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London Borough of Enfield (202338681)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202338681

London Borough of Enfield

28 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’s complaint is about the landlord’s handling of a boiler replacement.
  2. We have also considered the landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident is a secure tenant of the landlord, which is a local authority. The resident lives with her 2 children. The property is a 2-bedroom flat.
  2. The landlord advised the resident her boiler had to be replaced on 31 March 2023. Its contractor conducted a survey on 3 April 2023 which confirmed this.
  3. The resident sent a formal complaint to the landlord on 24 April 2023 as she had had no heating or hot water for 3 weeks. The resident complained she had to chase the repair on 14, 19, and 20 April 2023 as she had received no further communication. She said she was unhappy no temporary measures had been offered and that the situation was causing distress to her and her 2 children. She advised her daughter had asthma and the cold was affecting her more.
  4. The landlord acknowledged the complaint on 29 April 2023 and offered to provide temporary heaters. The resident replied, rejecting this as she was upset, she had been without heating and hot water for an extended period.
  5. The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response on 10 May 2023. It explained the process had been stalled at its compliance stage (where a survey and asbestos check were required) which had been resolved on 2 May 2023. It said its contractor would contact her. It apologised for the delay and advised the boiler would be installed immediately if the asbestos test came back negative.
  6. The contractor installed a new boiler on 11 May 2023.
  7. The resident escalated her complaint on 27 May 2023. She said she was having to travel to see family once a week due to her living standards. She added this was having a financial impact on her and had to take some time off work to “manage the situation”. She said her children were negatively affected by the conditions. She explained her oldest child with asthma was becoming depressed, while studying for her exams in the cold conditions.
  8. The landlord acknowledged the resident’s complaint on 30 May 2023 and on 4 July 2023 it explained it needed more time to provide its response as it was waiting for a report to be sent from its contractor.
  9. The resident brought her complaint to us as she was unhappy the landlord had not offered her compensation.
  10. We wrote to the landlord who sent the resident its stage 2 complaint response on 21 June 2024. The landlord explained that, although it had reviewed her complaint at stage 2 of its complaints procedure in July 2023, it had no record of sending her the response. It apologised for this as well as the distress, frustration and inconvenience caused by the length of time it took to replace her boiler and poor customer care.
  11. The landlord offered her £446.56 compensation comprising:
    1. £211.56 for the resident’s lack of heating and hot water as per its repair policy comprising:
      1. £1.50 per day for lack of hot water.
      2. £3.66 per day for lack of heating.
    2. £60 under its right to repair obligations comprising:
      1. £10 immediately.
      2. £2 per day for every working day the repair remains outstanding to a maximum of £50.
    3. £100 for the resident’s time and trouble for its poor communication.
    4. £75 for the resident’s time and trouble for its complaint handling failure.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. Throughout her communication with the landlord, the resident has referred to how her living conditions impacted her family’s health and wellbeing. We acknowledge the resident’s comments and understand this has been a difficult situation for her. However, claims of personal injury, including damage to health, fall outside the complaints process. These can be pursued through a landlord’s public liability insurance or in court, where medical evidence and any allegations of negligence would be considered. The resident may wish to seek independent legal advice on making a personal injury claim, if she believes the landlord’s actions, or lack of action, have affected her health. We have, however, considered any distress and inconvenience caused by the landlord’s errors, as well as how it responded to the resident’s concerns about her family’s health and wellbeing.

The landlord’s handling of a boiler replacement

  1. The resident’s tenancy agreement states that the landlord will keep in good repair and proper working order the installations in the property for the supply of heating and hot water. This reflects the landlord’s obligations under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.
  2. Landlords need to make sure their homes are safe, warm, and free from hazards. When a resident reports a risk, the landlord should quickly inspect the property to check for hazards. They must determine if the home is safe and fit to live in. Ignoring hazards can lead to serious consequences for everyone involved.
  3. The landlord identified a new boiler was needed on 31 March 2023 and appropriately surveyed the boiler the next working day, being 3 April 2023. Although initially responsive the landlord has not provided any evidence to demonstrate what action it then took (if any). It could not evidence it had initially considered any interim measures such as additional heaters, gym access (for washing facilities) or a decant. The landlord did not act appropriately as its repair policy says it will provide a temporary supply of heating and hot and cold water when necessary.
  4. The landlord did however try to rectify this by offering heaters on 29 April 2023 however this was only on receipt of the resident’s complaint. The landlord has provided no reasonable explanation for this delay. The resident, frustrated with the lack of progress or a timely plan of works, declined these measures. The resident’s expectation was to have had her the boiler fixed within the landlord’s repair timeframes.
  5. The landlord failed to comply with the requirements of its own repairs policy and rectify the issue within 24 hours or provide an appropriate response. It would have been reasonable for the landlord to monitor the progress of the repair, remain in regular contact with the resident and provide a timely plan of works as it states it will do in its repair policy.
  6. In its stage 1 complaint response, the landlord acknowledged it had failed to carry out a boiler survey and an asbestos check. This delayed the new boiler installation and resulted in the family being without heat and hot water for a period of 41 days. The landlord should have progressed matters in a timely way and, in line with its repair policy, kept the resident informed of the progress of the follow-on works.
  7. The resident was forced to have to chase the landlord on 14, 19, and 20 April 2023 for an update. There is no evidence of a timely response, which left the resident feeling frustrated and distressed. This was not a reasonable or customer orientated response. We expect landlords to monitor its communication, to ensure residents are responded to. This helps deliver clear, effective, and timely communication, which is essential to an effective repairs and complaints handling process.
  8. The landlord’s repairs and maintenance policy states that it will aim to schedule faster repairs when there are vulnerabilities or special needs in a property. The policy also states when requesting a repair its staff will identify any special needs or vulnerabilities (such as young children and/or ill health). We have seen no evidence the landlord did so which was inappropriate.
  9. It would have been reasonable for the landlord to have risk assessed the dangers a cold house with no bathing facilities posed. A risk assessment would likely have identified the resident’s child’s vulnerabilities. In the resident’s stage 1 complaint on 24 April 2023, she told the landlord she had no heating or hot water. She advised she had 2 children, 1 of which had asthma and the cold was negatively affecting their physical and mental health. There was a missed opportunity for the landlord to act on the information that the resident’s child had a vulnerability.
  10. The landlord told us it has no record of any vulnerabilities within the household however the evidence suggests there are possible vulnerabilities in the household. We have made a recommendation for the landlord to write to the resident to obtain details of any current vulnerabilities in the household and record these appropriately (if agreed by the resident). This will allow it to provide a suitable response to any future repairs.
  11. In its stage 2 complaint response the landlord offered £371.56 compensation for the boiler issue and apologised. Although it did offer heaters after 29 days, the family were without bathing facilities for 41 days and as stated had to travel to family at the weekends. There is no evidence it assessed the financial impact of these additional costs. By not fully addressing the financial consequences of the delay there was a missed opportunity to put things right. Its redress did not restore the resident to the position she would have been in had the failure not occurred and therefore the landlord has now likely missed the opportunity to do so which was unreasonable.
  12. We have made a recommendation for the landlord to contact the resident to request copies of her travel costs during the period she was without heating and hot water. It should consider whether reimbursement is due in line with its compensation policy. This policy states the landlord may consider paying the resident any known costs that have been reasonably incurred.
  13. In the resident’s escalation request of 27 May 2023 she requested compensation as she stated she had to take leave from work to “manage the situation”. The landlord’s compensation policy states it does not compensate for loss of earnings. There is no evidence however that the landlord explained this to the resident which was unreasonable. Had the landlord done so it may have helped it manage the resident’s expectations regarding compensation.
  14. The landlord’s compensation policy states it will consider vulnerabilities including age and or disability when assessing the level of compensation. It also states that each individual case will be assessed based on the length of time the service failure was not addressed, the severity of the impact and the vulnerability of the tenant. There is no evidence seen to show the landlord applied this to its compensation calculations.
  15. The landlord’s offer of £371.56 for heating and hot water loss as well as its poor communication, is in line with its discretionary compensation policy. While this was a reasonable attempt at redress, its offer included a total of £100 for the resident’s distress and inconvenience. Considering the length of delays and its failure to evidence it had considered the household vulnerabilities its offer of compensation was not proportionate. The landlord also wrongly stated its redress of £3.66 per day was for the lack of heating. Its compensation policy specifically states this is for the expense of using additional electric heaters.
  16. Given all the issues highlighted in the above report, we have found there to have been maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the boiler replacement.
  17. We have made an order for the landlord to pay additional financial compensation of £350 to reflect the full inconvenience and distress caused to the resident and her family. This sum is in line with our remedies guidance which says such a sum is appropriate where there has been a failure which adversely affected the resident but did not have a permanent impact.

The landlord’s handling of the associated complaint

  1. The landlord has a 2 stage complaints process. This says it would acknowledge stage 1 complaints within 5 working days and respond within 10 working days from the date of acknowledgement. For complex cases it could take up to 20 working days to respond. It says if it was going to exceed 20 working days, it would contact the resident to advise when it would respond. It says that stage 2 complaints will be acknowledged within 5 working days and responded to within 30 working days from the date of acknowledgement.
  2. In the landlord’s complaint responses it upheld the resident’s complaints and appropriately apologised for its delays. However in its stage 1 complaint response of 10 May 2023 it failed to offer any discretionary compensation to attempt to put things right in line with its compensation policy. The resident was entitled to statutory compensation under the “right to repair” legislation however the landlord failed to offer this in its stage 1 complaint response which was unreasonable. The lack of compensation offered shows the landlord did not fully acknowledge the resident’s temporary living conditions or its serious failings; therefore it was unable to put things right. This was not reasonable.
  3. The landlord failed to provide a timely stage 2 complaint response causing the resident to have to escalate her complaint to us. The landlord provided its stage 2 response of 21 June 2024 which was 11 months after its request for a complaint extension (4 July 2024). This was an inappropriate delay.
  4. The landlord apologised and offered £75 compensation for its complaint handling failure. It is positive that it also showed learning as it advised her it had reviewed its complaint handling process to ensure that no such administrative oversight occurs again and have reminded its staff of good standards of customer care in replying to email and telephone calls.
  5. The landlord however did not comply with the timescales in its complaints policy. It failed to offer redress that fully recognised the impact its failures had on the resident and her family. Whilst it apologised for the extended delays, the complaint responses did not offer adequate explanations for the extended period the resident was without heating and hot water. The delayed complaint response of 11 months was excessive. Overall, there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint. We have therefore made an order for the landlord to pay a total of £150 compensation (additional £75) for the resident’s time and trouble in recognition of its poor complaint handling.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman’s Scheme there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of a boiler replacement.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman’s Scheme there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of the date of this report, the Ombudsman orders the landlord to pay the resident the following compensation:
    1. £446.56 already offered during its complaint process.
    2. Additional £350 for the likely distress and inconvenience caused by its failure to fully acknowledge the impact on the residents (including vulnerabilities).
    3. Additional £75 for the distress caused for its complaint handling failures.
  2. Within 4 weeks of the date of this report, the Ombudsman orders the landlord to confirm compliance with the above orders.

Recommendations

  1. The Ombudsman recommends the landlord contacts the resident to obtain details of any vulnerabilities in the household and record these appropriately (if agreed by the resident).
  2. The Ombudsman recommends the landlord contact the resident to request copies of her travel during the period she was without heating and hot water. It should consider whether reimbursement is due in line with its compensation policy.