschedule.
  16. The landlord informed this Service that the resident did not contact it to make another repair appointment. For the repairs to progress, it set another appointment date for 9 May 2024. This Service has made the resident aware of the scheduled appointment and advised her to contact the landlord directly if the date is unsuitable.
  17. The Ombudsman expects the resident to engage with the landlord to progress the outstanding works.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s responsive repairs service and its handling of the associated complaint.

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of the date of this report, the landlord is ordered to:
    1. Pay the compensation it offered of £1922 to the resident (if it has not already done so).
    2. Contact the resident and arrange an appointment to address her repair request to the front and rear door, and bathroom window. It must attempt to call the resident in the first instance to schedule the works. If the landlord is unable to reach the resident, it must write to her setting out a future date of repair with at least 10 days’ notice.
  2. The landlord must provide evidence of compliance with the above orders to this Service.