Onward Homes Limited (202444597)

Decision
Case ID	202444597
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	Onward Homes Limited
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Assured Tenancy
Date	22 December 2025

Background

1. The resident lives in a one-bedroom flat on the first floor of a block. The landlord replaced the roof in July 2024. Around that time, the resident reported a ceiling leak that damaged electrics and belongings. Further leaks occurred during heavy rain in December 2024 and February 2025. The resident complained that the landlord failed to stop the leak, causing repeated flooding in the living room despite multiple follow-ups and assurances. The landlord carried out several repairs and considered the issue resolved by May 2025.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of leaks.
3. We have also investigated the landlord’s complaint handling.

Our decision (determination)

4. The landlord offered reasonable redress for its:
   1. Handling of the resident’s reports of leaks.
   2. Complaint handling.

Summary of reasons

Leaks

5. Although the landlord was slow to complete the necessary works, it acknowledged the delays and challenges in its repair process and recognised the inconvenience caused to the resident. Since the formal complaint, the landlord has taken steps to resolve the issues. Its remedies were proportionate to the length of the delay and the poor communication experienced.

Complaint handling

6. The landlord recognised there were significant delays in providing its formal responses, and offered an apology and compensation which was fair and proportionate to put things right. 

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.

Recommendations

Our recommendations are not binding, and a landlord may decide not to follow them.

Our recommendations
The landlord should pay the resident £1,180 as offered in its final response. We found reasonable redress based on this amount being paid.
As explained further below, the landlord should provide information to the resident on how to make an insurance claim for damaged belongings.

 

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
16 December 2024	The resident complained to the landlord about unresolved repairs to the leaking roof and repeated flooding in his living room. He said this occurred during heavy rainfall, damaging his ceiling. He added that despite contact from his MP there had been no contact from the landlord and nobody had been up on the roof to check the source of the leak.
7 March 2025	The landlord issued its stage 1 response. It provided repair history from July 2024. It said the overflow that was previously installed was not reinstated during the new roof works, and the resident since experienced leaks after the new roof was installed. It said it was arranging scaffolding so it could assess the roof. It apologised that it failed to rectify the issue in a timely manner and offered £400 compensation for delays and inconvenience. It committed to follow up with the resident on 21 March 2025 and to monitor progress.
8 March 2025	The resident escalated the complaint saying the response did not reflect his experience. He said only 1 repair attempt was made and it was 10 months since first reporting the leak, which he described as a flood from 4 different parts of the ceiling. He stressed the matter was still unresolved and causing ongoing damage.
28 July 2025	The landlord issued its stage 2 response, acknowledging delays, poor communication and a failure to escalate the complaint promptly. It confirmed it replaced the roof in July 2024 and it completed remedial works in May 2025. It apologised for the length of time the resident experienced leaks and offered £930 compensation for delays and inconvenience, and £250 for complaint response delays.
Referral to the Ombudsman	In his complaint to us, the resident remained dissatisfied, saying the landlord  assumed the matter was resolved following works completed in May 2025. He described feeling fobbed off and said ongoing uncertainty was worsened by text messages from the building surveyor asking if further leaks had reoccurred, which undermined his confidence. As an outcome, the resident wanted assurance that the leak has been fully resolved, along with further compensation, and improvements to the landlord’s processes.

 

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	Handling of the resident’s reports of leaks
Finding	Reasonable redress

What we’ve not investigated

7. After the final response, the resident reported that ceiling decoration was still outstanding and electricity to his living room sockets had not been reinstated. If the landlord has not addressed these issues, or if the resident remains dissatisfied, he should raise a new complaint.

What we’ve investigated

8. The resident complained about the landlord’s handling of leaks reported in July and December 2024. He said the leaks flooded his living room and damaged belongings. Although repairs were completed, he remained anxious about further leaks, disrupting his life by moving furniture and leaving buckets out. He felt the landlord failed to act urgently, despite repeated reports, contractor visits, and assurances.
9. The leaks occurred during periods of heavy rainfall and were intermittent. The resident reported 3 instances from July 2024. The evidence shows a range of failings in the landlord’s handling, including significant delays, poor coordination with contractors, unclear diagnosis, and inadequate communication with the resident.
10. The landlord upheld the complaint, apologised for delays and lack of timely resolution. It completed repairs in May 2025, followed by texts checking for further leaks. While the resident was cautious, citing insufficient heavy rainfall to test the repair, no further leaks were reported. The landlord considered the repair effective but invited the resident to report any issues. To acknowledge delays, distress, and inconvenience, it offered £930 compensation for the period of impact from July 2024 to May 2025.
11. The landlord said an internal rainwater pipe was replaced in May 2025 after alterations to the lead gutter and outlet caused a blockage. The last leak had been reported in February 2025, with none since.
12. Our role is to assess whether the complaint was resolved satisfactorily and whether appropriate redress was offered, in line with Dispute Resolution Principles: be fair, put things right, and learn from outcomes.
13. In this case, the £930 compensation offered aligns with our remedies guidance, which suggests awards from £600 for failures over a lengthy period that significantly affect residents. The landlord’s other remedies, including an apology, repairs and identified learning, were reasonable and proportionate.
14. The resident’s frustration and distress were understandable. Nevertheless, the landlord’s final response to his complaint provided appropriate remedies and reflected efforts to progress matters.
15. In July 2024, the resident reported damage to belongings. In the landlord’s submissions it said it had not identified any specific damage to personal belongings. However, there is no evidence it responded to his concerns directly. We recommend the landlord provide information on how to claim for damaged belongings, if it has not done so already.
16. The resident felt the absence of final testing was poor practice and feared further leaks. He said the landlord’s repeated checks since May 2025 suggested uncertainty about the repair. However, the landlord took reasonable steps, demonstrating good practice by checking in.
17. It also attended the property on 24 September 2025 and confirmed the outlet was coping well with leaf debris. The landlord also scheduled roofers for 9 December 2025 to check guttering before removing scaffolding. These follow-up actions show a commitment to checking the issue had been fully resolved. Along with the landlord’s other remedies and compensation, the landlord’s actions were appropriate resolutions for its service failings.

Complaint	Complaint handling
Finding	Reasonable redress

18. The resident raised a complaint on 16 December 2024. The landlord issued its stage 1 response on 7 March 2025 – over 50 working days later, far beyond its 10-day target. The landlord only acted after we intervened in February 2025 and failed to treat the December 2024 dissatisfaction as a formal complaint.
19. The resident escalated the complaint on 8 March 2025. Despite this, the landlord issued its final response only after we contacted it on 21 July 2025. This showed no learning from the earlier stage. The stage 2 response was issued on 28 July 2025 – almost 100 working days after escalation, well beyond its 20-day target for stage 2 complaint responses.
20. Both responses significantly exceeded its policy timescales. However, the final response included an apology and £250 compensation, which reasonably addressed the delays. It also identified learning to improve communication with residents during complaints. These remedies were a fair and proportionate way to put things right.

Learning

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

21. In this case, the landlord maintained good record-keeping, demonstrated by the clear and comprehensive evidence it provided to us.

Communication

22. Although the landlord’s communication with the resident was poor and it failed to respond on several occasions, its submissions to us showed learning from this. It committed to improving cross-team coordination to prevent confusion over work scope and timing, strengthening early diagnosis of drainage issues, and giving residents clear, timely updates on what work will be done and when.