Clarion Housing Association Limited (202444105)

Background

1. The resident lives with his family in a flat. He reported a repair issue with his daughter’s bedroom window in June 2024. The landlord raised a repair for the kitchen window on 1 October 2024. The resident complained on 28 November 2024 as he was unhappy with the landlord’s handling of repairs to the windows.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of repairs to the windows.
3. We have also considered the landlord’s complaint handling.

Our decision (determination)

4. There was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of repairs to the windows.
5. There was reasonable redress in the landlord’s handling of the complaint.

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

Reasons

What we did not investigate

6. The resident told us that his daughter’s health was affected by the repair issues to the windows. We cannot determine whether the landlord’s handling of repairs to the windows affected her health. It would be fairer, more reasonable and more effective for the resident to make a personal injury claim for any injury caused. The courts are best placed to deal with this type of dispute as they will have the benefit of independent medical advice to decide on the cause of any injury and how long it will last. We’ve not investigated this further, but we can decide if a landlord should pay compensation for distress and inconvenience.

What we did investigate

Repairs to the windows

7. The landlord accepted responsibility for repairs to the windows when these were reported. This was in line with its responsibilities as set out in section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.
8. The landlord’s repairs policy sets out that it will attend and make safe emergency repairs within 24 hours. The policy sets out that the landlord will complete routine non-emergency repairs within 28 days.
9. The resident said he first reported a faulty lock on his daughter’s bedroom window on 14 June 2024. He said the landlord attended the same day. The landlord’s repair records do not show any repairs reported or attended on this date. Its records show the first repair to the bedroom window was reported on 27 June 2024. In the absence of any further evidence we cannot determine whether the repair to the bedroom window was reported before 27 June 2024.
10. In any event, the landlord booked a routine repair and made an appointment for 8 August 2024. The resident’s daughter was a teenager at the time of the complaint, and there is no evidence that there were any safety concerns that would have made an emergency response more appropriate. However the appointment was made for 42 days after the repair was booked, which was over the timescale set out in the landlord’s policy for a routine repair.
11. The landlord attended on 8 August 2024 and decided it needed to replace the top of the sash window in the bedroom as it was rotten. It booked a follow-on repair and made an appointment to re-attend on 13 August 2024. The landlord failed to attend this appointment, and so another appointment was made for 19 September 2024. The landlord didn’t have the materials required on this date, causing further delays. It fitted the new window on 27 September 2024. The landlord said in its stage 2 response that it usually takes 4 to 6 weeks for new windows to be made. It is reasonable that a custom made window may take several weeks to make. However the landlord acknowledged that its records do not show if it told the resident this when it attended on 8 August 2024, and apologised.
12. The landlord raised follow-on repairs on 1 October 2024 to fit a new lock to the bedroom window, and to repair the kitchen window which was cracked. It made an appointment to attend on 18 October 2024 between 11:00am and 2:00pm. The resident phoned the landlord at 2:30pm as it had not attended. It attended later that day but was unable to complete repairs as the glass ordered was the wrong size.
13. The landlord attended again on 28 November 2024. It fitted a new lock to the bedroom window but cracked the glass while screwing the lock into the frame. It could not complete the repair to the kitchen window as the glass had been cut to the wrong size.
14. The resident complained that the operative who attended the repair on 28 November 2024 was rude and aggressive. The landlord issued its stage 1 response to the complaint on 31 December 2024. It said it had spoken to the operative but could not share the outcome with the resident. This was a reasonable response, and it was appropriate that the landlord investigated the resident’s concerns, and apologised.
15. The landlord apologised for the delays in completing the window repairs in its stage 1 response. It offered £150 compensation for the delays, and another £30 for 2 missed appointments. It told the resident it would attend on 10 January 2025 to repair the bedroom window and inspect and measure the cracked kitchen window.
16. The resident told the landlord in his escalation request on 1 January 2025 that the repair issues to the bedroom window made the room cold. He said this meant his daughter had to sleep in the living room when she was studying for exams. We cannot determine whether this was the case, but the evidence showed that the resident told the landlord the repair issues had caused distress and inconvenience.
17. The landlord issued its stage 2 response on 21 January 2025. It acknowledged that there had been avoidable delays in completing repairs, and apologised. It said that the operative the resident complained about no longer worked for the landlord so it could not investigate their conduct further to its prior investigation of the issue, and apologised for any upset caused. It offered another £100 compensation, taking its total compensation offer to £330, including the £50 it offered at stage 1 for its complaint handling.
18. The landlord completed repairs to the bedroom window and kitchen window on 24 January 2025. This was 211 days after the landlord first raised a repair for the bedroom window, and 115 days after the landlord first raised a repair for the kitchen window.
19. The resident reported a further repair to the kitchen window on 1 February 2025. He said that the bottom of the frame had fallen off, leaving the glass unsupported. We understand that repairs are sometimes unsuccessful and further works are required. Positively, the landlord prioritised this as an emergency as it was a health and safety concern. It attended the same day and made the window safe in line with its policy. We have not investigated the landlord’s handling of follow-up repairs after this date. This is because the landlord issued its final response on 21 January 2025 and repairs were completed on 24 January 2025. The landlord has therefore not had the opportunity to respond to any concerns raised about its handling of follow-up repairs after 1 February 2025 through its complaints procedure.
20. In summary, the landlord took over 6 months to complete repairs to the bedroom window, and over 3 months to complete repairs to the kitchen window. Its communication was poor, and there was a lack of co-ordination and oversight over the repairs. This resulted in unacceptable delays, missed appointments and appointments where repairs could not be completed. The landlord offered compensation but this was not proportionate to the impact on the resident. There was therefore maladministration in the landlord’s handling of repairs to the windows. We have ordered the landlord to pay the resident an additional £170 to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused. This is in line with our remedies guidance where there was a failure by the landlord in the service it provided which adversely affected the resident, and its offer was not proportionate to the failings identified in our investigation.

Complaint handling

21. The landlord’s complaints policy sets out that it will:
    1. Acknowledge stage 1 and 2 complaints within 5 working days.
    2. Respond at stage 1 within 10 working days of the acknowledgement and at stage 2 within 20 working days of the acknowledgement.
    3. Request an extension to provide responses where needed. This would not exceed a further 10 working days at stage 1, or a further 20 working days at stage 2.
22. The policy complies with the Complaint Handling Code (the Code).
23. The landlord acknowledged the resident’s complaint after 3 working days on 3 December 2024, in line with its policy. It issued its stage 1 response on 31 December 2024, 18 working days after the acknowledgment. The landlord apologised and offered £50 compensation for the delay and inconvenience.
24. The landlord responded at stage 2 within the timescales set out in its policy. It acknowledged that a date had been incorrect in its stage 1 response and apologised appropriately.
25. In summary, the landlord acknowledged there were minor failings in its complaint handling. It offered compensation in line with our guidance for a minor service failure. This amounts to a finding of reasonable redress for the landlord’s complaint handling.

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.

Recommendations

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