East Midlands Housing Group Limited (202423780)

Decision
Case ID	202423780
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	East Midlands Housing Group Limited
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Assured Tenancy
Date	12 January 2026

Background

1. The property is a ground floor flat. There is a communal bin store for residents to dispose of rubbish in their individual bins. On 26 January 2024 we determined case reference 202211795. We found maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s concerns about issues with external grounds and bin maintenance leading to a pest infestation. In January 2024 the resident contacted the landlord to report ongoing concerns about rubbish and fly tipping.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s:
   1. response to the resident’s concerns about rubbish
   2. handling of the associated complaint

Our decision (determination)

3. We found that:
   1. there was maladministration in the landlord’s response to the resident’s concerns about rubbish
   2. there was reasonable redress in the landlord’s handling of the associated complaint

We have made orders for the landlord to put things right.

Summary of reasons

Concerns about rubbish

4. The landlord responded to the resident’s reports of rubbish and fly tipping. However, it failed to investigate his allegation that his neighbour was responsible for the main issue.

Complaint handling

5. The landlord’s acknowledgement of the stage 1 complaint was delayed. It offered reasonable compensation to put things right. It’s complaint responses were issued in line with its policy and the Code.

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.

Orders

Landlords must comply with our orders in the manner and timescales we specify. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of compliance with our orders by the due date set.

Order	What the landlord must do	Due date
1	Apology order The landlord must apologise in writing to the resident for the failures identified in this report. The landlord must ensure: The apology is specific to the failures identified in this decision, meaningful and empathetic. It has due regard to our apologies guidance.	No later than 09 February 2026
2	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £100 to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by its response to his concerns about rubbish. This must be paid directly to the resident by the due date. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date.	No later than 09 February 2026

Recommendations

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

Our recommendations
The reasonable redress finding is dependent on the landlord paying the resident £10 as offered in its stage 1 response if it has not already done so.

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
23 June 2024	The resident emailed the landlord to make a formal complaint about ongoing issues with the bin store. He said the issue was caused by one resident. He asked for every bin to be emptied for a “fresh start.”
3 July 2024	The landlord wrote to the resident to acknowledge his complaint. It said it would respond by 17 July 2024.
17 July 2024	The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response. It said: it did not acknowledge the complaint within its timescales and offered £10 compensation following its conversation with the resident on 11 July it carried out an estate walkabout the area was being cleaned on a fortnightly basis it had written to residents to reinforce expectations about disposing of rubbish
17 July 2024	The resident emailed the landlord to ask to escalate his complaint. He said some issues were only resolved with his intervention including pulling the bins out. The area also required cleaning. The landlord wrote to the resident to acknowledge the complaint.
19 August 2024	The landlord spoke to the resident to agree an extension. In its letter to the resident the following day it confirmed this was to allow time for its Head of Service to visit. It would respond by 18 September 2024.
18 September 2024	The landlord issued its stage 2 response. It said: when it inspected the area on 2 September all was in order it was not possible to change the design of the bin store it was liaising with the local authority about resident’s responsibilities to dispose of their rubbish appropriately
18 September 2024	The resident submitted an online complaint to us because he was unhappy with the landlord’s response. He wanted it to do more to resolve the issues.
6 January 2026	In a call to us the resident said the neighbour causing the issue had moved out and things were much better.

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	Response to the resident’s concerns about rubbish
Finding	Maladministration

6. The landlord’s file note dated 13 January 2024 shows that during a joint estate inspection it considered introducing industrial sized bins. It was advised against doing so because they may cause further issues. It door knocked residents and put fliers through doors. It also spoke to the resident who asked that the bin store be removed. It agreed that he would speak to his neighbours and let it know if they had any suggestions. It would then consider the situation further. However, it’s unclear if he updated the landlord.
7. On 18 June 2024 the resident emailed the landlord to report that his neighbour was not disposing of their rubbish correctly. On 19 June it wrote to all residents to provide advice.
8. The landlord’s estates policy says that any issues of antisocial behaviour will be dealt with “swiftly and efficiently.” It provided a response but there’s no evidence that it investigated allegations about the neighbour’s behaviour in line with its policy.
9. The resident’s frustration was evident in his email to the landlord of 23 June 2024. He said his neighbour not using the bins correctly was the main cause of the issues. The landlord raised a request that day to clear the bin store. However, it failed again to investigate the allegation against the neighbour.
10. On 25 June 2024 the landlord carried out a joint site inspection. It also met with the resident to discuss his ongoing concerns. A further site inspection was carried out on 11 July. The landlord spoke with residents and gave advice about disposing of rubbish appropriately.
11. In his email to the landlord of 23 July 2023 the resident reported that residents were not taking their bins out to be emptied. The bin store was outside his property and was attracting rats. He said he’d taken the bins out 3 weeks in a row.
12. The evidence shows that the landlord attended the site 4 times during July and August 2024. It resolved any issues that were noted during the visits including the removal of any small fly tips.
13. An estate audit was carried out on 27 August 2024 as part of the landlord’s complaint investigation. It considered the resident’s suggestions. This included opening the bin store which it noted could lead to further misuse. It also spoke to residents in person about disposing of rubbish appropriately. On 3 September 2024 it followed up with a letter to all residents.
14. The evidence shows that the landlord took the resident’s overall concerns seriously by responding to the issues. However, it failed to address his allegation that his neighbour’s behaviour was the root cause. Had it done so it may have been able to provide a swifter resolution in line with its estates policy.
15. The landlord’s failure amounts to maladministration because it had an adverse effect on the resident. Our remedies guidance sets out that payments of £100 to £600 are appropriate to put right failings in these circumstances. In ordering £100 compensation, we have considered the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident by the landlord’s failure to investigate the allegation against his neighbour.

Complaint	The handling of the complaint
Finding	Reasonable redress

16. Our Complaint Handling Code (the Code) sets out when and how a landlord should respond to complaints. The landlord’s published complaints policy complies with the terms of the Code in respect of timescales which says that landlords:
    1. must acknowledge complaints within 5 working days of receipt
    2. must provide a complaint response within 10 working days of a complaint
    3. must provide a stage 2 response within 20 working days of a request for a stage 2 review
    4. can ask for a maximum of 20 extra working days to deal with complex complaints which require further investigation
17. The landlord’s acknowledgement of the resident’s stage 1 complaint was 2 working days out of time. Its complaint response apologised and offered £10 compensation to put things right. This was in line with its compensation policy which says it will offer discretionary compensation for poor complaint handling.
18. It provided its formal response 10 working days after issuing its acknowledgement which was in line with its policy and the Code.
19. The landlord appropriately contacted the resident to agree an extension to its stage 2 response. It provided its formal response 45 working days after receiving the complaint. Although the date of its formal acknowledgement is unclear it contacted the resident on 17 July 2024 to clarify the outcomes he was seeking. It is therefore reasonable to conclude the formal acknowledgement followed shortly after. Therefore its response was issued in line with its policy and the Code.
20. This investigation considers that while the landlord’s complaint handling could reasonably have been improved, it has recognised the impact on the resident and has taken proportionate steps to put things right. As such, an offer of reasonable redress has been made in the circumstances.

Learning

21. The landlord should ensure it considers all the facts of the case to ensure it provides a robust response.

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

22. The landlord has provided appropriate records for the purposes of this investigation.

Communication

23. The landlord met with the resident in person at the property as part of its complaint investigation.