GreenSquareAccord Limited (202401599)

Decision
Case ID	202401599
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	GreenSquareAccord Limited
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Secure Tenancy
Date	23 January 2026

Background

The resident lives with her brother and her 4 children in a 4-bedroom house owned by the landlord. The resident complained to the landlord about having no heating or hot water due to issues with her boiler. She also complained about a leak following the replacement of the boiler. She was dissatisfied with its response, so she asked us to investigate her complaint.

What the complaint is about

The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
1. The resident’s reports of no heating and hot water, and a subsequent leak.
2. The resident’s complaint.

Our decision (determination)

We found that the landlord offered redress to the resident prior to our investigation for its handling of:
1. The resident’s reports of no heating and hot water, and a subsequent leak.
2. The resident’s complaint.

Summary of reasons

Reports of no heating and hot water, and a subsequent leak

The landlord acknowledged and confirmed that it would address its failings. It offered appropriate compensation for these and also for the impact on the family of having no heating and no hot water for a period, and the impact of the leak.

Complaint handling

The landlord acknowledged its complaint-handling failings. It offered appropriate compensation and demonstrated that it would learn from this. It handled the resident’s complaint in accordance with its complaint policy.

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
5 September 2024	The resident reported she had no heating or hot water. The landlord attended the same day and ordered a part to complete the repair. It completed the repair on 16 September 2024 and left the boiler working.
25 September to 21 October 2024	The resident reported she had no heating or hot water on 25 September 2024. The landlord attended the same day and ordered further parts on 1 October. It fitted these on 14 October, but found a new boiler was required. A contractor installed a new boiler on 21 October.
24 October to 5 November 2024	The resident reported a leak coming through her living room ceiling, and she had no heating or hot water on 24 October 2024. The landlord attended the same day and found the leak originated from the heating pipes. The next day, the landlord stopped the leak “except for a slight drip.” It then completed a repair to the pipes on 5 November.
28 October 2024	The resident complained. She said the landlord had not registered 4 complaints she made in the past month. She advised her and her 4 children (2 of whom she said had additional needs) were impacted by the boiler issues. She said her kitchen floor was damaged by the leak, and she was paying additional energy costs to use her own temporary heaters.
18 November 2024	The landlord provided its stage 1 response. It upheld her complaint as it failed to update her about the repairs when she requested this on numerous occasions. It offered £977.50 compensation. This was for compensation for the days without heating and hot water (from October), costs for using temporary heaters, for damage to her flooring, for lack of contact and the distress and inconvenience caused.
3 December 2024	The resident escalated her complaint. She said the landlord should have compensated her for no heating and hot water in September. She was concerned with the time taken to complete the repairs and replacement of the boiler and felt the landlord misinformed her or did not update her, despite her chasing this. She said the compensation was not enough and detailed the impact on the health of her and her children. She said her kitchen, hallway and living room floor was damaged.
19 December 2024	The landlord apologised that it had not offered compensation for September. It also apologised for failing to log a complaint before 28 October 2024 and misinforming the resident about whether she could make a complaint. It offered further compensation of £566.50. This was for no heating or hot water in September, providing inaccurate information, additional costs for using temporary heaters and distress, inconvenience, time and trouble. It said it could consider the actual costs of replacing her flooring if she provided this information.
14 January 2025	After the resident provided quotes for replacing the flooring, the landlord confirmed it could not offer further compensation. It suggested she make a claim for this under her home contents insurance.
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident told us her family was inconvenienced by the boiler and pipe issue for 3 months. She wanted the landlord to offer further compensation for the impact caused and for it to replace her kitchen, living room and hallway flooring. The landlord and resident have both confirmed that all compensation offered has been paid to the resident.

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	Reports of no heating and hot water, and a subsequent leak
Finding	Reasonable redress

What we have not investigated

During a call on 15 January 2026, the resident told us about further issues with her front door in January 2025 and further issues with the boxing of pipes in her kitchen in October 2025. The resident has the opportunity to raise these issues as a formal complaint with the landlord. If she is dissatisfied with its final response, she can return to us and ask us to consider these issues as a new complaint.

What we have investigated

The resident complained that the amount of compensation offered by the landlord was not sufficient for the impact on the family for having no heating or hot water for a prolonged period of time.
The landlord offered compensation of £230 for no heating for 46 days, £105 for no hot water for 42 days and £414 for the cost of using temporary heaters for 46 days. The duration stated by the landlord was accurate. It confirmed in its stage 2 response that the awards made were in accordance with its compensation policy. This was also accurate, reflecting its compensation policy allowance of £5 per day for no heating, £2.50 per day for no hot water and £9 per day for the use of temporary heaters.
The landlord also appropriately reimbursed the resident for purchasing oil-filled radiators. It had asked her for receipts for the radiator costs prior to its stage 2 response. As she did not provide these by the time it responded, it took the average cost from an online shop, then reimbursed her £120. This was a reasonable approach, particularly as the resident had rejected the landlord’s own offer of temporary heaters.
Although the landlord found it was not at fault due to any action or inaction relating to the boiler and pipe issues, it offered compensation of £300 for the distress, inconvenience and time and trouble caused to the family. It said this was for the length of time the resident was without heating and hot water. The amount offered was in accordance with its compensation policy and our remedies guidance, where there is an adverse effect to the resident, but no permanent impact. This was also reasonable as the landlord had treated all reports from the resident as emergencies and attended in appropriate timescales, all in accordance with its repairs policy.
The landlord recognised it had failed to update the resident about the repairs despite her chasing this on several occasions. It offered compensation of £50, which was in accordance with its compensation policy in these circumstances. It also appropriately confirmed it would learn from this failure and take steps to stop it from reoccurring. It offered £25 each for 2 errors in its stage 1 response and for failing to pass on the resident’s feedback about a call. These amounts were appropriate as a gesture of goodwill in its compensation policy to recognise a failure.
The resident complained that her laminate flooring in her kitchen, hallway and living room was damaged by the leak from the boiler pipework. In its stage 1 response, the landlord offered £200 compensation for the damage. This offer was reasonable as there is no evidence that it was at fault due to any action or inaction relating to the leak and stopped the leak the following day, permanently fixing it 10 days later.
In its stage 2 response, the landlord acknowledged it could have enquired about the actual costs to replace the flooring. It offered the resident the opportunity to provide this information. The landlord rejected the resident’s request when she provided quotes in January 2025. It explained she should have home contents insurance, and she should claim for her flooring.
Although it may have been helpful for the landlord to have shared this information earlier, the information was accurate and in accordance with the tenancy agreement, which strongly advises home contents insurance. It also states that in the case of a flood (or other loss), the resident is responsible for the cost of the replacement should they have no insurance.
In summary, the landlord offered a proportionate amount of compensation to the resident to recognise its failures but also the impact on the resident and her family, despite it completing all repairs in accordance with its repairs policy. The amount of compensation offered was in accordance with its compensation policy, and it appropriately directed the resident to contents insurance for damage to her flooring.

Complaint	Complaint handling.
Finding	Reasonable redress

In its stage 2 response, the landlord acknowledged it had not acted in accordance with its complaints policy. It apologised for failing to raise the resident’s complaint prior to 28 October 2024, and for misinforming her about whether she could make a complaint. The landlord offered compensation of £25 for each issue, £50 in total, which was in line with its compensation policy for the inconvenience caused. It appropriately confirmed how it would learn from the issues to ensure it did not repeat them.
The landlord acknowledged and replied to the resident’s complaint of 28 October 2024 and escalation of 3 December 2024 in accordance with the timescales in its complaints policy and our Complaint Handling Code as follows:
1. The landlord acknowledged the resident’s complaint within 5 working days. It provided its stage 1 response on 18 November 2024. It extended the timescale to respond on 13 November 2024 in agreement with the resident and due to the complexity of the case. Its extension confirmation and response were both within 10 working days.
2. The landlord acknowledged the resident’s escalation within 5 working days. It provided its stage 2 response on 19 December 2024 within 20 working days.

Learning

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

The landlord maintained appropriate records that supported our investigation into the complaint, which helped us understand events that had taken place.

Communication

The landlord failed to update the resident on outstanding repairs, and before accepting her complaint, failed to register her concerns. The landlord has recognised these failings and has provided assurances that it seeks to improve on this in future. Had the landlord provided more informative communication at the time of the complaint, it could have reassured the resident that it was taking the matter seriously.