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The Riverside Group Limited (202329952)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202329952

The Riverside Group Limited

11 August 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 the resident’s:
    1. Service charge account.
    2. Concerns about the standard of cleaning to the communal areas.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord.
  2. On 24 January 2023, the landlord sent a letter to the resident about an identified error on her service charge account for the financial year 2022/2023. It apologised for the error and explained that 2 costs had not been correctly apportioned or shared out across her immediate neighbours. The landlord stated as it was approaching the end of the financial year, it was not possible to formally correct the service charge. However, it stated to deal with the service charge error, it would credit the residents rent account with a sum to cover the incorrect charge. It also confirmed it had corrected the resident’s service charges for the new financial year of 2023/2024.
  3. On 6 February 2023, the landlord sent a further letter to the resident about its service charge error for the financial year of 2022/2023. The landlord explained the resident had been charged individually for 2 items incorrectly, which included the fire safety charge, and tree works charge. It explained it overcharged the resident £719.16 in relation to these service charge items and confirmed it would credit this amount to the resident’s rent/service charge account.
  4. On 13 March 2023, the landlord sent a letter to the resident about its service charge error for the financial year of 2023/2024. It explained that it had apportioned the weekly service charge for building and safety inspection incorrectly across all flats in the scheme. The landlord confirmed it was planning to correct the error as soon as possible. It also confirmed it had refunded the £719.16 to the residents rent account for the service charge error for the financial year of 2022/2023.
  5. On 3 April 2023, the resident complained to the landlord and stated her service charges were incorrect for the second year running. She also stated the direct debit requested from the landlord was incorrect.
  6. On 5 April 2023, the resident sent a further email to the landlord to add to her complaint and explained the communal hallway was still not clean and tidy after the cleaning contractor had cleaned it.
  7. The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response to the resident on 10 April 2023. It acknowledged there were errors with the resident’s service charge account and stated it had noted errors for her service charge account for the financial year of 2023/2024, and it was in the process of being corrected. The landlord also explained when comparing the resident’s service charges to all other properties on her road, it identified that her building and safety inspection charge of £2.98 had not been shared correctly across all flats. In response to the resident’s concerns about the standard of communal cleaning, it explained it would request feedback from its contractor about the reports of the quality of the communal cleaning. Also, it stated it would make a request that the contractor’s supervisor completes spot checks.
  8. On 17 April 2023, the resident contacted the landlord and requested her complaint to be escalated to the next stage of the landlord’s complaints process. The resident stated she was unhappy that this was a second year with service charge errors and explained she found the fact it could not rectify the errors as part of her complaint to be unsatisfactory. In addition, the resident stated she was tired of complaining about the standard of cleaning in the communal hallway.
  9. The landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response to the resident on 15 May 2023. It apologised that the resident’s service charge was incorrect for a second financial year. It explained to resolve the matter with the standard of communal cleaning, it had asked its housing officer to visit and inspect the standard of cleaning when they were doing area visits, which would be in addition to the contractor’s team monitoring the cleaning. The landlord explained in addition to the refund of mistaken charges totalling £719.16 and the write off of rent arrears recently made. It offered the resident £150 compensation, which included £95.27, to cover the annual service charge for the window cleaning service and the remaining for inconvenience.
  10. The resident remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s response and submitted her complaint to the Ombudsman. She stated her desired outcome was for the landlord to provide an explanation of why errors on her service charge account had occurred multiple times. Also, she explained she would like the landlord to explain why its communication with her was unsatisfactory.

Assessment and finding

Scope of investigation

  1. The resident told us that she informed the landlord about further errors with her service charge account for the financial year of 2025/2026. In addition, she explained she raised to the landlord that it painted or replaced other residents’ doors but had not carried out any work to her door. The Ombudsman will not consider these issues, because we can only investigate matters which have been through the landlord’s complaints process. This is in line with Paragraph 42.a. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, which states the Ombudsman may not consider a complaint which is made prior to having exhausted a landlord’s complaints procedure, unless there is evidence of a complaint-handling failure, and the Ombudsman is satisfied that the member landlord has not taken action to address the complaint handling failure within a reasonable timescale. The resident can make a separate complaint to the landlord about the issues surrounding her service charges for the financial year of 2025/2026 and the painting and replacement of her front door remaining outstanding if she wants to. She may be able to refer the new complaint to the Ombudsman if she remains dissatisfied with the landlord’s final response about these issues.

Policies and procedures

  1. The landlord’s service charge policy states that the landlord aims to ensure that service charges are dealt with in accordance with the terms of the tenancy agreement. The policy also states that the landlord will monitor, manage and assess the quality, effectiveness and cost of services provided.

The resident’s service charge account

  1. In January 2023, the landlord contacted the resident acknowledging there was an error with the service charges for the financial year of 2022/2023. Shortly after, in February 2023, the landlord sent a further letter explaining that it had incorrectly charged two service charge items which included fire safety and tree works. It confirmed it overcharged the resident £719.16 and refunded this amount to the resident’s rent and service charge account to resolve the error. The landlord acted appropriately by recognising the service charge error and refunding the overcharged service charge to the resident’s account.
  2. After the landlord resolved the error with the resident’s service charge for the financial year of 2022/2023. It contacted the resident in March 2022, explaining there was a further error identified with the resident’s service charge account for the financial year of 2023/2024. The landlord confirmed it had identified her building and safety inspection charge of £2.98 had not been shared correctly across all flats. It confirmed it would resolve the error as soon as possible. The landlord took reasonable steps by writing to the resident about the error and confirming it would resolve it.
  3. The landlord acknowledged in its stage 1 and 2 complaint responses that there had been errors with the resident’s service charges and her direct debit charge was for the incorrect amount and apologised for this. It confirmed it would contact the resident once it had resolved and calculated the service charge for the financial year of 2023/2024. The landlord acted appropriately by apologising for the error and taking the necessary steps to resolve it.
  4. To recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by the error, the landlord offered to write off the resident’s rent arrears of £287.42, which was showing on the resident’s rent account at the end of April 2023. In addition, it offered the resident £150 compensation, which included £95.27, to cover the annual service charge for the window cleaning service and the remaining for inconvenience. The resident also confirmed to us that the landlord resolved the error with the service charge for the financial year of 2023/2024.
  5. The landlord took appropriate steps by offering the resident total compensation of £437.42, which included writing off the resident’s rent arrears. The amount of compensation the landlord offered was in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance (published on our website), which sets out the Ombudsman’s approach to compensation. The remedies guidance suggests awards of £100 to £600 where there has been a failure by the landlord which adversely affected the resident, but there was no permanent impact. In this case, there may be no permanent impact on the resident, as she received a reasonable response about her service charge errors. The compensation proportionately reflects the impact of the distress and inconvenience caused by the service charge errors, and it amounts to reasonable redress in this case.
  6. However, errors have occurred with the resident service charge over 2 separate financial years. In addition, the resident has raised to us recently that she has experienced further errors with her service charge for this financial year. Therefore, due to this, we recommend that landlord complete a case review of the resident’s case with a focus on identifying the cause of the multiple service charge errors and its communication with the resident about the errors. Also, we recommend the landlord arrange staff training for its service charge team to prevent further errors in the future.

The standard of cleaning to the communal areas

  1. The resident raised as part of her initial complaint to the landlord that she was unhappy with the standard of cleaning in the communal areas of her building. The landlord appropriately responded to the resident’s concerns about the communal cleaning in its stage 1 and 2 complaint responses. It explained it would arrange for its contract team to carry out inspections to monitor the cleaning. In addition, it also stated it had arranged for its housing officer to inspect the standard of cleaning when they were present in the area. The landlord also confirmed it would arrange for the rubbish to be removed from the top of the communal cupboard. The landlord’s response was reasonable.
  2. Shortly after, the landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response. The landlord arranged for photographs to be taken after the communal areas had been cleaned on 22 May 2023, and it identified the cleaning was of a satisfactory standard and contacted the resident to update her about this. In addition, in June 2023, it contacted the resident and confirmed it had removed the rubbish from the top of the communal cupboard. It also confirmed it had discussed the ongoing standard of cleaning with its contractor and explained the resident could contact the landlord if she experiences further issues with the standard of cleaning in the communal areas. The landlord acted appropriately by inspecting the standard of cleaning and removing the rubbish. The resident has also told the Ombudsman that the cleaning has improved in the communal areas since she complained to the landlord.
  3. Overall, the landlord’s response to the resident’s concerns about the standard of cleaning in the communal areas was reasonable, and as referenced above, the overall compensation of £437.42 offered by the landlord to the resident for this complaint was appropriate, to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by the service charge issues and cleaning concerns and amounts to reasonable redress for this complaint.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53 (b) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress prior to investigation, which in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the resident’s concerns about:
    1. The resident’s service charge account.
    2. The standard of cleaning to the communal areas.

Recommendations

  1. We recommend the landlord:
    1. pay the resident its original offer of £437.42  compensation, which included writing off the resident’s rent arrears of £287.42 made during its complaint process if it has not already done so. The Ombudsman’s finding of reasonable redress for the complaint is based on the understanding that this compensation will be paid.
    2. reviews the resident’s case with a focus on identifying the cause of the multiple service charge errors and its communication with the resident about the errors. The landlord should draft a report on its findings and provide a copy of the report to this service and the resident.
    3. carry out staff training for its service charge team, to help prevent future errors with the service charge accounts.
    4. investigates the errors the resident has reported with her service charges for the financial year of 2025/2026.
    5. contacts the resident about her door to confirm if it will be painting or replacing it.