London & Quadrant Housing Trust (202333137)

Decision
Case ID	202333137
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	London & Quadrant Housing Trust
Landlord type	Housing association
Occupancy	Assured tenancy
Date	18 March 2026

Background

1. The resident wanted to move to another property because of his medical conditions. He was also concerned about his energy use and affordability. He complained that his home did not have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and because of this he did not qualify for the Government’s warm home discount. After the final response, he transferred to another property on medical grounds.

What the complaint is about

2. The resident’s complaint is about how the landlord dealt with his:
   1. Enquiries about an EPC.
   2. Enquiries about information to support his claim for a warm home discount.
   3. Request for rehousing on medical grounds.
3. We have also considered how the landlord dealt with the resident’s complaint.

Our decision (determination)

4. We have found there was service failure by the landlord in how it dealt with the resident’s enquiries about an EPC.
5. We have found there was no maladministration by the landlord in how it dealt with information to support the resident’s claim for a warm home discount.
6. We have found there was service failure by the landlord in how it dealt with the resident’s request for rehousing on medical grounds.
7. We have found there was reasonable redress by the landlord in how it dealt with the resident’s complaint.
8. We have made orders for the landlord to put things right.

Summary of reasons

9. There was a failure by the landlord to respond to the resident’s request for a review of his EPC in January 2023. This led to him making a complaint, which caused him inconvenience.
10. The landlord dealt with the resident’s enquiries about information to support his claim for a warm home discount in a reasonable way, as it provided information about eligibility in its complaint response.
11. In its final response, the landlord accepted it did not give the resident information about the occupational health (OT) process. It also did not respond to his request for an assessment of his housing situation in January 2023. This led to him making a complaint, which caused him inconvenience.
12. The landlord did not meet its timescales for responding at stage 1 and 2. It did not acknowledge the escalation request for 2 months and took 8 months to respond at stage 2. It only responded at stage 2 after contact from us. It offered compensation that would be appropriate in a case where we found maladministration. Because of the offer, we have found reasonable redress.

 

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	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £250 compensation. This is made up of: £100 for failings in how it dealt with enquiries about an EPC. £150 for failings in how it dealt with his request for rehousing on medical grounds, including £50 previously offered. This must be paid directly to the resident by the due date. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date. The landlord may deduct from the total figure any payments it has already made.	No later than 15 April 2026

 

Recommendation

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

Our recommendation
We recommend the landlord reoffers the £160 compensation for complaint handling failures it offered if it has not already paid it to the resident. We have made our finding of reasonable redress on the basis that the landlord makes this payment.

 

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
3 January 2023	The resident asked the landlord when it was going to check the EPC rating for his home. He said it was not the correct rating.
6 April 2023	In his complaint, the resident said the landlord had not followed up his request about an EPC. He said it did not give him an EPC when he signed his tenancy agreement and because of this he had lost out on receiving a warm home discount. He wanted compensation for this.
10 May 2023	In its complaint response, the landlord said it may have given him an EPC at the start of his tenancy in July 2019 but could not confirm it did this. It said the recorded EPC rating for his home was incorrect, but this did not affect his eligibility for the warm home discount as it was based on his income and energy costs. It said it would not pay compensation.
10 May 2023	In his request to escalate his complaint, the resident said that due to the wrong EPC rating, he had lost out on getting £300. He said the landlord had not dealt with his request to move on medical grounds following an injury he had in December 2020.
4 January 2024	In its final complaint response, the landlord repeated its explanation that the EPC rating did not affect eligibility for the warm home discount. It said it was dealing with his housing transfer application, but he had not sent it the information it had asked for. Because of the delay in responding to his complaint, it offered him £210 compensation.
Referral to the Ombudsman	In his escalation to us, the resident said he had lost out on the warm home discount because of the wrong EPC rating. He wanted compensation for this.

 

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	How the landlord dealt with the resident’s enquiries about an EPC
Finding	Service failure

13. Under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, landlords must ensure a home is safe, healthy, and free from things that could cause serious harm. If a home cannot be adequately heated, it is not safe and healthy. We are unable to say whether a property is adequately heated as we do not have the expertise to assess this. We can, however, consider whether a landlord responded reasonably to the resident’s concerns.
14. Following the landlord’s response to an earlier complaint about heating costs, the resident asked it on 3 January 2023 when it was going to check his home’s EPC rating. It responded the same day and said it had answered his complaint and if he was unhappy he could escalate it to stage 2. On 6 January 2023, he said he wanted his home reassessed because there was an error with the EPC rating. We have not seen evidence that the landlord responded to the resident’s request.
15. On 6 April 2023 the resident complained that the landlord had not followed up his request about the EPC. He said it did not give him an EPC when he signed his tenancy agreement.
16. In its complaint response on 9 May 2023, the landlord said it may have included an EPC in his tenancy welcome pack in 2019. However, it said due to staff changes it could not confirm if it had done this. It said the recorded rating of A for his home was incorrect, but an independent assessor had recently checked, and the correct rating was D. We have not seen a copy of a survey report that confirms when the assessment was done or the rating. Because of this cannot assess whether this information is correct.
17. In his request to escalate his complaint on 10 May 2023, the resident said he was not happy with the response to his complaint about the EPC. In its final response on 4 January 2024, the landlord accepted that it might not have given the resident an EPC at the start of his tenancy. We are unable to assess events that may have happened in 2019 due to the passage of time and a lack of evidence.
18. However, we have seen that there was a failure to respond to the resident’s request for a review of his EPC on 6 January 2023. This led him to make a complaint, which caused inconvenience. Because of this, we have found there was service failure by the landlord in how it dealt with his enquiries about an EPC. In line with our remedies guidance, the landlord must pay the resident £100 compensation for the time and trouble caused.

Complaint	How the landlord dealt with the resident’s enquiries about information to support his claim for a warm home discount
Finding	No maladministration

19. On 5 April 2023 the resident told the landlord that the Department of Work and Pension (DWP) did not process his claim for a warm home discount because the landlord had not updated his EPC. He said he lost out on receiving £300 because of this. He raised this in his complaint on 6 April 2023.
20. We are unable to say whether the resident would have been eligible for a warm home discount as we do not have the expertise to assess this. In addition, the DWP decides on eligibility, and we have no jurisdiction over their decisions. However, we can consider whether the landlord dealt with the resident’s enquiries in a reasonable way.
21. In its complaint response on 10 May 2023, the landlord said the EPC rating would not have influenced his eligibility for a warm home discount. It explained that eligibility was based on his income and energy costs. It said it would not compensate him for the money he did not receive.
22. In his request to escalate his complaint on 10 May 2023, the resident repeated that he had lost money because the landlord did not update the EPC. In its final response on 4 January 2024, the landlord said the EPC rating would not have influenced his eligibility. It gave him a link to the Government’s website on the warm home discount scheme and said eligibility was linked to income levels and energy costs.
23. Although we cannot determine whether the resident would have been eligible, information available on the Government’s website says an individual may be eligible if they are on a low income, receive qualifying benefits, and their property has high energy costs. There is no reference to a property’s EPC rating being part of the decision.
24. The evidence shows the landlord dealt with the resident’s enquiries about information to support his claim for a warm home discount in a reasonable way. This is because it provided information about eligibility. Because of this we have found there was no maladministration on this part of the complaint.

Complaint	How the landlord dealt with the resident’s request for rehousing on medical grounds
Finding	Service failure

What we have not investigated

25. We have seen that the resident referred to the need for a housing transfer on medical grounds from 2021. He first complained about how the landlord dealt with his request in May 2023. We normally only investigate matters brought to the landlord as a formal complaint within a reasonable period, which is usually 12 months. This investigation will limit its scope to the 12 months before the resident complained but may reference other events for context.

What we have investigated

26. Information on the landlord’s website about rehousing on medical grounds says if a resident feels they have a medical need to move, it will ask them to complete a medical application form and provide supporting evidence. It says it will send this to an independent medical advisor, who will assess whether they meet its criteria. Eligibility for a medical move includes when a resident cannot access parts of their home due to a medical condition that will not improve or their home cannot be adapted.
27. We are unable to say whether the resident met the landlord’s criteria for a medical move as we do not have the expertise to assess this. We can, however, assess whether it responded reasonably to the resident’s request.
28. On 30 December 2022, following the landlord’s response to an earlier complaint about heating costs, the resident told about an injury on the stairs at his home related to these. It responded on 3 January 2023 and said it had answered his complaint and if he was unhappy he could escalate it to stage 2. He replied the same day and asked it to look at his position on the rehousing list. On 9 January 2023, he said he wanted an assessment to move on health grounds.
29. The landlord sent the resident a medical assessment form on 12 January 2023. The resident replied the same day and said he did not understand why he had to apply again when he had applied in 2021. He returned the form on 13 January 2023. We have not seen how the landlord then responded.
30. The resident contacted the landlord again on 25 March 2023. He said he was in pain due to “inappropriate housing” and could not move safely because of the stairs. He wanted to know when the landlord was going to include him in the queue for rehousing. He raised his housing situation in his complaint on 6 April 2023.
31. On 27 and 28 April 2023 the resident raised his housing situation again. He said he was still waiting for the housing assessment the landlord promised in 2021. The landlord replied on 28 April 2023 and said it had asked him to provide an OT assessment on 12 April 2023. It said its records showed it had not received an OT report. It said once it had the report it could decide on works or a medical transfer. We have not seen a copy of the landlord’s request for an OT assessment on 12 April 2023.
32. In its complaint response on 10 May 2023, the landlord said it was dealing with his housing transfer application and had asked him for an OT report. It said once it had received the report, it would go before a panel.
33. Due to the passage of time and lack of evidence, we cannot assess why the landlord asked the resident to complete a new medical assessment form in April 2023. We have found that it was reasonable for the landlord to explain that it needed an OT assessment in its complaint response. However, we have seen no evidence that it gave him information about how to arrange this, which was a failure.
34. In his escalation request on 10 May 2023, the resident referred to his application in 2021 and said he was not happy with the landlord’s response. In its final response on 4 January 2024, it accepted it had not told him how to start the OT process. It accepted this was a service failure and offered £50 compensation.
35. However, as well as the failure accepted by the landlord, we have seen there was a failure to respond to the resident’s request for an assessment of his housing situation on 6 January 2023. This led him to make a complaint, which caused inconvenience. Because of this, we have found there was service failure by the landlord in how it dealt with his request for a move on medical grounds. In line with our remedies guidance, it must pay the resident £150 compensation, inclusive of £50 already offered, for the time and trouble caused.

Complaint	The handling of the resident’s complaint
Finding	Reasonable redress

36. The landlord has a 2-stage complaints process. It says it will acknowledge complaints within 5 working days. It will then respond at stage 1 within 10 working days, and at stage 2 within 20 working days. This is in line with our Complaint Handling Code.
37. We have seen that the landlord responded to an earlier complaint on 28 December 2022 about other matters. We have referred to this here because the resident mentioned his earlier complaint in his follow-up emails to the landlord. However, this complaint is outside the scope of this investigation.
38. The resident complained on 6 April 2023 about the EPC and request for rehousing. The landlord acknowledged the complaint on 11 April 2023 and sent its response on 10 May 2023. This was 20 working days after the acknowledgement and outside its timescales.
39. The resident asked the landlord to escalate his complaint on 10 May 2023. We have not seen an acknowledgement until 21 July 2023, when it said it was receiving high demand, which meant it was taking longer to respond.
40. Following contact from us on 2 January 2024, the landlord sent its final response on 4 January 2024. It apologised for the delay in responding at stage 2 and offered £160 compensation.
41. Overall, we have found there was a failure by the landlord to meet the timescales in its complaints policy, which amounted to maladministration. It did not acknowledge the escalation request for 2 months and took 8 months to respond at stage 2. It only did this after contact from us. We accept it offered compensation, which under our remedies guidance, would be an amount appropriate for maladministration. Because of this we have found there was reasonable redress in how it dealt with the resident’s complaint.

Learning

42. The landlord should ensure it acknowledges and responds to all complaints in line with its policy and our Complaint Handling Code.

Knowledge and information management (record keeping)

43. The landlord did not have a clear record of the EPC. Our spotlight report on knowledge and information management provides guidance that can help the landlord with this.

Communication

44. There were gaps in the landlord’s communication with the resident following his communications in January 2023. Good communication supports a strong landlord tenant relationship.