Housing Solutions (202314015)

Background

1. The resident told the landlord pigeons were nesting on her and her neighbour’s roof, under the solar panels. The resident complained to the landlord and said the pigeons were causing damage to her property and the droppings were a health hazard.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s:
   1. Reports of pest control.
   2. Complaint.

Our decision (determination)

3. We have found:
   1. Reasonable redress in the landlord’s handling of pest control.
   2. 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 handling of pest control

4. The landlord acknowledged and apologised for its delayed response to the pest control. It also offered appropriate compensation.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint

5. The landlord did not comply with its complaints policy or our Complaint Handling Code (the Code).

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.

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

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.

What we did not investigate

8. The resident complained to the landlord about repairs to her bathroom and the landlord replied to this issue at stage 1. However, this issue was not included in the resident’s complaint escalation to the landlord and has not exhausted its full complaint process. As such, we’ve not investigated this issue.

What we did investigate

9. On 2 February 2022, the resident reported gutter repairs due to pigeons nesting on her roof. There is no evidence to show the landlord completed this repair. This is a record keeping failure and means we are unable to assess if the landlord fulfilled its repair obligations. On 18 July 2022, the resident told the landlord again that pigeons were nesting on her roof. The landlord said it raised a job for this repair, but the job was not completed due to an admin error.
10. The landlord’s repairs policy says it is responsible for pest control when multiple properties are affected, or it is caused by a defect in the structure of the building. It does not give times for responding to pest control issues but for responsive repairs it says it will attend within 21 days. It is reasonable for pest control repairs to follow the same timescales as repairs unless the policy says otherwise.
11. It was reasonable for the landlord to apologise and confirm its next repairs appointment in its stage 1 response. The resident had been waiting around 8 months for the landlord to attend her property. The landlord marked the repair for scaffold and netting the solar panels as complete on 14 November 2022. This was 8 months after the first report was made and not in line with its repairs policy.
12. The resident raised another repair for the pest control in May 2023. On 30 May 2023, the landlord raised a repair to clean pigeon droppings from the external areas of the resident’s property. It marked the job complete on 2 June 2023. On 28 July 2023, the landlord raised a job to install spikes around the guttering at the resident’s property. It marked this job as complete on 12 September 2023. This was not in line the landlord’s repairs policy.
13. On 16 October 2023, the landlord raised a further order to clean pigeon droppings at the property. It marked this repair as “financially complete,” but it is unclear if the landlord completed this job. It raised a job on 27 November 2023 to remove a satellite dish and marked this as complete on the same day. On 27 November 2023, it raised a job to clear the resident’s gutters, which it marked as complete on 11 January 2024. This was 45 days after the landlord raised the job and was not in line with its policy.
14. The resident escalated her complaint because the landlord had not resolved the issue and it responded around 2 months later. It recognised the delays the resident experienced in resolving the pest control. The landlord said it inspected the resident’s roof, and it noted since the repairs there was no further staining due to the pigeon droppings. Its compensation policy does not give guideline amounts for delays in pest control or general repairs. We have therefore assessed its offer against our remedies guidance. The landlord’s offer of £150 compensation at stage 2 was fair and in line with our remedies guidance for a failure that has adversely affected a resident.
15. When the landlord has admitted failings, it is our role to consider if the landlord put things right for the resident. We do this by considering our dispute resolution principles; be fair, put things right and learn from outcomes.
16. In summary, the landlord delayed responding to the resident’s reports of pest control. It recognised the delays at both stages of its complaints process and apologised. The landlord attended the property numerous times to try and resolve the pest control issue. It offered the resident compensation at stage 2 in line with a service failure which has caused distress and inconvenience to the resident.

17. The landlord’s complaints policy and timescales at the time of the complaint complies with our Code (April 2024).
18. The landlord did not acknowledge the resident’s complaint, and it delayed its stage 1 response by around 5 working days. Although a short delay, the landlord did not recognise these failings in its complaint response or offer any compensation for the inconvenience.
19. The resident tried to escalate her complaint around a year after the landlord’s stage 1 reply. It offered the resident compensation but failed to provide a formal stage 2 response. The landlord escalated the resident’s complaint after she requested it a second time and responded at stage 2 around 4 working days later.
20. We have ordered the landlord to pay the resident £50 compensation. This is in line with our remedies guidance for a failure by the landlord which it did not acknowledge.

Learning

21. The landlord must ensure it responds to residents in line with its complaints policy times. It must acknowledge complaints to ensure it has a full understanding of the issues raised and ensure responses fully comply with its policy.

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

22. The landlord must ensure its repair notes are detailed and provides dates when a repair is raised and when it is completed.

Communication

23. The landlord’s complaint responses to the resident were detailed and sympathetic.
24. We expect landlords to complete repairs within a reasonable time. What is reasonable will depend on the circumstances and the nature of the repair. Where there is a delay in completing repairs, we expect landlords to be proactive in:
    1. Communicating the cause of delays to residents.
    2. Explaining to residents what it intends to do about the delays.
    3. Identifying what it can do to mitigate the impact of delays on residents.