Hyde Housing Association Limited (202439412)

Decision
Case ID	202439412
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	Hyde Housing Association Limited
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Assured Tenancy
Date	6 November 2025

Background

The resident is a tenant of the landlord in a ground-floor flat. In October 2023, she reported that her hot water was not working and that water was leaking into her property from the flats above. The leaks affected her hallway, the cupboard containing the water tank and her bathroom. The landlord completed works to address the damage caused by the leaks in July 2025. The landlord and its contractor carried out a joint inspection of her property on 3 November 2025.

What the complaint is about

1. The complaint is about repairs to leaks into the resident’s property.
2. We have also considered the handling of the associated complaint.

Our decision (determination)

3. We have found maladministration in the landlord’s handling of repairs to the leaks into the resident’s property.
4. The landlord made an offer of redress which, in our opinion, resolved errors in its handling of the associated complaint.

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

Summary of reasons

5. The resident has told us that there is still a leak in her water tank cupboard. The landlord has not provided us with evidence to confirm what works it carried out to repair the leaks nor when it completed these. As a result, we cannot conclude that the leaks have been resolved.

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	Inspection order   The landlord must contact the resident to arrange an inspection by the due date to determine whether the leaks have been fully repaired. If it establishes that the leaks are not fully repaired, its survey report must set out:   ·          The cause of the leaks. ·          A full scope of works to achieve lasting and effective repairs to the leaks. ·          The likely timescales it will commence and complete the work.	05 December 2025
2	Compensation order   The landlord must pay the resident a further £200 compensation for the delays in it carrying out the repairs to her property, since the end of its complaints process. This is in addition to the £450 compensation it offered the resident through its complaints process which it should also pay, if it has not done so already.	05 December 2025

 

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
20 October 2023	The resident complained to the landlord that she had no hot water. She said the landlord had initially advised her that it would take 2 weeks for it to arrange an appointment to reinstate the supply. She also reported that there had been a leak into the cupboard housing the water tank for over 7 years. She said the leaks had caused damage to her hallway and bathroom and that she had had to use dehumidifiers to manage the damp.
1 November 2023	The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response. It said it had completed the repair to her immersion heater and had reinstated the hot water. It apologised to the resident for the distress and inconvenience caused by its failure to repair to the leaks. It said it had arranged an inspection of her property for 2 November 2023. It awarded the resident £200 compensation.
23 January 2024	The resident escalated her complaint to stage 2 of the landlord’s complaint process. She said the landlord had not completed any repairs to remedy the leak.
1 August 2024	The landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response. It apologised to the resident for the further delays in it completing repairs. It said it had provisionally arranged to carry out plastering works on 28 August 2024 and to decorate on 9 September 2024, however it had not been able to reach the resident to confirm these appointments. It asked the resident to contact it to arrange these. It awarded her an additional £400 compensation bringing the total compensation to £600, broken down as £150 for the resident’s patience and effort in bringing the complaint, £250 for the delays in the landlord completing the repairs, and £250 for the distress and inconvenience caused to her.
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident complained to the Ombudsman on 5 January 2025. She said that the landlord had not repaired the leaks to her property. She said she wanted the landlord to rehouse her.

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	Repairs to leaks into the resident’s property.
Finding	Maladministration

6. The resident did not escalate her complaint about her hot water to stage 2 of the landlord’s complaint procedure. We have no power to investigate complaints which have not exhausted the landlord’s complaint procedure. Therefore, we have not investigated this issue.
7. Our scheme rules state we may not investigate complaints which were not referred to the landlord as a complaint within a reasonable time, which is normally 12 months from when the issue occurred. The resident told the landlord there had been leaks into her property for over 7 years. However, there is no evidence she raised a complaint within 12 months of when she became aware of the issue or that she was prevented from raising a complaint sooner. For that reason, we will not investigate the resident’s reports of leaks made prior to 20 October 2023.
8. It can take landlords more than one attempt to resolve issues such as leaks as it can be difficult to identify the cause of the issues at the outset and in some cases different repairs may need to be attempted before the matter is resolved. This would not necessarily mean there was a service failure by the landlord, provided it was making reasonable efforts to identify the cause and carry out repairs, and to keep the resident updated.
9. The landlord’s repairs policy states that it will complete routine repairs within 20 working days. If there were valid reasons for delays beyond the timescales set out in its policy, we would expect to see clear supporting evidence. The landlord’s records indicate it may have experienced difficulties accessing the properties above the resident’s flat to trace and resolve the leaks. Where access is an issue, we expect the landlord to follow its no access policy to gain entry. The landlord has not provided any evidence to show that it did so. In the absence of such evidence, we can only conclude that any delays in the landlord gaining access to the properties above the resident’s flat, were unreasonable.
10. On 9 September 2024,the landlord identified that the mains pipe which supplied the resident’s block of flats was leaking and that there was also a leak under the bath in one of the properties above the resident’s. Its records do not indicate what steps it took to repair these leaks, nor on what date it completed any repairs. This was a failing. It is vital that landlords keep clear, accurate and easily accessible records to provide an audit trail. If we investigate a complaint, we will ask for the landlord’s records. If there is no audit trail, we may not be able to conclude that an action took place or that the landlord followed its repairs policy.
11. The landlord’s records from 7 February 2025 show that it attempted to contact the resident several times by phone to arrange an appointment to inspect the damage caused by the leaks. However, it was unable to reach her. We asked the landlord to provide evidence of any attempts to contact the resident by other means, but it has not done so. The landlord should have attempted to contact the resident by letter or email as well, as it had no means of knowing whether the resident had received its voicemails.
12. The landlord’s repair records of 7 March 2025, state that the cause of the leaks was condensation round pipework and recommended that it insulate round the pipes. Its records of 9 June 2025 state that it needed to replace water mains between the resident’s flat and the properties above hers. The landlord’s records do not show whether it insulated round the pipes nor whether it replaced the water mains. This is a considerable failing. The landlord should review its record-keeping systems so that it can satisfy itself that it has fulfilled its repair responsibilities by keeping detailed records of the dates it has carried out repairs and the work it carried out on each visit.
13. The landlord completed works to address the damage to the resident’s property the week beginning 16 July 2025. This was more than 18 months after she first complained about the leaks on 20 October 2023. This delay was significant and will have likely caused the resident frustration, as well as time, trouble and inconvenience.
14. The resident has told us that the landlord has not fully remedied the leaks. On 27 October 2025, we asked the landlord to confirm what works it carried out to repair the leaks and what date it completed these works. It did not respond. We therefore order the landlord to inspect the property and carry out any necessary repairs to remedy the leaks.
15. Our remedies guidance, published on our website, states that where we identify maladministration, we may award compensation of £100-£600. In its stage 2 complaint response, the landlord acknowledged and apologised for its delays in repairing the leaks and remedying the damage these had caused. It offered the resident a total of £450 compensation for the delays in it completing repairs. This was appropriate compensation at that stage and recognised the time, trouble and inconvenience the delays will have likely caused the resident. However, further compensation is due to the resident for the delays in the landlord completing the repairs since its stage 2 complaint response. We order the landlord to pay the resident further compensation of £200 in addition to the £450 compensation it offered her during its complaint process.
16. The resident has told us she wants the landlord to move her. Her request to move did not form part of the resident’s complaint to the landlord. As noted above, we have no power to investigate complaints which have not exhausted the landlord’s complaint procedure. Therefore, we have not investigated this issue. The resident has the option to contact the landlord to ask it to respond to her request to move.

Complaint	The handling of the complaint
Finding	Reasonable redress

17. The landlord’s complaint policy has 2 stages. The policy states it will acknowledge complaints within 5 working days. It states it will respond to stage 1 complaints within 10 working days of acknowledgment, and stage 2 complaints within 20 working days.
18. The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response on 1 November 2023 which was within the timeframes set out in its complaint policy for responding to stage 1 complaints.
19. The resident escalated her complaint to stage 2 of the landlord’s complaint procedure on 23 January 2024. The landlord did not acknowledge her complaint until 23 July 2024 and did not issue its stage 2 complaint response until 1 August 2024. There was a delay of over 5 months in the landlord responding to the resident’s stage 2 complaint. This will have likely caused time, trouble, and inconvenience for the resident as she was waiting significantly longer than she should have been for a response. However, the landlord acted reasonably in offering the resident £150 compensation for her patience and effort in bringing the complaint. This compensation is in line with our remedies guidance and is reasonable redress for the landlord’s complaint handling errors in this case. Therefore, it does not need to do anything further in relation to this aspect of the complaint.

Learning

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

20. The landlord’s records in this case are inadequate. We cannot establish what works, if any, it carried out to repair the leaks, nor what date it carried these out. The landlord may want to consider reviewing its record-keeping systems so that it can satisfy itself that it has fulfilled its repair responsibilities and can provide dates and evidence relating to any works it, or its contractors, carry out, when required to do so by the Ombudsman.

Communication

21. The landlord’s stage 2 complaint response accepted that the resident had to chase it to ask it to complete the repairs. Furthermore, the landlord’s records do not show that it provided regular updates to the resident during the repairs process. Our spotlight report on repairs and maintenance explains that failures can be avoided when landlords keep residents informed about repair progress and expected timescales. The landlord is encouraged to learn from its handling of this complaint and take steps to keep residents updated about repairs they have reported to it.