South Tyneside Council (202314554)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202314554

South Tyneside Council

9 July 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. The complaint is about the level of compensation the landlord offered the resident in relation to its handling of:
    1. Various repairs to the windows, doors, plaster, roof and pipework at the property.
    2. The complaint handling.

Background

  1. The resident lives in a 2-bedroom house owned by the landlord on a secure tenancy from 2018.
  2. The resident has informed this Service he has anxiety and depression. He finds visits to his home stressful and therefore to enable him to manage his anxiety and reduce the impact of visits, it is important that the landlord keeps to their repair appointment schedules and completes work on the first visit. 
  3. The resident reported draughts from the windows and doors in December 2022 and the landlord arranged temporary urgent repairs within 1 day. The landlord also arranged for an inspection of the windows and doors and this was undertaken on 21 December 2022.
  4. The landlord’s surveyor identified a number of joinery repairs and other work throughout the property. The landlord arranged repairs and categorised them as planned repairs in accordance with its repairs policy. Most of the work was completed in compliance with the landlord’s 3-month timeframe for completion of planned repairs.
  5. The resident raised concerns with the landlord on 5 April 2023 because some work to windows and doors, plaster repairs and roof repairs remained outstanding. The landlord registered a stage 1 complaint on 21 April 2023 and agreed to respond to the resident by 9 May 2023. Within the subsequent stage 1 complaint response, the landlord acknowledged partial completion of repairs to the windows and doors and it apologised to the resident. It also said it would arrange for plaster repairs to be completed and remove a ‘DIY partition’ in the loft.
  6. The resident remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s complaint response, as work still remained outstanding. He raised his concerns with the landlord on 6 June 2023. The landlord responded to the resident within its stage 2 complaint process on 18 July 2023. It identified it had delayed in escalating the resident’s complaint until 20 June 2023; it apologised and offered him £30 compensation.
  7. Within the landlord’s stage 2 complaint response, it listed a large number of repairs that it had arranged at the property. These were repairs it had either completed or which remained outstanding, however, the landlord did not clearly identify any failure with its repairs service. The landlord concluded it had delayed in registering the resident’s stage 2 complaint and it identified a learning point in relation to keeping residents informed of outstanding work.
  8. The resident escalated his complaint to this Service in November 2023. Communications between this Service, the resident and landlord were held and both parties agreed to take part in mediation in an attempt to reach a resolution. The resident wanted outstanding work to be completed that involved the replacement of windows and doors and £1000 in compensation for the landlord’s repair and complaint handling failures. The landlord was clear it would not renew the windows and doors as it believed these to be in good condition and the necessary repairs had been completed. It had arranged to post inspect work and conduct any other outstanding repairs in December 2023.
  9. The landlord revised its offer of compensation to £170 in recognition that the resident had been inconvenienced by the delay to complete outstanding work and its compensation offer of £30 remained in place for its complaint handling failure. Therefore, the landlord’s final revised compensation offer to the resident was £200.
  10. The resident has recently told this Service that all work has been completed at his home with the exception of the windows and doors that remain draughty.

Assessment and findings

Various repairs

  1. The resident reported draughts from the windows and doors and the landlord arranged an inspection on 1 December 2022. On 15 December 2022, the landlord arranged a temporary urgent repair on the windows and doors as the resident had reported the house was “freezing cold due to draughts.” The landlord’s records do not show what work was conducted; however, it shows completion of work on the same day. The landlord’s repairs policy states urgent repairs should be conducted within 1 to 3 days. The landlord therefore acted appropriately and in accordance with its repairs policy in conducting temporary repairs to windows and doors in a timely manner.
  2. The landlord conducted an inspection of the windows and doors on 21 December 2022. The surveyor reported a number of joinery recommendations  to renew door furnishings, adjustment of the doors, and other work to insulate the property, renew a vent in the bathroom, cosmetic repairs to the side of the bath, repairs to the pipework on the floor and a further roof and stair inspection of the floor. The landlord followed this up, arranged planned repairs and completed most of the work between January 2023 to March 2023. The landlord’s responsive repairs policy states planned repairs (non-urgent repairs) should be completed within 3 months. The evidence showed most planned repairs were completed within the 3-month timeframe, however, a repair to the pipe work does not show a completion date.
  3. The resident complained to the landlord on 5 April 2023 about various outstanding works at the property. The landlord sent the resident an acknowledgement letter on the same day and telephoned the resident on 21 April 2023 to discuss the complaint, then visited him on 24 April 2023. The resident told the landlord he was concerned about the following:
    1. He believed the windows required renewal. However, the landlord had not agreed to replace them but instead it was undertaking repairs.
    2. A repair to the front door.
    3. Plasterwork to the stair case.
    4. Loft repairs.
  4. The landlord registered a stage 1 complaint; it sent a ‘holding’ letter to the resident on 21 April 2023 and changed the response target date to 9 May 2023 when the landlord responded to the resident as follows:
    1. The windows were replaced (date unknown) as part of a decent homes programme prior to the complaint and were in good condition. The landlord said it would arrange for work to be completed on the window seals and a repair to the front door. The landlord said the window repairs were partially completed; however, it acknowledged the resident had not been given a timescale for completion. The landlord apologised and said it had raised a learning point about the importance of keeping residents informed in relation to the progress of works.
    2. It would arrange for the plaster to the stairs to be removed and the area to be replastered. 
    3. It would arrange for a DIY partition in the loft to be removed and the area to be made good. The landlord said it would contact the resident with an appointment date for the work.
  5. The resident raised his dissatisfaction with the landlord on 6 June 2023 as some repairs remained outstanding. The resident told the landlord to cancel the works in June 2021, because he had become increasingly frustrated with the landlord’s delayed repair actions.
  6. The landlord sent the resident its stage 2 complaint response on 18 July 2023. The response said:
    1. The landlord acknowledged it did not escalate the resident’s stage 2 complaint until 20 June 2023. It apologised to the resident and offered him £30 compensation for its delayed action.
    2. Plaster repairs to the staircase began on 27 March 2024, however, scaffold was required and the work remained outstanding.  Plaster repairs to skim a window reveal started on 4 May 2023, scaffold was required and the landlord completed the work on 10 July 2023.
    3. The landlord reiterated its position that it believed the windows were in good condition. The resident had reported additional repairs to the living room and kitchen window and the landlord told the resident no work was required. However, it had identified that work to other windows were incomplete and the resident was not informed of the timescale for completion. It had raised this issue internally to ensure that in future, residents are updated about follow on works. It confirmed the reseal of the windows had been completed on 10 July 2023.
    4. The landlord provided a long list of dates for which it had completed repairs.  The repairs included a bathroom vent, fan, joinery work, reseal of windows and plaster repairs. These work orders were completed between January 2023 to May 2023.
    5. Roof felt – the repair was cancelled on 21 June 2023 and it was rearranged for 16 August 2023.
    6. Repairs to the bedroom and landing floor remained outstanding.
  7. The landlord apologised to the resident for any inconvenience caused by its repair handling and its delayed action in escalating the resident’s complaint. However, while the landlord identified learning from the complaint about keeping the resident informed on outstanding repairs, it did not offer compensation to put things right for the resident.
  8. In conclusion, following the landlord’s survey, it identified the requirement to conduct a number of repairs and had completed a large proportion of these in accordance with the timescales set out in its repairs policy. While the resident had requested new windows and doors, the landlord demonstrated it had assessed their condition and decided that replacement windows and doors were not required but instead it made the decision to conduct repairs and therefore it fulfilled its repair and maintenance obligation under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.
  9. It was clear the landlord had still to complete some work required to windows and doors, plaster repairs, plumbing and roof work. There is no doubt the resident contributed to some of the delays as he told the landlord to cancel all works in June 2023, however, this was because he had become increasingly frustrated by the landlord’s delayed actions. The landlord’s records do not detail when all works had been completed and there was a lack of communication with the resident about the outstanding work. This often left the resident not knowing what was happening with the outstanding repairs. It appears the landlord delayed in completing full window and door repairs by 7 months, plaster repairs were delayed by 12 months and roof repairs by 4 months. The landlord acknowledged some delays were caused by scaffold requirements, however, there appears to be a lack of co-ordination in arranging the work which ultimately led to the prolonged delays and therefore the landlord’s delayed actions were unreasonable.
  10. It is unclear from the landlord’s records what, if anything, went wrong with repairs to the pipework. A repair was initially identified at the end of December 2022 and the landlord arranged work to be completed 3 days later. However, the landlord’s records do not show a completion date for the work. A further repair was raised and completed in April 2023 and then further works in December 2023. It is therefore difficult to understand if these repairs related to separate issues, were continuous or intermittent in nature.
  11. The resident suffers from anxiety and depression and it was important for him to be kept informed of the outstanding work and that he had confidence in the landlord’s ability to plan and coordinate work effectively so he could prepare for the landlord’s visits. The landlord has not demonstrated it had shown consideration for the resident’s individual needs when planning, co-ordinating and keeping him informed of outstanding repairs. The effect of the landlord’s lack of attention to detail, planning and communication has resulted in the resident sustaining avoidable distress and its actions were unreasonable and amounts to maladministration.
  12. While the landlord did offer the resident compensation of £170 after the landlord’s complaints process had ended and at the mediation stage, the level of compensation offered did not fully reflect the extent of the landlord’s ineffective and delayed repairs service or the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident. The landlord should therefore compensate the resident £400 in recognition of its prolonged delays in fully completing work to windows and doors, plaster and roof repairs.  This amount of compensation is aligned to the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance.

Complaint handling

  1. The resident raised a complaint with the landlord on 5 April 2023 about various outstanding work. The landlord sent an acknowledgement letter to the resident on the same day and contacted him to discuss the complaint on 21 April 2023. The landlord realised it could not provide the resident with a full response within 10 working days and therefore it sent a holding letter to him on 21 April 2023 that said it would respond by 9 May 2023. The landlord sent its full stage 1 complaint response to the resident on 9 May 2023.
  2. The Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (April 2022) states a landlord must respond to the complaint within 10 working days of the complaint being logged. Exceptionally, landlords may provide an explanation to the resident containing a clear timeframe for when a response will be received that should not exceed a further 10 days without good reason. While the landlord recognised it could not send its full stage 1 response within 10 working days, it contacted the resident 12 working days later and then responded in full a further 12 working days after. The landlord therefore was slightly outside of the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code timeframe.
  3. The resident escalated his complaint on 6 June 2023 as repairs remained outstanding. The landlord did not register the complaint until 20 June 2023; 10 working days later. The landlord responded at stage 2 of its complaints process on 18 July 2023; 22 working days later and slightly outside the Ombudsman’s 20 working day timeframe. The Complaint Handling Code states, exceptionally, landlords may provide an explanation to the resident containing a clear timeframe for when the response will be received that should not exceed a further 10 days without good reason. There is no evidence the landlord agreed an extension of time for it to provide a response to the resident and therefore the landlord’s inactions were inappropriate as they failed to comply with the Code.
  4. The landlord identified its delayed action in relation to registering the stage 2 complaint and offered the resident £30 compensation. It also said it would learn from its failure and it would provide additional training to staff on complaint handling. While £30 compensation is an appropriate remedy for one aspect of its failure, the landlord did not take into consideration its slightly delayed stage 1 and stage 2 complaint responses and neither did it acknowledge it had not provided the resident with an explanation or ‘holding’ letter at stage 2 of its complaints process.
  5. Further, the landlord’s stage 2 complaint response is unclear on what repair failures had been identified. Instead, the response included an almost full repairs history that included both complete and incomplete repairs.
  6. In conclusion, the landlord’s stage 1 complaint was handled slightly outside of the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code timeframe. While the landlord had applied good complaint handling principles in its identified learning from its delay in registering a stage 2 complaint, it did not identify all of its complaint handling failures.
  7. The landlord did eventually increase its offer of compensation to the resident. However, this was 5 months after the landlord’s complaint’s process had ended and at the mediation stage with this Service. The landlord therefore missed an opportunity to fully reflect on its failures and put things right for the resident through its complaints process and coupled with the delays in its process amounts to a service failure. While the landlord’s offer of compensation at the mediation stage went some way to put things right for the resident, it did not go far enough. The landlord should therefore pay the resident £100 compensation to fully recognise the extent of its complaint handling failures, the negative impact caused to the resident of distress and inconvenience and the landlord’s delay in achieving an early complaint resolution.

Determination

  1. In accordance with Paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was maladministration in relation to the level of compensation the landlord offered the resident in its handling of various repairs to the windows, doors, plaster, roof and pipework at the property.
  2. In accordance with Paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s complaint handling.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of this report, the landlord should pay the resident £500 compensation as follows:
    1. £400 for its delay in completing various repairs at the property.
    2. £100 for its complaint handling failures.

This compensation includes the £200 the landlord has already offered the resident which it is free to deduct from the total if already paid.

  1. Within 4 weeks of this report, the landlord should inspect the windows and doors to determinate if any further repairs can be undertaken to reduce  draughts. Any work should include a proposed timeframe and communication plan with the resident that takes into account his individual needs.
  2. Within 8 weeks of this report, the landlord should review the findings from this report and provide this Service with its report on how it will improve its repairs service. In particular, reference should be made to how it will plan, co-ordinate and communicate an effective repairs service to residents that take into account their individual needs. 
  3. The landlord should reply to this Service with evidence of compliance with the above orders within the stated timeframe.