Notting Hill Genesis (202305960)

Decision
Case ID	202305960
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	Notting Hill Genesis
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Assured Tenancy
Date	27 February 2026

Background

The resident lives in a 2-bedroom house with her son who was under 5 years old at the time of the resident’s complaint. She moved through a mutual exchange in 2021. The landlord has recorded vulnerabilities for the resident as she had fled domestic violence. It was also aware during the complaints process that the resident’s son has vulnerabilities. The resident reported repair issues to the bathroom including discoloured water from the taps from February 2023. She reported leaks from 15 April 2023 from the boiler and bathroom pipework that caused damage to the bathroom and kitchen floor, living room and kitchen walls and ceiling and her sofas. She also reported the security of the external and internal doors as well as the need for replacement radiators in the bathroom and living room.

What the complaint is about

The landlord’s response to:
1. The resident’s concerns about the condition of the property following mutual exchange.
2. The resident’s reports of leaks, associated repairs, temporary accommodation expenses, and damaged belongings.
3. The resident’s reports of repairs throughout the property.
4. The associated complaint.

Our decision (determination)

The landlord’s response to the resident’s concerns about the condition of the property following mutual exchange is outside of our jurisdiction.
There was maladministration for the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of leaks, associated repairs, temporary accommodation expenses, and damaged belongings.
There was maladministration for the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of repairs throughout the property.
There was reasonable redress for the landlord’s response to the associated complaint.

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

Summary of reasons

The landlord unreasonably delayed the repairs to the boiler and the associated repairs following the uncontainable leak in April 2023 and further leak in May 2023. It failed to respond within its policy time limits for emergency repairs and standard repairs. The landlord did however recognise its failings. It offered to reimburse the resident’s hotel accommodation costs and the cost to replace the resident’s damaged sofas which was reasonable. It also offered further compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident through its service failings. However, repairs were outstanding following the end of the landlord’s internal complaints process which led to our maladministration finding.
The landlord unreasonably delayed the completion of the repairs throughout the property. Its poor record keeping and communication with the resident led to a lack of follow up to ensure timely completion of the work. The landlord recognised its service failings and failure to complete work in a timely manner in line with its repairs policy obligations. It offered compensation, however, the repairs were incomplete until after the end of the internal complaints process. This led to our finding of maladministration.
The landlord’s complaint handling was not in line its policy or the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code). We have also not seen that it learnt from outcomes during the complaints process despite recognising failings had occurred. However, it did recognise that its complaint handling was poor and offered a suitable remedy for this.

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 provided by a senior leader. 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 March 2026
2	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £4,826.64 made up as follows: £4,156.64 for the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of leaks, associated repairs, temporary accommodation expenses, and damaged belongings. This comprises £3,856.64 previously offered for the identified failings and the reimbursement for the hotel, vanity unit and £1,999 offered for the damaged sofas. It includes a further £300 for the continued delays following the internal complaints process. £670 for the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of repairs required throughout the property comprising £420 previously offered and a further £250 for the continued delays in completing the repairs following the end of the internal complaints process. This must be paid directly to the resident by the due date. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date. The landlord may deduct from the total figure any payments it has already paid.	No later than 27 March 2026
3	Inspection order 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 with expertise to complete the type of inspection required. 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. The landlord must ensure that the surveyor: Inspects the kitchen and bathroom to identify any outstanding works. The survey report must set out: A list of the works it will take to resolve any identified outstanding work. It must provide a schedule including the likely timescales to commence and complete the work. The landlord must provide the resident and the Ombudsman with a copy of the report.	No later than 27 March 2026
4	The landlord must carry out a senior management review of this case to identify why the failings have occurred and to consider learning that can be used to prevent similar failings from happening. The landlord must send a copy of the review outcomes and action plan to the resident and to us by the due date.	No later than 10 April 2026

Our recommendations
We recommend that the landlord pays the £200 previously offered for its complaint handling failings. Our reasonable redress finding is based upon this being paid and evidence to be provided to us that this has been paid.
We recommend that the landlord contacts the resident to discuss her request for a mutual exchange and to provide some advice on her options.

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
1 February 2023 – 16 February 2023	The resident reported repairs to the bathroom that resulted in the landlord fitting a new bath. She reported a repair to secure the wash hand basin and to fit a new mixer tap. The landlord’s contractor marked this as completed on 14 February 2023. The resident then reported that brown stained water was coming from the taps.
17 March 2023 – 17 April 2023	The resident reported an issue with the bathroom radiator leaking. The resident further reported an uncontainable leak and said that she had no running water, heating or electric since the previous Saturday 15 April 2023. She said that the landlord had not returned her call and that she had run out of bottled water. She said she had also been waiting for the landlord to respond to her reports of brown water, broken doors, issues with the radiators, a leaking boiler and other repairs.
23 May 2023	The resident raised a complaint to the landlord saying: Repairs were outstanding from March 2023: external doors requiring replacement, a faulty boiler and leaks which left her without heating and hot water for 6 weeks, a bathroom in poor condition. She said the contractor had damaged her vanity unit during replacement works and that there was a leak from the wash hand basin. She reported discoloured water from the taps and further leak on 21 May 2023. Major leak – 15 April 2023 – she said that the operative failed to attend within the repairs policy 4-hour time limit. She said the operatives had turned off the electric and the water supplying some bottled water which was insufficient for her needs. She said the leak continued so a plumber had to reattend.
17 July 2023	The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response. It upheld the complaint. It said its surveyor and housing officer would attend the property on 18 July 2023 to check the outstanding repairs including the leak damage and the external doors. It confirmed it had replaced the boiler following multiple breakdowns between January 2022 to April 2023. It explained that a rusted ballcock in the water tank had caused water discolouration, but it was unsure whether the landlord had resolved the leak from the wash hand basin. As a remedy it said it would replace the resident’s vanity unit, reimburse the resident’s hotel stay and pay compensation for the damaged sofa. It would consider additional costs and missed appointments but did not provide a total compensation figure.
17 July 2023 – 19 September 2023	The resident contacted us to express dissatisfaction in the landlord’s handling of the complaint issues, and we wrote to the landlord. The landlord visited the property on 19 September 2023.
29 September 2023	The landlord issued a further complaint response. It apologised for the delay in resolving the outstanding issues and it upheld the complaint. It noted a problem with the bathroom flooring and its contractor was to attend to replace some timber and to fit new vinyl. It identified further repairs including decorating and finishing work. It agreed to replace the rear patio door and front door. It offered £4,526.64 in compensation. This comprised: £250 for stress and inconvenience in relation to the bathroom repairs, £50 for delay in completing bathroom work and £150 for the damaged vanity unit. £300 comprising £50 for delay in fitting the rear patio door and £250 for distress and inconvenience caused by a delayed decision on this. £50 for not communicating an appointment to repair the front door. £275.52 to cover the cost of replacement vinyl in the kitchen after the resident provided a quote and £50 for paint for the kitchen. £50 for failing to attend within the 4-hour repairs policy timescale for the major leak of 15 April 2023 and £50 for redecoration costs in the living room. £500 for service failure relating to boiler replacement. £200 for complaint handling failings. £240 for missed appointments. £62.82 for additional financial burden over a 42-day period the resident was without heating and hot water based upon 10% of the daily rent. It also offered to reimburse the resident £1,999 for the cost of her sofas and £299.30 for the hotel bill.
10 January 2024	The resident expressed disappointment with the landlord’s lack of response saying it had been a month since an email of 5 December 2023 and there had been no resolution to the outstanding issues.
23 February 2024	The landlord issued a further complaint response that it said was a final response. It said it spoke to the resident in January who had asked the landlord to pause the work. It had spoken to the resident that week and would call the resident on 11 March 2024 to plan to complete the outstanding repairs.
2 August 2024	The landlord issued a further complaint response saying it would put a plan of action in place for the outstanding works and monitor this weekly until completion. It reiterated its offer to reimburse the hotel costs and kitchen flooring costs. It confirmed it had replaced the patio door, and the front door delivery was due around 19 August 2024. It noted outstanding issues with the bathroom flooring being uneven following its contractor replacing plywood and fitting vinyl. It also noted further finishing and redecoration work, and repairs it needed to do to the pipework, tiling and to reinstall the resident’s vanity unit. It apologised for the inconvenience and upset its service failure had caused the resident. It said that this was its final response.
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident was dissatisfied with the landlord’s final complaint response. She referred her case to us on 26 June 2024. As a remedy the resident requested the compensation the landlord has offered including the funds to replace the damaged sofas. She has also asked to move via mutual exchange.

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 concerns about the condition of the property following mutual exchange
Finding	Outside jurisdiction

The resident referred to issues that occurred at the time of her mutual exchange from August 2021 in her complaint. We have not considered this issue as the resident did not refer this to us within 12 months of the matter arising.

Complaint	The landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of leaks, associated repairs, temporary accommodation expenses, and damaged belongings
Finding	Maladministration

For this investigation, we have focussed on the period from April 2023 to the date of the landlord’s final complaint response of 2 August 2024. The landlord has not disputed failings in sorting out the leaks and associated repairs in the property in a timely manner. We have therefore considered the key issues identified by the landlord and issues we identified during this investigation. We also consider whether the landlord has done enough to put things right in line with our dispute resolution principles.
The landlord identified the following failings:
1. Delays – the landlord agreed there had been multiple repairs to the boiler. Given the ongoing breakdowns and leaks, the landlord needed to consider replacing the boiler sooner than 12 May 2023. This was unreasonable. The landlord completed several of the repairs outside of its repairs policy timescale of 4 hours for an emergency and 20 working days for standard repairs. The landlord delayed work to complete the associated repairs which was outside of its repairs policy timescale which was unreasonable. Repairs were still unresolved following the end of the internal complaints process.
2. Failed appointments – the landlord did not dispute the resident’s account of around 8 failed appointments. We noted from the landlord’s repair records times when the resident had informed the contractor that she had received no notification of the appointment leading to failed appointments.
We also identified:
1. Poor follow up – the landlord was unable to confirm whether it had resolved all the leaks at stage 1. Though it arranged a surveyor inspection on 18 July 2023 its lack of follow up meant that it failed to oversee the issues to a timely completion.
2. Poor communication and record keeping – the resident had to chase up repeatedly for updates. The landlord’s repair records were unclear on when it completed work and what its contractor did on each visit.
3. Lack of oversight of the repair issues – the landlord’s process guide said that its system only allowed it to raise 1 job at a time. This said it would cause issues where the landlord needed to organise multiple repairs. The guide recommended raising multiple jobs by trade, for example, plumbing, however the landlord’s records were unclear whether it did this.
4. Investigation and drying out process – the landlord should have arranged a suitably qualified surveyor to check for leaks using appropriate equipment to ensure that it had resolved them. It should have also considered using dehumidifiers to assist in the drying out process. The landlord noted in its visit of 23 June 2023 that the kitchen walls were saturated. We have seen no records it did this which was inappropriate.
The landlord needed to consider whether the property was habitable and whether the resident needed emergency accommodation sooner than 18 April 2023 in line with its policy. It needed to consider the resident’s circumstances and the lack of water supply and heating. Whilst its contractor provided some bottled water in the early hours of 16 April 2023 the resident reported it was insufficient. This was inappropriate. The resident was unhappy with the security of the hotel that the landlord offered due to her history of fleeing domestic violence along with the ongoing risks associated with this. This led to the resident booking her own accommodation to ensure her and her son’s safety. According to the landlord’s policy it should have also considered food expenses for the resident during the temporary accommodation for the 2 nights. We have not seen that it did this which was again inappropriate. The resident told us that the cost of the hotel had been a strain which was understandable.
We now consider whether the landlord’s remedies have sufficiently put things right for the resident. The landlord offered the resident a total of £3,856.64 in compensation which included the compensation for the service failings along with the £299.30 for the hotel reimbursement and £1,999 so the resident could replace her sofas.
The amount of compensation would have been reasonable, however, some of the repairs remained outstanding after the landlord’s final complaint responses. The landlord’s email to the resident of 22 November 2024 said that it still needed to complete repairs to the bathroom flooring and to reinstall the vanity mirror. This was 7 months after the major leak occurred and 6 months after further leaks in the bathroom. This was unreasonable and not in line with the landlord’s repair policy timescales. The resident requested a pause in the landlord completing work due to personal circumstances between January 2024 to March 2024. However, even taking this into account it took the landlord too long to complete the outstanding work, and it is unclear whether it is all completed.
The Ombudsman has therefore found maladministration for the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of leaks, associated repairs, temporary accommodation expenses, and damaged belongings. The resident also told us the inconvenience of the multiple visits by the landlord’s contractors, having to take unpaid time off work and the general distress this caused her. We have ordered the landlord to pay an additional £300 in compensation on top of the compensation that the landlord has offered. This comprises £150 for the further delay in the landlord completing the associated repairs arising from the leaks, and £150 in recognition of the additional distress caused to the resident and the inconvenience, time, and trouble.
We have ordered the landlord to pay the resident the amount previously offered if it has not already done so. We have also ordered the landlord to inspect the property to ensure that there are no outstanding issues related to the associated repairs arising from the leaks.

Complaint	The landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of repairs throughout the property
Finding	Maladministration

What we did not investigate

The resident initially complained that the landlord’s operatives and internal staff behaved in an unprofessional manner. The landlord answered this complaint issue in its stage 1 complaint response. We have not seen that the resident escalated this issue, so we have not investigated this matter further. The resident mentioned issues with the internal doors in her stage 1 complaint however, we have not seen evidence that she escalated this matter further. The resident may wish to raise a further complaint if she is not happy about the landlord’s handling of the replacement internal doors.

What we did investigate

We have investigated the period from 2023 to the landlord’s final complaint response of 2 August 2024. Both parties accepted that there were service failings including the delays and failed appointments identified above which also applied to the wider repair issues in the property. Our investigation has therefore focussed on the detriment caused and whether the landlord’s remedies have put things right in line with our dispute resolution principles.
The resident reported several repair issues during the complaints process, including the external doors, radiators and discoloured water following the bath installation. The key themes mirror those already identified above. We outline the key issues below:
1. External doors – the landlord accepted that it should have decided about the patio door sooner. This caused avoidable delay before the landlord replaced the door in December 2023. It also could have completed the inspection of 18 July 2023 sooner. It did not replace the front door until 31 August 2024 which was nearly a year after it agreed to this work. This was unreasonable even taking manufacturing timescales and the short pause in works that the resident requested between January to March 2024. It was particularly poor given the resident’s circumstances and safety concerns.
2. Water discolouration – the landlord’s records are unclear as to whether it checked the water prior to 7 March 2023. Although the landlord’s contractor had marked this as complete on 13 March 2023, the landlord marked this as urgent and so should have addressed in line with the landlord’s repairs policy timescale for emergency repairs. This was unreasonable and we have seen no records that the landlord adequately assured itself and the resident that the water was safe.
3. Radiators – the landlord’s contractor found a blistered bathroom radiator requiring replacement on 3 April 2023. The landlord replaced the bathroom radiator sometime between 18 July and 29 September 2023 – outside of the landlord’s repairs policy timescale which was inappropriate. The landlord’s records were unclear when it replaced the living room radiator that its contractor said was too small for the size of room. This was outstanding at the time of the landlord’s 29 September 2023 response. The resident confirmed to us that the landlord replaced it.
The landlord offered a total of £420 for the resident’s reports of repairs required throughout the property. This included the delays, failure to make a timely decision and a failure to notify the resident of a repair to the front door and the failed appointments. This was in line with the landlord’s compensation guidance. However, the landlord did not complete the outstanding work until after the internal complaints process that the resident told us caused her distress in and inconvenience.
The Ombudsman considers that there was maladministration for its response to the resident’s reports of repairs throughout the property. We have ordered the landlord to pay the resident an additional £250 in compensation comprising £100 for the additional delay in completing the door and radiator replacement and £150 to recognise the additional distress, inconvenience time and trouble caused to the resident by the landlord’s failings.

Complaint	The landlord’s response to the associated complaint
Finding	Reasonable redress

The resident raised a complaint on 23 May 2023. The landlord sent its stage 1 response on 17 July 2023 which was within 38 working days later. This was inappropriate as it was not in line with the landlord’s complaint policy or the Code timescale.
The landlord’s complaints policy requires it to respond within 10 working days of it logging the complaint at stage 1 and within 20 working days of an escalation request at stage 2. The Code requires a landlord to send its response at stage 1 within 10 working days of an acknowledgement and within 20 working days of a landlord’s acknowledgement of an escalation request.
The landlord’s records are unclear as to when it escalated the complaint to stage 2. It issued its complaint response on 29 September 2023 after we contacted the landlord on 8 August 2023. This was not entitled a stage 2 complaint response, and it did not give referral rights to us which was inappropriate. Confusingly it sent 2 further complaint responses on 23 February 2024 and on 2 August 2024. The landlord sent both responses outside of the complaints policy and Code timescales. The landlord offered £200 in compensation for the delays. The Ombudsman considers that there was reasonable redress for the landlord’s response to the associated complaint.

Learning

The Code requires landlords to consider beyond the circumstances of the individual complaint, to see whether it can make service improvements as a result. We have not seen that this happened, so we have ordered the landlord to conduct a senior management review of this case. The landlord would benefit from considering our resources on our Centre for Learning including webinars, for example on repairs and maintenance to improve its oversight of complex cases.

Knowledge information management (record keeping) and communication

The landlord’s poor record keeping will have contributing to the poor communication and oversight identified during this investigation. The landlord would benefit from reviewing its self-assessment of its knowledge and information management based upon the recommendations set out in our Spotlight report on Knowledge and Information Management (May 2023) and follow up report (January 2025) to improve its record keeping practices.