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Shepherds Bush Housing Association Limited (202118932)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202118932

Shepherds Bush Housing Association Limited

31 March 2022


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 decisions regarding replacing the windows in the resident’s home.

Background

  1. The resident is a tenant of the landlord. The property is a two bedroom ground floor flat. The tenancy started on 5 September 2017.
  2. In September 2020 the landlord conducted a stock condition survey of its properties to check whether they were meeting the government’s Decent Homes Standard. A property is considered ‘decent’ if it meets the current statutory minimum standard for housing, is in a reasonable state of repair, has reasonably modern facilities and services and provides a reasonable degree of thermal comfort. Although the resident’s home was flagged as potentially ‘non decent’ due to the age of the windows, the home did not fail the Decent Homes Standard, and the windows were recorded as being scheduled for replacement in the 2022/2023 financial period.
  3. On 11 March 2021 the landlord raised a repair job to inspect the condition of the windows at the property, carry out any repairs needed, and assess whether the property should be added to the landlord’s window replacement programme for 2021/2022 financial period. It is not apparent what lead to this repair job, or its relevance to the stock report which already appears to have established that the windows should be replaced in the 2022/2023 financial period. When the contractors attended on 25 March 2021, they reported that the resident told them she had cancelled the appointment and had raised a complaint as she wanted replacement windows not repairs.
  4. We do not have a copy of the resident’s complaint, however in its stage one complaint response, issued on 9 April 2021, the landlord apologised that it had not communicated clearly to the resident that the windows would be replaced as part of a planned programme, and that it would undertake any necessary remedial repairs to them in the meantime. It confirmed that it was due to undertake an assessment at her property regarding the window replacement that financial year (i.e. 2021/2022), and that it would contact her about it by the “end of March”. It advised her to contact the repairs team to arrange for interim repairs in the meantime. It offered £50 compensation for its communication failings.
  5. A number of emails were exchanged between the landlord and the resident in June 2021 wherein the landlord told the resident that, based on the findings of a stock condition survey in September 2020, her home was on the window replacement reserve list for the financial year 2021-2022. It advised her that her property had not failed the Decent Homes standard and that it had to prioritise those properties that had failed it.). Once those properties’ windows had been replaced it could look at whether any remaining budget could be used for properties on the reserve list. The resident told the landlord she believed the windows were causing mould and damp in the property. An internal email on 8 June 2021 states that the landlord intended to inspect the damp and mould.
  6. The landlord’s maintenance contractor inspected the property on 26 June 2021 and reported that it was suffering from rising damp and that “due to this issue, living in this flat is not healthy”. It also reported as separate issues that there was mould on the living room wall due to a crack in the external wall and that there were signs of rot on the windows and the back door. The landlord advised the contractor that damp specialists would now be attending.
  7. On 28 June 2021 the landlord accepted a request from the resident to escalate her complaint. She said she had been told in 2018 that the windows would be replaced and that the contractor who visited on 26 June advised her that the rotting windows were a health and safety and security risk. She also disputed that there had been a stock survey in September 2020. The resident sent further emails to the landlord in July as it had not contacted her since confirming her escalation request on 28th June.
  8. On 28 July 2021 the damp specialist attended the resident’s property and reported to the landlord that the primary source of moisture ingress appeared to be rising damp and recommended installing a damp proof course.
  9. Following a telephone conversation with the resident about the escalation on 30 July 2021, the landlord issued its final response on 18 August 2021. It explained that it had no records about the windows from its surveyor from 2018, and that they had left the company in 2019. It apologised that she had been misadvised about the window replacement programme timeframes. It attached a copy of the stock condition survey from September 2020 and confirmed that it showed that the property was not failing the Decent Home’s standard, but that the windows did need to be replaced in the financial year 2022/2023. It explained that though the recent damp inspection had recommended a complete overhaul of the living room window and that new windows “would be best”, as all of the windows were being replaced in 2022-2023 it would attend to see what remedial works could be carried out in the meantime. It advised its repairs team would contact her about the other works required (as a result of the rising damp).
  10. The landlord offered the resident compensation totalling £160, for its poor communication about the window plans, the delay in its complaint response and the inconvenience caused to the resident. It advised the resident how to contact this Service if she remained dissatisfied with its response.

Assessment and findings

  1. Window replacements on a large scale, such as in this case, are considered major works, and not something a landlord is usually in a position to undertake on an immediate basis. Landlords have a specific budget each financial year, and utilising a major works plan allows them to better utilise this budget by identifying in advance which properties should be prioritised and the time frame and costs involved in the works. It is not uncommon for a landlord to delay works that are due to be completed as part of a major works plan, but it also then needs to take appropriate steps to address any remedial repairs in the interim. In these circumstances, it was reasonable for the landlord to place the resident’s window replacements in its 2022/2023 works programme, because that was the time its stock report identified they should be replaced.
  2. An essential part of any major works plan is communication, so that residents are kept informed of when any work is due to start and how long it is expected to take. As it acknowledged, the landlord failed to do this with the resident, resulting in her not being aware of what was being planned, and when. In its stage one complaint response the landlord acknowledged that it had not clearly explained the plan and timeframe for the windows replacement, apologised for that, and offered compensation to address the failing. It confirmed that the resident had been placed on the reserve list, and it was planning to undertake initial assessment work for the window replacements that financial year (i.e. 2021/2022).  The resident’s ongoing frustration and distress from the undisputed poor condition of the windows is wholly understandable. Nonetheless, the landlord’s actions were customer focused with the aim of potentially reducing the resident’s wait time (by way of the reserve list and assessing the windows).
  3. The resident clearly reported to the landlord that there were problems with the windows causing damp and mould. In response the landlord took reasonable steps by promptly arranging for a damp and mould inspection and by exploring interim repairs for the windows. These were pragmatic and reasonable actions, as they were intended to identify whether the windows were the cause of the damp problem (they were determined to be a factor but not the cause), and to ensure the windows were at least in an acceptable condition until they were replaced.
  4. Overall, there appears to be no dispute by the landlord that the windows were greatly in need of replacement. The resident’s frustration with the length of time she had had to wait is understandable, but the landlord’s decision to replace the windows as part of its upcoming annual works programme, and to provide remedial work where possible in the interim, was a reasonable one. The landlord failed to communicate its decisions, plans, and timeframes to the resident, causing confusion about what its intentions were. It acknowledged this failing in its complaint response, apologised, and provided compensation. The compensation amount was in line with the Ombudsman’s remedy guidance for a situation where there has been service failure which had an impact on the resident, but was of short duration and did not significantly affect the overall outcome.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 55(b) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress prior to investigation which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily.

Recommendation

  1. Given that the 2022/2023 financial year is about to start, the landlord should consider writing to the resident (if it has not already recently done so) confirming when the window replacements are scheduled to commence, and providing the relevant information about the duration and impact of the work on the resident.