Southern Housing Group Limited (202010169)

 

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202010169

Southern Housing Group Limited

30 July 2021

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 response to the resident’s reports of heating and hot water issues at the property.

Background and summary of events

Background

2. At the time of the complaint, the resident was an assured shorthold tenant of the landlord, a housing association. The property is a ground floor flat in a block. The tenancy commenced in 2017 and the resident’s sign up documents advised that her rent included a charge of £72.49 a month for the heating and hot water service. The resident’s household included young children. It is understood the resident no longer lives in the property.
3. The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 sets out a landlord’s obligation to keep in repair and proper working order installations for space heating and heating water. In this case, the landlord advises it does not own the block and is responsible for inside its flats but not common parts, which are managed by an External Managing Agent (‘EMA’) employed by a freeholder. The block is served by a communal heating and hot water system driven by three boilers and a pump located on the top floor, which are owned by the freeholder and managed by the EMA.
4. The landlord’s repairs policy confirms no heating and hot water between 31 October and 1 May is an emergency repair aimed to be repaired within 24 hours of being reported. All other repairs such as routine and communal repairs are aimed to be completed as quickly as possible. The landlord states that for schemes/estates it does not directly manage, it endeavours to work closely with the managing agent to ensure service received by residents is satisfactory.
5. At the time of the complaint, the landlord operated a two stage complaints procedure. At stage one it aimed to respond within ten working days and provide updates or a response with an action plan if this was not possible. The landlord declined requests to escalate complaints to a final review panel stage if these concerned compensation and a manager would respond to compensation reviews, after which complaints could be brought to this Service.
6. The landlord’s compensation policy advises it compensates for service failures, and that these include missed appointments; not delivering services in line with published standards; not following policies/procedures; and repairs delays. It advises compensation will be considered where use of an amenity such as heating and hot water is lost and where evidenced financial costs are incurred.
7. The landlord’s compensation framework set out compensation applicable two days after unresolved heating and hot water issues were reported (which appears to be based on the “Right to Repair” legislation that applies to local authority landlords and covers small, urgent repairs up to the value of £250):
   1. Loss of heating between 31 October and 30 April: £10 plus £2 per day until heating is restored.
   2. Loss of heating between 1 May and 30 October: £2 per day up to £50.
   3. Partial loss of heating: the same as above but capped at £50.
   4. Loss of hot water: £10 plus £2 per day until hot water is reinstated, if there was no other method to provide hot water within the property.
   5. Partial loss of hot water between 31 October and 30 April: the same as above but capped at £50.
8. The framework also advised that the landlord paid £25 for a service failure; £25 to £50 for multiple service failures; and £25 for failed/missed appointments. In addition, discretionary payments could be awarded for which no limits were set, which aimed to take into account severity of issues and any vulnerabilities of those affected.
9. The Ombudsman’s remit in relation to complaints is limited by its Scheme. Paragraph 39(a) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme advises that the Ombudsman will not investigate complaints which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, are made prior to having exhausted a member’s complaints procedure, unless there is evidence of a complaint handling failure and the Ombudsman is satisfied that the member has not taken action within a reasonable timescale.
10. After the complaint which completed the landlord’s procedure on 5 December 2019, the resident complained again on 28 September 2020, about being intermittently without heating for three years. The landlord issued a stage one response on 10 March 2021, in which it noted the resident was satisfied the issues were resolved, offered £125 compensation and provided information on how to contact the landlord if she felt she had not received a full response. As this complaint has not exhausted the landlord’s complaint procedure, this Service cannot consider it in accordance with paragraph 39(a) of the Scheme. This investigation has therefore focused on events up until the landlord’s final response on 5 December 2019, and events that post-date the complaints procedure have not been investigated here and are referenced for contextual purposes only.

Summary of events

11. After the resident started to experience heating issues in November 2017, she reported these to the landlord on 6 December 2017, following which the issues were referred to the EMA to repair the communal system. When the resident reported no heating continued after the EMA’s contractor attended, she was informed the landlord’s contractor should attend, however the landlord’s contractor cancelled appointments believing the EMA was responsible. After the landlord intervened, its contractor attended on 14 December 2017 and identified parts were required. After they reattended on 19 December 2017 to replace valves in a cylinder cupboard, they identified there was insufficient heat from the “flow and return,” which required referral back to the EMA.
12. In January 2018, the resident reported five weeks of intermittent lukewarm radiators and minimal hot water which was “freezing” after two minutes. The landlord noted it supplied heaters on 5 January 2018 and on 15 January 2018, its consultant carried out a joint visit with the EMA’s contractor. The consultant reportedly advised that two of the three communal boilers were offline and the resident’s problems could not be resolved until communal boiler repairs were done. There is no information provided to show the views of the EMA’s contractor, and the landlord has noted difficulty contacting the EMA, but the EMA appeared to reject the findings and reported they had repaired valves in the resident’s property which needed replacement. The landlord reviewed if there were any outstanding works in its remit (later records report no evidence of repairs by the EMA in the property) and on 6 April 2018, the landlord’s consultant met again with the EMA’s contractor.
13. The consultant noted improvements as a result of action they had taken to isolate two redundant boilers and action the EMA’s contractor had taken to balance the system (it is unclear when these actions were done). The consultant noted the resident requested removal of electric heaters which were no longer required. The consultant highlighted that, as only one communal boiler had been operational since September 2017, further risk of failure was high and would result in total loss of hot water and heating to residents. The landlord subsequently emailed the EMA and asked it to reinstate two boilers to full operation in line with its consultant’s report. There is no information provided to show outcomes of discussions with the EMA and subsequent actions.
14. The resident made a complaint, which did not exhaust the landlord’s procedure, in relation to these events on 15 December 2017, in which she reported having no heating and hot water for three weeks. Around this time she reported she had a child and was pregnant. The landlord responded to this on 28 March 2018. It explained its contractor had replaced parts to enable heating to work “up to a point;” confirmed its consultant’s report had been provided to the EMA who maintained the communal system; and advised it could not provide assurances the EMA would do works as it had no influence over them. It apologised for delays and two missed appointments and offered £90.
15. Seven months later, from November 2018 the resident reported further heating problems, and raised dissatisfaction that one of the three communal boilers had not worked for over a year, despite being informed by the landlord’s contractor it needed replacement. On 13 November 2018, the landlord informed her that the EMA reported the boiler was not due to be replaced and the system was working to full capacity on the two operational boilers. The landlord advised that the EMA believed the heating problems originated in the resident’s flat, so its contractors would investigate and check pipework. After this, between 19 and 26 November 2019, the resident called multiple times for updates and the local authority’s housing standards department made enquiries following a visit.
16. On 3 December 2018, the landlord returned the resident’s calls and noted she reported she was using her immersion for hot water, had no heating, and only one electric heater (supplied months previously) worked; after which the landlord’s contractor supplied additional heaters on 12 December 2018 and updated her about an arranged inspection. On 18 December 2018, the landlord’s contractor then carried out a joint visit with the EMA’s contractor. There is no information provided about an action plan, but on 23 January 2019, the landlord’s contractor attended to replace a double regulating valve on the main riser and they isolated and drained down the heating; replaced a faulty valve to the flat; vented and tested the system; checked radiators; and left everything working.
17. A day later on 24 January 2019, the resident reported complete loss of heating, rather than “intermittent” as before. The landlord’s contractor attended the same day and identified heating was not working while a hot water coil was on, and came on when this was turned off. Steps were taken to leave the heating working, after which the landlord confirmed with the resident that she had heating and hot water, although intermittent sometimes, which it explained may be because it was waiting for the EMA to “flush the system through.” The landlord’s subsequent records advise that the January 2019 works were done “on the basis” the system would be flushed by the EMA, otherwise further issues would arise; and that the landlord’s contractors would have reported this to the landlord to contact the EMA to ensure works were completed.
18. After just over a month, the resident made a further report of no heating on 4 March 2019, which the landlord’s contractor attended the same day and noted they turned the thermostat up. The landlord’s records note it suspected the gas system may not be “kicking in” because the immersion was being kept on, and intended to visit to check this, but forgot.
19. On 20 March 2019, the resident made the complaint which exhausted the landlord’s procedure. She complained about raising heating and hot water problems many times since moving in; the lack of replacement of a communal boiler; services paid in rent not being received; increased electricity bills; and impact on her and her family’s health in colder weather.
20. On 20 and 25 March 2019, managers from the landlord visited. The resident was advised to turn off the immersion when using hot water and to report if this did not solve the issue. It was noted that despite the thermostat being turned up to the maximum, radiators were lukewarm and the flat was “border line comfortable in warmth,” which the resident reported was worse on cold days. As there were no reports from other flats, it was suspected there was a thermostat fault.
21. On 27 March 2019, the landlord’s contractor attended and reported the controls worked but there was nothing they could do, as the current problem appeared to be with poor circulation from the main pump which the EMA needed to investigate, as well as advise on the procedure “to drain and fill system.” On 1 April 2019, the landlord’s contractor queried if the EMA had completed any works following its report of poor circulation, and subsequent discussions identified a lack of clarity over whether the system had been flushed by the EMA’s contractor after the works in January 2019. On 4 April 2019, the EMA emailed to confirm the flush had been done, however the landlord noted that water sample results from the flush were needed “to evidence the inhibitor levels before and after the flush.” After a visit on 10 April 2019, where the landlord’s contractor noted the location of isolation valves for the flow and return was needed so a zone valve could be inspected, the landlord contacted the EMA on 26 and 30 April 2019 to again request water sample results from the flush and a further joint visit.
22. On 24 May 2019, the landlord noted its contractor and the EMA’s contractor met and “worked through system,” following which records advised that “no flush has been noted by the engineer” and that the EMA’s contractor had been referred works “to ensure the system is balanced correctly.” On 28 May 2019, the landlord’s internal discussions queried if there was a specification and timescale for agreed works and noted that resolution needed to involve technical input from the landlord’s contractor and dialogue with the EMA, as delays resolving other complaints about heating and hot water issues at the scheme had been mainly due to lack of effective engagement with the EMA / not fully establishing root causes of problems.
23. On 13 June 2019, it was internally noted that the EMA’s contractor had undertaken a flush of the system, which should help to keep a valve the landlord had replaced on the distribution mains functioning correctly. The landlord noted that it confirmed heating and hot water were working with the resident, who raised concern it always did in the summer and that by autumn issues would reoccur. It was noted the landlord reassured her “there was work still being done to resolve the issue” and it was “committed to resolving the issue should it arise again in the autumn.” Compensation was discussed and it was initially noted the resident would contact her utility company to obtain supporting evidence of electricity usage, however the landlord later advised it had a formula it would use to calculate electricity costs.
24. On 18 June 2019, the landlord issued its stage one response to the complaint.
    1. It noted there had been visits to attend to try to resolve the problem.
    2. It advised a report had been received from the EMA which stated no clear fault was identified, but that the issue may be related to the fact that one of the communal boilers was failing, so that the resident’s property was affected during high demand.
    3. It advised that as the heating and hot water were currently working it would close the complaint, however its action plan was that it would continue to work with the EMA to resolve the issue and update the resident fortnightly.
    4. It apologised for the inconvenience caused and offered £1,271.06 for a period of 142 days which, in addition to £50 for service failure, was calculated as:
       1. 1 November 2018 to 24 January 2019 (84 days)

(1)  No heating – £174 for 82 days at £10 plus £2 a day.

(2)  No hot water – £174 for 82 days at £10 plus £2 a day.

(3)  Fan heaters – £282.24 for 84 days at £3.36 a day.

(4)  Immersion – £89.88 for 84 days at £1.07 a day.

2. 4 March 2019 to 1 May 2019 (58 days)

(1)  No heating – £122.00 for 56 days at £10 plus £2 a day.

(2)  No hot water – £122.00 for 56 days at £10 plus £2 a day.

(3)  Fan heaters – £194.88 for 58 days at £3.36 a day.

(4)  Immersion – £62.06 for 58 days at £1.07 a day.

25. After the stage one response, the resident asked for the compensation to be reviewed, as she stated the issue started in November 2017 and continued to the present. The landlord agreed it would recalculate compensation to include electricity costs during the winter months from December to May each year.
26. On 3 July 2019, the resident made a further report of no hot water, after which the landlord’s contractor attended on 4 July 2019 and confirmed a hot water zone valve, cylinder thermostat and programmer were all working. The contractor noted the problem was that all three communal boilers were off, which could not be turned back on if reasons why they were off were unknown. There were no further reports directly after this.
27. On 1 August 2019, the landlord issued a final response in which it offered £1,789.37, comprising its previous offer and heater and immersion costs for 3 January 2018 to 30 April 2018. The resident asked for the compensation to be reviewed again, advising intermittent heating started on 9 November 2017 and changed to completely no heating and hot water on 6 December 2017. She later added she had started using heaters again on 10 November 2019, which records advise she informed the landlord about on 12 November 2019 and 1 December 2019, although action is unclear after referral to the landlord’s gas team. The landlord’s records note that the landlord’s contractor advised there “will always be problems” as the resident was on the ground floor and used a commercial boiler.
28. On 5 December 2019, the landlord issued a second compensation review in which it offered £2,137.46, which comprised:
    1. The £1,271.06 offered on 18 June 2019 for no heating and hot water and heater and immersion costs, for the periods 1 November 2018 to 24 January 2019 and 4 March 2019 to 1 May 2019, which included £50 for service failure.
    2. £866.40 for a period of 115 days, calculated as:
       1. 6 December 2017 to 31 March 2018 (115 days)

(1)  No heating – £240 for 115 days, at £10 plus £2 a day.

(2)  No hot water – £240 for 115 days, at £10 plus £2 a day.

(3)  Fan heaters – £386.40 for 115 days, at £3.36 a day.

29. From January 2020 the resident contacted the landlord to ask for the compensation to be reviewed again. She stated the 2018 to 2019 calculation was incorrect and later added that compensation should cover “the time periods of 2017-2018, 2018-2019, and 2019-2020.” On 3 November 2020 the landlord restated the 5 December 2019 response and explained the calculations reflected timelines from contractors.
30. On 9 December 2020, the resident contacted this Service as she was not happy that issues continued; the landlord had not responded to requests to review its compensation offer; and compensation had not been received. She reported a lack of heating since moving in and that the hot water was intermittent, which meant it ran out after one person had a short shower and did not work at all on many days. She explained that consequently the immersion boiler had to stay on, and heaters were used which were insufficient and noisy. She reported she paid charges of £75 a month for heating and hot water.
31. The resident since made further reports and a complaint, and in January 2021 the landlord’s contractor and a consultant (not previously involved) supplied reports. The landlord’s contractor noted being called to the block “on numerous occasions,” and both noted issues getting more than one or two radiators to heat up and radiators going cold if all were turned on, with similar issues identified in another property. The resident has stated that the problems only got resolved on 25 January 2021.

Assessment and findings

32. The Ombudsman’s role includes an assessment of whether the landlord has followed proper procedure, good practice, and behaved reasonably, taking account of all the circumstances of the case.
33. In this case the evidence shows that the resident reported ongoing problems related to the communal heating system, which led to interrupted heating and hot water in winter months. The resident’s account confirms this has often involved no heating and intermittently hot or freezing water; while the landlord’s staff, contractor, and consultants’ accounts confirm heating issues were recurrent problems from 2017 to 2021, beyond the timeframe of this investigation. In its complaint responses the landlord has acknowledged there has been service failure and has not disputed the resident was affected for a period which (for the period of this complaint investigation) adds up to 257 days. The landlord has therefore acted appropriately by apologising to the resident and offering compensation. The compensation totals £2,137.46 for heating and hot water loss and estimated electricity costs in the affected periods and includes £50 for service failures.
34. The Ombudsman will not make a finding of maladministration where a landlord has offered suitable redress to resolve a complaint, and so this further assessment considers whether the landlord has offered reasonable redress for its acknowledged failings.
35. The Ombudsman’s Dispute Resolution Principles are:
    1. Be fair – treat people fairly and follow fair processes
    2. Put things right
    3. Learn from outcomes
36. In accordance with the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and its repairs policy, the landlord is responsible for heating and hot water within the property, and for heating and hot water repairs outside the property it is responsible for working closely with managing agents to ensure service received is satisfactory. As a result, it was necessary for it to investigate the resident’s reports of heating and hot water issues and take steps to resolve any issues within its remit, and to work with the EMA for any issues it could not directly resolve.
37. Following the resident’s reports in December 2017, the landlord was reasonable to initially refer these to the EMA, who manage the main communal system, and it was then appropriate to intervene when the resident reported cancelled appointments after being advised to liaise with the landlord’s own contractor. While distressing to experience, some issues can require some time and repeat inspections to address problems before effective solutions are found, and so some delays can be inevitable. However, after the resident complained about no heating on 15 December 2017 and a contractor visit on 19 December 2017, the available evidence shows that the landlord did not always respond in an appropriate or timely manner.
38. From 19 December 2017 to April 2018, from when the landlord’s contractor reported issues with flow and return from the communal boiler, the landlord’s records advise action was taken to isolate two of the redundant communal boilers and to balance the system. There is no record of when this was done, and the landlord’s compensation up until 31 March 2018 acknowledges the resident was left for a three month period with heating and hot water issues. Timely steps were also not taken to provide emergency heaters until 3 January 2018, a timeframe of three weeks after issues were reported. The above does not reflect the 24 hour timeframe within which the landlord’s repairs policy advises that heating issues during winter months should be resolved.
39. Following the resident’s reports in November 2018, the landlord’s records advise it acknowledged there were service failures and the resident was pushed between contractors for a long time, there were delays visiting her and she had to use additional electricity. The records confirm there were delays responding to calls from the resident, and also that adequate heaters were not supplied until 12 December 2018, a month after issues were reported. This does not reflect the 24 hour timeframe which the landlord’s repairs policy advises that heating issues during winter months should be treated within.
40. The records confirm that the landlord carried out a joint visit with the EMA in December 2018, and for periods when issues were experienced it has been positive that the landlord involved its independent consultant to carry out joint visits with the EMA’s contractor within one to two months when issues arose. However, from information provided there is no clear record of detailed action plans agreed with the EMA for any visit, and it is unclear why it took over a month for works to be carried out in January 2019. The landlord’s records also advise that works in January 2019 were done on the basis that the EMA would carry out a “system flush.” The landlord became unclear that the “system flush” was done from March to June 2019, which meant there was a lack of effective monitoring for four to five months which will have impacted the landlord’s ability to take appropriate action from March 2019 when issues were re-raised.
41. The landlord’s records provide limited information regarding discussions with the EMA following its own contractor visits and recommendations, or following joint visits with the EMA’s contractors, to show what the EMA thought about the issues or what action plans were agreed to. In situations where the landlord is not responsible for a repair and is reliant upon the EMA to take action, the resident is reliant upon the landlord to pursue the EMA to ensure that action is being taken.  This Service recognises the landlord may have had some challenges with the EMA and that some factors were out of its control, but its own records describe a lack of engagement with the EMA / not fully establishing root causes of problems, and demonstrate a lack of effective collaboration, record keeping, proactive monitoring and communication in dealing with the issue and the EMA. This demonstrates that the landlord did not work closely with the EMA, as its repairs policy aimed to do.
42. The complaint response in March 2018, which was outside advertised policy timeframes, stated that the landlord had identified further works but could provide no assurances about these as it did not have influence over the EMA. The landlord’s response could have better reflected the repairs policy aim to work with the EMA and this may have undermined the resident’s confidence in the landlord to effectively pursue resolution beyond a certain point.
43. The complaint response in June 2019, which was also outside advertised policy timeframes, committed to working with the EMA to resolve the issue and updating the resident fortnightly, in addition to resolving matters should the issue arise again in the autumn. This was more appropriate and positive, however there is no further information about updates or what was done following the resident’s report of further issues from November 2019, in the autumn. This and the resolution of the issue coinciding with the summer months, when the resident reported she generally did not experience issues, may have mismanaged her expectations and may have also undermined confidence in the landlord.
44. The landlord has offered £2,137.46 compensation for loss of heating and hot water and electricity costs, and in this included £50 for service failure. It is noted this is in accordance with its policy for compensating for periods of heating and hot water issues up until they are confirmed to be apparently resolved, and for compensating for multiple service failures.
45. In the Ombudsman’s opinion, the compensation is not fully proportionate to the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident’s household by not having reliable hot water or heating and does not fully take into account the cumulative impact on the resident of the long-running nature of the issues in this case.
46. The compensation for the loss of heating and hot water appears to be based on the “Right to Repair” legislation which applies to local authority landlords and covers small, urgent repairs up to the value of £250. As such, the amounts set out may be reasonable if prescribed, short timeframes for repairs are not met, however in the Ombudsman’s opinion these may become less reasonable the longer issues go on or build up.
47. The compensation does not take into account two missed appointments the resident experienced in December 2017. While the resident did not accept compensation that included this in 2018, it would have been reasonable to include £50 in accordance with the compensation policy when assessing the compensation for the period that included the missed appointments.
48. The resident has reported that she paid £75 a month for her heating and hot water service. She has since clarified this relates to the start of tenancy where tenancy sign up documents specify an amount of £72.49 a month in the rent was for heating and hot water. The landlord has since clarified that these were recalculated every November and from November 2018 charges were £8.31 a month, and from November 2019 charges were £3.76 a month. In cases where a paid service is not received it is reasonable for this to be refunded.
49. For the 115 day period of 6 December 2017 to 31 March 2018, this works out at around £2.42 a day (£72.49 divided by a 30 day average) and £278.30 in total.
50. For the 84 day period of 1 November 2018 to 24 January 2019, this works out at around 27p a day and £23.27 in total.
51. For the 58 day period of 4 March 2019 to 1 May 2019, this also works out at around 27p a day and £16.07 in total.
52. The landlord committed to providing updates and to resolve matters should the issue arise again in the autumn. In the timeframe of the complaint, the resident reported having experienced further heating issues from 10 November 2019 to 5 December 2019, which it would be reasonable to take into account in terms of compensation, heater costs and service refund. This extends the period for which compensation would be reasonably due by 25 days. For the 25 day period of 10 November to 5 December 2019, this works out around 13p a day and £3.13 in total for service refund, plus £56 for loss of heating compensation.
53. The landlord’s compensation policy allows for discretionary payments considering the severity of issues. This Service’s recent spotlight report on complaints about heating and hot water confirms these are basic needs for any household, and that loss of heating and hot water can be a risk to health and wellbeing and is especially significant in households with young children. It advises that where a problem cannot be resolved quickly, residents should have access to temporary heating and be given clear timescales for repairs.
54. The resident’s household included two young children (one of whom she was pregnant with when the first issues were reported), and the issues have recurrently impacted on the ability to have adequate heating and hot water and have included missed appointments; repairs delays/not resolving the issues in line with published standards; and complaint response delay. It would therefore have been reasonable to exercise discretion beyond the £50 service failure award, to recognise that the issue was ongoing since 2017; the cumulative impact on the resident’s household; the distress and uncertainty the ongoing nature of the issue will have caused; and that matters could have been handled better in respect to effective liaison with the EMA and monitoring of further actions.
55. In the Ombudsman’s opinion the offer therefore does not adequately reflect the extent of the distress and inconvenience to the resident and requires further redress to put matters right. This means this Service considers it appropriate to make a finding of service failure, which would have been a finding of maladministration had the landlord not taken some positive steps to acknowledge and provide redress for its failings. Therefore, the total compensation ordered is £3,048.23, which is made up of the following:
    1. The landlord’s original offer of £2,137.46.
    2. £400 for distress and inconvenience.
    3. £278.30 heating and hot water rent refund for 6 December 2017 to 31 March 2018.
    4. £23.27 heating and hot water rent refund for 1 November 2018 to 24 January 2019.
    5. £16.07 heating and hot water rent refund for 4 March to 1 May 2019.
    6. £3.13 heating and hot water rent refund for 10 November to 5 December 2019.
    7. £56 for loss of heating between 10 November 2019 and 5 December 2019.
    8. £84 for heater costs between 10 November 2019 and 5 December 2019.
    9. £50 for two missed appointments.

Determination (decision)

56. In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was a service failure by the landlord in its response to the resident’s reports of heating and hot water issues at the property.

Reasons

57. While the landlord has acknowledged service failures and inconvenience caused to the resident for the heating and hot water issues, the compensation offered was not proportionate to the extent of service failures and the cumulative distress and inconvenience caused to the resident in this case.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

58. The landlord to pay the resident compensation of £3,048.23. This is to be reduced if any of the landlord’s original offers have already been paid.
59. The landlord to review the written contractual arrangement with the EMA, to ensure similar issues are troubleshooted and resolved as effectively and quickly as possible. This review should include –
    1. how it handles and monitors heating and hot water reports at the block.
    2. how it closely works with the EMA on reports which require referral to the EMA.
    3. how it enforces the EMA’s obligation to provide a reliable heating and hot water supply where this may not be being met.
60. The landlord to provide written minutes of its review to evidence compliance with this order.
61. The landlord should contact this Service within four weeks of the date of this decision to confirm that it has complied with the above orders.

Recommendations

62. The landlord to update residents in the block on its discussions with the EMA and freeholder and clearly set out how residents should report any future issues.
63. The landlord to review, if it has not already, any recommended lasting solutions to heating issues at the block, and discuss these with the EMA/freeholder, to try to ensure that a more reliable service is provided to its properties going forward.
64. The landlord to ensure it maintains accurate records in regards to issues identified, particularly of discussions/action plans agreed with contractors and the EMA, in light of the issues identified at Paragraphs 40 and 41 of this report.
65. The landlord to review responses/compensation provided to any other complaints about heating and hot water issues at the block, in light of the findings in this case.