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Wandle Housing Association Limited (202225953)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202225953

Wandle Housing Association Limited

19 February 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 of fly tipping.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord, she resides in a house located in a residential close.
  2. On the 15 September 2022 the resident contacted the landlord to report fly tipping within the close. She reported that items had been left in 3 separate areas and provided the landlord with photographic evidence.
  3. The resident contacted the landlord again on 14 October 2022 to request an update as the items had not been removed. During a further call on 7 December 2022, she informed the landlord that more items had been added and the accumulation of waste was attracting foxes. The landlord’s records incorrectly indicated that the previous log was resolved and therefore closed. A new request was raised for the bulk team to attend.
  4. The resident chased again on 7 January 2023 and raised a complaint, reporting that the items were still there. In resolution she wanted the site to be cleared and requested a callback.
  5. In its stage one response on 11 January 2023 the landlord acknowledged that “it had got things wrong”. It said that it was due to attend on the 13 December but failed to do so. In resolution it apologised and confirmed that it would attend on 18 January 2023.
  6. On 19 January 2023 the resident requested an escalation of her complaint stating that not all items had been removed. In its stage two response the landlord said that the site was cleared on 13 January 2023, it informed the resident that any additional incidents of fly tipping would need to be reported as a new issue.
  7. The resident contacted the Ombudsman following the stage two response, she remained dissatisfied and reported that not all of the items were removed.

Assessment and findings

  1. The landlord’s neighbourhood management policy states that once it receives a report of fly tipping it will arrange to have it removed within five working days or 24 hours if it poses a health and safety risk. The resident emailed photographs of the fly tipped areas to the landlord in September 2022 with an expectation that the landlord would arrange a clearance in line with its 5 day clearance timescales. However, this Service has not seen any evidence that this took place, and this resulted in an increase of fly tipping in the area. Therefore, the landlord’s failure to act further exacerbated the presence of fly tipping, increased the detriment to the resident and would have adversely impacted on the appearance, condition, and safety of the estate.
  2. In addition to the resident’s reports, bulk waste was also highlighted in the fortnightly reports that the landlord received from the grounds maintenance team. No evidence has been provided to suggest that the landlord acted upon this. The landlord therefore missed several opportunities to resolve the issue in a timely manner. The landlord’s neighbourhood management policy says that it will take a proactive approach to maintaining its neighbourhoods, it would therefore be reasonable to expect that the fortnightly reports be reviewed and actioned accordingly.
  3. The landlord has informed this Service that the area in question is not considered a “hot spot”, therefore it does not currently carry out regular estate inspections but agreed to monitor the area. No evidence has been provided to show that this has happened. The resident reports that fly tipping is still a problem, this demonstrates a lack of commitment to resolve the issue by the landlord.
  4. Furthermore, there is no evidence that the landlord made any attempts to find out who the perpetrators were or took any specific actions as a preventative measure. It would have been reasonable for the landlord to issue educational material to the local residents reminding them that fly tipping is prohibited and to increase its estate presence until the problem was under control.
  5.  Within its stage one response the landlord appropriately acknowledged that it failed to attend on 13 December 2022 and took steps to put things right by offering a new date. However, it did not offer an explanation as to why it failed to act sooner, given that the resident initially reported the issue on 15 September 2022.  The resident had to contact the landlord on at least 4 occasions before it attended to remove any of the items. During her call on 7 January 2023 the resident also requested a callback, there is no evidence to suggest that this happened.
  6. In summary, although the landlord recognised its failings, it took 82 working days to remove the fly tipped items, far exceeding its own policy. This amounted to an unreasonable delay which resulted in the resident expending time and trouble chasing. This Service has not seen any evidence that the landlord acted proactively to ensure the estate areas were monitored to prevent fly tipping taking place nor did it communicate effectively with the resident. Furthermore, the resident reports that fly tipping is still a regular occurrence, which suggests a lack of learning. Taking these matters into account there was maladministration the landlord’s management and handling of the resident’s reports of fly tipping on the estate.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman scheme there was maladministration in the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of fly tipping.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. Within four weeks of the date of this report, the landlord is ordered to:
    1. To pay the resident £50 compensation for its handling of the resident’s reports of fly tipping and the time and trouble expended by her chasing up the clearance.
    2. The compensation is to be paid directly to the resident and not offset against any money that the resident may owe the landlord.
  2. It is ordered that the landlord provide an update to the resident and this service within four weeks regarding steps to resolve any outstanding issues with fly tipping in the area.

Recommendations

  1. It is recommended that the landlord reviews how it monitors the fortnightly grounds maintenance reports and implements a procedure to ensure that fly tipping issues are resolved promptly.