Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTV) (202325392)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202325392

Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTV)

25 June 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 the level of compensation offered by the landlord in relation to its handling of boiler repairs.
  2. We have also considered the associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord which is a housing association. The property is a 3–bedroom semi-detached home. The resident lives with 2 teenage children at the property.
  2. The landlord’s file shows an ongoing issue with the boiler from 19 October 2022, which the landlord attended on several occasions. On 11 May 2023, the resident reported a leaking boiler which the landlord attended 6 days later but was unable to fix. On 24 May 2023 the landlord’s surveyor attended and referred for a new boiler. The file shows the replacement request was rejected 2 days later, however no further details are held on this.
  3. On 29 June 2023 the resident raised a complaint with her landlord because of a noisy, leaking boiler. She stated the issue had started in October 2022 and she had had 17 engineers attending since. She reported the boiler started leaking an average of 23 litres of water per day. She advised she would like a new boiler as she had already had to take 15 days annual leave to facilitate the contractors’ appointments. A contractor attended on 14 July 2023 to repair the boiler and stopped it from leaking.
  4. The landlord emailed the resident on 25 July 2023 and apologised for the time it was taking to investigate her complaint and asked for a 10-day extension. The landlord’s notes show it requested evidence (on 3 and 7 August 2023) of annual leave taken to allow it to calculate compensation.
  5. On 16 August 2023 the landlord issued the stage 1 response. It upheld her complaint, apologised and offered £180 compensation for the repairs handling, inconvenience of multiple appointments and missed appointments. The landlord’s contractor thereafter fitted the new boiler on 23 August 2023.
  6. The resident unhappy with the response escalated her complaint on 18 September 2023. She did not agree with the level of compensation offered and was displeased the landlord’s contractor had left the old boiler in her garden since 23 August 2023. She also stated the new boiler, although fitted, had no working thermostat. The landlord accepted her escalation and advised her on 20 September 2023 that it was raising her concerns with the head of heating.
  7. On 12 October 2023 the landlord provided a stage 2 response that partially upheld the resident’s complaint and offered £230 in total compensation for the boiler handling. The landlord advised it would arrange the removal of the old boiler and ensure the heater was fitted. The response stated that the boiler was fully functioning and left on a temporary spur. The landlord said its contractor had attempted to have the wiring completed on 1 and 6 September 2023 but could not get access, they had left calling cards for a new appointment and had fully completed the wiring on 28 September 2023.
  8. The resident remained unhappy over the level of compensation offered by the landlord. She said to us she did not believe it reflected the issues experienced from having a dysfunctional boiler for 11 months and having to take 24 days annual leave to accommodate the repairs. The landlord wrote recently to the Service and advised it had reviewed the complaint and acknowledged there were failings with its complaint handling at stage 1 and wished to offer the resident additional £50 for this. In its review, it had further acknowledged it had not fully assessed the inconvenience caused to the resident’s household between October 2022 to June 2023. In appreciation of this it wished to offer the resident additional £150 compensation.

Assessment and findings

Policy and legal framework

  1. The landlord’s repair policy states that a total loss of heating is an emergency repair and where requested by the resident temporary heating will be supplied within the 24-hour period. The landlord’s repairs handbook defines its repair categories as “Emergency” (attend to make safe the issue within 24 hours), “Routine” (attend within 28 calendar days) and “bespoke” (attend within 90 calendar days). It also states that where a leak is containable it is to be treated as a routine repair.
  2. The landlord’s compensation policy provides various levels of compensation ranging from an apology to payments from £151 depending on the type of service failure and whether the failing is assessed as a low (apology), medium (£51) or high failure (from £151). It also stipulates it will pay £10 per missed appointment where it failed to attend, up to a maximum of £50.
  3. The landlord operates a 2-stage complaints process. When a complaint is received, the landlord aims to provide a response at stage 1 within 10 working days. If the resident is dissatisfied with the response, they can request an escalation of the complaint to the next stage. The landlord will then undertake a review of the complaint and provide a stage two response within 20 working days. This will be the landlord’s final response to the complaint. If the landlord needs more time to investigate it can advise the resident it is extending its response by 10 days at either stage.

The landlord’s handling of repairs to the boiler and the compensation offered 

  1. The resident reported that prior to her complaint of 29 June 2023 the landlord’s contractor had attended 17 times to repair her boiler. Although the Ombudsman does not dispute the resident’s statement, the landlord’s note shows 9 visits between 19 October 2022 and her complaint of 29 June 2023. The landlord’s notes show the resident was never without heating and hot water, other than for a brief period (attended on the same day of the report).
  2. The landlord’s note shows the contractor Identified a boiler fault during an annual inspection on 19 October 2022 and ordered some parts and made the repair on 1 November 2022. However, the contractor had to return that day and re-pressurise the boiler in response to a service request. The contractor returned on 8 November 2022 to replace a separate part (heat exchanger) identified. The landlord has a responsibility to complete the annual boiler inspection and its actions after identifying an issue were reasonable and within the landlord’s repair policy of 28 calendar days for a routine repair.
  3. The landlord’s contractor attended on 20 March 2023 in response to a further service request made 3 days earlier related to a leak from the boiler that was containable. The contractor identified a new issue with the boiler and ordered additional parts (flow sensor) which were fitted on 30 March 2023 again within the 28-day timeframe. The following day the resident reported having no heating or hot water. The landlord appropriately treated it as an emergency and the contractor attended the same day and made the repair. The landlord again was responsive, appropriately prioritised the repairs and attended within its own repair policy.
  4. A repair was raised on 11 May 2023 in response to a service request regarding a leaking boiler, which was noted as containable. The landlord’s repair policy above defines containable water leaks as routine repairs. On 17 May 2023 the landlord’s contractor attended and noted many issues with the boiler and that it was still leaking. The landlord was responsive and attended within its repair policy of 28 days. The contractor appropriately identified that it was not an emergency repair because the leak was containable; however, the contractor could not fix the leak. Although not clear from the landlord’s notes, it is understood the contractor required new parts for the boiler repair. Although the situation was not ideal and the Ombudsman understands the inconvenience this may have caused the resident, it was reasonable for the contractor to attempt to repair the leak within 6 days of the report and once unsuccessful set about to get the parts required.
  5. On 24 May 2023 the landlord’s surveyor attended, inspected the boiler and made a referral to the landlord for the boiler to be replaced. However, the landlord rejected the referral 2 days later. The decision-making process is undocumented, and the reason for the rejection remained unclear. Although we understand landlords need to work within their own budgets and often repair before replacing, there was a missed opportunity to take the advice of a trained surveyor and replace the boiler. Given the ongoing reports of issues with the boiler, this decision was unreasonable. Additionally, in its responses the landlord did not acknowledge this refusal or provided explanation about this. This omission by the landlord delayed the boiler replacement (on 23 August 2023) considerably since the initial assessment of the surveyor (24 May 2023).
  6. The landlord’s file records missed appointments on 2 June 2023 and 4 July 2023 (due to not all parts available) by the contractor and an appointment cancelled on 15 June 2023 (contractor was ill). The landlord acknowledged this and, in line with its repair policy, offered £10 compensation per visit within its complaint responses. The £30 offered was an appropriate measure to take to resolve the issues of missed appointments.
  7. On 14 July 2023 the landlord’s contractor made a repair to the boiler and noted it was now working. The landlord’s repair policy above states that it will treat a repair as bespoke if a component part is needed. The repair took 45 days (since the report from 11 May 2023) which was within its 90-day bespoke repair policy. However in the resident’s complaint of 29 June 2023 she reported the boiler started leaking an average of 23 litres of water a day. When leaving home she stated she had to turn the water off at the mains to contain the leak.
  8. The level of water reported was significant and the landlord’s repair policy states that urgency can speed up the timeline for routine repairs. The Ombudsman has considered the inconvenience caused to the resident of having to turn the mains water supply off or potential risk if the water bucket was not replaced. Considering the issues above, it would have been reasonable for the landlord to have responded to the information about the amount of water leaking, have prioritised the repair or considered interim measure, such as stem the flow or fix the leaking boiler while awaiting the part for the full repair. It was inappropriate for it to ignore this information and the negative impact it was having on the household. This was however later addressed out with the landlord’s complaint process as can be seen within the compensation below.
  9. Although the resident reported that her boiler’s thermostat remained unwired after the new boiler installation (on 23 August 2023), the landlord’s stage 2 reply stated that the boiler was working and it had been put on a spur whilst awaiting the full wiring. The landlord’s statement in its stage 2 response that its contractor attempted to have the wiring completed on 1 and 6 September but could not get access was not disputed. The contractor left calling cards to schedule a new appointment and completed the wiring on 28 September 2023. Although this particular repair was 8 days outside the 28 days for a routine repair, the landlord had attempted the repair twice and had left calling cards. The landlord’s actions were reasonable and in line with its repair policy.
  10. Within the landlord’s complaint process, it appropriately acknowledged the issues raised and the delays from June 2023 onwards, apologised and offered £230 for the handling of the boiler repair and replacement, as shown below. The landlord reported to us the resident had accepted this payment. The resident, however, contacted this Service as she was unhappy, she had not been fully compensated for the inconvenience and stress caused and stated she had to take 24 days annual leave.
  11. The landlord since wrote to us and acknowledged the inconvenience caused between October 2022 to June 2023. It offered to us to increase the compensation with an additional £150 for the time and trouble during this period. The total amount of compensation for the boiler handling as such was £380:
    1. Service failure £70 (offered at stage 2)
    2. Missed appointments £30 (offered at stage 1 and 2)
    3. Time and trouble £130 (offered at stage 2) (for the number of visits before a resolution was found)
    4. Time and trouble £150 (additional payment offered following the end of its complaints process)
  12. We note the resident was dissatisfied that the compensation payment did not reflect the amount of annual leave she had to take to accommodate the appointments. Our remedies policy states we would not generally make a remedy for compensation for loss of annual leave. The landlord, on this occasion, appropriately used its discretion and requested evidence. The landlord’s notes show it requested evidence (in email on 3 and 7 August 2023) of annual leave taken. It stated it would use this information when considering its compensation payment. This was a reasonable request to make and above and beyond its policy in place. There are no notes however to show the resident provided this evidence. The resident did offer to provide her full-time contract, but the landlord’s request was specific to the annual leave evidence, which was reasonable and may have helped it justify a higher amount of compensation.
  13. Although the landlord initially failed to acknowledge the impact on the resident for the full period of inconvenience experienced, it  offered further compensation which, combined with what was offered at stage 2 was reasonable and in line with the Housing Ombudsman’s remedies policy where there has been a minor failure by the landlord in the service it provided and it did not appropriately acknowledge these and fully put them right. The Ombudsman therefore orders the landlord to re-offer this amount.
  14. Although the above remedies were appropriate and proportionate for putting things right, there was a missed opportunity within its complaint process to offer the full compensation in a timely manner. The landlord reviewed the complaint, stated it had learned from it, and offered the additional amount only after the Service intervened. As such we have found service failure as it delayed putting things right for the resident while it had an opportunity to do so.

Complaint handling

  1. The Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code) states the complaint has to be acknowledged within 5 working days and a response provided within 10 working days. If more time is required to investigate, this has to be explained to the resident and a further 10 working days to send its response.
  2. The resident raised her complaint with the landlord on 29 June 2023. The landlord’s note shows it emailed the resident on 25 July 2023 and explained that it needed more time to complete its investigation. This was however 14 days after the landlord had acknowledged the complaint on 5 July 2023, which is 4 days since the response was due as per the Code.
  3. The landlord provided its stage 1 response on 16 August 2023. This was 30 working days from the date it acknowledged the complaint (5 July 2023) and 35 working days from the date of complaint (29 July 2023). It was unreasonable that the landlord’s stage 1 response was 10 working days over the maximum of 20 working days (with extension) stipulated in its repair policy above and the Code.
  4. The Ombudsman does note the landlord was in regular contact with the resident and internal emails show the landlord was being very responsive in trying to resolve both the complaint and the boiler issue. In its review the landlord specifically acknowledged its complaint handling failure at stage 1 and offered compensation of £50. This amount is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance for service failure where there was a minor failure by the landlord in the service it provided and it did not appropriately acknowledge these and fully put them right.
  5. Although this was reasonable and the landlord fully acknowledged the failure, there was a missed opportunity within its complaint process to identify the inconvenience and offer compensation for complaint handling. The landlord did not do so in its stage 2 response and within its complaints process. We have therefore found service failure and ordered the landlord to pay this compensation to the resident.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52. of the Scheme, there was service failure by the landlord in its handling of repairs to the boiler, the new boiler installation and compensation levels.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52. of the Scheme, there was service failure by the landlord in its handling of the associated complaint.

Orders

  1. The landlord is ordered to pay the resident, within 4 weeks of the date of this report a total of £430 compensation (if it has not already paid this), comprising:
    1. £380 for the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident by the landlord’s handling of the boiler repairs.
    2. £50 for the time and trouble caused to the resident by the landlord’s complaint handling failures.
  2. The landlord is also ordered to confirm compliance with these orders to this Service within 4 weeks.