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Citizen Housing (202322769)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202322769

Citizen Housing

7 May 2025

 

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 reports of issues with the resident’s living room light switch.

Background

  1. The resident has an assured tenancy with the landlord, which began on 14 May 2012. The landlord is a housing association. The resident lives in a 1-bedroom apartment on the second floor. The resident has no known vulnerabilities.
  2. On 2 August 2023, the resident asked the landlord to replace the double chrome light switch in his living room. He said the landlord examined the safety of the switch when it broke but attended a follow-up visit with the wrong colour switch. The landlord acknowledged the request on 4 August 2023 and said it would contact the resident in due course.
  3. On 16 August 2023, the resident complained to the landlord about the light switch. He said the landlord had:
    1. Not contacted him since acknowledging his request.
    2. Failed to replace the switch with a ‘sufficient and suitable replacement’.
  4. On the same date, in a separate email, the resident raised an issue with his oven and hob. He also referenced the issue with the light switch again.
  5. The landlord acknowledged both issues as complaints on 18 August 2023 and issued a stage 1 complaint response on 1 September 2023. The landlord said it had:
    1. Resolved an issue with the resident’s hob and oven.
    2. Booked an appointment to replace the double chrome light switch on 8 September 2023.
  6. The resident requested escalation to stage 2 of the complaints process on 4 September 2023. In summary, the resident said:
    1. The landlord had misunderstood his complaint. He said he made no complaint or reference to the hob and oven, and that he had complained due to receiving no response to his light switch repair request.
    2. The landlord had not acknowledged its service failure, nor explained why it did not follow up his repair request or even given the courtesy of a response.
    3. He wanted compensation for the landlord’s service failure, bad complaint handling, unnecessary and intentional delays, and failure to meet target response times.
  7. The landlord acknowledged the escalation request on 5 September 2023.
  8. The landlord attended the property to complete the light switch repair on 8 September 2023, but it attended with the incorrect part.
  9. The landlord issued a stage 2 response on 28 September 2023. In summary, the landlord:
    1. Said it had not delivered a good service to provide a like-for-like replacement light switch.
    2. Apologised for turning up with an incorrect light switch and then not following this up.
    3. Said it had learned about the importance of ensuring the correct part is available and supplied.
    4. Offered £50 compensation for its failure to complete the repair.
    5. Confirmed the resident could contact the Ombudsman if he remained unhappy.
  10. The landlord raised the repair again on 2 October 2023. However, we understand the repair remains outstanding.
  11. The resident referred his complaint to the Ombudsman on 3 October 2023. The complaint became one that we could consider on 20 May 2024.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. The resident says he previously raised a light switch replacement issue in 2019. The Ombudsman encourages residents to raise complaints with their landlords in a timely manner. As issues become historical, it is increasingly difficult for either the landlord, or an independent body, to conduct an effective investigation of the actions taken to address the reported issues. Therefore, considering the availability and reliability of evidence, this assessment will focus on the landlord’s handling of events from 2 August 2023, which is when the landlord raised the repair request again.

Policies and procedures

  1. The landlord has a 2-stage complaints process. At stage 1, it will contact the resident to acknowledge the complaint within 5 days and issue a response within a further 10 working days. At stage 2, its ‘review’ stage, it will respond within 20 working days.
  2. The terms and conditions of the tenancy agreement confirm the landlord will keep repaired and in working order any fittings that it owns and is responsible for.
  3. The repairs guidance on the landlord’s website confirms it aims to complete repairs within 28 working days.

Landlord’s handling of reports of issues with the living room light switch

  1. The resident raised a repair request for his living room light switch on 2 August 2023. While the landlord acknowledged this on 4 August 2023, it did not follow up on the request. This was not appropriate and ultimately caused the resident to raise a complaint.
  2. The landlord did not raise the repair request until it issued its stage 1 complaint response on 1 September 2023, which was approximately a month after the resident asked it to complete the repair. This is also not appropriate, as the landlord needs to ensure it raises repair requests at the earliest opportunity to ensure that it then completes repairs at the earliest opportunity.
  3. However, it is important to note that the landlord offered an appointment of 8 September 2023, which was in line with its published repair timescales of 28 working days and, therefore, the initial delay in raising the repair was not detrimental in this instance.
  4. When the landlord visited to replace the light switch on 8 September 2023, it attended with the incorrect colour switch. The landlord needs to ensure its repair teams attend with the correct parts. Not doing so in this instance would have frustrated the resident and caused a further delay in the switch being replaced, during which time the resident was left with a broken switch.
  5. The landlord acknowledged its failing in its stage 2 response, offered £50 compensation to reflect its failure to complete the repair, and explained that it had learned from its failing. While it is appropriate that the landlord accepted its failings in this case, it had not learned from its earlier service failures given that it then failed to carry out the necessary repairs. Where a landlord accepts failings in its service, it needs to ensure it embeds learning into its process going forward.
  6. The landlord raised the further repair on 2 October 2023, but it has provided no evidence to show that it completed the repair. This is not appropriate given that this was outside of its published repair timescales, and it highlights a lack of an effective system to track and monitor repairs. Taking into account the above, there was maladministration regarding the landlord’s handling of the resident’s request for a repair of the light switch.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was maladministration regarding the landlord’s handling of reports of issues with the living room light switch.

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of the date of this determination, the landlord must:
    1. Provide a written apology for the failings identified.
    2. Contact the resident to establish an action plan to replace the living room light switch with a like-for-like replacement.
    3. Pay compensation totalling £200, comprised as follows:
      1. The £50 offered by the landlord, if it has not already done so
      2. An additional £150 compensation for the failings identified
  2. The landlord is to confirm compliance with these orders within the timeframe set out above.