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Accent Housing Limited (202339280)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202339280

Accent Housing Limited

4 September 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 wet room.
  2. The associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident has been an assured tenant of the property since August 2010. The landlord is a housing association. The property is a 3- bedroom house.
  2. The resident has advised she is disabled; however, the landlord does not have a record of the resident’s disability.
  3. On 14 September 2023, the resident called the landlord to report a shower leak. The line disconnected before the call was completed.
  4. On 20 October 2023, the resident called the landlord to report that water did not drain from the wet room floor. The line disconnected before the call was completed.
  5. On 30 November 2023, the resident emailed the landlord to complain about ongoing wet room repairs. She stated she took unpaid leave for a scheduled repair that the landlord postponed, which caused her to miss a family event and lose money. She said her shower had been unusable for 3 months and noted delays and poor communication. She requested escalation of the complaint.
  6. On 30 November 2023, the landlord acknowledged the complaint, stating it would provide a full response within 10 working days and would provide updates if they needed more time.
  7. On 16 January 2024, the landlord’s surveyor inspected the wet room.
  8. On 17 January 2024, the landlord issued its stage 1 response in which:
    1. The landlord acknowledged 3 calls by the resident on 14 September 2023, 9 October 2023 and 20 October 2023 disconnected and issued an apology.
    2. The landlord stated a former surveyor which the resident advised attended her property, did not update records with details of that inspection.
    3. The landlord scheduled a second inspection on 16 January 2024 to assess the wet room.
    4. Further to the inspection carried out on 16 January 2024, the landlord raised repairs for the wet room floor, kitchen ceiling, and plastering around a light switch.
    5. The landlord missed a repair scheduled for 15 November 2023 due to a system error and offered a good will gesture of £25 to the resident for the loss of income.
    6. The landlord also offered £100 as a goodwill gesture for the service failures that occurred. The total compensation offered was £125.
  9. On 18 January 2024, the resident requested escalation of her complaint. She stated that the wet room repair remained incomplete, reported missed appointments and financial loss, described poor communication, and rejected the £125 compensation. She requested temporary accommodation during the repairs.
  10. On 18 January 2024, the landlord acknowledged the escalation request and confirmed the timeline for a stage 2 response.
  11. On 2 February 2024, the landlord issued its stage 2 response in which:
    1. The landlord said the content of its stage 1 response was a “true and accurate reflection of events”.
    2. It said further to its visit to the resident’s property on 16 January 2024, it raised a repair for the kitchen ceiling which was damaged because of the leak from the bathroom.
    3. It explained that on 21 January 2024, it attended the property to carry out the repair. However, the work could not be carried out because it suspected another leak might be present.
    4. It stated that on 23 January 2024, it returned to inspect the ceiling. During this visit, it confirmed that a leak was present.
    5. It also explained it had attended on 28 January 2024. At that time, it confirmed the leak came from the condensate pipe underneath the boiler. It raised a repair and had scheduled an appointment for 6 February 2024.
    6. The landlord confirmed an appointment for 3 February 2024 to remove the toilet, wash hand basin and the flooring for the drains to be changed and that once the flooring was laid, the toilet, and wash hand basin would be put back. The new floor would be fitted on 4 February 2024.
    7. The landlord offered a welfare check to see if additional support could be offered to the resident.
    8. The landlord increased goodwill compensation from £125 to £250.
    9. The landlord apologised for the time it took for the repair to be completed and for the frustration and inconvenience caused.

Events after internal complaints process

  1. On 3 February 2024, the landlord carried out wet room repairs and recorded the work as complete.
  2. On 5 February 2024, the resident emailed the landlord. She stated that water still pooled in the wet room after using the shower. The amount was smaller, but the issue remained.
  3. On 8 February 2024 the resident referred her complaint to the Ombudsman, saying that she was still unable to use her wet room.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. Throughout the complaint the resident raised the impact the repair to the wet room had on her mental health. The resident also advised this Service that she developed pneumonia and was advised by her G.P that the situation with the wet room was a contributory factor. The Ombudsman does not doubt the residents’ concerns, however, as this Service is an informal alternative to the courts, it is unable to establish legal liability or whether a landlord’s actions or lack of action had a detrimental impact on a resident’s health. Nor can it calculate or award damages.
  2. The Ombudsman is therefore unable to consider any personal injury aspects of the resident’s complaint as these matters are better suited for consideration by a court or via a personal injury claim. If the resident wishes to pursue this aspect of the complaint, they will need to obtain independent legal advice or contact the landlords’ insurers.
  3. The resident reports that there are still unresolved problems with her wet room. This Service cannot consider the landlord’s handling of the matter has completed the landlord’s internal complaints process. This is because paragraph 42(a) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme states the Ombudsman may not consider matters which have not yet exhausted a member’s complaints procedure. However, this Service can consider the length of time it took to resolve the issue when considering distress and inconvenience caused. If a matter is continuing, we can also consider appropriate orders to try to get matters resolved.
  4. Therefore, this investigation will cover events from 14 September 2023, when the resident first reported the leak from the wet room until 4 February 2024 which is the date stated in the landlord’s stage 2 response that the wet room repairs would be completed. Issues beyond this date will not be considered in this investigation.

Handling of the repair to the wet room

  1. The landlord’s responsive repairs policy states that emergency repairs should be made safe within 4 hours and resolved within 24 hours. Routine repairs should be completed within 28 days. Certain works may require a pre-inspection, after which an appointment should be arranged with the resident.
  2. The resident advised she first reported issues with her wet room in September 2023. The landlords repair record shows that the resident made a call to the landlord on 14 September 2023 to report a leak to the shower, but the line cut off.
  3. The landlord’s records show the follow-up calls on 9 October 2023 and 20 October 2023 were also cut off. There is no evidence to show the landlord made further contact with the resident to log a repair. This was not appropriate.
  4. On 4 October 2023, the landlord’s repair records show that a repair was raised to address the water marks on the resident’s kitchen ceiling. On 17 October 2023, the landlord attended and carried out mould wash to the ceiling but did not consider the other repairs reported by the resident.
  5. On 30 November 2023, the resident made a formal complaint. In this, she said that a surveyor had visited in early October 2023. She said that she was advised to limit her shower use to 2 minutes to prevent further leaks, and that the wet room floor needed lifting and the shower tray resetting. This Service does not doubt the resident’s account. However, there is no independent evidence to corroborate events. Therefore, it is not possible for this investigation to make a determination on this point.
  6. The landlord confirmed in its stage 1 response on 17 January 2024 that, at that time, it did not have any current repairs raised regarding the wet room or any record of the surveyor attending. It added that the surveyor had since left the organisation and as a result, it was unable to confirm this with him.
  7. Given the landlord had no record of a survey in October 2023, it was appropriate that it arranged another surveyor appointment. The landlord’s repair policy states that for instances when there is a difficulty in determining the cause of a disrepair, it will arrange a surveyor visit to establish what work is required.
  8. The landlord scheduled an appointment on 16 January 2024, 86 working days after the resident tried unsuccessfully to contact the repairs team on 14 September 2023 to report the issuewith her wet room and 31 working days after the resident submitted her formal complaint on 30 November 2023.
  9. That it is clear that the resident made several attempts to report the leak in her bathroom on 14 September, 9 and 20 October 2023 none of which were followed up by the landlord until she submitted a formal complaint on 30 November 2023. It then responded outside of its own timeframe for completion of routine repairs was unreasonable and will have caused the resident distress and inconvenience.
  10. Following the survey, a repair was raised and attended on 21 January 2024 to carry out works. However, during this visit, the landlord was unable to carry out the repair as it suspected there might be a further leak present.
  11. The landlord attended on a further 4 occasions to carry out work to resolve the leak in the bathroom on 23, 28 January, 3 February and finally on 6 February 2024, 101 working days after the resident first contacted the landlord to report the leak, 46 days after she officially complained to the landlord and 73 working days outside of its own timeframe for completion of routine repairs.  That it took the landlord this length of time to resolve the leak was unreasonable.  It is also not clear from the limited records the landlord has provided, whether the resident was kept informed of the delays and the reason for the delays.  That the resident felt it necessary to escalate her complaint on 18 January 2024 would suggest that she had not been kept informed.
  12. This investigation has been hampered by the landlord’s poor record keeping.  It is vital for landlords to keep clear, accurate and easily accessible records to provide an audit trail of events. This helps the Ombudsman to understand the landlord’s actions and decision making at the time. If this Service investigates a complaint, we will ask for the landlord’s records. If there is disputed evidence and no audit trail, we may not be able to determine that an action took place or that the landlord acted fairly and in line with its policies. Due to the lack of evidence provided by the landlord, the Ombudsman is unable to conclude that it acted fully in line with its obligations or kept the resident reasonably updated throughout.
  13. In summary, the landlord failed to follow up on the resident’s initial reports of a leak and delayed unreasonably in raising, and in carrying out repairs to the wet room. The landlord’s record keeping and communication failures also contributed to the overall duration of the wet room repair and impact on the resident. This Service has found maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the repair to the wet room.
  14. The landlords offer of £250 compensation is not considered appropriate, given the extent of the failures identified during this investigation.  A payment of £500 inclusive of the amount already offered is considered appropriate. This amount reflects the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance where failures have adversely affected the resident but caused no permanent impact.
  15. The resident reports that issues remain ongoing with the wet room and an order has been made in respect of this.

Handling of the complaint

  1. The landlord operates a 2 stage complaints process. It aims to acknowledge stage 1 complaints within 5 working days and respond within 10 working days and acknowledge stage 2 complaints within 5 working days and respond within 20 working days. These timeframes align with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code.
  2. The landlord’s complaint policy says in exceptional circumstances it may be unable to respond within its timescales. It will explain this to the resident and provide a clear time frame for the response which will not be more than a further 10 days for both stages of its complaint process.
  3. The landlord’s complaint policy also says the complaint response will be sent to the customer when the answer to the complaint was known, not when the outstanding issues required to address the complaint are complete.
  4. The resident made her complaint on 30 November 2023. The landlord appropriately acknowledged it the same day and promised a full reply within 10 working days saying they would update the resident if more time was needed.
  5. The landlord provided it stage 1 response on 17 January 2024, 32 working days after acknowledging the complaint, and 22 days outside of its policy timeframe. There is no evidence the landlord explained the reason for the delay or apologised to the resident.
  6. The landlord offered £25 for time the resident took off work to attend appointments. This was outside its formal compensation policy but showed it recognised the inconvenience caused to the resident.
  7. The resident escalated the complaint on 18 January 2024. The landlord appropriately acknowledged this the same day and promised to respond within 20 working days.
  8. The landlord sent the stage 2 response on 2 February 2024, which was within its complaints policy timeframe. The stage 2 response apologised for the time it had taken for the repairs to be completed and for the frustration and inconvenience the repair delays had caused the resident, however it failed to demonstrate any learning from the complaint process.
  9. Given the complaint handling failings identified above, an award of £200 is appropriate for the distress and inconvenience caused in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance, where failures have adversely affected the resident but caused no permanent impact.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the repair to the wet room.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s associated complaint.

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of this determination, the landlord must provide a written apology to the resident for the failings identified in this investigation.
  2. Within 4 weeks of this determination, the landlord must pay the resident £700 in compensation. This includes:
    1. £250 already offered to the resident.
    2. £250 for distress and inconvenience caused by the landlords delay in repairing the leak to the bathroom.
    3. £200 for distress and inconvenience caused by the landlord’s complaint handling failures.
  3. The resident reports that issues with the wet room are ongoing. Within 4 weeks of this determination the landlord should assess the current condition of the wet room and provide us and the resident with a timebound action plan detailing the work it intends to complete to resolve any ongoing leaks or disrepair to the wet room.
  4. Within 4 weeks of this determination, the landlord should contact the resident to discuss any vulnerabilities her or her household may wish the landlord to record.
  5. Within 4 weeks of this determination the landlord must carry out a review of this case to identify specific learning points from the failings identified during this investigation and outline the actions it will take to ensure similar service failures will not occur in the future. A copy of this report should be provided to this Service.