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Walsall Housing Group Limited (202427673)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202427673

Walsall Housing Group Limited

27 June 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:
    1. The resident’s reports of drainage and plumbing issues at the property.
    2. The associated complaint and the resident’s request for compensation.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord. She lives in the property with her daughter, who was 2 years old at the time of the complaint. The tenancy began on 21 June 2023.
  2. The property was built within 2 years of the start of the tenancy. There are around 200 properties on the estate which use shared sewerage infrastructure. Maintenance of the sewers and the related infrastructure are the responsibility of the developer who built them. They will be adopted by the relevant water authority on an unknown future date.
  3. On 9 February 2024 the resident reported to the landlord that drain pipes in her property were blocked, due to a blockage at the nearby pumping station. The landlord contacted the relevant contractors who resolved the issue temporarily.
  4. On 23 February 2024 the resident called the landlord and said that:
    1. the blockages had returned
    2. the problem happened every time it rained
    3. the blockages caused her toilet, bath and sink to overflow with waste water
  5. The landlord told the resident to contact the contractors again and advised her to get back in touch if the issue returned. On 8 March 2024 the resident called the landlord to say that the issue had returned. She said that she was travelling to and from family member’s houses to use the toilet, bath and shower. The landlord contacted the developer and replied to the resident the same day, confirming that the issue was affecting the whole estate.
  6. The landlord called the resident on 3 July 2024. It told her that the developer would be on site the following day to inspect the drainage issues on the estate. The resident reported further blockages and drainage issues to the landlord while works were ongoing at the pumping station between 4 and 9 July 2024. She was unhappy about the blocked toilets, drains and pipes which had become backed up with dirty water and were overflowing into the sink and bath, and the landlord’s overall handling of the issues. The resident told the landlord that she had no washing facilities and that she and her daughter were travelling to family member’s houses to use their bathrooms.
  7. On 12 July 2024 the developer told the landlord that it had found internal damage to the pumping station caused by debris entering the system. It explained that it needed to investigate how this happened which would include a CCTV survey of the drainage infrastructure for over 200 homes, which would be like ‘looking for a needle in a haystack’.
  8. On 15 July 2024 the landlord raised a formal complaint based on the resident’s correspondence with it between 6 and 9 July 2024. It conducted an inspection of the resident’s property on 16 July 2024 and confirmed that the drainage issues were due to the ongoing problems at the nearby pumping station.
  9. The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response on 29 July 2024. It said that:
    1. it was sorry for the inconvenience the resident had experienced, such as not being able to use the toilet or washing facilities at intermittent periods
    2. it was sorry that due to a complex technical issue, it was taking the developer longer to resolve the issue than it would have liked
    3. no foul waste had entered the resident’s property
    4. repairs and further investigations were in progress
    5. it offered £50 compensation for the resident’s distress and inconvenience
  10. On 5 August 2024 the resident emailed the landlord to say that ‘the whole house smelled like a cesspit’. She was unhappy with the £50 compensation and asked the landlord to escalate her complaint to stage 2. The landlord contacted the developer on the same day, who confirmed it was aware and investigating a smell of sewage across the estate. The developer sent the landlord more details of immediate works, such as jetting the main road, which were to be done the same day and the landlord passed this update to the resident.
  11. On 13 August 2024 the developer told the landlord that while investigations were ongoing and repairs to the pumping station were still outstanding, the pumping station was ‘operating as it should and being monitored continuously to prevent blocking’.
  12. On 16 August 2024 the landlord told the resident it had raised a complaint with the developer on her behalf. On 20 August 2024 it acknowledged to the resident that it had escalated her complaint to stage 2 of its own complaints process.
  13. On 16 September 2024 the developer informed the landlord that all investigations had been concluded and that the pumping station was now working correctly. It added that it would need to carry out some further investigations specific to the resident’s drains which it would organise with the resident.
  14. On 17 September 2024 the landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response. It said that:
    1. all repairs to the pumping station had now been completed
    2. it was aware that the resident was having issues raising a complaint with the developer and that it would do all it could to ‘reinforce the importance’ of her complaint with the developer
    3. while it was not responsible for the failings of the developer, it acknowledged the time and trouble the resident had gone to and the impact the issues had had on her family and offered £500 compensation

Events after the landlord’s internal complaints process

  1. On 22 September 2024 the resident reported that the drainage issues had returned. On 1 October 2024 the developer confirmed that it had investigated the resident’s drains on 25 September 2024 and confirmed that, despite the repairs to the pumping station, that there was water entering the foul pipe during periods of heavy rain,  causing drainage and internal plumbing issues at the property. The developer didn’t know why this was happening and resolved to organise ‘an urgent meeting with senior engineers’.
  2. On 17 October 2024 the resident approached this Service. She said that the drainage issues were not fixed. She wanted a timescale of when the drainage issues would be repaired and a higher offer of compensation. She described how the drainage issues were impacting her, including that:
    1. her drains were overflowing into her garden
    2. her toilets, bath, shower and sinks would often back up or overflow when it rained
    3. she and her daughter had moved out to stay with relatives on 6 separate occasions
    4. waste water with a potent smell was entering her washing machine, meaning that she could not wash her clothes at home
  3. The evidence shows that as of 8 April 2025, several major repairs and remedial works to the sewers had been completed but further work remained outstanding and ongoing. On 9 June 2025 the resident informed this Service that there had been improvement in the drainage issues but that some issues remained outstanding, such as waste water overflowing into the garden and water ‘bubbling up’ into the bath when the toilet was flushed.
  4. During the developers further investigations throughout the remainder of 2024 and 2025, several further issues were identified. It is understood that the issues relate to what the landlord described as ‘defective workmanship in the (building of) the public sewers’. It is understood that complex major works may still be required to rectify the issues entirely.

Assessment and findings

Scope of the investigation

  1. We cannot assess the actions of third parties and therefore it would be unreasonable to assess the developer’s handling of the defect or the associated repairs. Any technical assessment of the drainage works at the property are included in this report to provide context only. We have instead assessed the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports and its handling of the resident’s associated concerns.
  2. The evidence shows that some drainage issues remain at the property. A key part of our role is to assess the landlord’s response to a complaint and therefore it is important that the landlord has had an opportunity to consider all the information we are investigating as part of its complaint response. It is considered fair and reasonable to only investigate matters up to the date of the final response. Evidence provided by the landlord from April 2025 shows some works remained outstanding at that time. We have not investigated the landlord’s handling of these issues since they were reported by the resident again in September 2024 following the landlord’s stage 2 complaint response.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of drainage and plumbing issues at the property

  1. The landlord responded appropriately to the resident’s first reports of drainage issues in February 2024 by engaging relevant contractors. It told the resident to contact it again if the issues persisted. She did this on 8 March 2024 and it again responded appropriately by contacting the developer the same day, who informed the landlord that it was already engaged in dealing with a ‘site-wide issue’. The landlord emailed the resident on the same day explaining the works that were ongoing and said it would keep her updated as works progressed.
  2. The evidence suggests that the issue was temporarily resolved but there is no evidence that the resident was updated by the landlord until 3 July 2024, when it called her to inform her that the developer would be conducting more works on the estate relating to the drainage issues. There is no evidence that the resident contacted the landlord for updates either, but the landlord should have maintained proactive contact with the landlord at this time as it promised. The resident later told this Service that during this period the drainage issues were returning roughly ‘every other week’, depending on rainfall when the issues would be worse.
  3. The landlord’s communication with the resident became more proactive after 3 July 2024. On 8 July 2024 it sent an internal email to relevant staff stating that ‘although this is (a problem that) we have no control over, we do need to regularly update the resident with what we know of the situation’. This was an appropriate step to ensure that the resident remained up to date.
  4. Works by the developer were ongoing and the landlord was in correspondence with the resident between 6 and 9 July 2024. At this time she told the landlord that she was living with a family member because she had no washing facilities, that the toilet was blocked, and that she had no access to clean water.
  5. The Landlord and Tenant Act (1985) (the Act) places the landlord under an obligation to ensure that installations for the supply of water and sanitation, which includes basins, sinks, baths and toilets, are kept in working order. Where this is not possible, the landlord should consider what measures it can take to ensure the resident has access to these amenities.
  6. The evidence shows that the landlord considered offering the resident temporary accommodation on 11 July 2024. After discussing this with the resident it concluded that it was not necessary at that time because she had somewhere to stay. This decision was reasonable. It also decided that although the drainage issues at the property were caused by sewerage problems elsewhere, it would conduct an inspection to ensure that there was nothing further it could do at the resident’s property, and to reassure the resident that it was taking action.
  7. The resident had raised new concerns about the water supply at the property on 9 July 2024, so it was important that the landlord conducted an inspection to ensure it complied with its obligations under the Act. It completed this inspection on 16 July 2024 which confirmed that there was nothing further that it could do in relation to the drainage repairs. It also found no issues with the water supply at the property. It made reasonable attempts to contact the resident after the visit to discuss her concerns but was unable to speak to her at this time.
  8. The evidence shows that throughout the period assessed the landlord maintained regular communication with the developer. It often did so on the same day the resident reported issues, such as on 8 March 2024, 3 July 2024, and 5 August 2024. It passed updates to the resident usually on the same day it received them from the developer. It encouraged the developer to update the resident directly when possible, such as on 3 July 2024, to reduce delays in the flow of information. This was reasonable in the circumstances.
  9. There is evidence of the landlord pressing the developer for progress on 13 August 2023. This was appropriate as the resident was unhappy with the explanations she was receiving and the lack of progress. It decided to ‘ramp up the pressure’ on the developer on 22 August 2023 when progress continued to stall. The evidence shows it did this, for example in its correspondence with the developer on 6 September 2023. This was appropriate, because although the landlord was given many promises by the developer and told of several repairs that had already been completed, the issues remained for a prolonged period.
  10. In the landlord’s stage 2 complaint response it told the resident that the issues, which at that time were still believed to be isolated to the nearby pumping station, had been resolved by way of major repairs. The evidence shows that it was reasonable for the landlord to believe this at the time, based on the information it had. It is unfortunate that these works did not resolve the issues for the resident. However this was outside of the landlord’s control.
  11. In conclusion, the landlord’s communication with all parties was reasonable. It took reasonable steps to investigate what it could and appropriately considered temporary accommodation. Its management of the developer was appropriate and it took reasonable steps to escalate concerns where appropriate. There was no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s concerns about drainage issues at the property.
  12. We are mindful that some drainage issues are reported to remain at the property. Although we have not investigated beyond the landlord’s stage 2 complaint response, or found evidence of any failings prior to its final response, we have made some recommendations below due to the prolonged period these issues have been outstanding. The recommendations are:
    1. that the landlord may wish to seek legal advice to explore reaching a resolution with the developer, on behalf of the resident and any other residents who may be affected, if it has not done so already
    2. that the landlord should continue to monitor the resident’s living situation so that it can promptly respond to developments and consider if temporary accommodation for the resident is needed at any point
    3. for the landlord to work with the developer to create an action plan to provide updates to the resident going forward. It should include an agreement on the frequency that updates will be provided and consider if a designated point of contact should be provided

The landlord’s handling of the associated complaint and the resident’s request for compensation

  1. In the landlord’s complaint responses and other communication with the resident, it maintained the position that although the adverse effect experienced by the resident was significant, it was not responsible for providing compensation. The landlord’s Compensation Policy states that it will not pay compensation ‘where the fault is caused by a third party or is something that we are not responsible for’. The evidence in this case shows that any failings were not on the part of the landlord, and therefore its decision to follow its policy was reasonable.
  2. The landlord therefore showed good practice in its stage 2 complaint response by offering £500 compensation to the resident in recognition of the impact the drainage issues had on her. It was reasonable that it also said in its stage 2 complaint response that it would continue to support the resident in pursuing a complaint with the developer directly, which it believed to be at fault.
  3. The evidence shows that the landlord made several reasonable attempts to pursue a complaint with the developer on the resident’s behalf from 13 August 2024 onwards. The landlord encountered challenges in making progress with this which led the landlord to changing its approach to its management of its contact with the developer, which it described as ‘ramping up the pressure’, on 22 August 2024. This was appropriate and demonstrates that the landlord was working to secure a resolution for the resident.
  4. The evidence shows that the landlord continued to pursue the developer for compensation for the resident after its stage 2 complaint response as promised. On 30 October 2024 it wrote to the developer saying that ‘following our investigation we feel the resident’s complaint should be upheld and that she should be entitled to some form of compensation for the inconvenience that she has and is still experiencing.’ The resident reported that she did not receive any further compensation from the developer.
  5. The landlord acted reasonably in trying to secure a resolution for the resident and so there was no maladministration in its handling of her complaint and request for compensation. However, due to the significant impact on the resident over a prolonged period, we have recommended that the landlord to seek legal advice and explore avenues for the resident to pursue compensation from the developer.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of drainage and plumbing issues at the property.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the associated complaint and the resident’s request for compensation.

Recommendations

  1. The landlord may wish to:
    1. Seek legal advice, if it has not done so already, to secure a resolution to the resident’s ongoing drainage issues and request for compensation for the adverse effect she has experienced.
    2. Write to the resident offering any advice that may be relevant should she choose to pursue the developer herself for compensation.
    3. Continue to monitor the resident’s living situation so that it can promptly respond to developments and consider if temporary accommodation for the resident is needed at any point.
    4. Work with the developer to create an action plan to provide updates to the resident going forward. It should include an agreement on the frequency that updates will be provided and consider if a designated point of contact should be provided.