London Borough of Hackney (202010288)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202010288

Hackney Council

20 May 2021

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

The complaint is about the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of a leak from a neighbouring property.

Background and summary of events

The resident is a leaseholder in a block of flats owned and managed by the local authority landlord. The property is a one bedroom third floor flat and the flat above the resident’s is owned and managed by the landlord.
The Right to Manage lets tenants and leaseholders take over certain management responsibilities from their landlord; in this case the property is managed by a Tenant Management Organisation (the TMO).
The landlord is ultimately responsible for the actions of the TMO. A resident’s rights under a lease are not affected by the establishment of a TMO; they have the same rights as if they were under the landlord’s management, including right to repair.
The landlord’s repair responsibility matrix says that the TMO is responsible for responsive repairs to the following: plumbing beyond the stopcock, plumber fittings and floor finishes.
The landlord’s leaseholders’ rules and regulations leaflet sets out its published standards for dealing with repairs:
1. immediate repairs: make safe within 2 hours,
2. emergency repairs: make safe within 24 hours (same day if reported before 12 noon),
3. urgent repairs: within 5 days after having made it safe on the first visit,
4. normal repairs: within 20 working days (usually within 3-10 days by appointment) or when the repair does not pose any danger to occupants or members of the public.
On 28 March 2020 the Government issued guidance for landlords, tenants and local authorities concerning the Covid 19 pandemic. The guidance recommended that “access to a property is only proposed for serious and urgent repairs.”
On 18 May 2020 the Housing Minister sent a letter to all social housing residents saying that “As we start to ease lockdown measures, landlords should be able to carry out routine as well as essential repairs for most households. There will be a backlog of repairs that they will need to address, so it may take longer than normal to carry out more non-essential work…”
On 1 June 2020 the Government issued updated guidance for landlords, tenants and local authorities concerning the Covid 19 pandemic. The guidance said that landlords “can now take steps to address wider issues of repairs and safety inspections, provided these are undertaken in line with public health advice” and that “Where workforce is available and resources allow, landlords or contractors are now able to visit most properties to carry out both routine and essential inspections and repairs, as well as any planned internal works.”
The landlord’s complaints compensation policy says that its approach to compensation is based on guidance published by the Ombudsman.
Between January and March 2020, the resident was decanted from the property whilst the landlord’s insurer’s contractors undertook remedial works to the property to repair damage caused as a result of leaks from the flat above the property.
On 20 March 2020 the resident, two weeks after moving back to the property, contacted the TMO to report a further leak from the flat above hers. The TMO carried out a temporary repair to the wet room floor in the flat above on 23 March 2020. The repair records show that the repair was classed as “urgent.”
On 8 April 2020 the TMO advised the resident that further remedial works would be required (replacing lino on the floor of the bathroom in the upstairs flat) but that it was taking longer to arrange this than normal due to the Covid 19 pandemic restrictions. The TMO also asked the resident whether she had experienced any further leaks since the temporary repair was carried out. The resident replied on 10 April 2020 saying that there hadn’t been any further incidents of water leaking into the property.
On 26 June 2020 the resident sent an email to the TMO saying that for the past week water had been dripping into the property from the upstairs flat. The TMO sent an email to the resident on 29 June 2020 saying that “A temporary repair was carried out at the start of the lockdown period, and we asked our contractors to obtain a quote for a more permanent solution. I have asked for that to be progressed now that the restriction to carrying out only urgent and emergency repairs can be relaxed somewhat. I will follow that up again this week.”
On 21 July 2020 the resident sent a further email to the TMO reporting that water was again leaking in to her flat and asking if the issue was any closer to being resolved. The TMO raised a work order on 21 July 2020 to carry out a temporary repair in the upstairs flat and to check that the shower pump was functioning correctly so that any waste water would be removed quickly.
On 28 July 2020 the resident sent a further email to the TMO saying that water was again leaking into the property from the upstairs flat and asking if another temporary repair could be carried out. The TMO replied on the same day saying that, following the resident’s reports the previous week, an order was raised to carry out a temporary repair on the flooring/check shower function and the TMO was still trying to get a quote for the new floor coverings in the upstairs flat.
There was some delay in the TMO gaining access to the upstairs flat, but both the repair and the shower pump check were carried out on 7 August 2020.
On 2 September 2020, the resident made a formal complaint to the landlord about its response to her reports of a leak from the upstairs flat.
The landlord forwarded the resident’s complaint to the TMO who sent the resident the stage one response to the complaint on 7 September 2020. In its complaint response the TMO said that:
1. the resident had reported the leak on 20 March 2020 and the TMO had tried unsuccessfully to access the upstairs flat the following day. Following the TMO’s visit to the upstairs flat on 23 March 2020 a temporary repair to the damaged flooring in the upstairs flat was carried out,
2. in early April 2020 the resident had confirmed there had been no further leakage since the repair carried out on 23 March 2020,
3. it had continued to liaise with its contractor between April 2020 and June 2020 about obtaining quotes for a permanent repair to be carried out. The contractor had experienced difficulties with finding any flooring sub-contractor available or willing to carry out such work inside a property,
4. it had been able to keep day to day urgent or emergency repairs going on the resident’s estate during the Covid 19 pandemic estate but follow up work was proving more difficult,
5. following her reports of a leak on 21 June 2020 it had resumed chasing up quotes for flooring renewal for the flat above, without success,
6. following the resident’s further reports of a leak on 28 July 2020 the TMO had asked its contractors to carry out another temporary repair in the flat above, as well as chase up a quote for renewed floor coverings. The repairs were carried out on 7 August 2020,
7. it was continuing to experience difficulties with obtaining a quote for renewal of the flooring, but the silicone sealant used on 7 August 2020 was “a heavy duty product which should buy us more time to get the longer term issue resolved.”,
8. it would continue to explore alternative options for flooring contractors as well as liaising with its regular contractor in the meantime.
The resident sent an email to the landlord on 9 September 2020 asking for a review of the complaint and saying that she had contacted the TMO “repeatedly since March, expressing patience and understanding about trying to get problems resolved in times of a pandemic. However, as lock down was lifted over two months ago, and the issue is still occurring, I no longer see why the problem is not resolved...I still have water running down my bathroom walls intermittently and tiles are beginning to come away from the walls.” The resident also informed the landlord that she understood the tenant in the upstairs flat to be vulnerable and asked what actions the TMO were taking to support him and to provide more suitable accommodation.
The resident reported further leaks of water into the property from the upstairs flat to the TMO on 23 September 2020, 24 September 2020 and 26 September 2020.
The landlord sent an email to the resident on 1 October 2020 with its complaint review response. In its review response the landlord said that:
1. due to data protection issues it could not comment on any action it was taking concerning the resident of the upstairs flat,
2. the resident had been affected by leaks from the upstairs flat and the TMO had undertaken a number of temporary emergency repairs since the start of the Covid lockdown,
3. the TMO Manager had been liaising with the TMO’s own private contractors in order to undertake the required works. However, these contractors had either been unavailable or unwilling to undertake the works, which had contributed to the delay experienced by the resident. The landlord apologised for this delay and confirmed that it had asked the landlord’s repairs team to carry out the works as soon as possible and it would recharge the TMO directly,
4. its investigating officer would monitor this case until the flooring works to the upstairs flat were completed.
On 28 October 2020, 2 November 2020 and 15 November 2020 the resident reported further water leaking in the property from the flat upstairs. On 7 December 2020 the TMO sent an email to the resident confirming the new bathroom floor covering had now been installed in the flat above the property and the work completed on 4 December 2020.
The landlord’s complaint review response dated 1 October 2020 was its final response to the complaint confirming that the complaint had exhausted its internal complaints process.

Assessment and findings

In reaching a decision we consider whether the landlord has kept to the law, followed proper procedure and good practice, and acted in a reasonable way. Our duty is to determine complaints by reference to what is, in this Service’s opinion, fair in all the circumstances of the case. This Service considers whether the landlord has met its obligations to a resident and taken reasonable steps to resolve the complaint.
During the course of this investigation the resident has informed this Service that she has continued to experience water leaking into the property from the flat upstairs. Although it is appreciated that this has been distressing for the resident, the Ombudsman’s role is to investigate complaints brought to it that have exhausted a landlord’s internal complaints process. This investigation report, therefore, concerns the matters which were the subject of the resident’s formal complaint on 2 September 2020 and the landlord’s final response dated 1 October 2020.
The resident reported water leaking into the property to the TMO on 20 March 2020 and the landlord carried out temporary repairs three days later on 23 March 2020. The resident confirmed to the TMO on 10 April 2020 that she hadn’t experienced any further incidents of water leaking in the property since the temporary repair was carried out.
As set out in paragraph 6 above the repair was classed as urgent and was therefore carried out within the five day timescale set out in the landlord’s leaseholders’ rules and regulations for urgent repairs.
The resident reported a further leak on 26 June 2020 and, although the landlord chased up the contractor for quotes for the work to the floor, it did not raise an order to rectify the leak until the resident made a further report of a leak on 21 July 2020. The temporary repair to the leak was carried out on 7 August 2020, 30 working days after the resident reported the leak on 26 June 2020.
The works order raised by the landlord on 21 July 2020 classed the repair as “standard”. It is reasonable to assume that “standard” is the equivalent of “normal” as set out in the landlord’s leaseholders’ rules and regulations (see paragraph 6 above). The time scale for normal repairs is within 20 working days (usually within 3-10 days by appointment) or when the repair does not pose any danger to occupants or members of the public.
As set out in paragraph 9 above, by 1 June 2020 the Government had advised that it was safe for landlords to visit properties to carry out routine repairs and so the repair did not pose a danger to the occupants. The repair was not carried out within the 20 working days timescale set out in the leaseholder rules and regulations. Some delay can be attributed to the difficulties the landlord encountered in accessing the flat upstairs. However, much of the delay can be attributed to the landlord not raising a works order to repair the leak until 17 working days after the resident reported the leak on 26 June 2020.
The landlord identified on 23 March 2020 that further remedial works were needed to the flooring in the flat above the property. The works were completed on 4 December 2020. Whilst the situation during the Covid 19 pandemic lockdown meant that the work could not be carried out when it was identified and there were delays in the TMO’s contractor obtaining quotes for the work, it was not carried out until eight months after it was identified. This was not appropriate and evidently caused significant distress and inconvenience to the resident.
The landlord apologised to the resident in its final complaint response for the delay in carrying out the works and arranged for its own repairs team to carry out the work and recharge the TMO. Whilst the landlord demonstrated a resolution focused approach in apologising for the delay and contacting its own repairs team to carry out the work, it would have been appropriate for it to offer the resident compensation for the delay in carrying out the works. Whilst the works could not be carried out before 18 May 2020, from that date non urgent repairs were allowed. The TMO says that its contractors were unable to find sub-contractors who were in a position to carry out the work. The delay in carrying out the flooring works was significant (107 working days after 18 May 2020) and, given the difficulties the TMO was experiencing in finding a sub-contractor willing to do the works, it would have been reasonable for the TMO to approach the landlord to ask it to consider its repair team carrying out the work and recharging the TMO.
Therefore, as set out in paragraphs 31 and 33 above there was service failure by the landlord in its response to the resident’s reports of a leak from a neighbouring property.

Determination (decision)

In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was service failure by the landlord in its response to the resident’s reports of a leak from a neighbouring property.

Reasons

The TMO acted inappropriately in not raising a works order to repair the leak until 17 working days after the resident reported the leak on 26 June 2020 and in taking eight months to carry out an appropriate repair. It also acted unreasonably in not approaching the landlord to ask it to consider its repair team carrying out the works to the floor in the bathroom of the upstairs flat and recharging the TMO.

Orders and recommendations

The landlord is ordered within four weeks of the date of the determination to:
1. pay the resident total compensation of £375 comprising:
  1. £75 for the distress and inconvenience incurred by the resident as a result of the TMO’s delay in raising the works order for the leak reported on 26 June 2020,
  2. £300 for the distress and inconvenience incurred by the resident as a result of the delay in carrying out the repair works,
2. contact the resident to establish the current situation concerning water leaking into the property from the upstairs flat and, if the leak is ongoing, within two weeks of speaking to the resident to inspect the flat upstairs and confirm in writing to the resident, and to this Service, the target date for any required remedial works to be completed.