A2Dominion Housing Group Limited (202329430)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202329430

A2Dominion Housing Group Limited

7 November 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

The complaint is about the landlord’s:
1. Response to temporary accommodation not having electricity when the resident moved in.
2. Response to the resident’s concerns regarding the duration of the temporary move.
3. Handling of the complaint.

Background

The resident holds an assured tenancy and has lived in a 2-bed flat with her 3 children since 18 July 2005. The landlord said it does not have any vulnerabilities recorded.
In February 2022 following reports of damp, the landlord inspected the property. It recommended a temporary move of the resident to allow a full investigation. The resident moved out in December 2022.
The resident submitted a complaint regarding the lack of electricity in the temporary accommodation and the duration of the temporary move.
The landlord responded to the complaint on 27 February 2023. It acknowledged the lack of electricity in the temporary accommodation, apologised and offered £75 for the inconvenience. The landlord confirmed that while a 3-week timescale had been given initially for the work to be completed at the property, further work was identified, and it would provide further updates on the repairs. The landlord upheld the complaint.
The resident escalated her complaint; however, it is not known when, or what points were raised.
On 21 April 2023 the landlord provided its final complaint response. It acknowledged its failure regarding the electrics in the temporary accommodation and agreed to reimburse the electricity costs and additional travel costs experienced by the resident.
The landlord partially upheld the complaint about the length of time of the decant. It said it had delayed in its inspection of the property and referred to items left which the resident had to sign for to accept responsibility. It highlighted the difficulties faced in arranging the removal of the items. In addition to the expenses, it offered £75 compensation for the delay in works starting and £100 for the distress and inconvenience of the decant.
In her complaint to us the resident advised that the landlord decanted her to a property with no electricity which forced her to return back to her old property and live there for 3 days without any furniture. She explained that living in the decant property did not feel like home and was not suitable for the family’s needs. As an outcome, the resident said she would like to be compensated for moving into a property with no electricity, and to be moved from the decanted property to a home bigger than the original property.

Post completion of the complaint process

After the final complaint response, work at the property continued for a prolonged period. The landlord told the resident it would provide monthly progress updates and confirm when she could move back home. We asked the landlord to confirm the date the resident returned home. While this information was not provided, it would appear the property was completed in July 2024. This was after a leak which caused damage to the floor coverings and a break in which resulted in additional work not foreseen.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

The resident has referred to the impact the situation has had on the health of her and her family, along with damage caused to personal belongings. Although we can consider the impact the situation has had on the resident and whether the landlord acted reasonably, we cannot determine liability for damage to health or belongings. These are legal matters better suited to an insurance claim or court. Should the resident wish to pursue these matters further, she should seek legal advice.
The resident has stated she has been reporting damp in the property for 16 years, but the landlord has not resolved the problem. As per paragraph 42.c of the Scheme (in place at the time of the complaint), the Ombudsman may not consider complaints which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion were not brought to the attention of the member as a formal complaint within a reasonable period which would normally be within 6 months of the matters arising.
Further, this was not part of the complaint that completed the landlord’s internal complaint process and that is the subject of this investigation. In line with paragraph 42.a, we may not investigate complaints that are made prior to having exhausted a member’s complaints procedure, unless there is evidence of a complaint-handling failure, and the Ombudsman is satisfied that the member has not taken action within a reasonable timescale.
This also means that events that occurred after the landlord’s final response are not considered here, as they have not been the subject of the landlord’s complaint process. This investigation will focus on events from February 2022 (when the landlord recommended a temporary move) to the date of the final complaint response (21 April 2023).
Finally, while the resident has asked to be moved to a bigger home as an outcome of this case, this is not something that we are able to order. This is because this would be subject to assessed bedroom requirements for the household, the availability of properties, and the priority of other applicants.

Policies and procedures

The landlord’s decant policy and procedure states it will oversee the decant by completing the necessary inspections and supporting documents to provide as much information as possible to the resident. This includes confirming a full or partial clearance of belongings and the resident signing a disclaimer to confirm the storage/removal of items. The landlord will arrange the storage/removal of such items. Work should commence following the signing of the disclaimer and the landlord is to provide a start date and estimated completion date along with regular updates on progress.

No electricity in temporary housing

On 12 December 2022 the resident moved into temporary accommodation. On the same day she contacted the landlord’s out of hours team to advise the property had no electricity. The landlord has not provided evidence of the contact, or the action taken at the time. This raises a concern with its repair management, record keeping, and the support given to the resident at the time.
On 14 December 2022 the landlord spoke to the resident and apologised for the electricity problems. It asked her to contact the providers to confirm she was living there. While this process may be correct, there is no evidence to suggest the landlord provided these instructions ahead of the move. This was unreasonable. This is a communication failure and is likely to have contributed to the inconvenience and frustration experienced by the resident. It is noted the landlord’s decant policy does not refer to the setting up of utilities in temporary accommodation and the lines of responsibility. A recommendation has been made to reflect this.
The landlord told the resident it had asked the concierge team to assist with the electricity problem but asked her to make further contact if the matter was not resolved. As it was the landlord’s failure to provide the resident with the supplier information, it would have been more appropriate for it to contact the concierge team directly rather than passing the responsibility to the resident causing her further inconvenience.
On 15 December 2022 the landlord spoke to the resident and her sister. It was claimed the out of hours team did not assist her when she reported the lack of electricity and that it hung up on her. She said she was not referred for emergency accommodation and no electrician was requested. The landlord has not provided any repair logs or evidence of the request, but its internal notes and stage 1 complaint response confirmed an electrician was requested by the out of hours team but did not attend. This indicates a failing.
From 14 to 21 December 2022, the landlord paid for the resident to stay in a hotel while the electricity problem was resolved. On 19 December 2022, the landlord apologised for not providing the information regarding the electricity supplier. The problem was resolved on 22 December 2022, however there is no evidence to confirm the root cause of the problem, why it took so long to resolve, and this being fed back to the resident.
In the complaint response the landlord recognised its failure to provide the supplier information. It apologised for the inconvenience and offered £100 compensation and agreed to pay additional expenses. The landlord took reasonable action here to “put things right” for the resident by recognising its failing, apologising, and offering compensation. The amount offered is in line with our remedies guidance which suggests amounts of up to £100 where there has been a failing of short duration which did not significantly affect the overall outcome for the resident. As such, a finding of reasonable redress is made.
There is however little indication that the landlord took any learning from the matter. This is addressed further in the complaint handling section below.

Duration of temporary housing

Following a property inspection on 2 February 2022 the landlord recommended a temporary move for the resident, to allow a full inspection. In line with procedure the landlord completed a decant request form (dated 3 February 2022) which said the work was expected to take 2 months, starting on 11 July 2022. This was confirmed in an email to the lettings team on 7 February 2022 when the landlord made enquiries on the availability of properties.
On 4 July 2022, following additional property inspections, the landlord told the resident work would start on 11 July 2022 for 2 months and provided temporary housing options. Although there is evidence of several offers being made to the resident, she did not move until 12 December 2022.
In line with process, the landlord is expected to provide clear information to the resident, so she is aware of what is happening and when and so clear expectations are set. While the decant policy includes a series of letters and forms to be completed as part of the process, this Service has not received copies of any of the completed forms or letters sent to the resident. In addition, there is no evidence from the landlord at this time to suggest the work would take longer than 2 months. This is a record keeping concern and impacts the Ombudsman’s assessment of whether the communication and information given to the resident was reasonable and appropriate.
The decant policy states it should keep the resident updated on progress but there is a lack of evidence to confirm this happened. The resident continued to ask the landlord for updates throughout February 2023. This was unreasonable as the landlord should have proactively updated the resident.
On 27 February 2023 the landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response. It confirmed a target of 3 weeks had initially been given but additional work was identified which was delayed further due to Christmas. It said an inspection was planned for that week, after which it would provide an update. It was unreasonable that the resident had to submit a complaint to receive an update on the work.
On 16 March 2023 the landlord emailed the resident to advise items had been left in the property and she needed to sign a disclaimer to accept responsibility for them. It said the repairs were delayed due to extra work found and it would provide a timeframe ‘shortly.’ The following day it said the work was still being costed so it could not provide a completion date. It said the disclaimer needed to be signed before any work could start. Although this is procedural, there is no evidence to suggest the landlord asked the resident to sign the form prior to this date, nor was it mentioned in previous contact, or the complaint response. It was unreasonable that this caused avoidable delays, and the landlord waited until this time to approach the resident about it.
The resident refused to sign the disclaimer form as she said she had been told the cooker did not have to be removed. There is no evidence of this discussion or agreement. While dialogue continued between the parties, in the stage 2 complaint response on 21 April 2023 that the landlord confirmed the resident had agreed to the removal of the items, so a disclaimer was not needed. This caused further delay in the start of the work.
In summary, the Ombudsman finds maladministration in relation to the landlord’s response to the resident’s concerns regarding the duration of the temporary move. There is evidence of poor record keeping, unclear and inconsistent communication and a failure to comply with the decant policy and procedure. Except for the issue with the disclaimer, the landlord provided limited information about the delays and a completion date. The lack of explanation is unlikely to have reassured the resident that progress was being made while she continued to live in temporary accommodation.
£75 compensation was offered for the delay in work starting, however this did not reflect the impact of the level of service failure identified. Further, the offer was not in line with the remedies guidance of this Service for a finding of maladministration where the landlord has failed to put things right or recognised the detriment caused to the resident.

Complaint handling

The landlord’s complaint policy states it will acknowledge a complaint (stage 1 or 2) within 5 working days of receipt. Stage 1 complaints will be responded to within 10 working days from the acknowledgement and stage 2 complaints with 20 working days. Regardless of stage, the policy states any extension needed at either stage will be clearly explained to the resident. The policy states the landlord should identify any lessons learned and preventative actions to make sure the issue does not happen again.
The resident submitted a complaint regarding the lack of electricity in the temporary accommodation and the duration of the temporary move. Although this Service requested the original complaint submission, the landlord has not provided this. It is therefore not known when the complaint was submitted. Furthermore, there is no evidence of the landlord’s acknowledgement of the complaint. This raises concern with the landlord’s record keeping, communication and complaint management. In addition, the landlord did not demonstrate that it complied with its complaint policy or the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code).
The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint responseon27 February 2022.As it is not known when the complaint was received, the Ombudsman cannot assess if the landlord responded within the policy timescale of 10 working days.
The complaint response referred to the lack of electricity in the temporary accommodation and the duration of the temporary move. It apologised for not providing the electricity supplier’s details and offered £75 compensation. However, it failed to demonstrate its investigation into the failure, explain the root cause of the electrical problem and associated delay in resolving it, or how it would prevent a recurrence. It did not show it had investigated the allegations made about the out of hours team or the non-attendance of the electrician which it turn meant it could not provide a detailed response to the resident. This was unreasonable.
In terms of the decant, the landlord failed to identify its inconsistent communication, the delays, the non-compliance to the decant policy and the efforts made by the resident to obtain updates. The omission of this detail and the landlord’s lack of apology showed little empathy to the resident or an understanding of the ongoing situation. This is likely to have contributed to the escalation of the complaint.
The complaint was escalated but the landlord has not provided evidence of the resident’s escalation request. A reference is made to a telephone conversation on 17 April 2023 to clarify the complaint, but no record of this has been provided. It is not therefore known when it was received and what concerns were escalated. As with the stage 1 complaint, there is no evidence of the landlord’s acknowledgement of the complaint. This supports the record keeping and complaint management concerns referred to earlier in this report and does not show the landlord confirmed its understanding of the complaint. This was not in line with its complaint policy and the Code.
The landlord provided its final complaint response on 21 April 2023. However, the Ombudsman is unable to assess if the landlord responded within the policy timescale of 20 working days.
The landlord confirmed the response provided at stage 1 in relation to the lack of electricity. It offered to reimburse the resident for electrical and travelling costs but missed a further opportunity to explain what action it had taken to prevent a recurrence. Similarly, in respect of the duration of the temporary housing, the landlord did not explain why the inspections were delayed (except for the disclaimer issue). In failing to address these points it is unlikely to have reassured the resident that it fully understood the impact the situation was having on her or that it had taken learning from the complaint.
In summary, the Ombudsman finds maladministration with the landlord’s handling of the complaint. These failings caused frustration to the resident, and time and trouble in pursuing her complaint. An order of compensation has therefore been made. This is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance for a finding of maladministration where there has not been a permanent impact on the resident, but the landlord has failed to acknowledge its failings and had made no attempt to put things right.

Determination

In accordance with paragraph 53.b of the Scheme, the Ombudsman finds reasonable redress in relation to the landlord’s response to temporary accommodation not having electricity when the resident moved in.
In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, the Ombudsman finds maladministration in relation to the landlord’s response to the resident’s concerns regarding the duration of the temporary move.
In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, the Ombudsman finds maladministration in relation to the landlord’s handling of the complaint.

Orders

Within 4 weeks of the date of this report the landlord should:
1. Write a letter of apology to the resident. This should include:
  1. Confirmation of the lessons learnt from the case and the actions to be taken to prevent recurrence.
2. Pay the resident a total of £600. This is broken down as follows:
  1. £175 offered as part of the final complaint response dated 21 April 2023.
  2. An additional £275 for the prolonged time spent in the temporary accommodation and for distress and inconvenience caused.
  3. £150 for the impact of the failures identified with the complaint handling.
3. The additional compensation should be paid directly to the resident and not offset against any debt that may be owed.
In its final complaint response, in addition to the compensation offered, the landlord confirmed it would reimburse the resident for electrical and travelling costs. The landlord should provide this Service with evidence to confirm these have been reimbursed. If this has not been done, the landlord should contact the resident to arrange payment and provide this Service with evidence of its actions.
The landlord should provide this Service with evidence to confirm it has complied with the orders within the specified timescale.

Recommendations

The landlord (if not already done so) should consider revising its decant policy and decant request form to include lines of responsibility associated with the connection of electricity and gas supplies. The landlord must ensure this information is provided ahead of a move to establish clear lines of responsibility.
As part of case 202307731, the landlord was asked to provide its most up to date self-assessment following the Spotlight Report on knowledge and information management. As such this recommendation will not be repeated.
The resident has mentioned a desire to move to more suitable accommodation. If not already done so, the landlord should contact the resident to discuss this in more detail and explain the options available to her.