Birmingham City Council (202427475)

Background

1. The resident lives in a 2-bed flat within a high-rise block. In December 2023 and August 2024, the resident reported a boiler leak to the landlord. She complained in August 2024 and said there was a known fault with the model, and she would like a new boiler.

What the complaint is about

2. The landlord’s handling of:
   1. Boiler repairs.
   2. The resident’s complaint.

Our decision (determination)

3. We found:
   1. There was service failure in the landlord’s handling of boiler repairs.
   2. There was service failure in the landlord’s complaint handling.

We have made orders for the landlord to put things right.

Summary of reasons

The landlord’s handling of boiler repairs

4. The landlord attended the property for the boiler leaks within its policy time. However, it did not fully investigate the resident’s concerns the repairs were short term and her request for a new boiler.

The landlord’s handling of the complaint

5. The landlord refused to escalate the resident’s complaint to stage 2. It reviewed the case 8 months later and said the reason for escalation had been clear and it should have investigated the complaint at stage 2. The landlord attempted to put things right with an offer of compensation to the resident and a reinspection of the boiler. However, this was after its complaints process and our intervention.

Where we find service failure, maladministration, or severe maladministration we can make orders for the landlord to put things right. We have the discretion to make recommendations in all other cases within our jurisdiction.

Orders

Landlords must comply with our orders in the manner and timescales we specify. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of compliance with our orders by the due date set.

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

What we found and why

The circumstances of this complaint are well known by the parties involved, so it is not necessary to detail everything that has happened or comment on all the information we have reviewed. We have only included the key information that forms the basis of our decision of whether the landlord is responsible for maladministration.

6. On 12 December 2023, the resident reported a leak from the boiler to the landlord, and the landlord attended around 3 days later. It stopped the leak was and repaired the boiler on 18 December 2023.
7. The resident reported another leak from the boiler on 27 August 2024, and the landlord attended the next day. It said there were no leaks from the boiler. The landlord’s repairs policy says it will attend urgent repairs “within 1, 3 or 7 days” and it is responsible for gas repairs. The landlord attended within its policy time on both occasions for reports of a boiler leak and this was reasonable.
8. At stage 1 the landlord said there were no current or previous issues or leaks from the boiler. The records show 3 months earlier the landlord had attended for a water supply leak at the property. However, there was a leak from the boiler 8 months previously, so this response was unreasonable.
9. Following our intervention with the complaint, the landlord said it should have inspected the boiler and investigated the resident’s concerns further. It told her it completed repairs and there were no ongoing issues with the boiler. However, the resident said the leaks were occurring each year and the landlord did not review the repairs history beyond 3 months. It did not respond to the resident’s concerns the repairs were short term and her request for a boiler replacement. The lack of investigation will have caused the resident distress and inconvenience. This was a failing by the landlord.
10. The landlord inspected the boiler on 21 May 2025 following its review of the case. It said there were no underlying issues, and it did not need to replace the boiler at the resident’s property. It was reasonable of the landlord to inspect the boiler and provide reassurance to the resident.

11. 11. The landlord responded to the resident within 3 working days at stage 1. This was within the 10-working day policy time.

11. 11. 12. However, the landlord incorrectly refused to escalate the resident’s complaint and missed an opportunity to put things right. When the landlord reviewed the resident’s escalation request it said her reasons were clear. The refusal and delayed outcome will have caused the resident distress and inconvenience.

Learning

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

11. 11. 13. When the landlord investigated the resident’s complaint it reviewed the last repair raised for a leak at the property. As the resident said the leak happened on an annual basis it should have gone back further in its review of repairs. The landlord should consider what guidance it has for staff on timelines when reviewing records for complaints.