City of Westminster Council (202409414)

Decision
Case ID	202409414
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	City of Westminster Council
Landlord type	Local Authority / ALMO or TMO
Occupancy	Secure Tenancy
Date	29 January 2026

Background

The resident lives in a studio flat. He made several reports to the landlord about repairs to his bedroom, bathroom and kitchen. He complained the landlord made appointments, but did not attend, and he had to chase up on the repairs over a one-year period. The resident is also vulnerable due to his sight impairment, which the landlord is aware of.

What the complaint is about

The complaint is about the landlord’s handing of:

a. Repairs to the resident’s bedroom, bathroom and kitchen.

b. The associated complaint.

Our decision (determination)

There was maladministration in the handling of the repairs to the resident’s bedroom, bathroom and kitchen.
There was a service failure 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 repairs to the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen.

The landlord failed to complete repairs in a reasonable timeframe. The resident’s representative contacted the landlord in July 2023 for several different jobs but there were numerous delays and cancelled jobs. The landlord recorded the final repair as completed in July 2024 a year later, but the resident says it is incomplete. The landlord acknowledged the delay and offered compensation, but it was not proportionate.

Complaint handling

There were no acknowledgement of both stage 1 and 2 complaints. The landlord delayed sending both its responses. It also did not follow through on the actions from stage 1. The landlord offered compensation for the delays in both responses, but it was not proportionate.

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 specific to the failures identified in this decision, meaningful and empathetic It has due regard to our apologies guidance	No later than 26 February 2026
2	Compensation Order The landlord must pay the resident a total of £650 compensation as follows: £550 for the distress and inconvenience, time and trouble caused by the delays in handling of the repairs to the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen. £100 for the inconvenience caused by its service failure in its complaint handling. The above compensation is inclusive of what the landlord has already offered. The landlord may deduct from the total figure any payments it has already made. This must be paid directly to the resident by the due date. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date.	No later than 26 February 2026
3	The landlord must contact the resident to arrange an inspection. It must take all reasonable steps to ensure the inspection is completed by the due date. The inspection must be completed by a suitably qualified person. If the landlord cannot gain access to complete the inspection, it must provide us with documentary evidence of its attempts to inspect the property no later than the due date. What the inspection must achieve The landlord must ensure that the surveyor: Inspects the kitchen and confirm if an extractor fan or additional ventilation is needed and produces a written report with photographs. The survey report must set out: Whether the landlord is responsible to repair or resolve any issues identified together with reasons where it is not responsible. A full scope of works to achieve a lasting and effective repair to the issue (if the landlord is responsible) The likely timescales to commence and complete the work	No later than 26 February 2026

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
10 July 2023	The resident appointed a representative, Shelter, and contacted the landlord about repairs to the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen.
23 October 2023	The resident’s representative raised a stage 1 complaint about the delays in the repairs to his bedroom, bathroom and kitchen. The resident would like compensation for the length of time the issue has gone on for, and for the distress and inconvenience caused.
13 December 2023	The landlord issued its stage 1 response, which included the following: it confirmed it received contact from the representative about the delays to the repairs it confirmed that an asbestos survey is required in the kitchen to commence works it confirmed several appointments were made but did not go ahead and apologised for this. It rearranged further appointments for these. upheld the complaint and offered £300 compensation. £20 of this was for the service failure in the delay in providing a stage 1 response.
14 March 2024	The resident escalated his complaint to stage 2 as he remained unhappy that the landlord had still not completed the repairs.
7 May 2025	The landlord issued its stage 2 response, which included the following: it confirmed there were delays with the repairs but also confirmed that it completed most of the repairs it confirmed that a surveyor attended on 9 January 2024 to inspect the remaining works it confirmed a follow up appointment on 9 May 2024 to inspect the works that the contractors completed it confirmed that the kitchen repairs had now been cancelled as it was being considered for a full replacement due to the number of works that needed to be completed It upheld the complaint and offered £490 compensation, made up of: £40 for the delays in the responses to stage 1 and 2 complaints £50 for missed appointments £400 for the time and trouble in pursuing this complaint and for the inconveniences caused by the delay with the repairs
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident remained unhappy and asked us to investigate as at that time; the repair job was still outstanding. He was unhappy with the continuous delays and missed appointments and wanted the repairs completed.

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	Repairs to the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen
Finding	Maladministration

What we did not investigate

The resident has raised further issues regarding an extractor fan that was meant to be fitted to the bathroom, but there is no evidence on file to say the bathroom extractor fan was part of the repair work or the complaint itself. This will be a separate complaint point, and the resident will need to raise this with the landlord as it has not exhausted the landlord’s complaint process. We may not investigate complaints which the landlord has not had the chance to put right first. Therefore, we have not investigated this issue.

What we did investigate

The tenant handbook shows what repairs the landlord is responsible for and this states that the landlord has a legal duty to carry out certain works and it provides a breakdown of these works. It shows that non-urgent or routine repair works have a timeframe of 28 working days. The landlord did not complete any of these works within this timeframe. The landlord needs to ensure works are complied with, within its own policy timeframes or the resident is informed if there are delays.
On 10 July 2023, the resident contacted the landlord through a representative, about several repairs that needed repairing, as he needed help with raising the complaint due to his vulnerabilities. From the landlord’s reports, it is evident it was aware of the resident’s vulnerabilities in terms of his visual impairment.
The repairs issues raised included the following:
1. Repairs to the bedroom – wallpaper needed replacing, textured ceiling and woodwork and glass panes. From the reports on file the landlord confirmed these were due to a leak from the above flats.
2. Repairs to the bathroom – Draught seals and decoration (painting).
3. Repairs to the kitchen – multiple issues raised for the kitchen and appointments made to repair the issues. A later survey on 9 January 2024 identified that the kitchen will be considered for a full replacement and cancelled all the jobs raised for the kitchen.
It is unclear from the repair reports or any of the evidence on file as to exactly when the landlord raised the repair jobs after the resident contacted the landlord in July 2023.
From the repair reports, the landlord completed the bedroom and bathroom works on 19 April 2024, approximately 9 months after the resident requested the repairs. This is not in line with the landlord’s repair policy of 28 days for routine repairs. This extended period of delay caused him distress and inconvenience. This was aggravated by the fact the landlord repeatedly assured the resident that it would arrange the repairs, but then did not do so in a timely manner.
The landlord acknowledged in its stage 2 response in May 2024 that there was a delay with the contractors. It confirmed that most of the works were completed apart from the kitchen repairs, which it stated was under review for a full replacement.
Upon review of the internal emails and jobs raised, we have seen that a full replacement kitchen job raised on 21 May 2024. These works were completed on 29 July 2024. There is no evidence on file to confirm if this falls in line with the landlord’s policy, and usually these types of major works would fall under a planned repair category which would take longer than the routine repair timescales and some inconvenience is expected from this.
Although the landlord confirmed with the resident that the kitchen was under review for a full replacement, it did not keep the resident up to date with the progress of this and how long the works would take, which goes against its own policies. The landlord is reminded to keep residents up to date with any planned works and to mitigate the impact on residents.
However, the resident disputes that the work has been competed, as he states that the landlord did not install an extractor fan in the kitchen. It is evident from the landlord’s inspection on10 July 2024, it confirmed that an extractor fan will be fitted as part of the kitchen refurbishment. There is no evidence to suggest that this took place and therefore remains outstanding. The landlord needs to ensure that all agreed works are complied with as scheduled.
The landlord offered a total of £490 compensation. £450 of this was for the delays in the repairs, missed appointments, and the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident for all the repair works, but this was not proportionate as the repairs took over a year to complete which caused distress and inconvenience to a vulnerable resident over this prolonged period of time.
The landlord is therefore, ordered to apologise and pay a total of £550 for the delays for all of the repairs being completed, as this should be classed as maladministration to recognise the distress and inconvenience the resident experienced over a prolonged period of time, and the time and trouble he took to pursue the issue through a representative, and for waiting for further surveyors to visit his property and for the missed appointments.
The compensation also considers the resident’s vulnerabilities as the landlord should’ve done more to ensure the issues raised were followed through in a timelier manner for a vulnerable resident and the landlord should’ve done more to mitigate the impact on the resident. This sum is in line with our remedies guidance.

Complaint	The handling of the complaint
Finding	Service failure

The landlord has a 2-stage complaints process in line with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code). The landlord’s complaints policy says that complaint acknowledgements will be issued within 5 working days, a stage 1 response will be issued within 10 working days, and a stage 2 response will be issued within 20 working days.
The landlord did not comply with its own complaint policy or the Code as there were no acknowledgments to either the stage 1 or 2 complaints. The stage 1 and 2 responses were both sent late, 37 and 38 working days after his respective complaints. The landlord did not advise the resident that it would need an extension, which goes against its own policies. These were significant delays, which caused further inconvenience to the resident. The landlord must ensure it follows its policy and the Code.
The landlord apologised for the delays in the responses but did not acknowledge that it did not send any complaint acknowledgments to the resident and did not fully address the issues or explain why appointments were missed. It offered £40 compensation in total for the service failures over both stages, which is not proportionate or reasonable to put things right in line with our remedies guidance. Therefore, the landlord must pay £100 compensation for its complaint handling failure.

Learning

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

The landlord’s record keeping was not clear, and the internal notes/emails suggested that there was confusion on what jobs needed completing and when and if the landlord completed the jobs or not. This is probably why the landlord missed appointments on more than one occasion. The landlord needs to keep full, accurate, sufficiently detailed, and accessible records and act upon reports from contractors in a timely manner.

Communication

The landlord’s communication with the resident about the repair was poor. It did not provide timely updates, and it did not attend numerous appointments. The resident had to chase progress and make a complaint before the landlord completed the repairs.
The landlord did not acknowledge the stage 1 and 2 complaints to the resident. There were also significant delays in providing both stage 1 and 2 complaint responses, which aggravated matters. The landlord needs to ensure it adheres to its own complaint policy and the Ombudsman’s Code.