Wandle Housing Association Limited (202214051)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202214051

Wandle Housing Association Limited

25 May 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 concerns how the landlord handled repairs to the ceiling following a leak in the property.

Background

2. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord, which is a housing association. The property is a house.
3. The landlord’s records and logs state that it received a call from the resident on 7 May 2022 to report a leak from the living room ceiling. A plumber and an electrician attended on the same day to make-safe the light fitting in the living room ceiling, undertake temporary repairs to the ceiling and to stop the leak. Follow-on work was raised on 27 and 31 May 2022 to repair the shower pump (which was determined to be the source of the leak) and replaster the ceiling. An appointment was agreed with the resident for 4 June 2022 for the ceiling work.
4. On 15 June 2022, the resident called the landlord and requested to raise a complaint into how it was handling the repair to the ceiling. The landlord’s notes of the call described the elements of the complaint as:
   1. The 4 June 2022 appointment to repair the ceiling did not go ahead. The resident was given no notice that the appointment would not go ahead, and the appointment had not been rescheduled.
   2. He was concerned that the ceiling in its current condition was in danger of collapse. The resident also informed the landlord that he had a young child in the property and that the condition of the ceiling put them in danger due to falling dirt and debris.
5. The landlord sent a stage one complaint response to the resident on 23 June 2023 and a stage two complaint response on 26 September 2022. In its responses, the landlord:
   1. Apologised for the failed appointment on 4 June 2022. It explained that this was a result of staff sickness and as the appointment was on a Saturday, there was a reduced number of staff members on duty which resulted in the failed appointment not being picked up.
   2. Informed the resident that due to staff shortages it had arranged for a contractor to undertake the work to the ceiling. It confirmed that the work was completed on 22 September 2022 and that it had booked a post-work inspection of the ceiling to go ahead on 27 September 2022.
   3. Apologised for the poor level of service the resident experienced while the ceiling repairs remained outstanding.
6. In referring the case to this Service, the resident described the outstanding issues of the complaint as it took four months for the landlord to arrange the repairs to the ceiling and the completed work was of a very poor quality. As a resolution to the complaint, the resident requested to be refunded rent payments for the period the ceiling repair remained outstanding.
7. On 1 November 2022, the landlord sent a stage two follow-up response. It accepted that the quality of the completed repair was not to standard. It apologised to the resident and informed him that it would no longer use that contractor. The landlord confirmed that it had raised a work order to redo the repair and offered £100 compensation for its poor communication during the period the repair was outstanding.
8. The landlord has subsequently confirmed to the Ombudsman that the work was completed on 22 December 2022.

Assessment and findings

Relevant policies and procedures

9. The landlord’s repairs policy sets out what repairs the landlord is responsible for. These include “Plumbing. Internal structural floors and ceilings. Making good following a repair in preparation for tenants’ decorations.”
10. The repairs policy categorises the landlord’s repair types as “Emergency” (attend within 24 hours) and “Appointed” (complete within 28 days). The landlord defines an emergency repair as repairs “that are necessary to avoid danger to occupants or similar serious effects on people, or serious damage to the property.”

How the landlord handled repairs to the ceiling following a leak in the property

11. When the resident informed the landlord of the leak through the living room ceiling, the landlord had a duty to respond to the matter in line with the obligations set out in the occupancy agreement and its published policies and procedures.
12. Initially, the landlord responded appropriately to the issue. When it received a report from the resident on 7 May 2022, it correctly identified the issue as an emergency and attended on the same day. Temporary repairs were undertaken to the ceiling and to stop the leak. Follow-on work was then raised to resolve to leak and complete repairs to the ceiling.
13. It is not in dispute that the resident then experienced significant delays until the ceiling repair was completed. Repairs to the ceiling were fully completed on 22 December 2022; 202 days outside of the landlord’s published target of 28 days for an appointed repair. Moreover, the resident received very poor communication from the landlord during this period. There is no evidence that the landlord kept the resident informed on the status of the work or explained the reasons for the delay. This resulted in the resident having to raise a complaint with the landlord in order to progress the repair.
14. While it was appropriate for the landlord to apologise the resident and offer compensation in its follow-on complaint response, the compensation offer was only for the landlord’s poor communication. The landlord did not reference the failed appointment or the seven months it took for the repair to be fully completed. Therefore, there has been maladministration in how the landlord handled the repair and in order to fully resolve the complaint, further compensation is warranted.
15. The resident has requested that the landlord refund the rent from May 2022 to September 2022 as compensation. The landlord’s repair logs and notes left by its operatives state that work to make the shower pump and ceiling safe was completed on 7 May 2022. The shower pump was then fully repaired, leaving the work to the ceiling unfished until 22 September 2022. Then due to the poor quality of work, additional repairs were completed to the ceiling on 22 December 2022. While the length of time the resident and his family had to live with the living room ceiling temporary repair would be understandably frustrating, there is no evidence that the living room or the property as a whole was in an uninhabitable state during this period. It was therefore reasonable for the landlord not to consider a full or partial rent refund under these circumstances.
16. The Ombudsman’s own remedies guidance (which is available on our website) suggests a payment of £100 to £600 in cases of considerable service failure or maladministration by a landlord. This includes distress and inconvenience, time and trouble, disappointment, loss of confidence, and delays in getting matters resolved. Therefore, a payment of £500 that recognised the significant length of time it took the landlord to complete repairs to the ceiling, the missed appointment on 4 June 2022, its poor communication throughout the period the repair remained outstanding, and the inconvenience caused to the resident in having to chase the landlord and raise a complaint in order to resolve the issue would be appropriate in the circumstances.

Determination

17. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in respect of how it handled repairs to the ceiling following a leak in the property.

Orders

18. For the reasons set out above, the landlord is ordered to pay to the resident £500 compensation.
19. This payment should be made within four weeks of the date of this report. The landlord should update this Service when payment has been made.
20. This compensation award is inclusive of the £100 the landlord offered during its complaint process. This can be deducted from the total amount if it has already been paid to the resident.
21. It is the Ombudsman’s position that compensation awarded by this Service should be treated separately from any financial arrangements between the landlord and resident and should not be offset against any arrears.