Town and Country Housing (202319816)

Decision
Case ID	202319816
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	Town and Country Housing
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Assured Shorthold Tenancy
Date	10 April 2026

Background

The resident complained to the landlord following a leak which occurred in June 2023.
Our investigation will focus on this leak rather than a previous one that occurred in July 2022. Approximately 11 months passed between the 2 leaks and therefore we cannot conclude definitively that they were linked, based on the evidence provided. In addition, the resident complained about the original leak but did not escalate the complaint to stage 2 and therefore it did not exhaust the landlord’s complaints process.

What the complaint is about

The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of repairs following a leak.
We will also investigate the landlord’s complaint handling.

Our decision (determination)

The landlord has provided reasonable redress to the resident which resolved the failings in its handling of repairs following a leak.
There was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint.

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

Summary of reasons

Leak

There was a delay in the landlord completing repairs and additional work to the property following the leak. However, it apologised, offered appropriate compensation, and identified learning points.

Complaint handling

There were delays in the landlord’s complaint handling at stage 1 and stage 2. It did not address all aspects 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: a manager provides the apology 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 08 May 2026
2	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £200 to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by the failures in its complaint handling. 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 08 May 2026
3	The landlord must provide its insurance details to the resident so that she can try to make a claim for damaged items.	No later than 08 May 2026

Recommendations

Our recommendations are not binding, and a landlord may decide not to follow them.

Our recommendations
The landlord should pay £1,434.40 compensation to the resident as offered at stage 2 of the complaints process if it has not already done so.
The landlord should ensure that it addresses the resident’s new reports of mould in the kitchen in line with current legislation and guidelines. If the resident does not feel it has done so, she may choose to make a further complaint.

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
20 July 2023	The resident complained to the landlord. She said that: the landlord had attended the property following a leak and taken photographs of the damage caused it said that it would keep her informed but instead she had had to chase it for information the landlord had put dehumidifiers into the property on top of the saturated carpets, these had then overflowed and leaked into the ground floor after the landlord removed the carpets, she found personal belongings in the back garden it was 3 weeks since the dehumidifiers were installed and so far, these had cost £130 to run she wanted compensation for damage to belongings.
9 August 2023	The landlord provided a stage 1 complaint response. It said that: on 9 August 2023 a contractor would replaster the lounge, kitchen, rear bedroom, and bathroom ceilings, and install a new loft hatch it apologised that it had not updated her after she called it on 11 July 2023 and that contractors had not advised her of appointments it apologised for the distress and inconvenience caused
6 December 2023	The landlord provided a stage 2 complaint response. It said that: it had told the repairs contractor that it must complete redecoration of the property by 8 December 2023 it would fit new carpets during week commencing 11 December 2023 and clean the property after this the property should be ready to move back into during week commencing 18 December 2023 surveyors had advised that the work should reasonably have been completed by early October therefore, in addition to the £40 per day subsistence payments which had been paid direct to her while the household were living with family, it would pay £1,434.40 compensation this was equivalent to 11 weeks rent and reflected the time, trouble, inconvenience, disruption, and a contribution to the utility bills.
Referral to the Ombudsman	In April 2026 the resident told us that she would like to see an improvement in the landlord’s response to repairs following our investigation. She said that she was currently having difficulty with its response to mould in her kitchen.

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	Leak
Finding	Reasonable redress

The landlord’s repair’s policy says that it will complete non-urgent repairs within 28 calendar days.
In this case the landlord took 6 months to complete work following a leak during which time it did not keep the resident fully updated. This cost her time and trouble contacting it for information and making a complaint.
The landlord acknowledged that it should have completed the repairs plus redecoration, laying of new carpets, and cleaning the property within 3 months, which was reasonable considering the nature of the work. It offered the resident £1,434.40 compensation to reflect the time, trouble, distress, and inconvenience caused by the further delay and to cover the cost of extra utilities. It also apologised and identified learning points to prevent similar situations reoccurring in the future.
The level of compensation offered by the landlord was in line with our remedies guidance. We therefore consider that it has offered reasonable redress in the circumstances of the case. We have recommended that the landlord pays this amount to the resident if it has not already done so.

Complaint	The handling of the complaint
Finding	Maladministration

The landlord’s complaints policy says that it will log and acknowledge complaints within 5 working days of receipt. It says that it will respond in full within 10 working days of logging the complaint.
In this case however, we have seen no evidence that the landlord acknowledged receipt of the complaint in writing, although it did call the resident on 2 August 2023 to discuss it. It then took 15 working days to provide a full response during which time the resident took time and trouble to contact this Service for assistance.
The landlord’s complaints policy says that it will allocate stage 2 complaints within 2 working days of receipt and acknowledge them within a further 2 working days. It says it will provide a full response within 20 working days of acknowledgement.
In this case it seems that the resident asked the landlord to escalate the complaint to stage 2 prior to it issuing the stage 1 complaint response. The landlord then took nearly 2 months to contact her, when it noted that it also sent out an acknowledgement. Following this it took a further 22 working days to provide a full response. This further delay and failure to follow its policy meant that the resident was waiting longer for a resolution which caused her distress and inconvenience. It also delayed her access to an investigation by this Service.
The Housing Ombudsman’s complaint handling code in place at the time of the complaint (the Code) said that landlords must address all points raised in the complaint and provide clear reasons for any decisions.
In her complaint the resident told the landlord that she would like compensation for damaged belongings. This was because she felt that contractors had acted inappropriately by removing belongings from the property and placing them in the garden. However, the landlord did not address this in its stage 1 or stage 2 complaint responses. It would have been appropriate in the circumstances for the landlord to refer the resident to its insurance company, as it says it will do in its compensation guidance, but we have seen no evidence that it did so. Had the landlord addressed this the resident could have acted accordingly. Instead, she was left with unanswered questions which caused her distress and inconvenience.
Our remedies guidance sets out that payments of £100 – £600 are appropriate to put right failures that adversely affected the resident when the landlord did not appropriately acknowledge and fully put them right. In ordering £200 compensation, we have considered the time, trouble, distress, and inconvenience caused.

Learning

The landlord should ensure that it has robust procedures in place to monitor repairs cases where residents have been decanted. This is to ensure minimal disruption to residents and to keep its costs to a minimum.
The landlord should ensure that it has followed through with the learning points it identified in its stage 2 complaint response.

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

The resident provided us with a copy of an email she sent to the landlord asking it to escalate the complaint to stage 2 of the complaints process. As the landlord did not provide this to us itself it may be indicative of record keeping issues.

Communication

As identified in the report, the landlord did not proactively communicate with the resident meaning that she had to take time and trouble to contact it.