Amplius Living (202317036)

Background

1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord. The property is a 2-bed bungalow. The tenancy commenced on 10 May 2010. In September 2022, the resident reported a crack in the ceiling. Upon investigation, the landlord identified asbestos and a roof leak. It completed some temporary repairs to the roof and replaced the ceiling in July 2023. It completed further works to the roof in October 2023. 

What the complaint is about

2. The landlord’s handling of repairs to the ceiling and roof.
3. We have also investigated the landlord’s complaint handling.

Our decision (determination)

4. We found:
   1. Maladministration in the landlord’s handling of repairs to the ceiling and roof.
   2. No maladministration in the landlord’s response to the associated complaint.
5. We have made orders for the landlord to put things right.

Summary of reasons

Handling of repairs to the ceiling and roof

6. The landlord delayed in completing repairs to the ceiling and roof. It was not proactive in its communication with the resident, and the resident had to keep chasing the landlord for updates for a prolonged period.
7. It completed the repairs and acknowledged delays in its handling of the repairs. It apologised and offered compensation. However, this was not proportionate to recognise the impact to the resident. Additionally, it demonstrated no learning taken from the complaint.

Complaint handling

8. The landlord responded to the complaint in line with its policy. It agreed an extension when it was unable to respond within its timeframe and appropriately updated the resident.

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.

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

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 has happened or comment on all the information we have reviewed. We have only included the key information that forms the basis of our decision of whether the landlord is responsible for maladministration.

9. As part of her complaint resolution request to us, the resident wanted to be moved to another property. However, we are not able to manage the landlord’s property pool and as such this request is something we do not have remit to decide. Additionally, we have not seen any evidence of rehousing request being raised through and exhausted the landlord’s internal complaints process.
10. The landlord acknowledged failings in its handling of repairs to the ceiling and roof. Where the landlord admits failings, the Ombudsman’s role is to consider whether it resolved the resident’s complaint satisfactorily in the circumstances and offered appropriate redress.
11. The landlord must deal with routine repairs within 20 working days as per its repairs policy. The landlord appropriately inspected the property within this timeframe on 27 September 2022, following the residents reports of a crack in the lounge ceiling of 20 September 2022. The inspection found the crack was not caused by a visible leak, but said the ceiling needed to be removed and re-instated.
12. The landlord raised an asbestos survey to be completed by 7 October 2022. It had to cancel due to the contractor going into administration. It completed the survey on 27 February 2023. This was considerably delayed. Additionally, the landlord did not appropriately update the resident, and she was inconvenienced by having to chase the survey.
13. There were further delays related to the actual ceiling replacement and some inconsistencies with the dates in the landlord’s repairs log. The replacement was initially raised for 22 March 2023, then planned to be completed by 14 April 2023. However, the ceiling was not removed until 22 June 2023, and the ceiling was not reinstated for another month. This was a delay of 11 months since the issue was originally reported. While it is appreciated that the resident reported a roof leak in the meantime, the landlord should have ensured the ceiling works were carried out with the required urgency.
14. The landlord responded appropriately to the roof leak emergency repair on 6 July 2023 (reported on 5 July 2023 while the ceiling was removed), but it did not fully complete the roof works until 6 September 2023. The repair was just over 1 month outside of the timeframes of its repairs policy and caused considerable inconvenience to the resident having to chase updates and repairs.
15. While works to the roof were completed in September 2023, the report from July 2023 recommended a full roof replacement. It was appropriate that the landlord brought this forward from February 2024 to October 2023. However, we have not seen evidence of clear communication with the resident about the roof replacement, which caused additional confusion and frustration. This was exacerbated by the landlord’s stage 1 response where it said works to the roof had been completed.
16. The landlord acknowledged both the delays and the lack of communication to the resident. While it provided some explanation about the delays, and particularly its contractor going into administration it had not clearly explained what service it was looking to improve and what steps it would take to prevent this from happening in future. As such, we have made a learning order.
17. Additionally, the delay was considerable, and the landlord did not fully acknowledge the inconvenience caused to the resident. She lived with a cracked ceiling for an unreasonable length of time and without a ceiling in the lounge for 27 working days. In addition to the roof repairs, the asbestos survey was also considerably delayed which inevitably caused distress and worry to the resident. The landlord’s offer of £100 compensation did not adequately recognise the level of distress and inconvenience caused. As such it was not sufficient to put things right.
18. Given the length of the delays and the level of inconvenience, including missed or cancelled appointments and multiple visits, we have made an order of increased compensation. This is in line with our remedy guidance for situations where the landlord had acknowledged failures which impacted the resident but had not fully put things right. We have not made an order for any follow up work as the landlord has provided evidence that both the ceiling and roof repairs have been completed.

19. The landlord’s complaints policy says it must acknowledge stage 1 complaints within 5 working days and stage 2 within 2 working days. It should respond to stage 1 within 10 working days and stage 2 within 20 working days. If it cannot meet these timeframes, it will request an extension of up to 10 days, unless there is a valid reason.
20. We have not seen evidence that the landlord acknowledged either of the resident’s complaints. However, it agreed with the resident to extend the stage 1 response time. It should have responded by 4 September 2023, however it provided an update that day and requested an extension. It provided its stage 1 response on 12 September 2023 which was within the 10 days extension. It issued a stage 2 response within the timeframes set out in its complaints policy and the Complaint Handling Code. Based on this, we do not find a failure in how the landlord handled the complaint overall.

Learning

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

21. The landlord should consider how it can improve its record keeping as there was inconsistency in its repair log notes.

Communication

22. Records do not show if the landlord regularly updated the resident on the status of repairs. Our spotlight report on repairs and maintenance explains that failures can be avoided when landlord’s:
    1. Let residents know what to expect regarding repairs and maintenance and provide a clear schedule for repair visits.
    2. Gather feedback from residents and conduct inspections to ensure the work is satisfactory.