London & Quadrant Housing Trust (202328965)

Decision
Case ID	202328965
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	London & Quadrant Housing Trust
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Leaseholder
Date	2 February 2026

Background

The property is in a block of flats on the fifth floor, which the resident rents out to tenants. The block has a communal lift. The resident has been reporting recurring faults with the lift since October 2019. She raised a formal complaint about the issue on 16 February 2023.

What the complaint is about

The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s:
1. Reports of repairs needed to the lift.
2. Complaint.

Our decision (determination)

We have found:
1. Maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the reports of repairs needed to the lift.
2. 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

Handling of the lift repair

The landlord did not act in line with its repairs policy. While the landlord acknowledged some failings, the compensation was not proportionate to failings identified.

Complaint handling

The landlord did not respond to the resident’s complaints in line with its complaints policy’s or the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code’s (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 provided by a senior member of staff. 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 March 2026
2	Compensation order The landlord must pay a total compensation of £800 to the resident. This payment is broken down as: £610 for the maladministration in the handling of the lift repairs. £190 for the maladministration in complaint handling. This must be paid directly to the resident by the due date. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date. The landlord may deduct from the total figure any payments it has already paid.
3	Communication plan The landlord must implement a clear communication plan for all residents in the block, setting out: expected timescales for replacing the lift, key stages of the replacement programme, arrangements for interim repairs, how and when updates will be provided.

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
10 February 2023	The resident reported that her lift needed repairs to the landlord.
16 February 2023	The resident raised a formal complaint about the poor service in relation to maintaining the communal lift service. She said the lift had frequently broken down since she had first moved into the property in 2009.
1 March 2023	The landlord sent the resident an earlier stage 1 response and advised that due to the number of complaints received for the same issue, it had grouped the complaint into a scheme complaint. It told the resident that it had found the root cause of the issue but due to the cost, the repair had been referred for a Section 20.
13 March 2023	The landlord escalated the complaint to stage 2 as the resident said she wanted the repairs to be expediated.
12 January 2024	The landlord provided its stage 2 response. The key points were as follows: It apologised for the failings. It confirmed it was liaising with the Lift and Security team to provide an update to the resident. It explained that the replacement of the PCB was not a repair that was able to happen as a standard day to day and also due to the cost involved. Therefore, this was referred for a Section 20. It had repaired the lift, but further issues were raised which meant there were some further works needed in the new year. It explained that works on the lift took place on the following days 23 December 2023, 27 December 2023, 1 January 2024, It therefore appointed a new contractor to take over the servicing of the lift. It appointed an independent contractor to carry out works on 8 January 2024. The landlord made a compensation award broken down as follows: £90 Delay to stage two response £200 Distress and Inconvenience
26 January 2024	The landlord issued a further stage 2 response directly to the resident as part of a group complaint. The key points were as follows: The landlord apologised. The lift repair was prolonged. It said the engineers attended and returned the lift to service. The landlord awarded a further compensation of £210, broken down as follows: £10 Right to Repair £90 For the distress £90 For the inconvenience £20 for the time and effort getting the complaint resolved
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident referred her complaint to us on 20 November 2023 as she was unhappy with the landlord’s response. She wanted the landlord to take full responsibility in managing the lift contractor and ensure that residents are kept fully informed of ongoing repairs.

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 the repairs to the lift in the property.
Finding	Maladministration

What we did not consider

In referring the complaint to us, the resident said she had been reporting issues with the lift since 2019. While we do not dispute this, we are unable to investigate complaints which were not brought to the attention of the landlord within a reasonable time, usually 12 months. Therefore, this investigation has focussed on events from 12 months prior to the formal complaint in February 2023 until the stage 2 response.

The landlord’s handling of the repairs to the lift in the property

The lease agreement and the landlord’s repairs policy state that the landlord is responsible for maintaining and repairing the lift. Its responsive repairs policy sets out the following required timescales for repairs:
• Emergency repairs within 24 hours
• Urgent repairs within 5 working days
• Routine repairs within 28 days
• Complex repairs within an agreed timeframe
On 7 January 2023, 20 January 2023 and 24 January 2023, a fault with the lift was reported. Whilst repairs were raised, the evidence suggests these were cancelled. The landlord has not provided evidence to show why this occurred.
However, a contractor attended on 17 February 2023, following which it was ascertained that due to the cost of the parts needed to repair the lift, a Section 20 process needed to be undertaken.
We understand that the Section 20 process can take some time and the landlord in recognition of the prolonged lift outage while undertaking the process offered £60 compensation to residents.
We understand the lift was repaired in November 2023; However, the evidence shows that following that repairs to the lift it continued to be repeatedly out of service. The landlord attended to each recurring fault within its policy timescales.
It is important to note, that due to the ongoing issues the landlord changed contractors. This was an appropriate step to take and goes someway to highlight the landlord’s commitment to resolve the issue for the resident.
However, the lift continued to frequently break down. While the landlord did attend to each fault in line with its repairs policy, it is not clear that it considered the impact on the resident due to the frequency of the lift breaking down.
In her formal complaint the resident said the landlord did not communicate with the resident about the repairs and it did not keep her informed of when the lift was repaired. Landlord’s need to ensure they have effective communication with residents to manage expectations. It has not provided evidence to show that it did so in this case.
We acknowledge that in its stage 2 response the landlord set out that it would continue to work closely with its contractors. However, the landlord did not resolve the issue within a reasonable timeframe after the stage 2 response. Its failure to complete a meaningful repair suggests that it did not learn from the failings it had previously identified.
While the landlord offered compensation to the resident of £490, this amount does not reflect the overall distress and inconvenience caused to the resident throughout the period of the lift breakdowns. Therefore, we consider there was maladministration in the handling of the lift repairs.
As there was maladministration. An order has been made that the landlord pay £200 compensation to the resident, which is in line with our guidance on remedies.

Complaint	The handling of the complaint
Finding	Maladministration

The landlord has a 2-stage complaint process. It aims to acknowledge both stages within 5 working days. It says the resident should then receive a formal response at stage 1 within 10 working days and stage 2 within 20 working days of the complaint acknowledgement.
The resident made her initial complaint on 16 February 2023. The landlord issued its stage 1 response within its published timescale.
The resident requested an escalation on 13 March 2023, and the landlord acknowledged this escalation on the same date, which was within the required 5 working days.
However, the landlord did not issue its stage 2 response until 12 January 2024, which was 212 working days after acknowledging the escalation. During which time the resident had to chase the landlord for a response.
The landlord paid £90 for the delays caused during the stage 2 process. However, this amount was not reflective of the failings identified in its complaint handling.
As such there was maladministration in the complaint handling, which caused the resident avoidable inconvenience and time and trouble. An order has been made for the landlord to pay £100 compensation to the resident, which is proportionate to our findings and in line with the Ombudsman’s guidance on remedies.

Learning

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

The landlord’s record keeping was not satisfactory; it did not detail all logs provided for review. There was poor record keeping by the landlord as there is no record on the excel spreadsheet about the complaint on 16 February 2023 or any records of complaints about the lift by the residents in 2019. It should review its record keeping of important documents.

Communication

The landlord’s communication with the resident about the complaint was poor. The landlord needs to ensure it has effective communication systems in place to ensure residents are regularly updated to manage expectations.