Soha Housing Limited (202422883)

Background

1. The resident lives in a house owned by the landlord. She complained about the time it took to arrange repairs and alternative facilities after she reported the only toilet in the property was not working.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s repair request for the toilet.

Our decision (determination)

3. There was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s repair request for the toilet.

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

Reasons

4. The landlord’s repairs policy confirms it has responsibility to ensure that installations for the supply of sanitation are in good working order. The policy does not specify how quickly it will respond to repair requests. However, it says it will make an out of hours service available for emergency repairs and prioritise repairs according to the urgency of the work.
5. The resident first told the landlord on the morning of 29 July 2024 that the toilet was not flushing and water was backing up. The landlord said in its response to her complaint that it categorised this as an emergency repair which needed to be attended within 4 hours. From the records its operative attended around an hour after the repair request. This was in line with its repair policy to prioritise repairs based on urgency.
6. From the available records of the landlord’s attendance on the morning of 29 July 2024 it stated the blockage was due to a build-up of limescale and it replaced the toilet pan. It recorded the work was complete and it checked the toilet was working before leaving. We are aware the resident disputes this, however we have not seen there is evidence available which challenges its account of events.
7. The resident contacted the landlord again on the afternoon of 29 July 2024 that the toilet was still not flushing and a leak had developed on her kitchen ceiling from the water backing up. It attended again within 4 hours and identified a blockage within the stack pipe which it would not be able to fix that day.
8. We recognise that landlords may not be able to fully resolve an emergency repair on the same day a resident reports it. However, in that situation we expect it to make safe any hazards, such as inadequate sanitation and drainage. The landlord told the resident it would provide her with a portable toilet that evening and would arrange a further appointment for 30 July 2024. Though there are records it began the process of requesting a portable toilet that evening, it said it could not source this out of hours.It did not update the resident about this until after she complained. This was not in line with its policy to provide an out of hours service for emergency repairs, its lack of communication is likely to have added to her distress.
9. The resident understood the landlord would provide the portable toilet when it was due to reattend at 3pm on 30 July 2024 and it would be placed in the garden of the property. From the records it delivered the portable toilet around 1pm but this was left outside the boundary of the property, there is no record it informed the resident of this. After the repairs on 30 July 2024 were not successful it moved the portable toilet into the garden, which she confirmed in an email that evening. As such the property was without any working toilet for around 24 hours, following her reporting on the afternoon of 29 July 2024 that the problem was ongoing. Though the original positioning of the portable toilet outside of the property boundary may not have significantly contributed to this delay the lack of communication was likely to have added to her distress.
10. After 30 July 2024 the landlord carried out further repairs to the stack pipe. Both parties agree that the toilet for the property was in working order from 6 August 2024, 6 working days after it had provided alternative sanitation facilities. It also completed further works to box in the new pipework on 19 August 2024, 16 working days after the repair issue was first reported. These timescales were consistent with its repair policy of prioritising repairs based on the urgency and nature of the work.
11. However, the resident told the landlord during this time that its contractors did not effectively communicate with her about what work was being completed and attended without notice on several occasions. Its repair policy says it should offer residents convenient appointment times after they report a repair. There are no records it gave the resident notice of the repairs following 30 July 2024, which is not in line with its policy and likely added to her inconvenience.
12. We have also not seen that the landlord fully addressed the resident’s report about damage to the kitchen ceiling because of the blockage. On 6 August 2024 the landlord asked her for further information about the issue and whether the leak was ongoing. She confirmed on the same day there had been no further leaks after the stack pipe was disconnected but said there was a hole in the kitchen ceiling. We have seen no evidence of how it responded to this repair issue at the time, which is a records management failing.
13. The landlord’s final response of 28 August 2024 apologised for the resident’s inconvenience and for its miscommunication around the delivery of the portable toilet but said it was a complex repair it responded to as quickly as possible. Compared to our findings and guidance on remedies we consider there are minor failures in the service provided which it has not acknowledged or fully put right.

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.