Sovereign Network Homes (Former Network Homes) (202344420)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202344420

Sovereign Network Homes

30 September 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 landlord’s response to the resident’s reports about cold and a request for insulation in her bedroom.
  2. The Ombudsman has also considered the landlord’s complaint handling.

Background

  1. The resident is a tenant of the landlord. The property is a ground floor flat in a converted house, which has an extension that contains the bedroom. The resident has health issues including asthma, a productive cough, and osteoarthritis.
  2. In May 2021, the landlord replaced a bedroom radiator with a larger one. In October 2022, the landlord carried out an inspection in response to a report from the resident that the property was not insulated, for which the outcome is unclear. The resident later made a disrepair claim about structural issues, and in November 2022, the landlord’s surveyor assessed the property for hazards and noted that no hazards were present in respect to excess cold.
  3. In February 2023, a contractor reportedly said that the bedroom would benefit from insulation, after which the landlord’s surveyor inspected in March 2023 and noted that no works were required to the bedroom, but a heating survey was specified in a schedule of disrepair works. This was not carried out.
  4. In July 2023, the resident reportedly chased bedroom insulation works after which the landlord’s solicitor said that no bedroom works were required. The works specified in March 2023 were subsequently post inspected and signed off, although it was noted that the resident refused to sign them off as she wanted bedroom insulation which was not part of the works.
  5. In September 2023, the landlord’s complaint department was forwarded a GP letter, saying that cold and poor insulation at the property was exacerbating the resident’s asthma. The landlord’s solicitor was asked to respond and said that its and the resident’s surveyors had noted no issues with the bedroom insulation after her disrepair claim, so it was not carrying out any insulation works. It said that she could carry out these herself if she obtained consent.
  6. In October 2023, the resident raised dissatisfaction with being told insulation was her responsibility, and noted that she was on universal credit. She said that while other rooms in the property were warm, the bedroom was ice cold and did not retain heat for long. She said this was because walls lacked insulation and the floor was concrete when other rooms had some form of floorboard. She said that due to her asthma being affected she was moving her bed into the living room. The landlord responded that it would not look at the issues as a complaint as they were dealt with more than 6 months prior, but it said it had asked its legal team to respond, and signposted the resident to the Ombudsman.
  7. In April 2024, the Ombudsman contacted the landlord after contact from the resident. We noted that she reported cold in the bedroom, and that she was seeking for insulation to be installed in the bedroom and for the roof to be checked for insulation. The same month, the landlord provided a stage 1 response. It detailed events in respect to the disrepair, and said that while it understood a contractor had mentioned the bedroom would benefit from insulation, neither its surveyor nor a joint expert had recommended insulation works. It noted the resident had been told she could arrange the works herself if consent was given.
  8. In May 2024, the resident expressed dissatisfaction with the response. She said that the bedroom got very cold in winter, affected her asthma and caused regular chest infections. She said that the carpet felt very cold and damp, and the floor needed a damp membrane, and the roof needed to be checked that it had insulation. She said that when the bedroom radiator was replaced in 2021, a surveyor had mentioned installing an additional small one, but only one large one was installed. She said that she sought compensation for replacing underlay and carpet, stress and anxiety, and heating costs due to the difficulties keeping the bedroom warm.
  9. In June 2024, the landlord provided a stage 2 response. This awarded £20 in recognition of a delayed response but confirmed its stage 1 response.
  10. The same month, the landlord’s contractor carried out a condition survey, which noted that the bedroom had an uninsulated solid floor. The resident says that after this she did not hear anything after this until September 2024, when the landlord’s contractor wrote to her saying that her home had been included in a programme funded by the Government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund to improve the energy efficiency of her home. The contractor carried out an energy assessment of the property on 17 September 2024 to establish what improvements can be made, and the resident was informed that a report would be issued after this with a works specification.

Assessment and findings

Scope of the investigation

  1. Paragraph 42.a.of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, which sets out how we may consider complaints, says that we will not investigate complaints which, in our 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.”
  2. The resident has referred to additional repairs issues in correspondence. In accordance with our Scheme, this investigation focuses on the issues with cold and lack of insulation in the bedroom, as this was the main focus of the complaint progressed through the landlord’s complaint procedure and brought to the Ombudsman. The resident has the option to report any additional issues to the landlord’s repairs service, and to then make a formal complaint if she is unhappy with the response to her repairs reports.

The landlord’s response to the resident’s reports about cold and a request for insulation in her bedroom

  1. The resident has raised concerns about cold in the bedroom on a number of occasions. In 2021, the landlord replaced a radiator with a larger one. In 2022, there was an inspection for her report that the property was not insulated, for which the outcome is unclear. The same year, for a disrepair claim about separate issues, a surveyor noted that no hazards were present for excess cold. In March and July 2023 the resident requested bedroom insulation during disrepair visits, and a heating survey was included in a works schedule for the disrepair claim. This did not happen. In September 2023, the resident raised cold and insulation to the landlord’s complaint department, and its solicitor responded that it was not carrying out any insulation works as these were not recommended by surveyors during the disrepair claim. This was restated in the landlord’s April and June 2024 complaint responses.
  2. The resident does not seem to dispute that her bedroom located in an extension gets warm when the heating is turned on, but she says it is colder than other rooms and is more difficult and costly to keep heated. The Ombudsman understands her concerns and desire to have a cost and energy efficient home, but a lack of insulation when she moved in does not mean that there has been a failure in the landlord’s obligations. It is not uncommon for a property to lack insulation if this was not a requirement of the building regulations at the time the property was built, and descriptions of the bedroom having concrete or uninsulated solid flooring do not seem unusual
  3. The landlord’s obligations in respect to the resident’s concerns are to provide a warm home, and it seems to be fulfilling this. Its replacement of a radiator in 2021 shows attempts to improve bedroom heating. In 2022, its finding that there were no hazards for excess cold shows it confirmed that the warmth of the property did not fall below unacceptable standards. In England, properties are given energy performance certificates and must achieve an E rating to be rented out. The resident’s property has a D rating, which is the average rating in England and above minimum requirements.
  4. There therefore appears to be no fundamental failing in the landlord not having carried out any insulation works to the property to date. There seems to be no legal requirement for the landlord to have done so, the property has not been found to have a hazard for excess cold, and the property exceeds the current minimum required energy rating. However, there are aspects of the landlord’s response to the resident’s concerns which are not entirely satisfactory.
  5. The Ombudsman’s 2021 spotlight report on heating recommends for landlords to be aware of initiatives to improve the energy efficiency of their stock, and for landlords to make residents aware of where to go for help if they are struggling to pay their fuel bills or want advice on improving the energy efficiency of their homes. The landlord’s responses were not in line with this, and come across as unhelpful and lacking in customer focus and awareness of wider contexts in respect to the resident’s concerns.
  6. The resident raised concern about how cold the bedroom got, how she was affected in respect to her asthma and chest infections, and how she was on benefits. This and her GP letter should reasonably have prompted more consideration of actions, support and signposting than is evident. The heating survey recommended in 2023 that did not happen was also not addressed or progressed, which may have been beneficial given the issues raised. The previous 2021 actions may have addressed issues identified then, but the issue being revisited in 2023 could have allowed those best qualified to do so to review matters and consider any current actions or advice.
  7. The landlord has had a stated intention since at least 2022 to ensure that all its social homes eventually achieve a C energy performance certificate rating by 2030, which is in line with previous and planned Government requirements in respect to minimum energy ratings for social housing. The property is currently being progressed in the landlord’s programme to make its housing more energy efficient, from the June and September 2024 visits reported by the resident, but this is understood to be coincidental and unrelated to the complaint.
  8. The responses could have more effectively communicated about the landlord’s approach for improvements and had a more joined-up approach with relevant departments. There was opportunity to, given contractors involved in the programme visited the property almost 2 weeks before the stage 2 response. The landlord’s approach meant that its final response said that it would not insulate the property, and that the resident should arrange this herself, around the same time that it was progressing plans to consider the property for improvements including insulation. This seems confusing and unhelpful, and had the potential to result in the resident spending unnecessary time and money progressing improvements to the property that the landlord may itself make.
  9. Overall, there seems no failing in insulation works not being carried out to date. The progression of the property in the improvement programme seems an appropriate outcome, as this will consider the property’s insulation needs. However, the landlord’s response was not reasonable and lacked customer focus. It did not identify and address a failing to carry out a heating survey. It did not show that it reasonably addressed issues such as how cold the bedroom got, how the resident’s health was affected, and how she was on benefits. It also did not provide helpful and timely information about its improvement initiatives which were directly relevant to the resident’s concerns. This leads to a finding of service failure in the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports about cold and a request for insulation.

The landlord’s complaint handling

  1. The resident contacted the landlord’s complaint department in September 2023, after which a solicitor involved in her previous disrepair claim responded. It then said in October 2023 that it would not look at the issues as a complaint as they were dealt with more than 6 months prior, however they were raised within the past 6 months. The stage 1 confirms there was correspondence between the resident and its solicitor in July 2023, she forwarded a GP letter and raised concerns about the cold and insulation in September 2023, and 3 days before the landlord refused the complaint, a disrepair post inspection mentioning the heating survey was carried out.
  2. This means that the landlord’s refusal to accept the complaint was not reasonable, that progress of the complaint should not have needed the Ombudsman’s intervention, and that there was a delay of over 5 months between October 2023 and April 2024 in it responding at stage 1. The landlord awarded £20 for its stage 2 response being delayed, but in the Ombudsman’s view this will not have gone far enough to recognise the frustration caused to the resident by the delayed progression of her complaint. This leads to a finding of service failure in the landlord’s complaint handling.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was:
    1. Service failure in the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports about cold and a request for insulation in her bedroom.
    2. Service failure in the landlord’s complaint handling.

Orders and recommendations

  1. The landlord is ordered to, within 4 weeks:
    1. pay the resident £120 compensation. This comprises £50 for the issues identified with its response about cold and insulation, £50 for the issues identified with its complaint handling, and the £20 it originally offered, which can be deducted if already paid.
    2. liaise with the resident to arrange a heating survey to consider if any actions or advice is needed prior to any improvement works it is planning.
    3. liaise with the resident to review any tenancy support or signposting it can offer in respect to issues such as heating costs.
  2. The landlord is recommended to review its complaint handling and training needs, to ensure that:
    1. complaints are not unreasonably declined.
    2. when responding to a complaint, consideration is given to obtaining the involvement of other departments that may be relevant to a complaint and issues a resident is raising.
    3. consideration is given to whether resident concerns should be progressed via the disrepair process and its solicitors, if these do not relate to their letter of claim.
  3. The landlord is recommended to review its service and training needs, to ensure that concerns such as those raised by the resident about cold, insulation, health and potential financial issues are referred to relevant departments.