We are updating our systems this weekend. You will be unable to submit an online complaint form from Friday 3 April until Monday 6 April.

Normal services will resume on Tuesday 7 April.

Thank you for your patience.

GreenSquareAccord Limited (202429508)

Back to Top

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202429508

GreenSquareAccord Limited

2 September 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’s complaint is about the landlord’s handling of a request to cut back trees in the garden of the property.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord, which is a housing association. The property is a 3-bedroom house with a private rear garden. The landlord has a record the resident is partially sighted.
  2. The resident sent a formal complaint to the landlord on 28 August 2024 as he had asked the landlord to cut back his trees and it had refused. This was acknowledged on 4 September 2024.
  3. The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response on 17 September 2024. It provided a timeline of the resident’s contact between July and August 2024 regarding the request to cut back trees. It explained it was unsure who was responsible for the trees. It stated it had arranged a joint inspection with the housing officer and the tree manager in September 2024. It acknowledged there had been a service failure by its poor communication and offered £50 for this and a further £50 for his time and trouble in pursuing the matter. The landlord apologised and advised it will review how it allocated queries to make sure they went to the most appropriate team. It also advised it would remind staff about the importance of timely communication.
  4. The resident escalated his complaint on 17 October 2024 as he stated he was anxious about the time the complaint was taking. The landlord acknowledged his request the same day and advised he would receive a response by 14 November 2024.
  5. The landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response on 31 October 2024 upholding its stage 1 response. It further explained that the inspection promised at stage 1 had gone ahead. It said the tree manager identified there were no health and safety issues. The landlord advised him in line with his tenancy agreement that it was his responsibility to maintain his garden, including cutting the trees back.
  6. The resident brought his complaint to us advising the landlord was refusing to cut back the trees in his garden, that it is a self-build scheme and the landlord was not applying the law correctly.
  7. The landlord wrote to the resident on 5 June 2025 advising him that it would complete the work as a one off. It said it would arrange to do the work in September or October 2025.

Assessment and findings

The landlord’s handling of a request to cut back trees in the garden of the property

  1. The tenancy agreement states it is the resident’s responsibility to “keep private garden’s tidy”. The landlord’s remedies and compensation policy states it is responsible for trees in communal and public areas only. It specifically states this does not extend to private gardens. It reinforces this within the same policy that it is the residents responsibility to maintain trees within the boundary of their property. These legal documents clarify the resident is obligated to maintain the private gardens (including trees) within the private garden.
  2. In the landlord’s stage 1 complaint response it provided a timeline of the events leading to the complaint. Although we have not seen evidence of this communication, the resident has not disputed it. The timeline shows the resident made a service request on 9 July 2024; he then chased a response on 6 and 22 August 2024. He thereafter received a response on 28 August 2024 that it was his responsibility to maintain the private garden. The resident was made to wait 50 days for a suitable response which was an unreasonable delay.
  3. Although poor communication was identified there is evidence the landlord improved this within its complaint responses. This is positive as it shows it has taken learning from its mistakes. It showed further learning as it committed to review how its staff were allocating queries to make sure they went to the most appropriate team. It also advised it would reinforce timely communication by its staff to ensure it did not happen again. These actions support our Dispute Resolution Principles of being fair, putting things right and learning from outcomes.
  4. In the landlord’s stage 2 complaint response it advised the tree manager had attended and identified no health and safety issues. The policy states where a risk is identified and a customer through vulnerability or hardship cannot reasonably action, it would support in regards undertaking any necessary measures. The landlord appropriately identified the resident’s vulnerability and took action to ensure there was no danger to the resident. It also agreed to cut back the trees as a one off by October 2025 as a gesture of good will, which although positive, did not go far enough.
  5. It is not within the remit of this Service to determine whether there has been a breach of the Equality Act 2010, as this is a legal matter. However, we can consider whether the landlord responded in accordance with its obligations under that Act and whether its response to the resident was fair and reasonable.
  6. Under the Equality Act 2010, the landlord had a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments where there is a provision, criterion or practice which puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage in relation to a relevant matter in comparison with persons who are not disabled. We have not seen any evidence the landlord considered this when making decisions in relation to cutting back the trees. The resident has recently advised us his eyesight has further deteriorated and he rarely leaves his home. We have made an order for the landlord to make a decision on whether reasonable adjustments are appropriate in this case relating to cutting back of the trees. While the landlord has committed to cutting the trees back later this year, we recognise the resident has been caused frustration by the landlord’s apparent omission to consider reasonable adjustments in this case. We have therefore also made an order for the landlord to pay the resident an additional £50 for the frustration caused to him.
  7. The landlord’s complaint responses acknowledged there was service failure in its communication which led to the resident having to chase a response. It appropriately apologised and offered him £100 compensation. That was appropriate because it is in line with our remedies guidance for service failure. It is also in line with the landlord’s compensation policy of £50 to £100 for a service failure with no significant impact on the resident.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman’s Scheme there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of a request to cut back trees in the garden of the property.

Orders and Recommendations

Orders

  1. The landlord must pay the resident £150 compensation (including the £100 already offered during its complaints process if it has not paid already) comprising:
    1. £100 offered during its internal process.
    2. Additional £50 for the distress and inconvenience caused by its failure to consider its responsibilities under the Equality Act.
  2. Within 4 weeks of this order the landlord must make a decision on whether reasonable adjustments are appropriate going forward relating to regularly cutting back the trees. It should write to the resident with that decision.
  3. Within 4 weeks of the date of this report, the landlord should confirm to us compliance with the above orders.

Recommendation

  1. We recommend the landlord fulfils its commitment to cut the trees back by October 2025.