Accent Housing Limited (202317282)

Decision
Case ID	202317282
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	Accent Housing Limited
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Secure Tenancy
Date	14 October 2025

Background

The resident has an assured tenancy with the landlord which is a housing association. The tenancy commenced on 18 July 2019. The property is a 1 bedroom flat. The resident is “severely mentally impaired.” His health diagnoses include epilepsy and muscular dystrophy.
In May 2023 the resident reported that his neighbour was talking about him and smoking cannabis which was entering his property. During the months that followed the resident made further reports including that his neighbour and their visitors were calling him names and jumping on the floor. The landlord opened an Antisocial Behaviour (ASB) case.

What the complaint is about

The complaint is about the landlord’s:
1. Response to the resident’s reports of ASB.
2. Handling of the associated complaint.

Our decision (determination)

We have found that:
1. There was service failure in the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of ASB.
2. There was no maladministration in the landlord’s complaint handling.

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

Summary of reasons

Reports of ASB

The landlord appropriately investigated the resident’s reports of ASB. However, it did not always follow its ASB procedure.

Complaint handling

The landlord’s response to the resident’s request to escalate his complaint was reasonable.
Its responses were in line with the Code and its policy.

Putting things right

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.

Order	What the landlord must do	Due date
1	Apology order The landlord must apologise in writing to the resident for the failures identified in this report. The landlord must ensure: The apology is specific to the failures identified in this decision, meaningful and empathetic. It has due regard to our apologies guidance.	No later than 11 November 2025
2	The landlord must pay the resident £75 to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by its response to the resident’s report of ASB. This must be paid directly to the resident by the due date. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date.	No later than 11 November 2025
3	If it has not done so already the landlord must arrange to inspect the floor coverings in the neighbour’s property. It should write to the resident to set out its position.	No later than 11 November 2025

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
15 September 2023	The resident told us that he wanted to complain about the landlord’s response to his reports of ASB caused by his neighbour.
18 September 2023	We wrote to the landlord to ask that it respond to the resident’s complaint by 9 October 2023.
19 September 2023	The landlord called the resident to discuss the complaint. He described the ongoing ASB. He also asked that the landlord contact his MPs office to obtain details of his complaint.
20 September 2023	The landlord phoned the MPs office who confirmed the resident had not raised concerns about drug dealing with them. The landlord confirmed it was unable to take action against the neighbour. This was because there was not enough evidence. It agreed to write to the resident setting out the outcome of its ASB investigation.
22 September 2023	The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response. It confirmed the steps it had taken to investigate the resident’s reports and the outcome.
5 January 2024	The resident told us he had contacted the landlord on 22 November 2023. He asked to escalate his complaint but did not receive a response.
11 January 2024	We wrote to the landlord to ask that it provide a response by 18 January 2024.
17 January 2024	The landlord told us the resident had not requested to escalate his complaint on 22 November 2023. Therefore it would respond within 20 working days.
13 February 2024	The landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response. It confirmed it was satisfied with its stage 1 response.
14 February 2024	The resident asked us to investigate his complaint.

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’s happened or comment on all the information we’ve reviewed. We’ve only included the key information that forms the basis of our decision of whether the landlord is responsible for maladministration.

Complaint	The landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of ASB.
Finding	Service failure

The resident reported ASB on 3 May 2023. On 5 May the landlord wrote to him to set out its response. It was aware the local authority were attending to install noise monitoring equipment. It said it would review the evidence and consider next steps. It also carried out a risk assessment. Its response was in line with its ASB procedure.
On 11 May 2023 the resident reported that his neighbour had had visitors. The landlord appropriately managed his expectations. It advised it could only take action if there was evidence of ASB.
On 12 May 2023 the landlord wrote to the resident to say it would close the case. This was because the local authority had not been able to gain access to install the noise equipment. There was no new evidence including via the noise app or on incident sheets for it to consider.
During June 2023 the resident continued to make reports of ASB. The landlord investigated the resident’s report that he could smell cannabis on 26 June 2023. He said it was coming through the vent in the bathroom.
It spoke to the contractor who was installing a new bathroom in his property. He confirmed the vent was completely open and could not smell anything.
The local authority installed noise equipment on 29 June 2023. The resident confirmed the recordings were typical of the noise he could hear. On 17 July the local authority wrote to the resident to say it would not take further action because it was not statutory noise nuisance.
The landlord contacted the local authority. A multi-agency meeting was arranged for July 2023. This was in line with its ASB policy to work with partner agencies to provide resolutions.
On 4 September 2023 the resident reported incidents of ASB. The landlord took appropriate steps to investigate the complaint. It wrote to the resident on 12 September to say it was closing the case due to lack of evidence.
When the resident made further reports of ASB on 27 November 2023 the landlord wrote to him to set out an appropriate action plan. On 14 December it sent the resident an ASB closure letter because there had been no further incidents.
The landlord’s letter to the resident of 4 January 2024 confirmed it had opened and investigated 3 allegations of ASB caused by his neighbour during 2023. They were all closed due to lack of evidence. It set out an appropriate action plan. This included carrying out a sound test and supporting the resident to raise a community trigger if he wanted.
On 25 January 2024 the landlord updated the resident’s risk assessment.
On 2 February 2024 the landlord wrote to the resident to set out the outcome of its visit to him the day before. It had carried out a sound test and managed his expectations around daily living noise and name calling. It’s unclear if the resident asked to raise a community trigger.
The landlord confirmed the agreed action plan. This included inspecting the neighbour’s floor covering and a referral to mediation. There is no evidence that the landlord inspected the neighbours property which was a failure.
The landlord carried out appropriate investigations into the resident’s reports of ASB. It provided regular action plans setting out its response. However, it did not always follow its process set out in its ASB procedure.
For example when it received new reports of ASB in June and September it failed to carry out an initial risk assessment having closed the case previously. There’s also no evidence that it reviewed the risk assessment with the resident as part of its closure process.
The landlord’s failures amount to service failure because they may not have significantly affected the overall outcome for the resident. The landlord has been ordered to pay the resident £75 which is in line with our Remedies Guidance.

Complaint	The landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.
Finding	No maladministration

The Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code) sets out when and how a landlord should respond to complaint. The relevant Code in this case was the 2022 edition (April 2022). The landlord’s complaints policy complied with the terms of the Code in respect of timescales.
We do not doubt the resident’s assertion that he asked to escalate his complaint on 22 November 2023. However, there’s no independent evidence to corroborate events. Therefore, the landlord’s response was reasonable.
The landlord’s response was in line with the Code and its policy.
There was no maladministration in its response.

Learning

The landlord should ensure it adheres to the processes set out in its ASB policy and procedure at all stages of its response.

Communication

The landlord consistently provided clear written communication setting out its response to the resident’s reports of ASB.