Thames Valley Housing Association Limited (202115301)
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REPORT
COMPLAINT 202115301
Thames Valley Housing Association Limited
31 August 2022
Our approach
Under our early resolution process, the Ombudsman works with the resident and landlord to explore the issues in dispute, identify the matters that remain outstanding and assist in reaching an agreed settlement.
The complaint
- The complaint is about:
b. The landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.
Determination (decision)
- In accordance with paragraph 55(c) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress to the resident which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint about its response to her antisocial behaviour reports about her neighbour’s use of a communal area satisfactorily.
- In accordance with paragraph 55(c) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress to the resident which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint about its handling of the associated complaint satisfactorily.
How the complaint was resolved
- The resident is a shared ownership leaseholder of the landlord of a flat in a communal building.
- During 2021, the resident and the landlord tried to resolve a dispute with her next-door neighbour about their use of the communal area in her building to store a plant pot, although she believed that area had been allocated to her personally. She made a stage one complaint to it on 8 June 2021, as she believed that it had mishandled her case by failing to effectively mediate between the parties, support her, or follow through with promises including to attend or return telephone calls.
- The landlord issued its stage one complaint response on 23 June 2021. It apologised for the delayed response and any inconvenience caused. The landlord partially upheld the resident’s complaint, although it did not explain why. Its former local manager had advised it that they would hand deliver a letter to her neighbour, advising them to remove their plant pot. The local manager had planned on meeting the resident but could not do so suddenly that afternoon. They had subsequently advised that the plant pot had been moved by her neighbour. The landlord advised that it would investigate her complaint about the local manager, and it reassured her that any training needs that had been identified as a consequence of her experience were being acted upon.
- The resident escalated her complaint to the landlord’s complaints procedure’s final stage on 15 July 2021. She remained dissatisfied because she had to remove the plant pot and resolve the dispute with her neighbour herself, as it had not so, nor had it responded to any of her communications about this. The landlord apologised to the resident for this when she was escalating her complaint, and it subsequently sent letters to all of her neighbours on her floor, advising them that it had received reports of items being left in the communal area, which was not permitted by fire safety regulations, and asking for any items left there to be removed.
- The landlord issued its final stage complaint response on 1 September 2021. It apologised for its delay in responding and any inconvenience caused. The landlord upheld the resident’s complaint for her time and trouble in having to contact it about this. It noted that it had called her, apologising for the service that she had received, and had reminded its operative to adhere to its three-day service response time for contacting customers. The landlord also awarded the resident £40 compensation for its response delay, and for her time and trouble. She then complained to this Service about the landlord’s response to her ASB reports about her neighbour’s use of the communal area, advising that she had accepted the £40 compensation, but that this was not a suitable outcome and she wanted it to acknowledge its failings.
- The landlord subsequently contacted this Service at our request, accepting that it had failed to adequately investigate the resident’s concerns or communicate with her as it should. It acknowledged that it ought to have returned her calls, and kept her updated on its actions, but that it did not do so. The landlord also accepted that the resident’s expectations were not managed effectively and that, once its local manager had missed their visit to her home, another visit should have been arranged. It acknowledged that she had removed her neighbour’s plant pot herself, which had deteriorated their relationship further, but it believed that had it contacted them the relationship would still have deteriorated, as they would have realised who had complained.
- Acknowledging its poor complaint handling and record keeping, and that its investigations and evidence at both complaint stages were lacking, missing failures in its standard of service on both occasions, the landlord awarded a further £150 compensation, for its failure of service and the resident’s time and trouble. It also stated that its former local manager and their manager had delivered poor service, that they both no longer worked for it, and that it had undertaken a major reorganisation and adopted a new service model. The resident then confirmed to this Service at our request that she would accept the landlord’s offer of further compensation via bank transfer to satisfactorily resolve her complaint.
- Paragraph 55(c) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme states that:
a. “At any time, the Ombudsman may determine the investigation of a complaint immediately if satisfied that the member has made an offer of redress following the Ombudsman’s intervention which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily. This will result in a finding of ‘resolved with intervention’.”
- I am therefore satisfied, following the intervention of this Service, that the landlord has now taken actions to remedy the matters raised which resolve the complaint satisfactorily.
Recommendation
- It is recommended that the landlord pay the resident the £150 further compensation that it offered her within four weeks via bank transfer.