Brighton and Hove City Council (202430070)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202430070

Brighton and Hove City Council

20 October 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 landlord’s handling of communal flooring replacement at the property.
  2. We have also considered the landlord’s complaint handling.

Background and summary of events

  1. The resident is a leaseholder of the landlord, a local authority, since 15 August 2024.
  2. The landlord used the services of a principal contractor, which employed its own sub-contractors.
  3. The resident complained to the landlord on 10 September 2024. He said work to replace the communal flooring in the block had been unreasonably delayed and remained unfinished which was causing disruption. He also complained about the landlord’s communication.
  4. The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response on 20 September 2024. It said unforeseen resourcing issues had caused delays in completing the work. It apologised for the delays and its poor communication and said work was due to be completed by the end of September 2024.
  5. The resident asked to escalate his complaint on 20 September 2024. He said he still hadn’t been told when the works would re-start or be finished. He also raised concerns about the quality of the work completed to date.
  6. On 22 October 2024, the landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response. It said the work was now on schedule and it expected the flooring replacement to be completed within the next 2 weeks. The landlord said the work would be inspected upon completion and any problems rectified.
  7. The resident escalated his complaint to the Ombudsman because he was dissatisfied with the quality of the flooring replacement work. He said it had still not been finished at the time of contacting us.

Assessment and findings

Scope of Investigation

  1. In our investigation we have considered events after the landlord’s final complaint response up to February 2025 when the flooring replacement was eventually completed.

The landlord’s handling of communal flooring replacement at the property

  1. Our guidance states that where planned or cyclical works are required, a landlord should agree actions and timescales in line with its policies. Landlords should ensure clear communication with residents about the process. This includes providing information on when the repairs are expected to be completed and keeping them informed on the progress in writing. Our spotlight report on Knowledge and Information Management highlights the importance of keeping residents informed about repairs, maintenance and planned improvements to their homes with clear and timely communication.
  2. The landlord had arranged for its principal contractor to replace the communal flooring in the resident’s block. This was following contact from a local councillor in July 2023, who reported that older and more vulnerable residents were frequently slipping on the floor within the communal hallways. When submitting evidence for this case, the landlord told this Service that it had addressed this as quickly as possible because it presented a health and safety issue.
  3. On 14 August 2024, in representing the landlord, its principal contractor wrote to the resident apologising for the delay in starting the flooring work. The flooring replacement was due to start on 20 June 2024, and it said the work would now start on 19 August 2024. It was right that the contractor issued an update and apology, however this came almost 2 months after the work was due to start. It would have been appropriate for the landlord to provide the resident with an interim update as soon as it knew the work was going to be delayed.
  4. On 22 October 2024 the resident contacted the landlord to say the flooring had still not been completed. The landlord issued its final complaint response on the same day and said that whilst it could not give a definitive date, the work should be completed in the next 2 weeks.
  5. We have not seen evidence to show any communication between the landlord and resident between November 2024 and February 2025. This was unreasonable and not in line with our guidance on communication about planned works. Having unfinished flooring in the building for longer than necessary would have caused a degree of inconvenience to the resident.
  6. The landlord said it had experienced issues with its principal contractor. It said the contractor was under performing and the landlord had noted delays and inconsistency in their attendance. There is evidence to show the landlord had discussions with its principal contractor about delays and quality of work throughout September 2024.
  7. We understand that contractor relationships can present challenges, however we would expect to see evidence that the landlord made reasonable attempts to resolve any issues and had proper oversight of its contractor’s performance. It was appropriate for the landlord to discuss the contractor’s shortcomings and work to resolve the situation, however this could have been done sooner following the initial delays in starting the work, which was due to start in June 2024.
  8. It is the landlord’s responsibility to investigate where a contractor fails to comply with its service level agreement. In this case, the landlord has told us it should have considered re-contracting the work at an earlier opportunity. It said it no longer uses the services of that contractor. This was partly because of the delays and difficulties experienced in this case, which highlighted the contractor’s failure to deliver to the programme and poor quality of workmanship. It was appropriate the landlord acted in response to its contractor’s poor performance and took steps to improve its services in the future.
  9. The landlord has evidenced that the work was completed and signed off on 27 February 2025, with a few minor snagging items to be addressed. There is no evidence provided to explain the additional 3-month delay in the works being completed. The resident has provided evidence to this service to show the snagging has still not been completed to the communal flooring. It is unreasonable that this is outstanding 8 months after the work was completed.
  10. While the landlord took some steps to resolve delays and provide further updates at times, overall, we have found service failure due to the repeated delays and general poor communication and an order for compensation has been made below.

The landlord’s handling of the associated complaint

  1. The landlord’s complaint policy says it will acknowledge complaints within 5 working days and respond within 10 working days of the acknowledgement. It says it will acknowledge stage 2 complaint escalations within 5 working days and respond within 20 working days of the acknowledgement. This is in line with Ombudsman complaint handling code (the Code). The policy also says the landlord must consider a remedy where a fault is found, however minor.
  2. The landlord’s complaint responses were not always consistent with the timescales of its policy and the requirements of the Code. At stage 2 it responded after 22 working days which was just outside of its policy timescales and the requirements of the Code. It would have been appropriate for the landlord to write to the resident and agree an extension for its stage 2 response if it needed more time to investigate, particularly as it had failed to acknowledge the complaint escalation.
  3. The landlord’s complaint responses were not consistent with the requirements of the Code. The landlord did not clearly state its understanding of the resident’s complaint and did not explain whether it had made a decision on the complaint. At stage 1 the landlord acknowledges delays and poor communication but made no remedies for the failures. It also failed to define the resident’s complaint at stage 2. Due to the failings identified above, we have found service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint. An order for compensation has been made below.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was service failure by the landlord in respect of its handling of communal flooring replacement at the property.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was service failure by the landlord in respect of itscomplaint handling.

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of this decision the landlord is ordered to:
    1. provide a written apology to the resident acknowledging the communication and complaint handling failings that occurred. The apology should follow the best practice set out in the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance and a copy should be provided to this Service.
    2. pay the resident £75 in compensation, which must be paid directly to the resident and not paid onto the service charge account or offset against any arrears. The compensation is broken down as follows:
      1. £50 in respect of inconvenience caused by the delays and poor communication in its handling of the flooring replacement.
      2. £25 in respect of the complaint handling failures.
    3. carry out an inspection of the flooring within the communal areas and raise any necessary snagging repairs. The landlord should update the resident and this Service with any identified repairs, and the expected timescales for completion of the works.