One Housing Group Limited (202405347)

Decision
Case ID	202405347
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	One Housing Group Limited
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Shared Ownership
Date	30 March 2026

Background

The resident lives in a block of flats served by a communal hot water and heating system. The resident and his neighbours reported several heating and hot water outages in November and December 2023 to the landlord. He also complained a leak on 16 December 2023 caused damage to his belongings. The landlord took several steps to resolve the issues, signposted the resident to his contents insurance for his damaged belongings, and completed repairs before March 2024. The landlord told us this system was aging, complex, and had further issues later that year.

What the complaint is about

This complaint is about the landlord’s response to the resident’s:
1. Reports of heating and hot water loss.
2. Complaint.

Our decision (determination)

We have found there was:
1. Maladministration with the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of heating and hot water loss.
2. No maladministration with the landlord’s response to the resident’s complaint.

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

Summary of reasons

Reports of hot water and heating loss

The landlord’s record keeping was poor which meant we could not always tell what actions it took to resolve this issue. It did not provide evidence explaining its delay in completing a lasting repair. Its evidence did not show it offered the resident a dehumidifier or temporary heater to mitigate the impact during winter. Its advice for the resident to claim on his contents insurance for damaged items was reasonable, however it should have considered to remedy the resident for the distress and inconvenience experienced. It apologised for the impact on the resident and promised compensation but we have not seen evidence it offered any.

Complaint handling

The landlord responded at stage 1 and stage 2 within its policy timeframes which were in line with our Complaint Handling Code (our Code). We could not see whether it acknowledged the resident’s complaint and escalation within its timeframes due to its poor records. However, we have not seen this caused detriment to the resident or significantly impacted the outcome of the complaint.

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 27 April 2026
2	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £500 to recognise the distress and inconvenience to the resident caused by its failures in handling of the heating and hot water outages. 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 27 April 2026

Order

What the landlord must do

Due date

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

27 April 2026

Compensation order

The landlord must pay the resident £500 to recognise the distress and inconvenience to the resident caused by its failures in handling of the heating and hot water outages.

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

27 April 2026

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
1 February 2024	The resident complained to the landlord he had no heating and hot water for 25 days in November and December 2023 due to the landlord’s incomplete repairs. He asked the landlord to compensate him for damage to his carpets and book cabinet, and distress and inconvenience caused by the outages and a leak.
15 February 2024	The landlord issued its stage 1 response. It apologised for the distress and inconvenience caused and acknowledged some outages. It said it had completed some repair works and offered dehumidifiers to residents. It directed the resident to claim for damaged items on his contents insurance as they were not covered by the freeholder’s buildings insurance. It said it would calculate compensation once it completed the repair.
17 February 2024	The resident said many neighbours had reported repairs to the landlord before the leak, but it had not repaired the system. He said the landlord’s email was unclear, so he shared a dehumidifier with neighbours. He asked when it would complete the repair.
18 March 2024	The landlord issued its stage 2 response. It said it had now completed the pipework repair to the resident’s block. It said when it completed all repairs in another affected block it would calculate compensation to include distress and inconvenience. It reiterated residents should have contents insurance, and he would need to claim for his items on that.
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident asked us to investigate on 9 May 2024 as he was unhappy the landlord had not provided compensation. He also said he was unsure if it had completed the repair works.

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	The landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of heating and hot water loss.
Finding	Maladministration

The landlords repairs policy says it will make emergency repairs safe within 12 hours, including a lack of heating and hot water. We considered all related repair reports from the block during this time because of the communal nature of the repairs. On 12 November 2023the resident’s neighbour first reported they had no heating or hot water. The landlord appropriately attended the same daywhich showed it was initially responsive.Due to the landlord having unclear records, we are unsure when it restored the block’s heating and hot water in November 2023.
The landlord unreasonably showed further examples of poor record keeping. Due to this it is often unclear what actions it completed when. For example, its records do not show:
1. If it raised an urgent contactor visit it promised residents on 16 November 2023.
2. If 8 further repair visits resolved airlocks in resident’s pipes and restored heating and hot water. It has told us these airlocks were linked to the initial outage.
3. If it completed a temporary pipe repair after a leak on 16 December 2023, despite it mentioning it did this in its complaint response.
4. If it completed a pump check it planned for 18 December 2023.
5. If it turned down the pump to a lower pressure on 20 December 2023 as it planned to after it found faulty gauges and valves caused over pressurising.
It is important landlords keep clear records and make sure its contractors provide complete feedback. Accurate records are important as they allow a landlord to evidence the actions it has taken and help it to monitor ongoing complex repairs. In this case, its poor record keeping hindered its ability to do so.
The landlord showed examples of poor communications with its resident. For example, we did not see any clear communication to the resident about its repair plans after 16 December 2026 and specifically during its active repair works in early 2024. Clear communication is important as it keeps residents updated and manages their expectations. In this instance, a lack of communication contributed to the resident’s frustration.
The landlord did take positive and proactive steps to resolve this repair. It promptly arranged many repair appointments which we were able to evidence including different specialist contractors as needed. It replaced some risers and valves between 12 and 14 December 2023 after the initial repair was reported. After the leak on 16 December 2023, it repaired some pumps on 2 January 2024 and completed pipework repairs before March 2023.
There were no new outages reported after March 2024 until August 2024 indicating this repair held for a time. The landlord explained it cannot guarantee a lasting repair due to the age and complexity of the heating and hot water system. We also cannot say whether the August 2024 reports were related to the same repair issues subject matter of this investigation. Therefore, in this case we accepted it completed this type of the heating system repair in March and appropriately advised in its stage 2 response the repair had been completed.
In summary, the landlord delayed completing a final repair to these issues until March 2024, 4 months after the block first reported outages. This is outside its repair timescales. The landlord’s record keeping was not sufficient to clearly demonstrate that there was any reason for it to not complete the repair within its policy timeframes as such these delays were unreasonable.
The landlord said in its stage 1 response it offered dehumidifiers to residents on 16 December 2023. Its message that day it asked residents to contact it but did not specifically mention dehumidifiers. The resident told the landlord in his escalation this was unclear and he had to share one with his neighbour. The landlord unreasonably did not respond to this in its final response. The landlord internally recorded it dropped off temporary heaters to some residents but did not keep a record of whom. We have not seen evidence the landlord did enough to mitigate the impact of the outages and leak on the resident. This is unreasonable especially considering the outages occurred during winter.
The resident asked the landlord to compensate him for his bookcase and carpet that were damaged by the leak. The landlord appropriately explained these were not covered under the freeholder’s buildings insurance. The resident said he did not wish to claim on his contents insurance as the landlord was liable. It is not our role to determine liability for the leak or speculate if the leak was preventable. It was reasonable for the landlord to direct the resident to claim on his contents insurance as this was an appropriate route for the resident to achieve compensation for these items. It was then the resident’s choice whether to make the claim. It would have been appropriate for the landlord to provide details of its liability insurer, given the resident questions its liability.
The resident told the landlord he was without hot water and heating for 25 days in November and December 2025. The landlord did not dispute these intermittent outages prior to its repair. The resident’s statement was mostly supported by his and neighbours documented reports to the landlord, and planned outages. He said these outages caused him considerable distress and inconvenience during winter.The landlord appropriately apologised for the impact the outages had on the resident and said it would offer compensation. However, it did not follow up on this.
The landlord told us it intended to do this via insurance but has not provided evidence of this. Confusingly, when it explained what the building insurance covered in its complaint response, this did not include distress and inconvenience or impacts other than damage to the building. It has not provided evidence it, or its insurer, offered the resident compensation to put things right. Landlords should follow through on their commitments.
We ordered the landlord to pay £500 in compensation to remedy the impact on the resident of the outages, its delays, lack of mitigation, and its communication issues. This is within the range between £100 and £600 for maladministration in our remedies guidance for cases where the landlord has acknowledged some failures which adversely impacted the resident but failed to put things right.

Complaint	The handling of the complaint
Finding	No maladministration

The landlord’s complaints policy says it will respond within 10 working days at stage 1 and at stage 2 within 20 working days. It responded exactly within the timeframes set out in its policy.
The landlord’s complaints policy says it will acknowledge a complaint and escalation within 3 working days. The copies the landlord sent of its stage 1 and escalation acknowledgements are both dated 2 December 2024, 9 months after its complaints process ended. We have assumed this is a system error. While the landlord likely acknowledged each stage before responding, we have not been able to validate what timeframe it did this in. However, it responded at both stages within its overall response timeframes. Therefore, this did not cause significant detriment to the resident or affect the overall outcome of this complaint, and we consider this does not amount to a service failure.

Learning

In this case the landlord could not evidence it offered the compensation offered in its complaint responses. It should make sure to follow through on its commitments.

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

The landlord should keep clear records. This will enable it to keep track of its repairs and communications, respond effectively, and evidence its actions.

Communication

The landlord should proactively communicate with its residents, especially during complex or delayed repairs.