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Hyde Housing Association Limited (202343866)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202343866

Hyde Housing Association Limited

21 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 repairs to the resident’s heating system and the compensation it offered.

Background

  1. The resident holds an assured tenancy with the landlord. She is a single parent to 2 children. She has health conditions.
  2. On 23 December 2023 the resident had no heating and hot water, and she reported this to the landlord. The landlord came to her property the following day, but it was unable to fix the boiler as it needed more parts. It provided temporary heaters on 28 December 2023.
  3. The resident first complained to the landlord on 8 January, she said it had not contacted her to book in the works. The landlord attempted to repair the boiler on 12 January 2024. However, it said it needed parts and could not complete the work until 31 January. Following this visit, she complained to the landlord about the time it was going to take to do the repair. And about the potential increase in energy costs due to using temporary heaters. The landlord arranged 2 fuel vouchers(totalling £89).
  4. On 18 January 2024 the landlord responded to the resident’s complaint. It offered her £250 compensation. It said it would consider reimbursing her for any extra electricity she may have used, if she provided proof. It carried out works to the boiler on 31 January and said the hot water and heating were working. However, it identified it needed to do further work to the radiators.
  5. The resident escalated her complaint to the landlord on 1 February 2024. She was not happy with the amount of compensation it had offered. She said the heating was not working properly, and she wanted a new boiler.The landlord carried out further repairs to the boileron 21 and 29 February 2024.
  6. The landlord formally acknowledged the resident’s escalated complaint on 20 February 2024 and responded on 1 March. It said it fixed the original issue. However, it acknowledged it had not done all the works it promised to do and there had been a further delay. It increased its compensation offer to £400.
  7. The resident escalated her complaint to this Service. She remained unhappy with the landlord’s compensation offer. She said the cost of her energy bills significantly increased due to using temporary heaters. The landlord reiterated its previous advice, that it would consider reimbursing her for extra costs if she provided proof. The resident also raised concerns about the impact the issues may have had on hers and her family’s health. In June 2024 the landlord provided her with details of its insurers so she could consider making a personal injury claim.

Assessment and findings

Scope of the investigation

  1. The resident raised concerns about the impact the issues may have had on hers and her family’s health. We are unable to assess the cause of, or liability for, impacts on health and wellbeing. The resident may be able to make a personal injury claim if she thinks her health has been affected by the landlord’s actions or inaction. This issue is more effectively resolved and remedied through the courts, so we will not consider it in this report.
  2. The resident told us her boiler broke again in December 2024 which the landlord subsequently fixed. Whilst this issue is linked to this complaint, it relates to a period after her original complaint. The scope of this investigation is limited to the issues raised during the resident’s formal complaint. This is because the landlord needs to be given an opportunity to investigate and respond to any reported dissatisfaction with its actions prior to our involvement.
  3. We advised the resident she can make a new complaint to the landlord if she is unhappy with its response to any new issues. She may escalate this new complaint to us if she remains dissatisfied with its final response to her complaint.

The landlord’s handling of repairs to the resident’s heating system and the compensation it offered

  1. Landlords must carry out repairs within a reasonable timeframe and in accordance with their policy timescales. In this case the landlord’s repairs policy explains its targets for handling “responsive repairs”. It aims to respond to emergency repairs to make them “safe” within 24 hours and respond to routine repairs within 20 working days. It says examples of emergency repairs include a complete loss of heating.
  2. In this case, the landlord attended the resident’s property within 24 hours, which was within its policy timescales. However, its records show it did not fix the boiler until 31 January which meant she was without heating and hot water for 38 calendar days (24 working days). It did not fully complete allthe repairs to her heating system until 29 February. As this was 45 working days after she reported the repair, it exceededits policy timescales.
  3. Repair works can be unavoidably delayed for various reasons. However, where works cannot be completed within planned timeframes, we expect landlords to keep residents fully updated. They should also consider if there is anything they can do to lessen any impact the delays might have on the resident. In this case the landlord could have been more proactive in providing temporary heating and scheduling in the repairs. Instead, the evidence shows the resident had to chase the landlord for both.
  4. The landlord went to the resident’s property on 12 January and 31 January 2024. Its records show the heating and hot water were working on 31 January. However, some of the radiators were not working properly and it reattended on 15 February. Although the boiler was working, the resident reported a loud noise and the landlord carried out further repairs to the heating system on 21 February and 29 February 2024.
  5. The landlord acknowledged its delay completing the repairs within both of its complaint responses. Where there are admitted failings by a landlord, our role is to consider whether the redress the landlord offered was in line with our Dispute Resolution Principles: be fair, put things right and learn from outcomes.
  6. Our Complaint Handling Code 2022 (the Code) contains guidance landlords were expected to follow at the time of this complaint. It said landlords should acknowledge stage 1 complaints within 5 working days and respond within a further 10 working days. It also said landlords should acknowledge stage 2 complaints within 5 working days and respond within 20 working days. The landlord’s policy did not align with the Code, as it did not specify that it should acknowledge stage2 complaints within 5 working days. The landlord changed its policy to reflect this, and it is now compliant with the 2024 version of the Code.
  7. The landlord responded at stage 1 of its complaints process within its 10-working day timescale on 18 January. However, when the resident asked the landlord to escalate her complaint to stage 2 on 1 February it did not acknowledge this within 5 working days. It replied on 9 February and gave a reasonable explanation for the delay. The resident thanked the landlord for this. Overall, the impact of delayed acknowledgement was minimal as its final response to her escalated complaint on 1 March, was only delayed by one day.
  8. The landlord’s compensation policy explains circumstances when it may award compensation. In cases where “events are clearly an injustice to the complainant and the service has failed to meet the required standards” it says it may award £250 compensation. Its policy says it will also consider compensating residents for loss of amenities. It says the maximum amount it will usually pay, for a delay beyond its normal response time, is £2 per day. In this case, the resident’s repair was delayed by 45 days, so the maximum amount this would equate to is £90.
  9. The landlord’s overall compensation offer of £400, alongside its fuel vouchers of £89, are within the range of awards set out in its policy and our remedies guidance where there was a failure by the landlord which adversely affected the resident. Therefore, the landlord made an offer of redress which resolves the complaint.
  10. The resident complained that her energy bills significantly increased whilst using the temporary heaters from 28 December 2023 up to 29 February 2024. The landlord agreed to consider reimbursing her for additional costs. It said she would need to provide copies of her energy bills from 2023 and 2024 so it could compare them. On 25 June 2024 the resident provided proof to the landlorrd of what she paid to her supplier in 2023, rather than what her supplier charged her. The landlord’s response to this was fair, it agreed to considercompensating her, providing she sent proof of the supplier’s actual charges for the period.
  11. The landlord evidenced it made reasonable and proactive efforts to resolve the complaint. This was through the repairs it conducted, its apology and offer of compensation. The landlord’s actions and its offer of compensation were fair in the circumstances. This amounts to reasonable redress, because the landlord made an offer which put things right for the resident.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53.b of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was reasonable redress in the landlord’s handling of repairs to the resident’s heating system and the compensation it offered.

Recommendations

  1. We recommend the landlord contacts the resident to arrange to pay £400 compensation it already offered, if this has not already been paid.
  2. We also recommend the landlord contacts the resident to clearly explain what it needs as proof of her energy costs for the relevant periods so it can compare if she has incurred extra costs. On receipt of these bills, the landlord should write to the resident to explain whether it will compensate her if she has incurred extra costs. If it refuses to compensate her, it should explain why.
  3. When she escalated her complaint to us, the resident reported she has health problems that may be impacted by her housing conditions, and the service the landlord provides. The landlord does not appear to hold any record of these issues. We recommend the landlord contacts the resident to confirm any vulnerabilities she may have, and updates its systems accordingly, if the resident consents to this.