Curo Places Limited (202335110)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202335110

Curo Places Limited

20 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

The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
1. Reports of anti-social behaviour (ASB) about the resident.
2. The resident’s complaint.

Background

The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord since 2020. The property is a 2-bed house.
On 27 June 2023, the landlord reminded the resident of the terms in her tenancy agreement following reports of ASB.
The resident complained to the landlord on 21 August 2023 about the way it handled ASB reports about her. On 13 October 2023, the landlord replied at stage 1 of its complaints process. It did not uphold the resident’s complaint.
The resident escalated her complaint on 23 November 2023 and said she wanted to be moved to a new property. On 20 March 2024, the landlord responded at stage 2 of its complaints process. It did not uphold the resident’s complaint, but it offered £150 for complaint handling delays.
The resident remained dissatisfied and brought her complaint to us. She said to resolve the issue of reported ASB about her, she would like the landlord to move her to a new property.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

Our role is not to decide the ASB reported occurred or not. We will decide whether the landlord’s response to reports of ASB about the resident was in line with its policy obligations.

The landlord’s handling of reports of ASB about the resident

Between November 2022 and June 2023, the landlord received 6 reports of ASB about the resident.
The landlord wrote to the resident on 27 June 2023. It reminded her:
1. Her or her visitors must not act in a way that causes nuisance or disturbance.
2. She must keep her home and garden clean, tidy, and free from rubbish.
On 7, 9 and 27 July 2023 the landlord received noise complaints about the resident in her garden late at night.
The landlord’s ASB policy says:
1. ASB is “conduct which is capable of causing nuisance or annoyance to any person”.
2. When someone is accused of ASB it will:
  1. Signpost to support agencies.
  2. Offer mediation between parties.
  3. Give a resident the chance to stop causing problems before action is taken.
On 7 August 2023, the landlord said there had been further reports of ASB by the resident and this was a breach of her tenancy. The landlord visited the resident on 21 August 2023. The resident’s support worker was present, and it issued an “acceptable behaviour contract” (ABC) to her. The resident declined to sign the ABC. The landlord did not record the reason she did not sign the document.
The landlord’s ASB policy says an ABC is an informal agreement between the landlord, police, and resident. The ABC issued by the landlord said the resident must not:
1. Behave in a manner to cause harassment or distress to anyone.
2. Make unreasonable noise that can be heard outside the property.
3. Leave rubbish or household waste in her garden or any area.
4. Store bins or other refuse containers visible from the road on any non-refuse collection day.
The resident’s tenancy agreement says the resident must:
1. Not use the property for anti-social purposes.
2. Keep her garden tidy and free from rubbish.
The restrictive covenants document for the resident’s property says she must “not leave any dustbin or other refuse container visible from the road other than on the designated refuse collection day”.
The resident complained to the landlord on 21 August 2023. She said she was unhappy with the way the landlord handled the ASB reports about her, and it had not considered her mental health. She also said staff had been rude to her during a property visit.
On 24 August 2023, the landlord wrote to the resident and signposted her to mental health support agencies.
The landlord visited the resident on 18 September 2023. It discussed rubbish left outside her property as it was a breach of her tenancy agreement. The resident said the issues were “petty” and the complaints about her were making her unwell with stress.
The landlord received reports of noise from a late-night party at the resident’s property on 18 September 2023. It rang the resident on 21 September 2023 to discuss the ASB. The resident said again the reports were “petty” and the situation made her want to move to a new property.
On 3 October 2023, the resident contacted the landlord. She said she felt judged by her past, the situation had affected her mental health, and a property move was her only option. The resident said she had letters from her support worker and doctor to recommend her being moved to a new property.
The landlord replied on the same day. It said the support letters should be given to the local authority as they manage the choice-based lettings system. It would discuss breaches of tenancy with all residents and if she brought in her bin after a waste collection it would have no need to contact her.
To manage the resident’s concerns, it would only contact her if there was:
1. Excessive noise after 11pm.
2. Behaviour that affected the neighbours.
3. An evidenced breach of her tenancy.
The landlord wanted the resident to enjoy her home.
The landlord’s allocations and lettings policy says:
1. Residents must apply to move to a new property via the local authority’s choice-based lettings system.
2. It may offer an internal managed move to a new property if a resident is a victim of hate crime or domestic violence and there is a threat to life.
3. It will not usually consider a managed move if a resident has breached their tenancy conditions.
On 13 October 2023, the landlord responded at stage 1 of its complaints process. It did not uphold the resident’s complaint and said it had been clear on what ASB it will contact her about to help her feel more comfortable at home. The landlord also said it could not support an internal managed moved to another property.
The landlord’s response at stage 1 shows it attempted to help the resident feel comfortable in her property. It made its expectations of her clear and signposted her to mental health services. The ASB reports were breaches of the resident’s tenancy agreement and covenant document. The landlord acted reasonably by reminding her of the terms of her tenancy agreement and the ABC.
However, the landlord’s policy says it will “explore” mediation when there are cases of ASB. There is no evidence the landlord discussed mediation with the resident and her neighbour. It is not always suitable; however, it would be reasonable for it to record a decision on mediation to show it considered it.
The landlord told the resident it could not support a managed move. However, it did not explain why, and the lack of clarity caused her inconvenience.
On 13 November 2023, the landlord told the resident in the last 3 months she had breached her tenancy agreement on a further 5 occasions. It offered to visit the resident to discuss the situation and said if it continued to receive reports it would take further action.
The resident escalated her complaint on 23 November 2023. She said the neighbours would continue to report her and her only option was for the landlord to move her.
The landlord responded at stage 2 of its complaints process on 13 March 2024. It said:
1. It “actively engaged” with the resident and her support worker to resolve the issues around garden maintenance and noise levels.
2. It was committed to work with the resident so she could enjoy her home within the terms of her tenancy agreement.
3. If the resident planned to store waste outside before it was removed, she should tell the landlord.
4. Repeated breaches of her tenancy may result in action against her.
The landlord’s response at stage 2 made its expectations clear and explained what it would do if she continued to behave anti-socially. This was reasonable of the landlord.
However, the landlord failed to address the resident’s request for a managed move. Its stage 1 response lacked clarity about why she did not meet the criteria for a managed move. She asked about the managed move again in her complaint escalation and the lack of response about this issue caused her inconvenience.
Our role is to consider whether the landlord resolved the resident’s complaint satisfactorily in the circumstances. To do this we considered our Dispute Resolution Principles, be fair, put things right and learn from outcomes.
In summary, the evidence shows the landlord acted reasonably in its response to reports of ASB. In line with its ASB policy it:
1. Used an ABC to remind her of the terms of her tenancy and its expectations around behaviour, bin storage and waste removal.
2. Signposted her to mental health services.
3. Gave the resident time and support to change her behaviour before taking further action.
4. Set clear expectations of when it would contact her to manage the reported effect on her mental health.
However, the landlord failed to offer mediation or record its decision not to use this tool. Within its stage 1 and 2 complaint responses it also failed to explain why she was not eligible for a managed move as per its lettings policy. This leads to a determination of service failure by the landlord. We have ordered the landlord pay £100 compensation. This award is in line with our remedies guidance where there has been a minor failure by the landlord which it did not acknowledge.

The landlord’s complaint handling

On 21 August 2023, the resident complained to the landlord. It acknowledged her complaint on 29 August 2023 and sent its stage 1 response on 13 October 2023. This was a delay in acknowledgement of around 3 working days and a delay at stage 1 of around 29 working days compared with its complaints policy. The delays were not acknowledged by the landlord.
The landlord also failed to address the resident’s concern its staff had been rude to her at her property. Point 5.6 of our Complaint Handling Code 2022 says a landlord must address all points raised within a complaint. The landlord failed to investigate this issue.
The resident escalated her complaint on 23 November 2023. The landlord acknowledged the escalation on 27 November and 7 December 2023. On 13 March 2024 we asked the landlord to respond to the resident at stage 2 of its complaints process, no later than 20 March 2024.
On 20 March 2024, the landlord responded to the resident. This was a delay of around 3 months to respond to the resident’s complaint at stage 2. The landlord recognised the delays at stage 1 and stage 2 in this response. It offered £50 for the delay at stage 1 and £100 for the delay at stage 2.
In summary, the landlord did not fully address all the concerns raised in the resident’s complaint. It delayed its complaint responses at both stage 1 and 2. The landlord recognised the delays and offered compensation to try and put things right. Although the landlord did not recognise its failure to address all the resident’s concerns, the £150 compensation was an appropriate offer. This amount reflects the level of failure in the landlord’s complaint handling. It made a reasonable offer to put things right for the resident and this leads to a determination of reasonable redress for the landlord’s complaint handling.

Determination

In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of ASB reports about the resident.
In accordance with paragraph 53.b of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has provided reasonable redress in its complaint handling.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

Within 4 weeks of this report the landlord must:
1. Provide the resident with a written apology for the failures outlined above.
2. Pay the resident £100 for the service failure in its handling of ASB reports about the resident.
The compensation balance must be paid directly to the resident and not offset against a rent or service charge account.
The landlord must provide evidence of compliance with the above orders to us.

Recommendations

To pay the resident the £150 it offered in its complaint process, if it has not done so already.
For the landlord to continue to offer advice to the resident on rehousing.