Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council (202447818)

Background

1. In October 2023 the resident contacted the landlord to request a new bathroom due to ongoing repairs. During December 2024 the resident contacted it to report her concerns the bath was unsafe. She said she could not wait for the bathroom to be replaced as part of planned works.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s response to the resident’s request for a new bathroom.

Our decision (determination)

3. There was no maladministration in the landlord’s response to the resident’s request for a new bathroom.

Reasons

4. The landlord’s repairs policy says that it will replace bathrooms as part of planned works. It will repair them wherever possible to maintain their lifespan until they’re due to be replaced.
5. On 31 October 2023 the resident emailed the landlord to say that due to the number of repairs she wanted the bathroom to be replaced ahead of schedule. On 28 November 2023 it inspected the bathroom and subsequently raised repairs, including to the bath and toilet. Its repair logs show these works were completed on 9 January 2024. While we understand this would’ve been disappointing for the resident, it was entitled to rely on the opinion of its qualified staff in this situation. Its response was therefore in line with its repairs policy.
6. The landlord carried out works to the toilet during March, July, August and November 2024. We acknowledge that the repairs to the toilet would’ve caused inconvenience to the resident. However, there’s no evidence that the issues meant the bathroom was beyond its lifespan and should be replaced at that point.
7. On 28 December 2024 the resident told the landlord that the bath had hairline cracks which made a cracking noise, making it feel unsafe. The landlord’s stage 1 complaint response of 26 February 2025 said it would carry out an inspection on 11 March 2025. The resident replied that day to say she felt the bathroom was beyond repair. The landlord’s stage 2 complaint response of 2 April 2025 said that following its inspection it would replace the bathroom, which it later did. It appropriately inspected the bathroom again and arranged its replacement based on the issues it identified. There’s no evidence that it needed to be expedited before this. It responded in line with its repairs policy therefore, there was no failure of service.