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Accent Housing Limited (202309091)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202309091

Accent Housing Limited

21 March 2025

 

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 condition of the resident’s property at the start of her tenancy.

Background

  1. The resident holds an assured tenancy with the landlord which began on 22 February 2023. The property is a first-floor flat and there is a balcony. She lives with her two children.
  2. The landlord’s records show that it spoke with the resident on 21 February 2023 and they discussed the repairs she had noticed when she viewed the property. According to these notes, it said the resident could report the repairs after signing the tenancy agreement, which she did the following day. The repairs included doors and windows that were not opening properly, an exposed live wire, a faulty door seal, a loose shower screen and heating control panel, and plug sockets that were coming off the wall.
  3. The repairs were still outstanding in June 2023 and the resident contacted the Service. She said she wanted the landlord to complete the repairs and to refund the first month’s rent. We wrote to the landlord on 26 June and it responded to the resident’s complaint on 11 July. It said it had resolved some of the repairs, including the heating panel and plug socket and would inspect the remaining ones on 13 July. It acknowledged its service failure and agreed to refund the equivalent of the first month’s rent (£1096.99) to the resident’s rent account.
  4. The resident remained dissatisfied and asked the landlord to escalate her complaint on 4 August 2023. She said she wanted it to refund the rent to her bank account rather than her rent account. She also wanted the repairs to be finished. She did not receive another complaint response and contacted us again. We wrote to the landlord on 4 October and it agreed it would credit the resident’s bank account. The resident contacted us on again on 12 October to say the repairs were incomplete and she was expecting a formal final response to her complaint.
  5. The landlord responded to the resident’s escalated complaint on 19 October 2023. It apologised for its delay in fixing the repairs and explained which ones were completed, such as repairs to the living room plug socket. It said that it had been unable to source parts for the bedroom window and was working with its contractors to complete this repair. It offered the resident a further £100 in compensation which it said was for its service failure and for the inconvenience it had caused.
  6. The resident brought her complaint to the Ombudsman because she said the repair to her child’s bedroom window was outstanding. She said she wanted more compensation for the stress and inconvenience she said she had experienced when chasing the repairs.

Assessment and findings

Scope of the investigation

  1. In her complaint to the Ombudsman the resident raised issues about antisocial behaviour (ASB) at the property. These issues were not part of her original complaint to the landlord, and because of that have not exhausted its complaint process. The resident should raise these issues directly with the landlord if they remain a concern. They will not be considered in this report.
  2. The resident has raised concerns about the impact the issues may have had on her health. The Ombudsman is unable to assess the cause of, or liability for, impacts on health and wellbeing. The resident may be able to make a personal injury claim if she considers that her health has been affected by the landlord’s actions or inaction. This is a legal process, and the resident may wish to seek legal advice if she wants to pursue this option. In accordance with paragraph 42.f. of the Scheme, this issue is more effectively resolved and remedied through the courts. It will therefore not be considered in this report.

The condition of the resident’s property at the start of her tenancy

  1. Landlords must ensure their homes are in a reasonable state of repair on the day they are let. In this case the landlord’s ‘void sheet’ listed works it said were required prior to it reletting the property. The evidence does not show what works, if any, had been completed from this list.
  2. The landlord’s first response to the resident’s complaint on 11 July 2023 was appropriate and reasonable. It recognised that its service had failed and that work should have been completed as part of its void process. It apologised and agreed to reimburse the resident for the first month’s rent. It confirmed what works it had done, such as refixing the heating control panel, on 13 March. It committed to inspecting the resident’s property on 13 July and to carry out the outstanding repairs. It said that it had learned from the complaint and would work with its contractors to ensure its properties were “completed to the required specification” before they were let.
  3. Despite the landlord’s assurances, works remained outstanding almost 3 months later, in early October 2023, when the resident escalated her complaint. The landlord acknowledged this in its final complaint response on 19 October 2023. It offered further compensation and said it had fixed the outstanding repairs, except the bedroom window. It explained the window was safe but there were “loose hinges and a missing lever on the secondary opener”. It said it had been unable to obtain the necessary parts, but was working with its contractors to do so. It agreed to keep the resident updated, but there is no evidence it did.
  4. Overall, the landlord has made reasonable attempts to resolve the resident’s complaint, but the repair work it promised was either delayed, or incomplete, and apart from the window delay, there is no clear evidence explaining why. Nor is there evidence of the landlord providing updates to the resident about its efforts to complete the outstanding window work.
  5. It is evident that this situation has been challenging for the resident, and she has spent considerable time and trouble in reporting and chasing up the issues. The landlord informed us in August 2024 that it was waiting for its contractors to provide a completion date for the window. It said it would provide this date to us, but it has not done so at the time of this report. It is understood that the resident is still able to open half of the window and therefore the impact of the repair is lessened. That said, the resident said that the repair remains incomplete. Because of that the complaint cannot be said to have been resolved.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure in the condition of the resident’s property at the start of her tenancy.

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks from the date of this report the landlord is ordered to pay compensation of £400 to the resident in recognition of the failings identified in this report. This amount is inclusive of the £100 it previously offered.
  2. As the state of the window repair is unknown, within 6 weeks of this report the landlord must provide an update to the resident setting out the current situation. It should explain what actions it has taken and will be taking, and when it estimates it will be able to complete the work. It must also explain how it intends to keep the resident informed of its progress if its plans change. If the resident subsequently has any concerns about the landlord’s adherence to its plan to complete the work, or with its future communication with her about the repair, she is entitled to make a new formal complaint to it. She then has the option of bringing her complaint back to the Ombudsman and asking for a new investigation.
  3. The landlord must provide the Ombudsman with evidence of complying with these orders by their respective deadlines.