Social Tenant Access to Information Requirements (STAIRs) consultation is now open. 

Take part in the consultation

Great Yarmouth Borough Council (202428969)

Back to Top

 

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202428969

Great Yarmouth Borough Council

29 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 complaint is about how the landlord handled the resident’s concerns about:
    1. The previous communal heating system
    2. The current Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP)

Background

  1. The resident is a secure tenant of the landlord, a borough council. The property is a 1-bedroom flat within a block.
  2. On 9 September 2024 the resident complained that he was without heating and hot water. He explained this had happened repeatedly for 6 years, but the outages had increased in frequency over the previous 3 months. On 1 October 2024 the landlord issued a stage 1 response and acknowledged that the communal heating system servicing the resident’s property was faulty. It apologised for this and advised it was working with its contractor to secure a “permanent solution.”
  3. The resident escalated his complaint to stage 2 citing unreasonable delays by the landlord. On 7 October 2024 the landlord then advised all residents within the block that it intended to replace the communal system with individual ASHPs. It invited the resident to a consultation and explained that, if he consented, it would install the new system in November.
  4. The landlord issued a stage 2 response on 28 October 2024. It acknowledged the service it provided had been poor and explained it was considering reimbursing the resident the communal heating aspect of his weekly rent payments for the 2024-25 financial year.
  5. The resident brought his complaint to the Ombudsman the day after because he considered the landlord should have reimbursed him the communal heating payment from 2019 onwards.
  6. The landlord installed the new ASHP at some stage between 6 November and 10 November 2024. Throughout the following 7 months the resident frequently reported that the new system was not functioning effectively. At some stage in March 2025 the resident formally complained about this. The landlord issued a stage 1 response on 21 March 2025 and explained it had found the ASHP was functioning correctly on each occasion it attended the property.
  7. On 31 March 2025 the resident escalated his complaint to stage 2. He explained the ASHP did not provide enough hot water for him to properly clean his property. He also explained that he considered the landlord should move the ASHP to outside his back door as it was taking up too much space by the front door.
  8. The landlord issued its stage 2 response on 24 April 2025. It reiterated that it considered the ASHP was functioning correctly. It explained it had installed a larger radiator in the resident’s living room. It also explained that it made the resident aware where it intended to locate the ASHP via the consultations in 2024. On this basis, it identified no service failures.
  9. The resident remains unhappy with this and wants the landlord to relocate the ASHP to the rear of the property.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. The resident has complained about the landlord’s handling of his reports of faulty heating since 2019. Typically, we do not investigate matters which were not brought to the landlord’s attention as a formal complaint within a timeframe of 12 months. The resident first complained on 9 September 2024. Therefore, this investigation will only consider the landlord’s actions from 9 September 2023 onwards, as matters prior to this did not occur within 12 months of the resident’s complaint.

How the landlord handled the resident’s concerns about the previous communal heating system

  1. The resident is a secure tenant and therefore the landlord is obliged to complete certain repairs within the following Right to Repair prescribed timescales:
    1. Total or partial loss of space or water heating between 31 October and 1 May – 1 working day.
    2. Total or partial loss of space or water heating between 30 April and 1 November – 3 working days.
  2. The landlord’s repairs policy sets out that, when carrying out planned repairs, it will provide residents with:
    1. “Thorough Diagnoses: Ensure that all planned works are preceded by a comprehensive assessment, performed by a qualified surveyor who will accurately diagnose the underlying issues and specify the necessary repair actions.
    2. Clear Communication: Provide tenants with full details of the planned work, including timelines, the scope of the work, and any special considerations they need to be aware of before the work begins.”
    3. Regular Updates: Keep tenants informed of any changes to the schedule or work scope, ensuring transparency and fostering trust throughout the duration of the project.”
  3. The first evidence we have of the resident raising concerns about the communal heating system was via his stage 1 complaint on 9 September 2024. The landlord acknowledged his complaint on 19 September 2024.
  4. Emails from the resident indicate the landlord then attended the property on 29 September 2024 and repaired the boiler. However, the Right to Repair timescales obliged the landlord to repair the boiler within 3 working days of the resident’s report. Therefore, the landlord was 15 working days late in addressing this repair.
  5. We also note that the landlord failed to keep a record of this visit or of the actions it took to repair the boiler on this occasion. We expect landlords to keep clear audit trails of any repairs completed, and the absence of this does not persuade us that the landlord was taking a robust approach to addressing the issues with the boiler at this stage.
  6. On 1 October 2024 the resident complained that the boiler had broken down again. The landlord issued its stage 1 response on the same day. In its response it explained that the boiler system was faulty and that it had ordered various parts to attempt to repair it. It apologised for a poor standard of service and assured the resident it was working with its contractor to secure a “permanent solution.”
  7. The landlord acted appropriately here by explaining what was going wrong, and setting out what it intended to do to fix it. However, it failed to provide any clear timelines for future works as per its policy on planned repairs. This was a missed opportunity to manage the resident’s expectations. There is also no indication that it raised any further temporary works to try and restore the resident’s heating and hot water within 3 working days as per the Right to Repair timescales. We consider this likely caused the resident some distress.
  8. On 7 October 2024 the landlord wrote to the resident and advised it intended to remove him from the communal heating system and install an ASHP within his property. It also invited him to a resident engagement session to learn about the new system. Following this consultation it wrote to the resident on 25 October 2024 and advised it would install the ASHP on 14 November 2024. In its stage 2 response on 28 October 2024 it also explained that it would be refunding the resident’s communal heating charge for 2024/25. The landlord acted in line with its policy on planned repairs here by providing these detailed updates about the proposed works and suitably engaging the resident.
  9. However, there is no record of any attempts by the landlord throughout October 2024 to restore the resident’s heating or hot water. We can see the resident repeatedly reported that the boiler had “gone again” from 1 November to 7 November 2024. This suggests that the landlord had restored some functionality of the boiler between 1 October 2024 and this point.
  10. However, the lack of any records does not persuade us that the landlord completed any temporary repairs within the Right to Repair timescales. There is also no evidence that it took steps to mitigate the impact of the faulty communal boiler, such as by providing temporary heaters. We consider this further supports the resident’s position that he was without heating or hot water for substantial periods before the landlord installed the ASHP on 10 November 2024.
  11. Ultimately then, we consider the landlord failed to suitably address the resident’s reports of issues with the communal boiler prior to it being replaced by ASHPs. For this reason, we will order the landlord pays him compensation to put this right.
  12. We note that the landlord has offered to reimburse the resident the communal heating element of his weekly rent payments for 2024/25. It correctly calculated this as £10.75 per week, totalling £559. However, we consider the landlord’s omissions likely caused the resident some distress, and this payment does not address this impact. Therefore, we will order the landlord to compensate the resident for this also.
  13. The landlord’s policy does not set out how it calculates compensation payments, and so we will use our own guidance. Our guidance sets out that payments between £100 and £600 are appropriate to put right failures which adversely, but not permanently, affected the resident.
  14. In calculating the appropriate sum of compensation we have considered how the landlord failed to attempt temporary repairs on the communal boiler within appropriate timescales between 9 September and 10 November 2024. We have considered how it failed to provide any timescales for planned works in its stage 1 response, and how it failed to take steps to mitigate the impact of the faulty boiler, such as by providing temporary heaters. We have also considered how the resident was likely left without heating or hot water for substantial periods, and the inconvenience he incurred in chasing the repairs.
  15. However, we have balanced this with the positive steps the landlord took, such as by several detailed updates about the works throughout October 2024. We also note that, despite the lack of any repair records, it is clear that the landlord attempted some repairs between 9 September 2024 and 10 November 2024. With all this in mind, we consider it is appropriate for the landlord to pay a sum at the mid-range of our scale. Therefore, we will order it pays the resident £300.

How the landlord handled the resident’s reported concerns about the current Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP)

  1. The resident complains that the ASHP the landlord installed does not suitably heat the property or provide enough hot water.
  2. From 10 November to March 2025 the resident has repeatedly complained that the system does not produce sufficient heating or hot water. We can see the landlord attended the property several times during this period to inspect the boiler. On several occasions from December 2024 to January 2025 it noted “no fault found.”
  3. We can see it carried out some works to “improve heating flow”, and that it installed a new larger radiator on 21 February 2025. On 29 January 2025 we can see it attended and found the hot water tap produced water at 46 Celsius, and that his bedroom was 24 Celsius. It has cited these figures in internal emails as evidence that the ASHP is fully functional.
  4. However, Health and Safety Executive guidance sets out that hot taps must be able to produce water at temperature equal to or greater than 50 Celsius, which is 4 Celsius higher than the temperature observed. Therefore, we do not consider the landlord has done enough to reassure itself that the system is functioning correctly.
  5. On this basis, we will order the landlord to inspect the hot water tap and determine whether it is able to produce temperatures equal to or greater than 50 Celsius. If it does not, the landlord will be ordered to raise repairs to address this and provide the resident with timescales for this. We will also order it to inspect the heating system and determine whether the resident is able to keep the property at a minimum of 18 Celsius or above. If it finds it is not functioning correctly, it will be ordered to raise repairs to address this and communicate timescales with the resident.
  6. The resident also complains that the landlord has not addressed his concerns about the location of the ASHP and how this impacts his ability to access the property in his wheelchair. We can see the first raised his concerns about the location of ASHP on 31 March 2025. However, he did not explicitly set out that it was causing access issues.
  7. In its stage 2 response on 24 April 2025 the landlord explained that it had advised the resident where it intended to install the boiler as part of the October 2024 consultation process, and that he agreed to this. The resident has not at any stage raised his specific concerns about mobility and access with the landlord. Therefore, we consider the landlord suitably addressed his concerns about the ASHP’s location based on the information the resident provided at the time. However, we will recommend that the landlord engages the resident to better understand his mobility concerns, and that it considers what actions it may be able to take in response.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in how the landlord handled the resident’s concerns about:
    1. The previous communal heating system
    2. The current Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP)

Orders

  1. The landlord is to pay the resident £300 for its omissions in addressing his reports of issues with the communal boiler.
  2. The landlord is to reoffer the resident the £559 reimbursement for the communal heating aspect of his weekly rent for 2024/25. If it has already paid this, it is to evidence this.
  3. The landlord is to inspect the hot water tap and observe whether it can produce temperatures of 50 Celsius or above. If it does not, it is to raise works to address this and provide the resident with timescales for these.
  4. The landlord is to inspect the heating in the property and determine whether the resident is able to maintain a minimum temperature of 18 Celsius. If the system does not allow this, the landlord is to raise repairs to address this and provide the resident timescales for these.

Recommendation

  1. The landlord should contact the resident and discuss his concerns about the ASHP location and his ability to access the property in his wheelchair. It should also consider what actions it may be able to take following this.