bpha Limited (202422848)

Decision
Case ID	202422848
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	bpha Limited
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Leaseholder
Date	28 January 2026

Background

1. The resident complained to the landlord as he was unhappy with its handling of communal skylight repairs and its communication.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
   1. Communal skylight repairs.
   2. The resident’s complaint.

Our decision (determination)

3. We found maladministration in the landlord’s handling of communal skylight repairs.
4. We found no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint.

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

Summary of reasons

The landlords handling of communal skylight repairs

5. The landlord took almost a year to complete skylight repairs and its communication with the resident was poor. It did not provide him with proportionate redress in line with its compensation policy for the inconvenience, time and trouble and delays he experienced.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint

6. The landlord handled the resident’s complaint in line with its policy and our Complaint Handling Code (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	Compensation Order The landlord is ordered to pay the resident £250 compensation for the inconvenience and distress experienced due to repair delays.	26 February 2026

 

Recommendations

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

Our recommendations
We recommend the landlord tells the resident how the opening mechanism for the skylight works following his requests for this information.

 

 

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
8 July 2024	The resident complained to the landlord. He said: he had chased the skylight repair since 7 February 2024 the landlord completed repairs on 12 February 2024, but it needed more repairs he had to chase the landlord for updates scaffolding was erected in May 2024, but the repair is still outstanding
09 July 2024	The landlord acknowledged the resident’s complaint.
22 July 2024	The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response. It said: the skylight repair was reported on 30 January 2024 contractors attended in March 2024 and removed the damaged electrical mechanism and closed the skylight prevent any further leaks it erected scaffolding and contractors attended in April 2024 to investigate the necessary repairs it would replace the skylight as it was beyond repair. on 10 July 2024 it received a report that the skylight was leaking which caused water damage to the plasterboard below it erected scaffolding on 20 July 2024 and scheduled repairs for 24 July 2024 it would confirm whether the work was satisfactory and completed it was sorry for the prolonged repair process and inconvenience caused
17 September 2024	The resident asked the landlord to escalate the complaint. He said: it did not address the communication issues in its stage 1 complaint response, and it had not completed the repair it was time-consuming chasing the repair and seeking updates service improvements were needed to improve oversight and communication
19 September 2024	The landlord acknowledged the resident’s escalation request.
16 October 2024	The landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response. It said: residents are required to report and request repair updates via its customer communication channels it was sorry for the time taken to complete the repair, communication failings and inconvenience the resident experienced It also said it would implement the following service improvements: a small works team to improve oversight of contractor performance a dedicated contractor portal it would add communal repairs to the customer portal
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident asked us to investigate his complaint as he was unhappy with how the landlord handled the repair. He wants the landlord to make service improvements to improve communication and repairs management.
21 January 2025	The landlord completed the repair of the mechanical opening  mechanism of the skylight.

 

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 handling of communal skylight repairs
Finding	Maladministration

7. The landlord is responsible for communal day to day repairs which it aims to complete within 28 calendar days. It received a request to repair the skylight on 30 January 2024. It completed repairs to close the skylight and stop the leak on 15 February 2024. This was within its 28-calendar day policy timescale. However, the contractor said the original installation company would need to carry out the full repair.
8. The landlord referred the repair back to the contractor because the skylight warranty had expired. However, we cannot see the landlord assessed ifthe repair required specialist contractors before referring back to its original contractor. By not assessing this, it missed an opportunity to complete repairs earlier.
9. On 7 March 2024 the contractor attended and found they needed scaffolding to complete the repairs. They removed the opening mechanism and found damage to the frame. They told the landlord it needed an electrical contractor to complete the repair. This was a complex repair which the landlord aims to complete within 90 calendar days.
10. The landlord erected scaffolding in April 2024, and its contractor reported completion of the repair on 17 June 2024. However, we have not seen evidence of a specialist contractor completing the recommended mechanical or electrical repairs. It is therefore unclear how the landlord ensured completion of the repair. When a landlord outsources repairs, the responsibility for ensuring completion remains with the landlord, not the contractor. There is no evidence that the landlord inspected the completed work. This was a missed opportunity to identify any outstanding issues and confirm it had effectively completed the repairs.
11. On 5 July 2024, the resident reported that the skylight was leaking again, prompting the landlord to recall the contractor. This occurred less than 3weeks after it marked the repairs as complete, raising concerns about the quality and effectiveness of the work. Leaseholders are responsible for the cost of communal repairs and the resident’s concerns about both the cost of the works and the landlord’s approach was understandable.
12. Following the resident’s report, the landlord chased the contractor for repair updates on several occasions. On 18 July 2024the landlord offered to carry out a site visit with the contractor, and it asked the contractor to complete a thorough inspection to ensure it did not overlook anything. This was a positive step. However, it did not confirm the skylight as watertight until August 2024.
13. The skylight’s opening mechanism was still not repaired however and in July 2024 the resident raised concerns with the landlord about this. These concerns were reasonable, as records show the mechanism fault was identified as early as February 2024. The landlord did not raise this repair until 1 August 2024. The landlord did not explain why it had not monitored this element of the skylight the repair to ensure it was completed and only appeared to act following prompts from the resident which is a concern.
14. In October 2024 the landlord told the resident it ordered parts to complete the repair. However, it did not complete the repair until January 2025, 7 months outside its 90-calendar day timescale. The landlord has offered no explanation for this excessive delay. The landlord’s lack of urgency and reactive approach regarding this repair was not in line with its repairs policy and caused the resident inconvenience, time and trouble in chasing the repair.
15. Furthermore, the skylight acted as a smoke vent in the event of a fire and the resident was understandably seeking updates about the repair. The landlord eventually assured the resident the faulty mechanism did not affect fire safety measures in the communal area in its stage 2 complaint response. It could have given this reassurance earlier to ease the resident’s concerns.
16. The resident raised repeated concerns about the landlord’s communication and lack of repair updates. However, in July 2024 the landlord told the resident that its policy is to update the person who reported the repair. Although the resident’s frustration was understandable, he had not originally reported the repair, and the landlord was not required to update him directly. It also said it could not expect the contractor to update everyone, but residents could call the landlord for updates. It said it aims to respond to emails within 5 working days but that is not always possible.
17. The evidence shows efforts by the landlord, following the resident’s complaint, to chase the contractor for repair updates. In its stage 2 complaint response it apologised for repair delays,  communication failings and inconvenience the resident experienced. This demonstrated a transparent and open approach by the landlord.
18. The landlord identified relevant service improvements in its stage 2 complaint response to improve oversight and management of repairs and communication. This demonstrated it had taken learning from the complaint to prevent future occurrences and put things right.
19. Overall, there was maladministration in the landlord’s failure to monitor and complete repairs within a reasonable timeframe. The landlord did not take the opportunity to provide compensation for the inconvenience, time, and trouble the resident experienced chasing the repair. A compensation offer would have been in line with its policy and our remedies guidance.
20. We have ordered the landlord to pay the resident £250 compensation for the inconvenience, time and trouble he experienced while the skylight repair remained outstanding. This is in line with our remedies guidance where the landlord has acknowledged failings and made some attempt to put things right, but the offer was not proportionate to the failings identified by our investigation.

Complaint	The handling of the complaint
Finding	No maladministration

21. The landlord has a 2-stage complaints policy. It will respond to stage 1 complaints within 10 working days and stage 2 complaints within 20 working days. It can extend its response time at both stages if it needs more time to investigate. Its policy is compliant with the Code.
22. The landlord acknowledged the resident’s complaint within its 5-working day target on 9 July 2024. It issued its stage 1 complaint response within its 10-working day target.
23. The resident stated he had asked the landlord to escalate his complaint on 25 July 2024 as the landlord’s stage 1 complaint response did not address the communication issues he had raised. However, this was not a clear request to escalate, and the landlord responded to his email as standard communication. The resident then escalated his complaint on 17 September 2024 which the landlord acknowledged within its 5-working day policy timescale.
24. The landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response within its 20-working day policy timescale. We found no failings in the landlord’s complaint handling.

Learning

25. The landlord confirmed that it has recently implemented several service improvements to improve the oversight and management of repairs. These improvements include a dedicated contractor portal and a small team to oversee contractor performance. It also confirmed that communal repairs will soon be visible on the customer portal. These improvements should positively improve the landlord’s repairs management.

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

26. The landlord’s records were sufficient to enable us to thoroughly assess the complaint.

Communication

27. Poor communication was a key aspect of the resident’s complaint. The landlord acknowledged communication failings and identified service improvements to improve its repairs communication to residents.