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North West Leicestershire District Council (202419956)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202419956

North West Leicestershire District Council

14 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 resident has complained about:
    1. The landlord’s handling of a boiler replacement.
    2. The associated complaint handling.

Background

  1. The resident has a secure tenancy agreement. The property is a 2-bedroom semi-detached house. The resident lives at the property with her three children. The resident’s boiler was installed in a cupboard in her bedroom until it failed.
  2. On 25 March 2024 the resident’s boiler failed. The landlord made several attempts to repair the boiler between 27 March 2024 and 11 April 2024. On 11 April 2024 the landlord decided the boiler had to be replaced. Following this, the landlord chose to install the new boiler in the resident’s kitchen.
  3. On 17 April 2024 the landlord installed the new boiler. To do this, the landlord removed a kitchen unit and ran a flue and new pipework along the internal walls in the kitchen and the bathroom. The resident complained on 23 April 2024.
  4. The landlord sent its stage 1 response on 7 May 2024. In this, the landlord said to safeguard tenants it had decided to move all boilers out of bedrooms. The landlord apologised for the disruption. It offered the resident £96 compensation for her increased heating costs between 25 March 2024 to 17 April 2024.
  5. the resident escalated her complaint on 10 May 2024. She said the £96 compensation did not cover the money she had spent on electric heating while she was without a boiler. The resident also raised concerns about being without hot water and having to boil the kettle to wash dishes. The resident also said the compensation did not account for the distress and inconvenience she had experienced.
  6. On 12 June 2024 the landlord sent its stage 2 response. The landlord reached the same outcome set out in its stage 1 response. However, the landlord apologised for a delay in responding to the resident’s complaint, it increased the compensation offer to £150 in recognition of this.
  7. After this, the landlord arranged for a gas safety expert to review the works. On 5 July 2024 the landlord increased its compensation offer to £500 and said it would move the boiler once it had the expert’s report. The gas expert reported the boiler was safe, but the job had been completed to a poor standard due to the pipework. They recommended the boiler be moved back into the resident’s bedroom. The landlord moved the boiler on 30 July 2024 and 31 July 2024. On 21 August 2024 the landlord sent a further complaint response. It said all works had been completed. It noted the resident had declined its offer to replace the kitchen unit and it said its offer of £500 compensation was final.

Assessment and findings

Scope

  1. The resident has told us she is worried about the condition of the new boiler. This was not addressed in the landlord’s stage 2 complaint response. The Ombudsman cannot consider complaints where the landlord’s internal complaint procedure has not been completed. As such, this investigation will not consider this point. The resident is free to raise a new complaint about this with the landlord directly if necessary.

The compensation offered

  1. The landlord has offered £500 compensation. It has sent us a breakdown of this offer:
    1. £96 for the cost of running electric heaters between 25 March 2024 and 17 April 2024.
    2. £54 for the delay in responding to the stage 2 complaint.
    3. £150 for the cost of decorating.
    4. £200 for time and trouble.

The landlord’s handling of a boiler replacement

  1. In line with the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, The landlord is responsible for repairs to the boiler.
  2. The Landlord’s repairs policy says a boiler not working is ahigh priority repair which will be completed in 1 day. The policy says where specialist work is needed to complete a repair, the landlord will provide a temporary solution.
  3. The landlord’s complaint response letters say the resident reported the fault on 25 March 2024. The resident has not disputed this. The landlord’s repair timeline says it attempted a repair on 27 March 2024 which was outside of the 1-day repair timescale set out in the landlord’s repair policy. This was a service failure by the landlord.
  4. The information the landlord has provided suggests it offered the resident temporary heaters on 27 March 2024, meeting its obligation to provide a temporary solution for the heating aspect of the resident’s complaint. However, the landlord has not provided evidence to show it offered the resident a temporary solution to resolve the lack of hot water, or that it considered the resident’s additional costs for this.
  5. The landlord attempted repairs until 11 April 2024 when it identified a replacement was needed. After this, the landlord replaced the boiler in 6 days. While this was a reasonable timeframe once the landlord had decided to replace the boiler, it remains the case that the resident was left without a boiler between 25 March 2024 and 17 April 2024.
  6. The resident was without central heating and hot water until 17 April 2024. The landlord’s compensation policy says it can make a payment where a tenant has suffered loss of heating or hot water. The payment will be based on the impact on the tenant to include any likely additional costs incurred. The landlord offered the resident £96 for the additional cost of running electric heaters, at a rate of £4 per day for the period of the delay.
  7. The resident has said the cost of the electric heaters exceeded £96.The resident has not provided evidence to show this. It’s not our role to assess what costs a resident has incurred. Instead, our role is to decide what is fair and reasonable based on the evidence provided. Without evidence to show the resident’s costs exceeded £96, we have found this amount to be reasonable.
  8. In her stage 2 escalation, the resident raised concerns about both the lack of heating and hot water, including having to boil the kettle to heat water for washing. It seems the landlord has not considered the additional costs the resident will have incurred from heating water without a boiler. When considering what is fair and reasonable in all the circumstances, it is likely the resident incurred additional costs heating water while she was without a boiler. As the landlord has not considered this, the Ombudsman has ordered the landlord to pay the resident an additional £96 compensation to cover the reasonable costs the resident incurred as a result of the loss of hot water.
  9. The landlord accepts the new boiler was poorly installed. To resolve this, it moved the boiler back to the resident’s bedroom and offered compensation for the time and trouble, and redecorating costs. While this showed a willingness to put things right, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, neither the £200 for time and trouble nor the £150 for redecorating is appropriate and proportionate in the circumstances.
  10. The landlord’s handling of the boiler replacement meant the resident was without hot water for a significant amount of time, leaving the resident and her three children without adequate washing facilities. When the central heating and hot water was restored, the resident was left with a poorly installed boiler placed in an area of her home that was inconvenient for her. She had to contact the landlord several times to try to resolve this, and she experienced 2 more days disruption when the boiler was moved again. Taking into account the significant disruption this caused the resident, we have ordered the landlord to pay an additional £150 compensation for the distress and inconvenience experienced. This is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidelines and is on top of the £200 it offered in relation to time and trouble for this aspect of the complaint.
  11. After the landlord moved the boiler upstairs it removed the new pipework installed in the kitchen and the bathroom. This left holes where pipes had been installed. As the landlord had an obligation to replace the faulty boiler it was also responsible for putting the affected areas back into a reasonable state of redecoration.
  12. The resident has provided photos which show the landlord has filled in most of the holes, but damaged areas have not been repainted or wallpapered and a small section of what appears to be the bathroom doorframe has been cut out.
  13. The landlord has offered the resident £150 for redecorating. The landlord has not provided evidence to show how it determined this amount covered the reasonable cost of redecorating. The resident has said she wants to arrange the redecorating herself, and she has said the landlord’s offer does not cover this. The resident has not provided evidence to show the cost exceeds £150.
  14. It’s not the Ombudsman’s role to decide what the full scope and cost of redecorating will be. Instead, our role is to decide what is fair and reasonable in all the circumstances. From the evidence the resident has provided, it is clear multiple rooms have been affected. It seems several areas will need to be repainted or wallpapered, and a door frame will need to be restored or may need to be replaced. In the interest of taking this complaint to a fair and reasonable resolution, we have ordered the landlord to pay an additional £150 for redecorating. This is not intended to ensure the resident’s full redecoration costs are met, rather, it is to ensure that the landlord’s failures for this aspect of the complaint are recognised through the overall compensation offered.
  15. Overall, the landlord’s handling of the boiler replacement has been poor. It has caused significant disruption which could have been avoided. It is commendable that it tried to resolve things, but the compensation it has offered is not appropriate and proportionate in the circumstances. Taking the above into account, the Ombudsman has found there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the boiler replacement.

The associated complaint handling

  1. The Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code) aims to improve complaint handling across the housing sector. As a member of the Scheme, the landlord is obliged to establish and maintain a complaints procedure in accordance with any good practice recommended by the Ombudsman.
  2. The landlord’s complaints policy says it will acknowledge a stage 1 complaint within 5 working days and respond in 10 working days. The landlord acknowledged the complaint on the day the resident made it and sent its stage 1 response in 9 working days. The landlord met its obligations when handling the stage 1 complaint.
  3. The landlord’s policy says it will acknowledge a stage 2 complaint within 5 working days and respond in 20 working days. Where a response takes longer, the landlord will keep the resident informed. The resident escalated her complaint on 10 May 2024. The landlord acknowledged this on 13 May 2024. On 30 May 2024 the landlord extended its deadline to respond by 10 days. The landlord sent its stage 2 response on 12 June 2024.
  4. In line with the Code, if an extension is needed landlords must inform residents of the expected timescales. Any extension must be no more than 20 working days without good reason, and the reason must be clearly explained to the resident. In this case the landlord did not explain the reason for the extension, and it answered the complaint 2 days outside of the 10-day extension it had set. The landlord’s handling of the stage 2 response was not in line with the Code.
  5. In her stage 2 escalation the resident raised concerns about the additional heating and hot water costs she had incurred. The landlord considered the resident’s additional costs for heating her home in its stage 2 response. The landlord did not consider her additional costs for heating water, such as repeatedly boiling a kettle. The Code says landlords must address all points raised in the complaint definition and provide clear reasons for any decisions. By not considering the hot water costs, the landlord has not met its obligations under the Code.
  6. The landlord has recognised there was a delay in answering the resident’s complaint and has offered £54 compensation. It has also told this Service there was no reason for the delay. In the Ombudsman’s opinion, the £54 is proportionate and reasonable redress for the failures the landlord has recognised and for not considering the resident’s concerns about the cost of heating water. The Ombudsman has recommended the landlord pay the resident this amount, if it has not already done so.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the replacement boiler.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 53b of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there has been an offer of reasonable redress regarding the landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.

Orders and recommendations

Order

  1. The landlord is ordered to:
    1. Pay the resident £842 compensation inclusive of the £446 it has already offered her. This is comprised of:
      1. £192 for the additional cost of electricity and hot water, inclusive of the £96 for electricity it has already offered.
      2. £300 for redecorating, inclusive of the £150 it has already offered
      3. £350 for distress and inconvenience, inclusive of the £200 it has already offered.
    2. Any amount of compensation ordered by the Ombudsman is to be paid directly to the resident. The landlord is to ensure that evidence of compliance with this order is provided to us within 4 weeks.

Recommendation

  1. In addition to the compensation ordered, the landlord should ensure that it has paid any compensation offered during the complaints process (the £446 detailed in the above order, plus the £54 it offered in relation to its complaints handling), if it has not done so already.