Islington and Shoreditch Housing Association Limited (202205666)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202205666

Islington and Shoreditch Housing Association Limited

21 February 2024

 

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 handling of repairs to the resident’s boundary wall.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord, she resides in a 2 bed house with a garden.
  2. In 2017 it was initially reported that the rear boundary wall was in a poor state of repair. Over the next 3 years the landlord carried out various surveys and the resident was advised not to use the garden as the wall was not structurally sound.
  3. During this period the resident chased the landlord on multiple occasions, sometime in 2022 she raised the issue as a complaint. In its stage one response the landlord acknowledged the delays and its failure to appropriately communicate with the resident. It advised that it was doing its best to resolve the situation and offered £75 compensation; £50 in recognition of the resident being unable to use her garden and £25 for poor communication. The resident escalated the complaint in October 2022 and the compensation was increased to £500.
  4. Following further contact between the two parties the landlord issued a final response in November 2022, apologising for multiple failures. It advised that further delays were a result of disputes regarding the ownership of the wall, in order to move things forward it would be serving party wall notices on the adjoining freeholders. In resolution it offered the resident £1788 compensation, comprising of a 10% reduction in rent for the 4 years she was unable to use her garden (reduction applied to spring and summer months only). The resident was satisfied with this response and accepted the compensation on the premise that the works would be done in a timely manner.

Events after the end of the complaint’s procedure

  1. In January 2023 the resident contacted our Service reporting that remedial works had been carried out to remove the most dangerous section of the wall, but no further progress had been made, despite the reassurances in the landlord’s final response. The resident further reported that scaffolding had been erected and left in place and she was still unable to use her garden.
  2. In August 2023 the resident raised a further complaint with the landlord regarding the lack of progress and the continuing poor communication.
  3. Between October 2023 and December 2023, the landlord provided updates to the resident via letter and in person meetings, it advised that works were due to start in January 2024. This did not happen, and the resident had to chase again. The resident reports that the work on the wall began in February 2024.

Assessment and findings

  1. Within its final response in November 2022 the landlord accepted multiple failings, it said that the feedback would be used for learning and demonstrated a commitment to resolve the substantive issue. The compensation offered at the time was proportionate to the failings identified and in line with the landlord’s compensation policy. However, the continued delays and lack of progress in the 15 months following the final complaint response indicate that it did not learn sufficient lessons and similar failings have continued to impact the resident. The landlord, therefore, did not demonstrate the appropriate dispute resolution principles and ultimately failed to put things right.
  2. Following the resident approaching our Service in January 2023 the poor communication continued, the landlord did not provide her with any further updates until she pursued it again several months later. The resident wrote to the landlord on 2 July 2023 requesting an update but received no response. She contacted the landlord again on 3 August and raised a further complaint. It responded on 18 August 2023 and apologised for the delay, it said that her letter had been directed to a former member of staff, as a result refresher training has been provided. This was a reasonable response, however, the landlord failed to acknowledge that this was a continuation of the poor communication demonstrated throughout. The landlord also failed to provide the resident with any further updates on when the work was expected to start.
  3. While it is accepted that the landlord did begin to hold meetings with the resident towards the end of 2023, it is evident that its communication was still lacking. Additional issues such as letters posted with insufficient postage further compounded the resident’s feelings of mistrust in the landlord. As a result, in more recent correspondence the landlord has agreed to adopt a more ‘belt and braces’ approach to communication, demonstrating a commitment to improvement.
  4. Evidence provided by the landlord shows that discussions regarding ownership of the wall were still ongoing in February 2023, four months after the landlord’s final response committing to resolving the issue. In October 2023, during a meeting with the resident, the landlord advised that it had taken the decision to accept full responsibility for the wall and the associated costs. Party wall notices had been served on the adjoining neighbours but they refused to accept joint responsibility. This was a reasonable step by the landlord and demonstrated a willingness to resolve the issue. Had they not accepted full responsibility legal action may have been required resulting in further delays. Nevertheless, no evidence has been provided to justify why this decision took so long. The works remained outstanding, and the resident was further inconvenienced.
  5. It is clear from the communication exchanged between both parties during October 2023 that further delays occurred due a disagreement regarding the proposed remedial works. The resident was unhappy with the landlord’s proposal to demolish the existing wall in its entirety and replace with lower plastic fencing. Had the landlord effectively communicated and consulted with the resident at an earlier stage it is reasonable to assume that this could have been resolved in a timelier manner. Communication by consultation would also have enabled the landlord to better manage the resident’s expectations.
  6. In Summary, the landlord appropriately accepted that its failures contributed towards an unreasonable delay and took steps to put things right in its final complaint response. However, it failed to follow through on the reassurances made and did not resolve the outstanding repair within a reasonable time. This has resulted in a further 15 months of distress and uncertainty for the resident. During this period, she has been unable to fully use her garden and has spent unreasonable amounts of time chasing for updates.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in respect of its handling of the repairs to the boundary wall.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. The landlord is ordered to pay the resident £622.02 in addition to any amounts already paid within four weeks of this report.
    1. £322.02 for loss of garden use over the spring and summer months of 2023 (6 months x 10% of rent)
    2. £300 for the additional time, trouble and distress caused to the resident.
  2. The landlord must provide the resident and this service with update on the outstanding works to the wall within four weeks of this report.