Southern Housing (202301147)

Background

1. On 8 September 2023, the resident requested a breakdown of his 2021 to 2022 charges. The landlord said its service charge team would contact him by 16 October 2023. On 31 October 2023, the resident raised a formal complaint with the landlord about its lack of response. On 10 November 2023, the resident also requested a breakdown of his 2022 to 2023 charges. The landlord addressed its response to both of these requests in its stage 1 and stage 2 responses. The resident bought the complaint to us as he remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s response.

What the complaint is about

2. This complaint is about the landlord’s response to the resident’s request for a breakdown of his service charges.
3. We have also considered the landlord’s handling of the complaint.

Our decision (determination)

4. We have found:
   1. There was maladministration by the landlord in its response to the resident’s request for a breakdown of his service charges.
   2. There was service failure by the landlord in its handling of the complaint.

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

Reasons

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.

The landlord’s response to the resident’s request for a breakdown of his service charges.

5. In both its stage 1 and stage 2 responses the landlord repeatedly acknowledged and apologised for the delay in it providing the information the resident requested. The landlord offered a total of £170 compensation for its acknowledged failures. In both responses the landlord explained the accounts were not ready and that Section 20b notices had been issued. The landlord committed in both responses to finalising the accounts and sending the requested breakdowns to the resident by a given date. In its stage 2 response, the landlord said this would be done by the end of May 2024.
6. Had the landlord done what it had committed to do in its stage 2 response, given its apology and offer of compensation, we would have made a finding of reasonable redress in this case. However, from the evidence we have seen, the landlord did not provide the breakdowns as promised by the end of May 2024. Instead, these were not provided until 13 November 2024, 6 months later than the date it had committed to in its stage 2 response.
7. It is this ongoing failure that has resulted in the finding of maladministration in this case. This is because the ongoing delay in the landlord doing what it had committed to do was not reasonable and would understandably have caused further unnecessary inconvenience and frustration for the resident.

The landlord’s handling of the complaint

8. The resident raised his formal complaint with the landlord on 31 October 2023. The landlord’s service charge dispute policy states that concerns raised about ‘the provision of key information on request’ should be considered under its complaints policy. As such the landlord should have acknowledged the complaint within 5 working days and provided its stage 1 response within a further 10 working days. However, it did not do so.
9. The resident complained again to the landlord on 4 December 2023 as he had still not received the information he had requested. There was a short delay in the landlord acknowledging the complaint. It did not do so until 14 December 2023. The landlord then issued its stage 1 response on 22 December 2023.
10. The resident escalated his complaint on 4 March 2024. Again, there was a short delay in the landlord acknowledging the complaint. It did not do so until 14 March 2024. There was then a significant delay in it providing its stage 2 response. This should have been provided within a further 20 working days. However, it was not issued until 15 May 2024, 43 working days later.
11. In its stage 2 response, the landlord acknowledged delays in its complaint handling for which it offered the resident £50 compensation. However, given the extent of the delay in it providing its stage 2 response, we are not satisfied that the amount offered was proportionate to the level of failing in this case.

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.