Together Housing Association Limited (202442131)

Decision
Case ID	202442131
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	Together Housing Association Limited
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Assured Tenancy
Date	07 January 2026

Background

1. The resident lives with his partner and 4 children, one of which has a rare gene defect. The heating system at the property was recently changed from air source heating to gas central heating. In November 2024 the resident complained to the landlord that the radiators were not heating up. This impacted all the rooms in the property. The landlord carried out several repairs to the radiators and confirmed that the system was working correctly. The resident disputed that the issues had been resolved and was not happy with the way the issues had been dealt with by the landlord.

What the complaint is about

2. The landlord’s handling of:
   1. Repairs to radiators at the property.
   2. The complaint.

Our decision (determination)

3. There was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the repairs to radiators at the property.
4. There was no maladministration in relation to the handling of the complaint.

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

Summary of reasons

5. The landlord did not complete the repairs to the radiators within 28 days as detailed in its repairs policy. It also failed to communicate appropriately or manage the resident’s expectations as he was provided with conflicting information about the replacement of the radiators. The resident was also inconvenienced by multiple appointments in relation to the repairs. The landlord did not apologise or offer redress for the inconvenience or delays.
6. The landlord complied with its complaint policy timeframes and the Code. It provided one response one day late that this had no impact on the resident.

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 provided by a senior manager 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 04 February 2026
2	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £250 compensation for the distress and inconvenience, time and trouble caused by its failings in handling repairs to the radiators. This must be paid directly to the resident. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date.	No later than 04 February 2026

 

Recommendations

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

Our recommendations
We recommend that the landlord improves its communication with residents by carrying out staff training to ensure conflicting information is not provided and any agreements made are honoured or fully explained if another course of action is identified.

 

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
Between 5 and 10 October 2024	The resident contacted the landlord when the boiler stopped working as he had no heating or hot water at the property. An operative attended the same day and was able to get the boiler working again. They noticed an issue with poor circulation in the radiators, so they requested further investigation. Another operative attended the property on 10 October 2024, and they raised a request for the contractors who installed the heating system to attend.
13 November to 18 November 2024	On 13 November a repair was raised for the radiators to be measured for replacement. The resident contacted the landlord for an update the following day, and an appointment was arranged for follow on work. An operative attended the property on 18 November 2024 to measure the radiators. The resident contacted the landlord on the same day to raise a complaint about the radiator repairs. He explained that the radiators were not getting hot. He said he had been told that they would be flushed out, but the contractors just drained them. He said the contractor had missed an appointment, so he no longer wanted them to attend. He advised that an operative measured the radiators that day but did not know what else to do. They told him they would return on 20 November 2024, but he had received a text appointment for 27 November 2024. The resident said this is causing his family stress and he requested £500 compensation.
19 November to 3 December 2024	Operatives attended several times to carry out further work to the radiators. Another emergency call out was also made when the resident reported that the boiler was not working. Final repairs were carried out on 3 December 2024.
10 December 2024	The landlord provided a stage 1 complaint response. It detailed the actions taken by the operatives during their visits and confirmed that the system was working properly. The landlord apologised for any stress caused and confirmed that as there were no service failures it would not provide compensation
18 December 2024	The resident escalated the complaint to stage 2 as he felt the landlord had not resolved the issue. He said that only one radiator got hot from top to bottom. The rest were still cold at the bottom but would eventually heat up after an hour. He said that previous operatives had advised him there was a blockage in the radiators.
8 January 2025	The landlord provided a stage 2 response to the complaint. It confirmed that several alterations had been made to the heating system, it addressed his concerns relating to the pipe size and explained its technicians were happy that the system was functioning correctly.
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident told us the issue was not fixed, and the landlord did not do what had been agreed (replace the radiators). He would like an apology, compensation, and for the radiators to be replaced.

 

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	The landlord’s handling of repairs to the radiators at the property
Finding	Maladministration

What we did not investigate

7. The resident has raised complaint issues which have occurred since the complaint exhausted the landlord’s complaint procedure. We have no power to investigate complaints which the landlord has not had the chance to put right first. The resident mentioned that he previously raised a complaint concerning a leak from the boiler which caused damp and mould. The resident has also complained that multiple radiators are still not heating up properly. There is no evidence that either of these complaints have completed the landlord’s internal complaint process. Therefore, we have no power to investigate these complaints.

What we did investigate

8. The resident’s tenancy agreement states “We will keep in good repair and proper working order the installations in the property that provide…space and water heating…that we have provided”. The landlord’s repairs policy states it will attend emergency repairs within 24 hours and complete routine repairs within 28 days. It also explains it will undertake 90 percent of routine repairs at first visit.
9. The landlord first attended an emergency repair on 5 October 2024 and raised further investigation. Another operative attended on 10 October 2024, but it is not clear if any work was carried out which is a failing. Positively it raised a repair for the radiators to be measured for replacement and an operative attended to do this. The landlord completed further repairs between 19 November 2024 and 3 December 2024. These repairs were completed 59 days after the issue was first highlighted. This is over double the timeframe detailed in the landlord’s repair policy and a failing.
10. In its stage 1 complaint response the landlord confirmed the work carried out and concluded the heating system was working as it should. The landlord apologised for any stress caused but explained as there was no service failure it could not provide any compensation. In its stage 2 response the landlord again confirmed the system was fully functional and working correctly. It did not identify any failings or offer any further apologies.
11. The resident said he was advised that the radiators would be measured so they could be replaced. The repair history provided by the landlord shows that a job was raised on 13 November 2024 to that effect. It measured up and said it would return therefore giving the resident a legitimate expectation that they would be replaced. However, it later told him it would not be replacing the radiators. The landlord had not managed the resident’s expectations, been clear about the work expected, or provided an explanation as to why the plan had changed which were failings.
12. When investigating complaints, we look at all the evidence to decide if the landlord followed our dispute resolution principles to be fair, put things right, and learn from outcomes. In its complaint responses the landlord did not identify any failings. While it attended the emergency repairs within its 24 hour timescale, it did not complete the repairs to the radiators within 28 days and did not provide any explanation for the delays or offer any redress for these. This was not reasonable. The issues took place over colder months of the year, and the resident explained that he struggled to keep the property warm for his son who has a rare gene defect.
13. Additionally, the resident had to chase for updates. Some of the information provided by the operatives conflicted with the information provided to the resident by the landlord. This was avoidable and caused inconvenience for the residents in addition to the delays.
14. There was maladministration. The landlord’s compensation policy explains that it can offer up to £250 for service failures that had some impact of a short duration. We have ordered the landlord to apologise and pay £250 compensation for the distress, inconvenience, time and trouble caused by its failings. This is in line with our guidance on remedies.

Complaint	The handling of the complaint
Finding	No maladministration

15. The landlord has a 2-stage complaints process. Its policy is in line with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code). The Code says that landlords should acknowledge complaints and escalations within 5 working days. The landlord should provide a stage 1 complaint response within 10 working days and a stage 2 response within 20 working days.
16. The landlord received the resident’s complaint on 18 November 2024. It provided an acknowledgement of this on 22 November 2024 which was within the timescales in its complaints policy and the Code. The stage 1 response was issued on 10 December 2024, a working day outside of the expected 15 working day timescale from the date a complaint was received. The landlord did not offer any explanation or apology for this failure. However, there is no evidence this caused any unnecessary additional time or trouble to the resident.
17. The resident escalated his complaint on 18 December 2024. This was acknowledged on 23 December 2024, and a stage 2 response was issued on 8 January 2025. These were both issued within the timescales of the landlord’s policy and the Code.

Learning

18. The landlord did not identify its failures during the complaint investigation. This is a concern, and the landlord should consider how it can improve its complaint investigations going forward.

Communication

19. The communication with the resident was poor as he received conflicting information from the managers and the operatives on site. The resident and his partner also had to contact the landlord to get and provide some updates.