London & Quadrant Housing Trust (202507080)

Decision
Case ID	202507080
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	London & Quadrant Housing Trust
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Assured Tenacy
Date	4 March 2026

Background

The resident lives in the property with her 2 adult sons. She said she moved there through a managed move offered by the landlord. The resident complained to the landlord and said it missed several repairs at the property during the void process. The resident’s representative has supported her throughout this complaint however, for ease, we will refer to her as “the resident”.

What the complaint is about

The complaint is about the landlord’s response to the resident’s:
1. Reports of repairs.
2. Complaint.

Our decision (determination)

We have found:
1. Maladministration in the landlord’s response to the resident reports of repairs.
2. No maladministration in the landlord’s response to the resident’s complaint.

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

Summary of reasons

The response to reports of repairs

The landlord did not explain the scope of its investigation to the resident at stage 1. It did not recognise the delay in repairing her front gate, but it offered the resident compensation for the delayed garden repairs. The landlord failed to agree a reasonable adjustment plan with the resident, and it gave her conflicting information about replacing windows at her property.

The response to the resident’s complaint

The landlord did not acknowledge the complaint in line with its complaints policy; however, the delay was minimal and there was no detriment to the resident.

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 manager 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 01 April 2026
2	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £650 compensation broken down as: £350 compensation offered at stage 2 £300 for the distress and inconvenience caused by its delayed response to the resident’s reports of repairs at the property The landlord must pay the resident directly and provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date. It may deduct from the total figure any payments it has already paid. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date. It may deduct from the total figure any payments already made.	No later than 01 April 2026
4	Inspection order The landlord must contact the resident to arrange an inspection of the snagging issues in the garden and the front gate repair. It must take all reasonable steps to ensure it is completed by the due date and by someone suitably qualified to complete an inspection of the type needed. If it 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. What the inspection must achieve The landlord must ensure the surveyor inspects the garden and gate at the property and produces a written report with photographs. The report must set out: whether the landlord is responsible to repair or resolve the issue together with reasons where it is not responsible a full scope of works to achieve a lasting and effective repair to the issue (if the landlord is responsible) the likely timescales to commence and complete the work	No later than 15 April 2026
3	Further action order The landlord must: agree a reasonable adjustment plan for communication with the resident provide the resident with confirmation if her windows are to be included in the 2025/26 replacement programme. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of this by the due date.	No later than 15 April 2026

Our recommendations
The landlord should consider if further compensation is appropriate in line with its policy from the date of its stage 2 response to when the garden works were complete.

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
22 August 2025	The resident complained to the landlord. She said she was unhappy with the condition of her previous and current property. The resident said there had been repair delays and she was unhappy with the landlord’s lack of reasonable adjustments for her and its communication.
1 September 2025	The landlord replied at stage 1 and said the resident’s vulnerabilities were recorded on its system. It said it inspected the current property 3 months after she moved in and found the only issue was the uneven rear garden. The landlord said the windows at the property were scheduled for renewal in the 2025/26 programme and on the reserve list for the current year. It said the garden works had been referred to its complex projects team but gave no timeline. The landlord offered the resident £300 compensation for the distress and inconvenience for the garden repairs.
18 September 2025	The resident escalated her complaint. She said the landlord had not addressed the seriousness or the full scope of her complaint. She asked for a reasonable adjustment plan and a single point of contact.
15 October 2025	The landlord replied at stage 2. It said it delayed repairs at the resident’s property for damp, rats and flooring. However, these were raised over 12 months previously so it would not compensate for these repairs. The landlord said garden repairs were not part of its void standard. It said it experienced delays getting 3 quotes, which is part of its process for a complex repair, but said it would contact the resident with the date for the garden repairs. It apologised for previous miscommunication and said it would survey the windows for them to be considered on a replacement programme in 2025/26. It gave the resident a single point of contact for repairs at her property and gave her assurance that a full void inspection was completed before she signed her tenancy. The landlord upheld the complaint and awarded a further £50, bringing it to a total of £350 for the delay in completing the garden repairs.
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident said the landlord has completed the garden repairs, but there are a few snagging issues, and the new back gate is collapsing. She also said the windows were due to be replaced soon. The resident said she would like further compensation and the repairs to be completed.

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 repairs
Finding	Maladministration

What we did not investigate

Our scheme rules state we may not investigate issues which were not referred to the landlord as a complaint within a reasonable time, which is normally 12 months. The resident said she was aware of issues with her previous property from February 2020 and repairs to her current property from March 2023. She sent a pre-action protocol in November 2023. The resident did not raise a formal complaint until August 2025. We have not seen evidence she was prevented from raising a complaint sooner. For that reason, our investigation will begin from August 2024.
The resident has referred to the impact the situation has had on her and son’s health. It would be fairer, more reasonable and more effective for the resident to make a personal injury claim for any injury caused. The courts are best placed to deal with this type of dispute as they will have the benefit of independent medical advice to decide on the cause of any injury. We’ve not investigated this further. We can decide if a landlord should pay compensation for distress and inconvenience.

What we did investigate

On 29 July 2024 the resident reported issues with her windows. On 1 August 2024, the landlord raised an inspection for the windows at the resident’s property. It marked this as complete around 21 working days later. On 9 December 2024, the resident raised a repair for the front gate at her property. The landlord marked this as complete on 11 February 2025, around 44 working days later.
On 10 April 2025, the resident reported repairs for her kitchen and bathroom windows at the property. The landlord marked this repair as complete around 10 working days later. However, there is no records to show what it did at this appointment, which is a record keeping failure.
On 6 May 2025, the resident raised a repair for cracks in the brick at the rear of the property. The landlord closed this repair down around 41 working days later. It then sent the repair to a contractor and the repair was cancelled on the landlord’s system. There is no evidence to confirm it attended the property for this repair and this is a record keeping failure. On 15 May 2025, the resident raised a repair for the bathroom extractor fan. The landlord marked this repair as complete 15 working days later but no repair notes to say the repair was resolved.
The landlord’s repairs policy says it will complete routine repairs within 20 working days and repairs with additional complexity within 40 working days. The policy says the replacement of windows at a property would be classed as major works, but it does not give a timescale.
In the landlord’s stage 1 response, it acknowledged the delays in completing the garden repairs. The resident had been living with an uneven rear garden for around 2 years and 2 months. It offered £300 compensation. It was reasonable of the landlord to give her an update on the windows replacement. However, it did not explain the scope of its investigation and did not recognise the delay in completing the front gate repair. This caused the resident distress and inconvenience.
In it stage 2 response, the landlord outlined the scope of its investigation and said it would compensate only for delays in repairs for the last 12 months. It gave her a single point of contact as requested and assurance of the void checks it completed on her new property. It gave an update on the garden works and offered a total of £350 compensation for these delays. Its compensation policy says it will award discretionary compensation for a failure that causes a resident distress or inconvenience. The amount the landlord offered was in line with our remedies guidance. These were reasonable actions by the landlord. It apologised for the conflicting information she had been given about the replacement of the windows. However, it did not agree a reasonable adjustment plan with her. The confusion around the scope of its investigation and the replacement of windows will have caused the resident distress and inconvenience.
When the landlord has admitted failings, it is our role to consider whether the redress offered put things right for the resident. To do this we look at our dispute resolution principles; be fair, put things right and learn from outcomes.
In summary, the landlord did not make the scope of its investigation clear at stage 1. At stage 2 it said it would not compensate the resident for issues raised over the previous 12 months. The £350 compensation it offered was in line with our remedies guidance for a failure which adversely affected a resident. It tried to put things right for the delay in the rear garden repairs. However, it did not offer compensation for the delayed front gate repair or the conflicting information given about her window replacement.
We have ordered the landlord to pay the resident a further £300 compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of her reports of repairs. This is in line with our remedies guidance for a failure by the landlord where it has tried to put things right, but the offer was not proportionate to the failings found in our investigation.

Complaint	The landlord’s response to the resident’s complaint
Finding	No maladministration

The landlord’s complaint policy at the time of the complaint complies with the definition of a complaint in the Code (April 2024). The timescales in the landlord’s complaint procedure complied with the Code.
The landlord acknowledged and replied to the resident’s stage 1 complaint within its policy times. The landlord delayed its stage 2 acknowledgementby around 2 working days, however this did not have any impact on the resident or the outcome of her complaint. It sent its stage 2 response around 12 working days later which was within its complaints policy.

Learning

The landlord must ensure it complies with its repairs policy times when completing repairs. It must also ensure it discusses reasonable adjustment plans with residents when requested.

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

As per our spotlight report on knowledge and information management, published in May 2023, we expect landlords to keep a robust record of contacts and repairs. This is because clear, accurate, and easily accessible records provide an audit trail and enhance landlords’ ability to identify and respond to problems when they arise.

Communication

The landlord’s complaint responses in this case were thorough; however, it should ensure it communicates the scope of its investigations clearly to residents during the complaints process.