Stonewater Limited (202338402)

5Decision
Case ID	202338402
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	Stonewater Limited
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Leaseholder
Date	17 December 2025

Background

1. The resident lives in a flat set within a complex of flats and houses. The resident pays variable service charges. In June 2023, he raised concerns about communal electricity costs. He said the charges rose far above normal increases in energy prices. He was also unhappy with the landlord’s repair and upkeep service.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s:
   1. Method and approach to billing for electricity.
   2. Changes to the window cleaning service.
   3. Handling of the resident’s concerns about the apportionment of communal electricity charges.    
   4. The landlord’s handling of the repairs to the security gate
   5. Complaint handling.

Our decision (determination)

3. We found:
   1. No maladministration in the landlord’s method and approach to billing for electricity.
   2. That the landlord offered a reasonable level of redress in recognition of the changes to the window cleaning service.
   3. Maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the repairs to the security gate.
   4. Maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the complaint about the apportionment of communal electricity charges.
   5. Service failure in the landlord’s complaint handling.

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

Summary of reasons

The landlord’s method and approach to billing for electricity

4. The lease allows the landlord to estimate charges before the financial year and to reconcile the account once the year has ended. Therefore, the landlord was entitled to estimate the cost of electricity and reconcile it at the end of the financial year following a meter reading.  

Changes to the window cleaning service

5. The lease allows the landlord to change the service provided. The landlord recognised that, in the interests of good estate management, it should have communicated this to the resident. It offered sufficient redress and identified learning from the complaint.

The complaint about the apportionment of communal electricity charges

6. We are not satisfied that the landlord appropriately explained why only 8 properties would be charged for the communal electricity.

Repairs to the security gate

7. The landlord failed to keep the gate in a reasonable state of repair. It was continuously out of service for months at a time, and its repairs were neither effective nor long-lasting.

The landlord’s complaint handling

8. The landlord failed to respond to all aspects of the complaint. It failed to respond within the timeframe set in its policy.

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 16 January 2026
2	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £550 to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by its failures, comprising: £250 for its failure in repairing the security gate. £200 for its handling of the resident’s concerns about the apportionment of communal electricity and repairs.  £100 for the failure in its complaint handing. The landlord may deduct the £25 offered at stage 1 if it has paid this already.  This must be paid directly to the resident by the due date. The landlord is entitled to deduct any money already paid to the resident under this complaint. It must provide us with documentary evidence of payment by the due date.	No later than 16 January 2026
3	Inspection and repair of the gate  The landlord must take all reasonable steps to: Arrange for a qualified person to inspect the gate and produce a written report summarising the scope of works for an effective, long-lasting repair. It must share the report with the Service. Within a further 2 weeks, the landlord must complete all work, which will be signed off on completion by the qualified person. The landlord must take all steps to ensure the work is completed promptly and in any event by the due date. If the landlord cannot complete the works within this time, it must explain to us, by the due date, why it cannot complete the works and provide evidence to support its reasons. It must provide a revised timescale if it is able to or explain why it cannot. Within a further week, it must write to all residents explaining the work done, including any warranty or arrangements to ensure value for money.	No later than 16 January 2026
4	Review of the apportionment of communal electricity and repairs The landlord must take all reasonable steps to arrange for a suitably qualified person to inspect the estate and determine who has access to the common areas. This is to confirm who should be liable to pay a share of the communal utilities and services, like the electricity, gate usage / repairs, and lighting. The landlord should share this report with us. Within 4 weeks of it being produced, it should then review the resident’s service charges for the last six years to establish whether he has been overpaying and therefore, whether there is any money owed to him. It must provide the resident and this service with a breakdown of any adjustments to the account.	No later than 16 January 2026

 

Recommendations

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

Our recommendations
If not already done, the landlord should pay the £150 compensation offered in its final response for failing to communicate the change to the window cleaning service.

 

 

 

 

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
21 September 2023	In his stage 1 complaint, the resident said:  The landlord estimated the annual communal electricity cost at £3,251.52, up from £573.12 the previous year. He asked the landlord to confirm how frequently meter readings were taken. The communal costs were not being divided among all residents of the estate. The security gate was out of service and needed to be repaired.  The window cleaners were no longer cleaning the windows of individual flats.
2 November 2023	In its stage 1 response, the landlord said: The cost of delivering services had risen significantly, largely driven by the rise in energy costs. It set service charges based on its forecast of the cost of providing the services. It said this was a legally compliant method. Only properties that enjoy access to communal areas and services contribute towards the costs of maintaining and providing those services. It was aware of the resident’s concerns regarding the security gate and was assessing the best course of action to take. It would have sent a letter to all residents about the change in the window cleaning service. It was sorry if the resident had not received his. It apologised for the delays in responding to the resident’s queries in the weeks leading up to the formal complaint. It offered £25 in compensation.
7 November 2023	In his escalation, the resident questioned why the landlord had not provided him with the communal electricity costs to date. He said he was not prepared to wait until September 2024 when the end-of-year accounts were reconciled. He also said HAll units on the estate should pay a portion of the communal charges. The gates had been out of service for some time and needed urgent fixing. The landlord had sent a letter on 2 March 2023 advising of its new cleaning contractor. It did not specify a difference in service. He rejected the compensation as he remained dissatisfied with the outcome of the complaint.
12 December 2023	In its final response letter, the landlord said: It had provided the electricity invoices to the resident and would do so again once the account for the current year had been reconciled. It was working on scheduling a gate specialist to inspect the gate. It appreciated the resident’s continued patience. Communal costs were confined to properties with access to the communal area. It apologised for its lack of communication regarding changing the window cleaning service. It offered an additional £150 on top of the £25 already offered in stage 1.
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s response. To resolve the complaint, he would like the landlord to: Reduce the estimated charges for communal electricity. Apportion some of the electricity costs to all properties for the electricity consumed by the electric gate and lighting in the car park. Fit a smart meter or read the meter more frequently. Reinstate the external window service to all properties. Carry out an effective and long-lasting repair to the gate.

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 on whether the landlord is responsible for maladministration.

Complaint	The landlord’s method and approach to billing for electricity
Finding	No maladministration

What we have not considered 

9. Part of the resident’s complaint was that the landlord’s estimated electricity charges were too high and consequently required residents to pay an unreasonably high amount in advance. He said he would like the landlord to reduce the estimated cost.
10. However, the reasonableness of the estimated charges is outside of the scope of this investigation. This is because this is a matter that would be more appropriately considered by the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) or the court, which can consider the general reasonableness of costs and accounting methods. Should the resident wish to pursue this element of the complaint, he may want to seek independent legal advice.

What we have considered

11. The resident’s lease says the landlord will estimate the service cost for the next accounting year and notify the leaseholder of the estimate before the accounting year begins. The landlord will inform the leaseholder at the end of each accounting year of the difference between the estimated and actual service cost, and the corresponding difference between the estimated and actual service charge.
12. The resident was dissatisfied that the landlord read the meter biannually, which meant his electricity charges were based on estimates and not the actual readings. In its 12 December 2023 final response letter, the landlord explained that it was entitled to set the service charges based on its estimate. It also said that it would consider installing smart meters in the future.
13. According to the terms of the lease, the landlord was not obliged to read the meter more frequently. As such, we are unable to see that the landlord acted unfairly or contrary to how it had agreed to. There was no maladministration.

Complaint	Changes to the window cleaning service
Finding	Reasonable redress

14. In March 2023, the landlord told the resident about a new contractor starting in April 2023. The resident said the landlord failed to inform residents that the service level would change. The new contractor cleaned only communal windows, unlike the previous contractor, who cleaned all windows.
15. The lease says the landlord may change services and how they are delivered for good estate management. The landlord was within its rights to amend the service if the decision was reasonable. Good estate management is not defined but it would have been fair to consult residents before deciding. The landlord could not show that it did so.
16. In its final response, the landlord admitted its communication fell short of its standard. It offered £150 compensation for this part of the complaint. It also said it was improving its service and sharing updates through its online portal. These steps were fair and in our view, resolved this issue reasonably.

Complaint	The complaint about the apportionment of communal electricity.
Finding	Maladministration

17. The resident’s building is in a gated complex with eight flats and six houses. The entrance leads to a communal car park and access to all homes. The block of flats has a rear door leading to a communal garden, while the houses have private gardens.
18. The resident’s lease is prescriptive. It says:
    1. Estate common parts provided for the common use of the estate residents, including lighting, bin stores, grounds, drives and security gates.
    2. The building’s common parts are areas for the exclusive use of the block’s residents, including the communal garden, but excluding estate common parts.
    3. The resident must pay a reasonable proportion of the service cost in the opinion of the landlord.
19. Before raising his formal complaint, the resident requested a face-to-face meeting with the landlord at the property to discuss the appropriateness of estate costs, especially regarding the electricity supply to the gate and communal lighting. The landlord replied on 16 June 2023, stating that it was unable to meet in person but would send its surveyor to inspect the estate. It said it would inform the resident of the findings within two weeks. This was reasonable.
20. However, the resident did not hear back and followed up with the landlord for an update. The landlord responded on 25 September 2025, stating that the surveyor had attended, but the landlord was “not privy to the outcome”. It did not provide a reason, leading the resident to raise a formal complaint. In its response to the complaint, the landlord reiterated its previous explanation that estate costs were allocated among those properties that benefit from the communal areas. It did not explain why the neighbouring properties were excluded from this. 
21. On review of the evidence, we are also unclear why other residents would not contribute to the costs in dispute. The estate is enclosed and only accessible via the communal gate. All properties benefit from this secure, operational gate and well-lit grounds. It therefore appears unfair that the cost of maintaining and operating these installations are only being recouped from the residents of the 8 flats.
22. We have ordered the landlord to appoint a suitably qualified person to inspect the estate to establish who has access and the residents that benefit from the installations supplied by the electricity. This is to confirm who should be liable to pay a share of the communal utilities and services, such as the electricity, gate usage / repairs, and lighting.
23. We have also ordered compensation under our remedies guidance for a situation where the landlord failed to acknowledge its failings, which had adversely affected the resident who has put his time, trouble, and inconvenience of bringing his complaint to the Service for investigation. Had the landlord reviewed and shared the findings of its surveyor, this may have brought earlier resolution. 

Complaint	The repairs to the security gate
Finding	Maladministration

24. The lease says the landlord must maintain facilities to a reasonable standard.
25. The landlord’s records show the gate was stuck open in July 2021. It took four months to raise the repair in November 2021. Operatives replaced the foundation box, but the fix was short-lived. The landlord recalled the job in January and February 2022.
26. The gate failed again in July 2022. The landlord sent a surveyor in August 2022, who recommended repairs for a lasting solution. The manual override and foundation box were replaced again in October 2022. There is no evidence to explain why the box needed replacing again, or why it took three months to do so.
27. In 2023, failures were less frequent but still occurred in April, August, and September. It broke again in October 2023 and stayed out of service for seven months until May 2024. The landlord replaced the manual override again. Records show further failures in 2024 and early 2025. The resident raised concerns about the recurring cost of repairing the gate, which he said was completely replaced in 2017. There is no evidence that the landlord investigated why the same parts failed repeatedly. There is also no evidence that it addressed this part of the complaint.
28. Overall, the gate failed roughly nine times each year and was often out of service for months. This was not a reasonable standard of repairs and constituted maladministration. We instructed the landlord to repair the gate, ensuring it is a durable and effective fix. Regarding the repair costs, we noted that some charges were attributed to residents of the flats rather than all residents who benefit from the gates. We also directed the landlord to review the residents’ accounts retrospectively and take appropriate action, as explained above.
29. Finally, we also ordered £200 compensation under our remedies guidance. This amount reflects distress and inconvenience caused by chasing repairs and the lack of a lasting solution.

Complaint	The handling of the complaint
Finding	Maladministration

30. The resident waited from June to September 2023 for the surveyor’s report. He complained when the landlord failed to provide this. The landlord did not address this issue at stage 1 or stage 2, despite the resident’s requests. The landlord failed to follow the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code, which requires landlords to address all points.
31. The resident raised his complaint on 21 September 2023. Against its target of responding to the complaint within 10 working days, the landlord responded 31 working days later on 2 November 2023. That was a service failure.
32. The landlord offered £25 for its complaint handling failure, which was insufficient to fully put things right.  We have subsequently ordered an additional £75 compensation. The landlord has since updated its policy to align with our code from April 2024, so no further review is needed.

Learning

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

33. It is not clear why the landlord was unable to retrieve the surveyor’s report. The landlord may wish to review its record-keeping approach to avoid future issues.