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Incommunities Limited (202201911)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202201911

Incommunities Limited

27 June 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 a request for gas central heating to be installed at the property.

Background

  1. The resident has occupied the property under an assured tenancy since August 2005. The property is a two-bedroom first floor flat. It has an energy performance certificate rating of C.
  2. The property is heated by electric storage heaters, with hot water provided by an immersion heater. On 7 January 2022, the resident complained about the cost of heating his property. He said that the storage heaters were expensive to run, and he could only afford to use two out of five heaters. He also said that as he relied on an immersion heater, he did not always have instant hot water. He wanted the landlord to replace the storage heaters with gas central heating.
  3. The landlord initially dealt with the complaint as a service request. It explained that his property was not currently eligible for gas central heating as its energy performance rating did not meet the criteria for replacement. It offered to fit an insulation jacket to the immersion heater and to make a referral to a money advice service. These were refused by the resident. The landlord’s stage 1 response on 21 January 2022 added that the property was included in future energy replacement plans, but the property’s energy performance rating meant it would be several years before work was done. It also said that the property was included in roof and cavity wall insulation work that would take place in the next year, which would help with heat retention.
  4. The resident escalated his complaint as he remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s response. Before issuing its final response, the landlord carried out a heating assessment, which confirmed that the storage heaters were working as they should.
  5. In its final response on 31 January 2022, the landlord acknowledged delays in escalating the resident’s complaint and offered £50 in recognition of this. It repeated that it would not be fitting gas central heating at this time because of the property’s energy performance rating but confirmed that the property was included in future energy replacement plans and there would be work on cavity wall and roof insulation.
  6. The resident raised his complaint with this Service in April 2022, as he remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s position on his request for gas central heating. The resident had accepted the landlord’s offer of £50.

Assessment and findings

Scope

  1. The resident raised concerns about the cost of his energy bills. He said they were high, and he could not afford them. In accordance with paragraph 42(p) of the Scheme, this Service cannot consider complaints about energy costs. This is because this Service does not have authority over the cost of energy bills. This Service can only consider complaints about actions or omissions by the landlord. This includes looking at how the landlord responded to the resident’s concerns about the current heating system, including any issues affecting its affordability.

The landlord’s response to a request for gas central heating to be installed at the property.

  1. Under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, landlords must ensure that a home is fit for human habitation. This means that the home should be safe, healthy, and free from things that could cause serious harm. If a home cannot be adequately heated it is not safe and healthy. To ensure a home can be adequately heated, a landlord must supply heating in proper working order and ensure the property is insulated, meeting a minimum energy performance certificate rating of E.
  2. When the resident complained that the storage heaters were expensive to run, the landlord had a responsibility to take steps to investigate whether there was a fault causing high bills. The landlord met this obligation by testing the heaters. It confirmed that they were in proper working order. It has provided evidence that the property has an energy performance certificate rating of C, which is better than the minimum standard. The landlord also took the reasonable step of offering the resident money advice. In addition, the landlord identified that insulation in the property could be improved and told the resident that it would install loft and cavity wall insulation. It is the view of this Service that the landlord met its obligations under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 to ensure the home could be adequately heated. It did this by providing storage heaters that were in proper working order.
  3. The resident said that another property in the area managed by the landlord had gas central heating installed. In its stage 1 response, the landlord explained that gas central heating was fitted in this property because of the amount of mould. The landlord had inspected this property and found that the cavity wall insulation had failed, and the storage heaters could not achieve a temperature above 14°C.
  4. Replacing storage heaters with gas central heating is an improvement to the property. It is this Service’s view that it is reasonable for the landlord to consider the cost of improvements in the context of its financial resources and to prioritise properties that have low energy performance certificate ratings. In its stage 1 response, the landlord informed the resident about the planned energy replacement programme and said it would be several years before the heating at his property was replaced. It explained that the reason for this was that it was prioritising properties with poorer energy ratings first.
  5. Under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act (1985) the landlord is responsible for keeping in repair and proper working order the installation of space heating and water heating. This means the landlord has an obligation to repair and maintain the storage heaters and the immersion heater. When the resident reported a fault with a switch on a storage heater, the landlord met this obligation by repairing the fault. It also offered to provide additional insulation to the immersion heater. This Service has noted that insulation to the immersion heater was fitted after the landlord sent its final response.
  6. Taking everything into account, it is this Service’s view that the landlord has acted fairly. The landlord has supplied heating in proper working order. It is taking steps to improve insulation at a property that already has an energy rating of C, which is better than the minimum requirement of the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018. It also offered money advice to the resident. While the landlord is responsible for repairs to the heating system, replacing the storage heaters with gas central heating would be considered an improvement, not a repair. When deciding on improvements, it is reasonable that the landlord considers its financial resources and prioritises properties that have low energy performance certificate ratings. It is this Service’s opinion that there has been no maladministration. This means that the landlord is not obliged to meet the resident’s request to replace the storage heaters with gas central heating.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was no maladministration in relation to the landlord’s response to a request for gas central heating to be installed at the property. This is because the landlord met its obligations under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 and section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act (1985).