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Wandle Housing Association Limited (202223775)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202223775

Wandle Housing Association Limited

8 November 2023

 

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 repairs to the communal front door and entry system.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant and occupies a first floor flat within a block with a communal entrance.
  2. The resident says that she has experienced problems with the communal front door and entry system since the door was changed in early 2019. She says that she is unable to open the communal door from her property without the buzzer being rung and that the door cannot be opened from the outside if someone has put the deadlock on.
  3. The landlord’s records show that the issues with the door and buzzer were reported in July and August 2021. Contractors attended and either completed repairs or reported back to the landlord that a specialist was required.
  4. On 31 October 2021 the resident raised a complaint with the landlord about the delay in repairing the communal door. Following this, contractors attended in November and December 2021 to address the issues with the door and entry system.
  5. The resident subsequently escalated her complaint on 21 February 2022, stating that the repairs to the communal door had not been completed. The landlord issued its stage 2 response on 22 March 2022. In this, the landlord said that it had not received any reports of issues with the communal door since November 2021 and it had acted in accordance with its repair policies and procedures. It said it would inspect the door on 6 April 2022.
  6. The resident raised a further complaint with the landlord about being unable to access the building on 2 January 2023 due to the deadlock being on. The landlord issued its final response to this complaint on 19 March 2023. The landlord upheld the complaint stating that it had raised the out of hours job to the incorrect contractor and that it should have attended sooner. As a result the resident was left standing outside the building for some time and had to wait for a neighbour to let her in. The landlord awarded £10 compensation for its failings and said it would ensure the issue with the communal front door was remedied.
  7. The resident informed the Ombudsman during May 2023 that she remained dissatisfied as the door repair was still outstanding. She wanted £1,000 compensation and for the landlord to complete the repairs. The resident and landlord entered into the Ombudsman’s mediation process which resulted in the landlord offering the resident £350 compensation and agreeing to remove the deadlock and install a different lock to the communal door. The resident was dissatisfied with this offer and asked for her case to be progressed to investigation.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. The resident says that the issues with the communal front door have been ongoing for around 4 years. While this is noted, there are limits to how far back an Ombudsman investigation can go. This is because the Ombudsman must reach an evidence-based decision and as events become historical, it is increasingly difficult for either the landlord or the Ombudsman to conduct an effective review of the actions taken to address the issues complained about. In addition, the Ombudsman must be fair to all involved and therefore requires that complaints are raised with the landlord within a reasonable time of the matter occurring, which is usually within 6 months. Therefore, this investigation has focussed on the handling of the reports from July 2021 onwards.

Assessment

  1. The tenancy agreement confirms that the landlord is responsible for repairs to communal parts of the property; this would include the communal front door and entry system. The landlord’s website confirms that emergency repairs will be completed within 24 hours and it will attend immediately (within 2 hours) where the detriment to the resident or property is deemed to be severe. All repairs which do not quality as emergency are dealt with by appointment and within 28 days, unless a resident is unable to agree a mutual appointment within these timescales or the type of works require more time to complete.
  2. The landlord’s repair records indicate that it attended the repair reported on 21 July 2021 within target timescales and replaced the lock release which was faulty. On 17 August 2021 the resident reported that the intercom and deadlock were faulty. A specialist contractor attended on 26 August 2021 and noted that the resident was not in and the deadlock had been removed previously so the issue should have been resolved. The available evidence indicates that the resident was not aware of this appointment.
  3. On 31 October 2021 the resident chased the landlord for an update on the repair, stating that the issues had not been resolved. In response the landlord raised another repair and a contractor attended on 5 November 2021. The contractor reported that the thumb turn needed replacing with a lever handle, and that the intercom system was not the type that had a permanent lock release. However, the thumb turn was not replaced at this time and the contractor noted on 25 February 2022 that they had been advised that the works had been completed by others.
  4. In its complaint response of 22 March 2022, the landlord said that it would inspect the door on 6 April 2022 as the resident had reported that the issues were unresolved. However, no evidence has been provided to show that this inspection went ahead or any repairs were carried out at this time. This is of concern, particularly given that the landlord had committed to take this action in its complaint response and should have monitored this to ensure completion.
  5. On 2 January 2023 the resident reported an emergency repair as she was unable to enter the building as the door had been locked from the inside. This indicates that the issue with the deadlock had still not been resolved by this time. As outlined in the landlord’s subsequent complaint response, it accepts that it failed to handle this repair appropriately as it sent the incorrect contractor and did not attend soon enough.
  6. Following the resident referring her complaint to the Ombudsman, the landlord raised a further repair to the door. On 7 June 2023 a lock release was fitted and the intercom to another flat was tested and reported to be working satisfactorily.
  7. Therefore, it has taken the landlord almost two years to resolve the issue with the deadlock and it clear that on occasion this has caused significant inconvenience to the resident, resulting in her being locked out of the building. It is not clear if the issue with the intercom/door release has been resolved as the landlord’s records indicate that the intercom to another flat was tested when repairs were completed in June 2023.
  8. Accordingly, it is of concern that the landlord failed to uphold the resident’s complaint about the handling of the repairs raised in August 2021. The landlord’s offer of £10 compensation for the failure to appropriately respond to the emergency call out in January 2022 was inadequate.
  9. It is acknowledged that the landlord took further steps to put things right by engaging with the Ombudsman’s mediation process and offering £350 compensation to the resident. However, this failed to fully remedy the complaint considering the length of time the matter was outstanding, the inconvenience caused to the resident, and the time and trouble the resident has had to go to in pursuing the repair and complaint.
  10. The landlord has therefore been ordered to pay the resident £500 compensation. This is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance which provides for awards of £100 to £600 where there has been a failure by the landlord which adversely affected the resident. The landlord has also been ordered to arrange an inspection of the communal door and intercom system to the resident’s property and carry out any repairs required.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in its response to the resident’s reports of repairs to the communal front door and entry system.

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks, the landlord is ordered to:
    1. Pay the resident £500 compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of the repairs.
    2. Arrange for a specialist contractor to inspect the communal front door and intercom system in the resident’s property and complete any necessary repairs. The landlord should agree an appointment with the resident to ensure that she is available when the contractor attends.
    3. Carry out a review of its procedures for managing repairs, taking into account the findings of this investigation, and implement any necessary remedial action to ensure the same service failures do not recur.