A2Dominion Housing Group Limited (202339248)

Decision
Case ID	202339248
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	A2Dominion Housing Group Limited
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Assured Tenancy
Date	23 April 2026

Background

The resident reported a water leak in a cupboard where her electric boiler was located. There was mould present because of the leak. The landlord took action to repair the boiler and identify the cause of the leak. However, the resident remained unhappy as she was concerned the boiler was a health and safety hazard.

What the complaint is about

The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of repairs at the resident’s property.
We have also considered the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint.

Our decision (determination)

There was service failure in the landlord’s handling of repairs at the resident’s property.
There was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint.

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

Summary of reasons

The landlord acted promptly after the resident reported the issue. Its complaint responses recognised delays to its repairs and the inconvenience to the resident. However, it did not address the resident’s concerns about the potential risk of the boiler. It also did not complete the repair to the boiler flue for several months after completing repairs to the boiler, leaving the risk of the issue reoccurring.
The landlord’s complaint responses showed learning from the resident’s complaints. However, it did not respond to all the points the resident had raised. Its stage 2 response also exceeded the revised timeframe for its response.

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 specific to the failures identified in this decision, meaningful and empathetic. It has due regard to our apologies guidance.	No later than 21 May 2026
2	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £550 compensation made up as follows: £100 for the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of repairs to the resident’s property. £50 for the distress and inconvenience caused by its complaint handling failures. £400 it offered in its stage 2 response if it has not already paid this.	No later than 21 May 2026
3	Inspection order The landlord must contact the resident to arrange an inspection of her property. It must take all reasonable steps to ensure the inspection is completed by the due date. A suitably qualified person should do the inspection. If the landlord 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 boiler to ensure it is free from hazards and is safe for the resident to use. Inspects the flue to ensure there is no further risk of a leak. The survey report must set out: Whether the landlord is satisfied there is no risk to the resident. 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 resolution to the issues if the landlord is responsible. The likely timescales to commence and complete the work. Whether temporary alternative accommodation is necessary either because of the condition of the property or during the works.	No later than 21 May 2026
4	Compensation review order The landlord must review the resident’s request for it to pay her compensation for the time she spent without heating and hot water. It should use our findings for the basis of its review. It should confirm whether it does need to pay the resident further compensation or set out the reasons why it does not consider it needs to.	No later than 21 May 2026

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
7 December 2022	The resident raised her complaint with the landlord. She said: She did not feel safe in her property and the central heating system was a health and safety hazard. She had asked it on several occasions for a qualified engineer to inspect the system. She felt there would be serious consequences for her and her daughter if the landlord did not address the issue soon. She wanted it to compensate her for being without heating and hot water, as well as 2 days of work that she had missed.
10 January 2023	The landlord sent its stage 1 response. It said: It was sorry for the distress the leak had caused. The service she had received had fallen below what would normally be expected. There had been a lack of communication between it and its contractor. There was confusion on whether its gas or repairs contractors were responsible for the repair. Its repairs contractor had closed the repair down and told her to collect leaking water in a bucket. However, it had now taken responsibility for the repair. It upheld her complaint and offered her £350 compensation. This was made up as follows: £100 for distress and inconvenience. £100 for its poor standard of repairs. £75 for the time it took to complete repairs. £75 for poor communication. It had recommended better communications between its departments, as there was no ownership of the repair. It was sorry it did not keep her updated on the status of the repair. It would recommend improvements to its record keeping and monitoring of repairs.
13 February 2023	The resident escalated her complaint. She said she felt the complaint was unresolved and it should compensate her £50 per week, backdated to 7 December 2022.
12 April 2023	The landlord sent the resident its stage 2 response. It said: It had attended the repairs within its timescales when she first reported them. However, there was lots of “back and forth” between departments to establish responsibility. It was sorry for this which had been due to it not properly understanding the issue. It had completed repairs on 24 March 2023, followed by a post inspection on 27 March 2023. It offered her a further £25 for its delays in completing repairs. It offered her £25 for its delay in escalating and responding at stage 2. It had spoken to its contractors to remind them of its expected service levels. It had also advised them of maintaining good communications and managing repairs effectively.
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident referred her complaint to us. She said: Her complaint remained unresolved as the landlord had not sent a qualified, unbiased person to inspect the boiler. She disputed the date when the landlord said it completed its repairs and its post inspection. The issue had caused her financial and emotional stress. She wanted an independent review on the safety of the boiler and her water cylinder replacing.

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	Repairs
Finding	Service failure

Landlords must assess property conditions using a risk assessment approach called the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). While HHSRS does not set minimum standards, it focuses on identifying and minimising potential health hazards. This includes electrical safety hazards. Landlords should be aware of their responsibilities under HHSRS and take appropriate action when hazards are identified.
The resident reported a water leak in her electric boiler cupboard on 2 December 2022. The landlord’s records show that it visited her property the same day to isolate the leak. She contacted it on 6 December 2022 as she was unhappy that she had been left without heating or hot water. She also said she did not feel safe in the property and thought the heating system was a health and safety hazard. However, there is no record that it contacted her to discuss her concerns. This was a failure to follow its repairs policy that says it will deliver a consistently high service.
Due to the resident’s safety concerns, she asked the landlord on 6 December 2022 for a qualified engineer to inspect the boiler. However, there is no record that the landlord assessed the boiler under the HHSRS or reassured her the boiler was safe at this point. Given her concerns it would have been reasonable for the landlord to have done so to confirm if the boiler posed a potential hazard.
The landlord identified the cause of the water leak on 7 December 2022. It was due to an old flue from the previous gas boiler, that it had not capped off. Its records note that it “should have been done years ago but for some reason it was unable to locate the correct flue.” This indicates a lack of ownership and was a record keeping failure.
The resident told the landlord on 6 December 2022 there was mould on her belongings in the boiler cupboard. However, there is no record that it investigated this as part of its response. This was not reasonable and a failure to follow its repairs policy that says it will deliver a consistently high service.
The landlord’s records show it completed an electrical test of the boiler on 19 March 2024. However,it should have considered inspecting the boiler as a remedy for the resident at an earlier stage. Its complaint responses did not address the resident’s concerns about the safety of the boiler. This was not reasonable. It should have considered telling her what steps it had taken to satisfy itself that the boiler was safe.
The landlord’s records show that there was confusion which of its contractors needed to complete the initial repair to the resident’s boiler. This indicates a lack of oversight which caused the resident inconvenience and distress. However, its complaint responses identified this and explained the reason for the delay to the resident. This was reasonable.
The landlord’s stage 1 response said its contractor told the resident to put a bucket under the leak, until it completed its repairs. This was not reasonable and caused the resident distress as there is no record it gave her a timeframe for it completing its repairs.
The landlord’s repairs policy says it will complete emergency repairs within 24 hours of being reported and standard repairs within 20 working days. While it does not say what it considers to be an emergency repair, it is reasonable to conclude one involving water, and electrics should be considered as such. We acknowledge it met this timeframe to isolate the boiler and make it safe.
The landlord’s stage 2 response said it completed its repairs to the boiler on 24 March 2023, 77 working days after it being reported. There is no record of this in its repair records, so it is unclear how it concluded this. It offered the resident compensation for the delay. However, its repair records show it completed repairs on 14 July 2023, 153 working days after it was reported. This was not reasonable and a further delay which its complaint response did not reflect.
The landlord’s repair records show that it did not complete its repair to the flue until 24 August 2023. This was 182 working days after the resident reported the leak. This was not reasonable. It had identified it should have done this “years ago” and a further delay left the resident at risk of the issue happening again.
The landlord’s complaint responses offered the resident £375 compensation for its failures to resolve the issue. It also identified learning from the complaint, which it told the resident of. This was reasonable and in line with our compensation guidance for failures which adversely affected the resident.
However, the landlord did not identify the failures we have found. The resident has also told us there is still water leaking from the boiler pipes which she uses towels to soak up. For these reasons we have made a finding of service failure. We have ordered the landlord to apologise to the resident and pay a further £100 compensation. We have also ordered it to contact the resident to arrange an inspection of the boiler to confirm it does not pose a hazard.

Complaint	The handling of the complaint
Finding	Service failure

The landlord’s complaints policy says it will acknowledge complaints within 5 working days at both stages. It will send its response within 10 working days of its acknowledgement at stage 1 and 20 working days at stage 2. Any extension to its investigation must be agreed with the complainant and be for no longer than 10 working days.
There is no record that the landlord acknowledged the resident’s complaint at stage 1. This was a failure to follow its complaints policy’s published timeframe.
The landlord sent the resident its stage 1 response 21 working days after she raised her complaint. This was a failure to follow its published timeframe to acknowledge and respond within 15 working days.
The landlord sent its stage 2 acknowledgement on 25 February 2023. This was 10 working days after the resident escalated her complaint and 5 working days over its published timeframe. It said it would respond by 25 March 2023. It sent a further stage 2 acknowledgement on 6 March 2023. It said it would respond by 3 April 2023. This was a complaint handling failure, which likely caused the resident confusion and indicates there was a lack of oversight.
The landlord sent its stage 2 response on 12 April 2023. There is no record that it agreed an extension with the resident. It did not meet either timeframe set out in both its stage 2 acknowledgement letters. This was a complaint handling failure.
The landlord’s complaint responses did show learning from the resident’s complaint. This was reasonable and shows it intended to take steps to improve its service to its residents.
When the resident raised her complaint, she said she wanted the landlord to pay compensation for the 6 days she had been without heating or hot water. Its responses did not directly address this. Its compensation policy says it will pay compensation where there is a loss of amenity. As its responses and offer of £100 in compensation for distress and inconvenience did not refer to this, it is reasonable to conclude its offer did not consider the loss of heating and hot water. We have ordered the landlord to review its compensation offer and consider if it should make a further offer based on the time the resident was without heating and hot water.
When the resident escalated her complaint, she asked the landlord to compensate her £50 per week from 7 December 2022 until it resolved the issue. The reasoning for the amount she put forward is unclear and the amount does not reflect any in legislation or the landlord’s compensation policy. However, its stage 2 response did not respond to this point. This was a complaint handling failure.
The landlord offered the resident £25 compensation for its delay in escalating and responding to the complaint. We consider this reasonable and in line with our compensation guidance. However, it did not apologise for this or offer the resident an explanation. This was a complaint handling failure.
The landlord’s complaint responses did not fully address the points the resident raised. Its handling at stage 2 was poor and lacked oversight, which it did not explain. For these reasons we have made a finding of service failure. We have ordered the landlord to apologise and pay the resident a further £50 compensation. This is in line with our compensation guidance for minor failures it did not appropriately acknowledge. We have also ordered it to review the resident’s request for compensation due to loss of heating and hot water.

Learning

The landlord has shown learning from the resident’s complaint. It identified it needed to improve its communication and oversight of its contractors. It should continue to monitor and review its introduction of these measures to ensure its residents receive prompt, accurate updates, especially in emergencies for any future cases.

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

We found record keeping failures in the landlord’s response to the issue the resident raised. Maintaining accurate, detailed records of its decisions will help to improve transparency and accountability.

Communication

Our spotlight report on repairs and maintenance explains that proactive and tailored communication can reduce distress and minimise the impact of failures. The landlord may wish to review its communication with residents in line with the recommendations set out in our spotlight report if it has not done so already.