Wandle Housing Association Limited (202011182)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202011182

Wandle Housing Association Limited

19 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 is about the landlord’s response to the resident’s ongoing issues with heating and hot water.

Background

2. The resident has an assured tenancy with the landlord for a three bedroom flat.
3. Around November 2020, the resident told the landlord the hot water and heating at the property had been on and off repeatedly since 2019.
4. On 7 January 2021, the resident contacted the landlord again and raised a stage one complaint as she had not received a response to her previous correspondence. She reported that the issues with her heating and hot water were ongoing and that contractors had been attending the property since 2019 and the problem still had not been fixed. Additionally, the date she had been given for a new heating unit to be fitted to fix the problem was pushed back due to Covid-19.
5. On 21 January 2022, the resident contacted the landlord and raised a stage two complaint as she had not received a response to her original complaint, and issues with the heating and hot water were still ongoing. A contractor attended on 31 January 2022 and by 2 February 2022, it appeared that the issue had been resolved.
6. On 8 February 2022, the landlord issued its stage two response. To recognise the service failures the resident had experienced, the landlord offered £1,020 in compensation (81 days without heating/hot water £860, £60 for missed appointments, and £100 for lack of communication and failure to complete repairs). It also set out what action was being taken to rectify the hot water and heating problems the resident had been experiencing. The resident was satisfied with the landlord’s response at this time.
7. On 10 March 2022, however, the resident contacted the landlord and raised a new complaint. She explained that despite works being undertaken on 2 February 2022, she was without heating or hot water again from 25 February 2022 up until 9 March 2022, when further work was undertaken.
8. On 11 March 2022, the landlord replied and confirmed it had already sent its final response to the resident’s complaint on 8 February 2022. The resident responded on the same day and explained that she was aware the previous complaint had been responded too, but clarified that she was raising a new complaint for the period of 25 February to 9 March 2022.
9. The resident has advised this Service that she is unhappy that the landlord has not taken responsibility for the additional period of time within which she was without heating and hot water. She has confirmed to this Service that as a resolution, she would like the landlord to acknowledge the additional period she was without heating and hot water (25 February – 14 March 2022), and to award compensation for these dates.

Assessment and findings

10. When investigating a complaint, the Ombudsman applies its Dispute Resolution Principles. These are high level good practice guidance developed from the Ombudsman’s experience of resolving disputes, for use by everyone involved in the complaints process. There are only three principles driving effective dispute resolution: be fair – treat people fairly and follow fair processes, put things right, and learn from outcomes.
11. The Ombudsman must first consider whether a failing on the part of the landlord occurred, and if so, whether this led to any adverse effect or detriment to the resident. If it is found that a failing did lead to an adverse effect, the investigation will then consider whether the landlord has taken enough action to ‘put things right’ and ‘learn from outcomes’.
12. The landlord’s complaints policy is a two-stage process. It says that it will investigate and respond to complaints within ten working days of the date the complaint was received.
13. In this case, the resident raised the complaint on 10 March 2022. The landlord acknowledged the complaint on 11 March 2022. As such, a response ought to have been provided by no later than 24 March 2022 under its own policy.
14. As per paragraph 9 of this report, in its response on 11 March 2022 the landlord referred the resident back to its final response to her stage two complaint in February 2022. The resident responded on the same date and explained that she was raising a new complaint for new heating and hot water issues.
15. On 29 April 2022, after the resident’s complaint to this service, the landlord issued its stage one response to the resident’s complaint. This was 36 working days after the complaint was acknowledged. There is no evidence that this delay was unavoidable, or that the resident was informed there would be a delay. This was a failure by the landlord.
16. However, in its reply to the resident, the landlord acknowledged its failure in service and apologised for the delay in providing a response. It offered the resident £180 compensation for the time she was left without heating and hot water (25 February – 14 March), plus an additional £30 for not acknowledging her new complaint when it should have.
17. On 30 April 2022, the resident queried the compensation amount with the landlord and whether or not it was correct. In a follow up email to the landlord on 3 May 2022, she also confirmed that the heating and hot water had been restored.
18. On 4 May 2022, the landlord responded and explained that its compensation policy allows for £5 per day for loss of each service, so it could not increase the amount offered. However, it confirmed it would increase the £30 to £50 for issues with the complaint not being acknowledged correctly. The resident responded to confirm that she had enquired about this separately and been informed the compensation amounts were correct. Because of this, she confirmed acceptance of the offer.
19. The landlord’s response to the resident’s new complaint, and the compensation it has paid out as set out above, is in line with its own complaints policy and with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance. In this Ombudsman’s opinion, this was a reasonable level of redress and was proportionate to the circumstance.
20. Unfortunately, since the hot water and heating issues were fixed on 3 May 2022, both the resident and landlord have confirmed that the issue has started again. The landlord has explained that the contractor has had to put together a programme of repair works to remove the current issues with the heating system across the whole of the block. This is in line with the landlord’s repairs policy. It is understood that the contractor was waiting for warmer weather before beginning these works, as it involves cutting heating to the entire block for a short time. The Ombudsman would expect these ongoing issues to be fixed for the resident accordingly.

Determination (decision)

21. In accordance with paragraph 53 (b) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress to the complainant which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily.