Newcastle City Council (202341142)

Background

1. The resident asked the landlord for a ‘landlord certificate’ while selling her property. The landlord managed the property on behalf of the local authority, which owned the freehold. The buyer withdrew from the purchase before the landlord issued the certificate. The resident complained about how the landlord handled her request for the certificate.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s request for a landlord certificate.
3. We have investigated the landlord’s complaint handling.

Our decision (determination)

4. We found:
   1. Service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s request for landlord certificate.
   2. No maladministration 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 the resident’s request for a landlord certificate

5. The landlord explained the reasons for its delay issuing the landlord certificate. However, it could have communicated more clearly and regularly. Its offer of compensation was not proportionate to the distress and inconvenience it caused to the resident.

The landlord’s complaint handling

6. The landlord responded to the resident’s complaint in line with its complaint policy.

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 have not investigated

7. The resident said this situation had a detrimental impact on her health and wellbeing. It would be fairer, more reasonable, and more effective for the resident to make a personal injury claim for any injury caused. The courts can deal with this type of dispute as they have the benefit of independent medical advice to decide on the cause of any injury and how long it will last. We can decide if a landlord should pay compensation for distress and inconvenience.
8. The resident said she lost the sale of her property because the landlord did not provide the landlord certificate (‘certificate’) her buyer’s mortgage lender needed. It is outside our remit to establish whether the landlord’s handling of the landlord certificate caused the property sale to fall through. The resident may wish to seek independent legal advice if she wants to pursue this aspect of her complaint.
9. The resident said the landlord breached data protection by asking her to provide evidence of a former occupier’s residency. The landlord explained the government introduced the deed of certificate and set the evidence requirements and it was not responsible for these. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is responsible for investigating data protection matters. If the resident wishes to do so she can raise her concerns about the requirements for the leaseholder deed of certificate with the ICO.

What we have investigated

10. The Building Safety Act 2022 introduced a new framework for building safety professionals to assess fire risks in multi-storey residential buildings. Before this, they used EWS1 forms to confirm their condition and fire safety. Some mortgage lenders still ask for EWS1 forms when considering lending applications, or they may ask for a certificate to confirm whether a landlord will recover the costs of any building safety work needed to fix known defects. This investigation looks at how the landlord handled the resident’s request for a certificate and whether its actions were reasonable.
11. On 8 January 2024 the resident asked the landlord fora signed letter and copies of fire safety documents that complied with the Building Safety Act 2022 as her buyer’s mortgage lender needed this. The landlord got advice from the local authority’s legal team who said it should requesta leaseholder deed of certificate (‘deed’) from the resident. It sent therequest with a copy of its fire safety assessment on 10 January 2024 and advised the resident she would need to complete the deed with her solicitor.The landlord responded in line with legal advice which said it should request the deed within 5 working days. It should have explainedit had 4 weeks to provide a certificate from the date the resident correctly issued the deed.
12. The resident sent the deed to the landlord on 16 January 2024. However, the landlord explained it was not fully complete as the evidence section was blank and it needed evidence of former occupant’s residency in line with government guidance. The landlord also advised the resident the fire safety assessment it had previously sent her should be sufficient for her buyer’s lender to agree a mortgage.
13. The resident chased the landlord for a further update on 2 February 2024. It said it would send the certificate as soon as possible, but it did not give a clear timescale to manage her expectations.
14. Between 6 and 10 February 2024, the landlord sent information about lenders willing to offer mortgages without a certificate. However the resident confirmed her buyer had approached another mortgage lender, which asked for the same information. She said she felt the landlord had not been open, honest, or answered her questions. The landlord confirmedits legal team was gathering information forthe certificate and it expected to issue the certificate soon. It said itunderstood the urgency but it missed the opportunity tomanage her expectations by providinga timescale or saying when it would next update her.
15. Between January and March 2024, the legal services team got external legal advice because of the complexity of preparing the certificate. The external lawyers asked for information about refurbishment works that it needed to prepare the certificate. This took time because officers had to look through archives and get information from other staff teams.
16. The local authority’s legal team emailed the resident on 20 February 2024 to explain its delay issuing the certificate. It said it expected to provide the certificate by the end of February 2024. However, it did not do so. This was because it needed evidence of further works programmes and fire safety assessments. The landlord asked for this to be prioritised. The local authority and the landlord located the documents between 5 and 11 March 2024.
17. On 12 March 2024 the legal team confirmed it had received a hard copy of the deed it needed to prepare the certificate. However, it told the landlord the service charge information the resident had previously supplied did not meet the government’s evidence requirements. It proposed issuing the certificate and and sending a cover letter requesting the outstanding evidence it needed. This was reasonable to avoid any further delays and considering it told the resident the service charge evidence she previously sent may be enough on 29 January 2024. The landlord sent the resident the landlord certificate on 27 March 2024.
18. The landlord addressed its handling of the resident’s request for a certificate in its complaint responses. It said its delay issuing the certificate was due to the legal and technical information it needed to complete it. It said the resident and her solicitor were responsible for submitting the deed correctly and including the required evidence. It said it was not responsible for the loss of the resident’s sale and it would issue the certificate as soon as possible. It said it did not uphold the complaint. However, it accepted its delays issuing the certificate and offered the resident £150 compensation for the inconvenience this caused her.
19. When a landlord admits failings we consider whether the landlord’s offer of redress resolved the complaint satisfactorily. We consider whether its offer of redress was in line with our dispute resolution principles; be fair, put things right, and learn from outcomes.
20. The landlord’s complaint responses explained the legal requirements for issuing the certificate. It explained the role of the resident’s solicitor in advising on the property sale. It also said it had taken its own legal advice because of the complexity of the information needed to prepare the certificate. As this was the first time the landlord had issued a certificate for the resident’s block it was reasonable for it to seek and rely on legal advice.
21. The landlord shared government guidance on the preparation of the deed. It also made significant efforts to gather the information it needed to issue the certificate which it prioritised in response to the resident’s concerns. The landlord explained the reasons for the delay and acknowledged the impact this had on the resident. However, it should have communicated more regularly or given clearer updates with timescales to manage the resident’s expectations. The landlord offered compensation, but this was not proportionate to the failings we identified in our investigation. Overall, we found service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s request for a landlord certificate.
22. We have ordered the landlord to pay the resident an additional £100 compensation for the distress and inconvenience it caused the resident. This award is in line with our compensation guidance where the landlord’s offer was not proportionate to the distress and inconvenience it caused the resident. Our order brings the total compensation to £250. We have also recommended the landlord considers producing resident guidance that it can send when responding to property sales.

23. The landlord’s response timescales and its definition of a complaint are consistent with the requirements of our Complaint Handling Code (the Code). It says it will acknowledge complaints within 2-working days, respond to stage 1 complaints within 10-working days and stage 2 complaints within 20-working days.
24. The landlord acknowledged the resident’s stage 1 complaint in line with its complaint policy target. It responded to her stage 1 complaint within 3-working days.
25. It did not acknowledge the resident’s stage 2 complaint and so missed the opportunity to  define the stage 2 complaint before replying. This was not in line with the Code, however it spoke to her about her complaint before it responded.It sent its stage 2 response within 18-working days which was in line with its policy target.
26. The landlord assigned the resident’s stage 1 complaint to the staff member who had been handling her request for a landlord certificate. This did not follow its complaint policy which requires an independent manager to investigate complaints. The landlord put this right by reassigning the complaint before it sent its stage 1 response.
27. The landlord’s minor complaint handling failings did not change the overall outcome for the resident. Its complaint responses proportionately addressed the resident’s concerns. We found no maladministration in its complaint handling.

Learning

28. The landlord should learn from this complaint and consider how it implements changes in legislation or best practice. It should consider how providing guidance for residents affected by sector-wide changes could improve its customer service.

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

29. The landlord should keep easily accessible records and save the locations of archived documents so that it can access and provide them promptly when asked.

Communication

30. The landlord should give residents clear timescales for when it will provide further information or updates.