London Borough of Lambeth (202319304)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202319304

Lambeth Council

30 April 2024

 

Our approach

The Housing Ombudsman’s approach to investigating and determining complaints is to decide what is fair in all the circumstances of the case. This is set out in the Housing Act 1996 and the Housing Ombudsman Scheme (the Scheme). The Ombudsman considers the evidence and looks to see if there has been any ‘maladministration’, for example, whether the landlord has failed to keep to the law, followed proper procedure, followed good practice, or behaved in a reasonable and competent manner.

Both the resident and the landlord have submitted information to the Ombudsman, and this has been carefully considered. Their accounts of what has happened are summarised below. This report is not an exhaustive description of all the events that have occurred in relation to this case, but an outline of the key issues as a background to the investigation’s findings.

The complaint

  1. The complaint is about the handling of a leak to the resident’s WC ceiling and subsequent remedial works.

Background

  1. The resident is a secure tenant of the landlord.
  2. There was a leak to the ceiling of the resident’s WC in September 2021. On 28 October 2021, the resident complained to the landlord about the leak. The landlord has informed the Ombudsman that the issue was raised in May 2022, but that it did not undertake any works. The issue was raised again in June 2022 and a blockage was cleared.
  3. The landlord responded to the resident on 27 September 2022. It repaired the roof and offered the resident £140 compensation. The resident raised the issue again in December 2022, and submitted another complaint on 11 January 2023. The landlord responded on 27 January 2023 and offered the resident a further £180 in compensation.
  4. On 17 April 2023, the resident submitted a further complaint about the leak. She said there was no point in the landlord completing internal works to the property until it had fixed the roof.
  5. The landlord issued a stage one complaint response. It is not clear when it did so as its response is undated. It apologised for the delay in issuing a response. It also apologised for the delays the resident had experienced in getting through to its service centre and said it had forwarded these concerns to management to review. It said it had booked an appointment to repair the roof for 22 May 2023.
  6. The landlord informed the Ombudsman that in June 2023 it unblocked outlets on the roof.
  7. The resident escalated her complaint to stage 2 of the landlord’s complaints procedure on 27 July 2023.
  8. On 1 September 2023, the landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response. It said its roofing contractor had told it there were no defects to the roof and had suggested that the landlord carry-out a CCTV survey to the drainage system. The landlord said it aimed to carry-out this survey by 11 December 2023.
  9. The resident complained to the Ombudsman on 1 September 2023. She said she was unhappy about the time it was taking the landlord to resolve the leak and complete the internal remedial works.
  10. On 8 April 2024, the resident told the Service that the landlord had repaired the leak, however she was not confident that the leak would not reoccur as she was concerned that the outlets on the roof blocked regularly. She said that the landlord had repainted the WC in part but had used a different colour to the original paint and the WC needed a full redecoration. She also said that mould was starting to appear in places in the WC and the leak had come through into the hallway and water was coming out of the plug sockets.
  11. On 9 April 2024, the Service asked the landlord to provide copies of any inspection reports of the roof, evidence of any works carried out to repair the roof and the date that these were completed, confirmation and evidence of the date the CCTV survey of the drainage system took place, confirmation of any issues that were identified and the dates and evidence of any repairs that were completed, confirmation of the date and evidence of any internal remedial works carried out to the resident’s property, and a copy of the escalation of the resident’s complaint to stage 2 submitted by email on 27 July 2023. We also asked it to provide copies of the resident’s complaint of 11 January 2023 and all complaint responses. It has not provided this information.

Assessment

Scope of investigation

  1. The complaint the resident made about the leak in October 2021, is outside the scope of this assessment and is noted in the background to the complaint for context only. This is because the Ombudsman may not consider complaints which were brought to the Ombudsman’s attention normally more than 12 months after they exhausted the landlord’s complaints procedure. This investigation is focused on the resident’s more recent complaint to the landlord in 2023.

Policies and procedures

  1. The landlord’s repairs policy states that it is responsible for repairs to the structure and fabric of the property, including the roof, walls, gutter and drains.
  2. The landlord’s timescales for completing repairs, published on its website, states that it will complete routine repairs within 30 working days.
  3. The landlord’s complaints process has 2 stages: local resolution and review. Its complaints policy states that at local resolution stage, it will respond within 20 working days. At review stage, it will respond within 25 working days.
  4. The Ombudsman’s complaint handling code (the Code), published on our website, sets out the Ombudsman’s expectations for landlords’ complaint handling. The Code states that any outstanding actions set out in a landlord’s complaint responses, must be tracked, and actioned promptly with appropriate updates provided to the resident. The Code also states that landlords must address all points raised in the complaint definition and provide clear reasons for any decisions, referencing the relevant policy, law, and good practice where appropriate.

The landlord’s handling of the leak to the resident’s WC ceiling and subsequent remedial works

  1. It should be noted that it can take more than one attempt to resolve issues such as leaks as it can be difficult to identify the cause of the issue at the outset and in some cases different repairs may need to be attempted before the matter is resolved. This would not necessarily constitute a service failure by the landlord.
  2. The resident has complained about the leak 3 times since October 2021. It is acknowledged that the landlord responded to these complaints and offered the resident compensation. However, the landlord has not provided the Ombudsman with its responses to the resident’s complaint of 11 January 2023, nor has it provided its repair records to show what action it took to address the leak. This is a failing by the landlord. As the landlord has not provided this information, it is not possible for the Ombudsman to confirm that its response was reasonable and we can only conclude it was not reasonable. This has been considered when assessing compensation for the landlord’s errors, as detailed further below in this report.
  3. The resident complained to the landlord on 17 April 2023. It is not clear when the landlord issued its stage one complaint as its response is not dated, therefore the Ombudsman cannot establish if it responded on time. It is recommended that the landlord carries out staff training to ensure that all its complaint responses are clearly dated. This will ensure that it is possible to confirm whether the landlord responded in line with the timescales in its complaints policy.
  4. The resident explicitly mentioned the internal works needed in the WC in her complaint to the landlord of 17 April 2023. The landlord did not address the resident’s concerns about the internal remedial works in either of its complaint responses. This was a failing that left the resident without answers as to when she could expect the internal remedial works to the WC to be completed.
  5. It was appropriate that following the resident’s complaint of 27 April 2023, the landlord booked an appointment to repair the roof on 22 May 2023 and unblocked outlets on the roof in June 2023. The Service cannot assess whether the work to unblock the outlets was carried out within the landlord’s timescales for completing routine repairs as the landlord has not provided the exact date the repairs were completed. It is important that the landlord keeps a record of the exact dates when repairs were reported, what dates appointments were booked for, a summary of what repairs were carried out and what dates these were completed, so that it can clearly evidence what actions it took and when. The landlord is ordered to review its record-keeping practices, to ensure it keeps a full account of what actions it took and when.
  6. It was reasonable that following the advice of its roofing contractor that there were no defects to the roof, the landlord informed the resident in its stage 2 complaint response of 1 September 2023, that it would carry-out a CCTV survey of the drainage system. This showed it was taking steps to try and identify the cause of the leak. However, it said that the target date for this survey was 11 December 2023. This was outside of the timescales in the landlord’s repairs policy, set out above, which states that it will complete routine repairs within 30 working days. The delay to the survey being carried out will have been frustrating for the resident, particularly as she had to report the issue to the landlord repeatedly.
  7. The Ombudsman has not seen evidence that the landlord updated the resident following the CCTV survey of the drainage system as to whether the survey had identified the cause of the leak. Nor has the landlord provided evidence as to whether any repairs were necessary and if so, what date these were carried out. The Ombudsman’s complaint handling code, set out above, states that the landlord should track any outstanding actions outlined in its complaint response and provide residents with appropriate updates. The fact that the landlord did not do so was a failing which will have caused the resident time, trouble, and inconvenience as she was not kept informed about the actions the landlord had taken.
  8. The resident has told the Service that in her view, the leak reoccurs due to outlets on the roof becoming repeatedly blocked. It is appropriate that the landlord unblocked the outlets on the roof twice, once in June 2022 and once in June 2023. However, it is recommended that the landlord consider what action it could take to prevent any further blockages or build-up of debris in the roof outlets and avoid the need for it to be repeatedly unblocked.
  9. The resident has told the Ombudsman that the landlord repainted the areas damaged by the leak but that this was done with a colour which was different to the original paint. The landlord had a responsibility to make good any damage to the decoration caused by the leak. It would have been reasonable for the landlord to ensure that it used the same colour of paint and if it had difficulty finding the same colour, to repaint the WC in its entirety. The fact that it has not done so will have caused the resident time, trouble, and inconvenience. The landlord is ordered to ensure that any damage to the decoration in the WC caused by the leak is made good, and if it cannot find the right colour to match the original paint, to repaint the room entirely in a similar colour.
  10. The Ombudsman’s remedies guidance, published on our website, sets out our approach to compensation. The guidance states that where maladministration has been identified that has not been fully put right, £100-£600 compensation should be considered. The landlord is ordered to pay the resident £150 for the time, trouble, and inconvenience caused by its failures in its handling of repairs to a leak to her WC ceiling. This is in addition to the £320 compensation already offered by the landlord in response to the resident’s complaints of October 2021 and January 2023.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in its handling of the leak to the resident’s WC ceiling and the subsequent remedial works.

Orders and recommendations

Orders:

  1. The landlord is ordered to do the following within 4 weeks of the date of this report, ensuring that the Ombudsman is provided with evidence of compliance by the same date:
    1. Make good the damage to the WC ceiling and walls. If the landlord cannot find the right colour to match the original paint in the WC, it is ordered to repaint the room entirely in a similar colour to what it was previously.
    2. Review its record-keeping practices, to ensure it keeps a full account of what actions it took and when.
    3. Pay the resident £150 compensation for its failures in its handling of the leak to her WC ceiling.

Recommendations

  1. It is recommended that the landlord:
    1. Make good any damage to the hallway and inspect the hallway plug sockets, to ensure that these are safe.
    2. Carry-out an inspection of the damp and mould in the resident’s WC and take steps to remedy this, if necessary.
    3. Consider what actions it could take to prevent blockages to the roof outlets in future.
    4. Carry-out staff training in relation to responding to complaints to ensure that all its complaint responses are dated.