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Wandle Housing Association Limited (202420851)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202420851

Wandle Housing Association Limited

27 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 reports about the condition of the communal bin area.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord. The landlord is a housing association. The property is a ground-floor flat within a larger block.
  2. On 20 June 2024 the resident complained to the landlord about the condition of the communal bin area. They said it needed to be cleared and proper doors needed to be fitted to stop non-residents using it.
  3. The landlord issued its stage 1 response on 26 June 2024. It said it had visited the property and had advised its Estate Service Team to schedule a clearance of the bin area.
  4. On, or around 3 July 2024, the resident requested the landlord escalate their complaint to stage 2 of the complaints process. On 9 July 2024 they sent further details about the outstanding issues. They said residents had cleared the bin area the previous week but that the bins were overflowing again. They said one bin was broken and had not been emptied for a year and the area was still not secure.
  5. The landlord issued its final response on 30 July 2024. It said it had not acted quickly enough in response to the resident’s requests to clear and secure the bin area. It set out the actions it intended to take to resolve the issues. It offered £200 compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused.
  6. On 28 January 2025 the resident confirmed they wanted us to investigate their complaint.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. The resident said their complaint also included the landlord’s handling of repairs to a communal entry door. However, neither the resident nor the landlord have provided us with any evidence that this matter was investigated by the landlord as part of its complaints process. The resident also said there are now different problems with the bin area.
  2. Our Scheme states that we may not consider matters that have not exhausted a landlord’s complaint procedure. Because of this, any complaint the resident has about the landlord’s handling of repairs to communal doors or new matters relating to the bin area would need to be raised as a new complaint to the landlord. Following the landlord’s investigation and final response the resident, if they remained dissatisfied, they could escalate these matters to us.
  3. This investigation will only consider the matters that have been investigated and responded to by the landlord in its stage 1 response of 26 June 2024 and final response of 30 July 2024.

The landlord’s handling of the communal bin area

  1. The landlord has provided a list of cases it has opened in relation to the resident. This list dates from December 2019 to February 2025. It includes general enquiries, complaints, and repairs. The first report of an issue with the communal bins or bin area was the resident’s complaint of 20 June 2024.
  2. In their complaint the resident said:
    1. Furniture and other rubbish was being dumped in the bin area, which was not fit for purpose.
    2. Household rubbish was being piled on top of miscellaneous items and becoming buried. There was rotting food, the area was unhygienic, and a fire hazard.
    3. Local shops and businesses were dumping rubbish in the area.
    4. They could not get to their gas meter as the area was full of rubbish and unsafe.
    5. They wanted the landlord to clear the rubbish and fit proper doors that would stop non-residents using the area.
  3. The landlord’s stage 1 response of 26 June 2024 explained it had visited the block and, as a result, was instructing the relevant team to schedule a clearance of the bin area. This was in line with its Neighbourhood Management Policy which states it will arrange removal of fly-tipped items when reported.
  4. The landlord’s records show that on 27 June 2024 it raised a repair order to inspect and repair the wooden gates to the communal bin area. The following day (28 June 2024) it emailed its contractor and asked it to attend to clear the area.
  5. While these actions show the landlord was taking the resident’s concerns seriously, there is no evidence it made the resident aware of what it was doing in response to the issues they raised. This is a minor communication failing and does not appear to have had any significant adverse impact on the resident. By providing this information, it would have allowed the resident to better understand what the landlord was doing and improved residents confidence in its process. The landlord had 10 working days to issue its stage 1 response. To improve its service offer, it is reasonable to conclude it could have utilised the time available to issue a stage 1 response with the necessary detail and confirm what actions would be taking place.
  6. On 4 July 2024 the resident submitted a further complaint about the bin area. This complaint was broadly the same as the complaint of 20 June 2024. The resident did add that they and other residents had cleared and cleaned the bin area. They also added that a broken bin which had not been emptied for a year needed to be removed and replaced.
  7. The landlord responded to this further complaint on 5 July 2024. It confirmed its contractor had attended but had advised the area had already been cleared.
  8. The landlord wrote to the resident again on 9 July 2024. It said that on 3 July 2024 the resident had requested to escalate their original complaint to stage 2 of the complaint process. It had not yet actioned this as it had since provided a response to the resident’s further complaint of 4 July 2024. It understood the bin area clearance had been completed. It asked the resident to let them know if they still had concerns.
  9. The resident replied the same day. They said the bins were overflowing again and the area remained insecure. They asked the landlord to carry out a deep clean. They also asked that it liaise with the council to remove and replace the broken bin that had not been emptied for a year. They confirmed they still wanted to escalate their complaint to stage 2.
  10. On 12 and 23 July 2024 the landlord attended to carry out repairs to the gates to the communal bin area. This was within its policy timescales for a routine repair (28 days). While it was able to complete a repair to one of the gates it identified that it would need to order a new panel. Its contractor placed the order on 12 July 2024 but noted that it was an unusual size and may take up to 5 weeks to be ready.
  11. Between 18 July 2024 and 30 July 2024 the resident and landlord were in correspondence about the broken bin. There was some disagreement about whether it was the responsibility of the landlord or the local council to remove and replace it. By 30 July 2024 the landlord accepted it would remove and replace the bin.
  12. The landlord issued its final complaint response on 30 July 2024. It said it could see the resident reported the issues with the bin area on 20 June 2024, but this was not actioned until 28 June 2024. It said it would normally expect to have provided a response within 5 days and apologised this did not happen. It also apologised that the resident had felt it necessary to clear the area themselves and agreed it was the landlord’s responsibility to do this.
  13. The landlord explained that the council may refuse to collect rubbish if it had not been sorted into the correct bins or if bulk items had been left in the area. It agreed it was important to minimise the risk of this happening. It said it had not acted quickly enough to secure the area and prevent non-resident access.
  14. It advised it would take the following actions to resolve the resident’s outstanding concerns:
    1. It had requested its bulk waste contractor visit the site weekly to clear any bulk items. This would continue until it had secured the area.
    2. It would complete the repair to the communal area gates on 8 August 2024.
    3. Once it had repaired the gates, it would jet wash the area.
    4. It would send a letter to all residents about how to correctly dispose of rubbish.
    5. It would carry out another visit on 15 August 2024 to determine if any further actions were required.
    6. It offered £200 compensation in recognition of any distress and inconvenience caused.
  15. The landlord’s final response was clear about the actions it had taken and where it felt it had failed to provide an adequate level of service. It addressed most of the resident’s issues and set out appropriate actions to resolve them. It did not address the matter of the broken, unemptied bin. However, the evidence shows the resident was aware the landlord was dealing with that matter. We consider it is reasonable to conclude the failure to address this matter in its final response did not cause any detriment to the resident.
  16. The landlord has provided evidence that it carried out the actions from its final response. On 8 August 2024 it removed the broken bin and jet washed the area. It carried out a site visit on 14 August 2024. There is no evidence this identified any further issues. There was a delay in getting the new gate panel, but it installed this on 6 September 2024. It has since replaced the wooden gates with metal gates.
  17. In summary, the evidence shows that the landlord did take steps to address and resolve the resident’s concerns. Overall, these were reasonable and appropriate. It did identify and acknowledge that it could have acted quicker in relation to clearing the area and repairing the gates.
  18. Based on the available evidence, the landlord has taken sufficient actions to resolve the substantive issues raised in the resident’s complaint. We have considered whether it would be appropriate for the landlord to pay additional compensation given the delay in completing the repair to the gates (from 8 August 2024 to 6 September 2024). This has been done in line with the Ombudsman’s Dispute Resolution Principles: Be Fair, Put Things Right and Learn from Outcomes as well as our own guidance on remedies.
  19. There is no clear evidence that the landlord was responsible for the delay or that it could have completed the repair sooner. However, there is also no evidence that it kept the resident updated.
  20. The failings identified by the landlord and the delay to repair the gate would have had an impact on the resident. But, having considered all the circumstances of the case we consider the impact would have been minor and was short in duration. The landlord’s offer of £200 compensation was within the range of award we would have made in line with our remedies guidance in similar circumstances.
  21. For these reasons, we find the landlord’s offer of redress satisfactorily resolved the complaint. This leads to a determination of reasonable redress for its handling of reports about the condition of the communal bin area.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53.b of the Scheme, the landlord has offered reasonable redress for its handling of reports about the communal bin area.

Recommendations

  1. The Ombudsman recommends that, if the landlord has not already done so, it pays the resident the £200 compensation offered in its final complaint response.