One Vision Housing Limited (202319366)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202319366

One Vision Housing Limited

8 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

The complaint is about:
1. The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of no heating.
2. The level of service charge increase.
The Ombudsman has also investigated the landlord’s complaint handling.

Background

The resident is an assured tenant of the property, a 3-bedroom apartment on the first floor of a sheltered scheme.
On 13 February 2023 the landlord wrote to the resident to inform him of an increase in the service charge at his property, which would take effect in April 2023. On 9 May 2023 the resident reported to the landlord he had no heating in the property. The landlord provided him with temporary heaters and found no fault when it visited the property 2 days later.
On 16 May 2023 the resident complained to the landlord that his radiators did not give out enough heat and he had no way to control the temperature in his home. He also complained the service charge had increased.
The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response on 24 May 2023. It confirmed the heating system was operating correctly, in line with energy efficiency considerations, and said there was no action it could reasonably take to resolve his complaint.
The resident escalated his complaint on 13 June 2023. The landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response on 15 August 2023. It said a further visit to the property had confirmed the heating system was working correctly.
The resident remains dissatisfied and brought the complaint to us.

Assessment and findings

Jurisdiction

What we can and cannot consider is called the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. This is governed by the Housing Ombudsman Scheme (the Scheme). When a complaint is brought to us, we must consider all the circumstances of the case, as there are sometimes reasons why a complaint will not be investigated.
On 13 February 2023 the landlord wrote to the resident to inform him his service charge would be increasing from £73.29 to £90.29 from the beginning of April. On 16 May 2023 the resident complained to the landlord about the new service charge amount.
This aspect of the resident’s complaint is solely related to the level of increase his service charge costs for April 2023.
Paragraph 42.d. of the Scheme states the Ombudsman may not consider complaints that concern the level of rent or service charge, or the amount of the rent or service charge increase.
The resident’s complaint about the level of service charge increase is out of jurisdiction because the reasonableness, or liability to pay variable service charges are within the jurisdiction of the First-Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber). The resident is signposted to take legal advice or to escalate the matter directly to the First-Tier Tribunal should he wish to complain about the level of service charge increase.

Scope of investigation

In his correspondence with us, the resident has raised other matters that have not yet been through the landlord’s complaint process. This includes reports of a lack of hot water. In the interest of fairness, the scope of this investigation is limited to matters which completed the landlord’s internal complaints procedure on 15 August 2023. This is because the landlord needs to be given a fair opportunity to investigate and respond to any reported dissatisfaction with its actions. The resident must first complain to the landlord, and only after this process can the matter be referred to us if they remain dissatisfied with the landlord’s response.

Heating

The heating in the resident’s property is part of a communal heating system that operates using temperature sensors both inside and outside of the block, and gas boilers. The landlord’s repairs and maintenance policy states the landlord is responsible for the repairs to installations for the supply of gas and space heating.
When the resident reported to the landlord he was getting no heat from his radiators on 9 May 2023, the landlord responded quickly by supplying him with temporary heaters and attended the property within 2 days. This was in line with landlord’s repairs policy which states urgent repairs will be attended within 7 days. The landlord’s notes from the visit confirmed the heating was functioning correctly.
In his complaint to the landlord dated 16 May 2023, the resident said both he and other residents were affected by the lack of heat given out by the radiators in their homes. As a resolution, he asked for the temperature to be raised or to have control of his own heating.
The landlord carried out a technical assessment at the resident’s property on 19 May 2023 and recorded the temperatures of 22.5 and 25 degrees within the rooms. In its stage 1 response dated 24 May 2023, the landlord explained that the heating system had been set in accordance with health and safety guidance and energy efficiency considerations. It said the internal temperature sensor was set to 23 degrees, meaning heating would be produced until the internal temperature went above this.
The World Health Organisation’s ‘Housing and Health Guidelines 2018’ recommends homes should be warmed to a minimum of 18 degrees in order to negate risks to health. It further states a higher indoor temperature of a few degrees may be needed for vulnerable groups, including older people. This is supported by guidance from Public Health England. The landlord’s setting of the heating system aligned with this guidance and was reasonable.
In its response the landlord said it had looked at how it could resolve the issue for the resident. It said any possible solutions would result in expensive service charges for its tenants and there was no action it could reasonably take to resolve his complaint.
Paragraph 3.14 of the landlord’s gas safety policy states where requests are received from tenants to install or upgrade their own boilers or heating systems, it will:
1. Give the resident a realistic timescale of when their current system is due to be replaced to help them make informed choices.
2. Reserve the right to refuse the application where proposed systems cannot be easily serviced or maintained.
Paragraph 3.17 of the landlord’s repairs and maintenance policy states tenants have the right to make some for alterations and improvements to their property, providing they receive written permission from the landlord. It further states it will allow an application to make an alteration providing a list of strict criteria is adhered to. Given the resident wanted to take control of his heating system and the landlord’s policy allowed for such applications, it was unreasonable of the landlord not to signpost the resident to this potential solution. The landlord’s comments in its stage 1 response deviated from its policy position.
Following the resident’s escalation of his complaint, the landlord visited his property on 2 August 2023, to explain how the heating system worked in person. The landlord also carried out a check of the heating system and confirmed the heating was operating correctly.
In its stage 2 complaint response dated 15 August 2023, the landlord acknowledged the resident was unhappy with the temperature the heating system was operating at. It said the temperature had been set above that recommended by the World Health Organisation and it also had to consider the costs increasing the temperature would have on all of its residents. It offered to provide the resident with an electric heater to use in his home.
The evidence shows the landlord responded quickly to the resident’s initial report of no heating and provided temporary heating. When the landlord discovered the heating system was not at fault, it explained to the resident how the system worked and why the temperature could not be increased. It also offered an alternative source of heat for the resident. These actions were in line with its policies and in doing so, the landlord demonstrated it had a focus on trying to resolve the issues for the resident.
However, as part of its overall handling, when the resident requested having control of his own heating system, the landlord failed to advise him that he could apply to install his own boiler. This failure denied the resident access to all the options that were potentially available to him as a solution to his substantive complaint. On balance and recognising the landlord’s overall approach, this failing leads to a determination of service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of no heating. An order has been made for the landlord to pay £75 compensation to the resident for the time and trouble caused. This level of compensation is calculated in accordance with our guidance on remedies for when there was minor failure by the landlord in the service it provided, and it did not appropriately acknowledge this and fully put it right.

Complaint handling

The landlord’s complaints policy defines a complaint as an expression of dissatisfaction about the standard of service, actions or lack of action affecting individuals or groups of residents.
The policy also sets out the timescales in which the landlord will deal with complaints:
1. It will acknowledge and record a complaint within 2 working days.
2. It will issue its stage 1 response within 10 working days from when the complaint was recorded.
3. It will acknowledge and record an escalation request within 2 working days.
4. It will issue its stage 2 response within 10 working days from the request to escalate the complaint.
In his formal complaint, the resident said he had been asked to raise the issue with the heating by “various residents” of the block. In its acknowledgement 3 days later, the landlord made no reference to the complaint being made on behalf of a group of residents.
The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response 4 working days later, in line with its policy. The response was specific to the resident and did not consider the other residents.
The resident escalated his complaint with the landlord on 13 June 2023. He repeated he was raising the complaint on behalf of several residents who the issue was impacting and also raised a new issue relating to the hot water. The resident made 2 further attempts to escalate his complaint on 17 and 26 July 2023. The landlord acknowledged his escalation request on 1 August 2023.
The landlord’s stage 2 response was issued 44 working days after the resident’s escalation request. It did not acknowledge the delay to its response and this was unreasonable. The landlord did not comment upon the hot water issues contained with the resident’s escalation request. The landlord’s complaints policy states if new elements of a complaint are raised during an escalation, these will be addressed by a new complaint if appropriate. The landlord was acting in line with its policy by not addressing the issue of hot water in its stage 2 response. However, it would have been reasonable to expect the landlord to advise the resident of this.
The stage 2 response also dealt with the individual complaint of the resident rather than looking at the matter as a group complaint. The evidence suggests the landlord did not seek the input of other resident’s when dealing with the substantive complaint. The landlord’s complaints policy allows for group complaints. However, it provides no guidance on how these will be dealt with. In these circumstances, it would have been reasonable for the landlord to have acknowledged the resident’s request and clearly communicated with him its position in dealing with such matters.
In summary, the landlord’s delay in acting on the resident’s escalation request, combined with its failure to communicate its position on group complaints has caused the resident time and trouble in pursuing the matter. This leads to a determination of service failure in the landlord’s complaint handling. An order has been made for the landlord to pay £75 compensation to the resident for the time and trouble caused.

Determination

In accordance with paragraph 42.d. of the Scheme, the complaint regarding the level of service charge increase is out of jurisdiction.
In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of no heating.
In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s complaint handling.

Orders and recommendations

Within 4 weeks of the date of this report the landlord must:
1. Provide the resident with a written apology for the failings identified in this report.
2. Pay £150 compensation to the resident, made up of:
  1. £75 for its failings in handling the residents reports of a lack of heating.
  2. £75 for its failings in complaint handling.
3. Update the resident on the planned lifespan of the current heating system and the details of its policy regarding how to apply for the installation or upgrade of the heating system if he wishes to explore this option. The landlord will provide a copy of any communication or the transcript of a conversation it has with the resident as evidence of compliance with this order.
The landlord must reply to us with evidence of compliance with the orders in the timescales set out above.