Bristol City Council (202340773)

Decision
Case ID	202340773
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	Bristol City Council
Landlord type	Local Authority / ALMO or TMO
Occupancy	Secure Tenancy
Date	28 November 2025

1. The resident lives in a 2-bedroom terraced house. She moved into the property in November 2019. The resident suffers from anxiety and panic attacks. She also has dyspraxia which affects movement and co-ordination. The landlord had no record of the resident’s vulnerabilities before her complaint. The resident complained to the landlord about outstanding repairs to her property.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
   1. Repairs to the resident’s property including:
      1. Fitting a plate to the chimney.
      2. Replacing an air brick in the wall behind the washing machine.
      3. Drainage repairs.
      4. Reinstalling a fence.
   2. The resident’s complaint.

Our decision (determination)

3. There was maladministration by the landlord in its handling of the repairs to the resident’s property.
4. There was maladministration by the landlord in its handling of the associated complaint.

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

Summary of reasons

5. In summary, the Ombudsman found that the landlord:

Repairs to the resident’s property

1. Unreasonably delayed in completing repairs in the resident’s property. This left the resident living for years with an open chimney which caused her property to be cold. In addition, the resident engaged in time, trouble and inconvenience over the years in seeking to get the repairs resolved.

Complaint handling

2. The landlord did not respond in line with the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code) at stage 2 of the resident’s complaint. It failed to properly acknowledge the resident’s complaints in line with the Code. It failed to acknowledge its failures and did not consider all elements of the resident’s complaint.

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 provided by a manager. 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 07 January 2026
2	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £2,950 made up as follows: £2,700 for the distress and inconvenience caused by the landlord’s handling of repairs to the resident’s property. £250 for the distress and inconvenience caused by the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint. This must be paid directly to the resident by the due date. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date. The landlord may deduct from the total figure any payments it has already paid.	No later than 07 January 2026
3	Inspection order    We have made an inspection order because, based on the evidence we have seen, the drainage repairs and air brick are outstanding.   What the landlord must do    The landlord must contact the resident to arrange an inspection. The landlord must take all reasonable steps to ensure the inspection is completed by the due date. A suitably qualified person must complete 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.   It must confirm what repairs are outstanding and provide the resident with a date inline with its repairs service standard for when it will complete them.	No later than 07 January 2026

 

Recommendations

Our recommendations are not binding, and a landlord may decide not to follow them.

Our recommendations
The landlord should update its systems to reflect the resident’s vulnerabilities, subject to the resident agreeing.

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
30 November 2023	The resident complained there were outstanding repairs in her property which the landlord had previously agreed to complete. She also said contractors had attended without appointments. As an outcome the resident wanted the landlord to: Complete the repairs. Replace her rear garden fence following drainage repairs. Pay compensation for the delays and increased heating bills.
6 December 2023	The landlord sent its stage 1 response. It said: It had asked its repair contractor to book a convenient appointment for the outstanding repairs. It would not replace or repair the fencing because its policy did not allow for this.   It was unusual for the repair contractor to attend without an appointment. It would not offer compensation as its contractor had attended to complete the works.
18 December 2023	The resident escalated her complaint. She said: The landlord had not completed recommended drainage repairs from 2022. The fence had been on the ground for a year and had rotted away and she could not put it back up.  The repair contractor had turned up unannounced on 2 occasions.
19 January 2024	The landlord sent its stage 2 response. It said: It partially upheld the resident’s complaint in relation to the delay in it fitting a plate to the chimney, which it had raised in May 2023. The delay in completing this work was due to a surveyor leaving the business. The landlord had not followed up on the repairs. The fencing was the resident’s responsibility. It would not offer compensation towards the resident’s increased heating bills because she had not raised this until recently. It provided instructions on how to make an insurance claim and its insurance contact details. The resident could submit a claim for losses if she believed the landlord was at fault. It apologised for any distress, inconvenience, frustration, and uncertainty caused. Its drainage contractor (drain issue) and repair contractor (air brick and fireplace issue) would contact her to agree appointments.
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident remained dissatisfied and asked us to investigate. She told us the landlord had installed the plate in the chimney in April 2025 and completed make good works to the fire surround in June 2025. The air brick and drainage repair remained outstanding. As an outcome she wanted the landlord to: Complete the outstanding repairs. Pay her compensation for the delays, stress caused, additional heating, and the amount of chasing she did to get the landlord to complete the repairs.

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	The landlord’s handling of the repairs to the resident’s property.
Finding	Maladministration

6. The Ombudsman doesn’t usually investigate complaints unless they were formally made to the landlord within a year of the problem happening. In this case, the resident’s complaint related to issues which had been ongoing from at least August 2020. The landlord did not explain that it would not normally accept complaints about issues which occurred more than 12 months before the complaint. So, we’ve decided it’s fair to look at how the landlord dealt with the issues from August 2020 until 19 January 2024. This is when the resident’s complaint completed the landlord’s complaint procedure. We will also consider what the landlord said it would do in its stage 2 complaint response to put things right and if anything is outstanding.
7. The resident told us there were delays in the landlord completing the repairs. She had to chase it for updates. This affected her mental health and wellbeing and therefore injured her. It would be fairer, more reasonable and more effective for the resident to make a personal injury claim for any injury caused. The courts are best placed to deal with this type of dispute as they will have the benefit of independent medical advice to decide on the cause of any injury and how long it will last. We’ve not investigated this further. We can decide if a landlord should pay compensation for distress and inconvenience.

Fitting a plate to the chimney

8. The resident said the landlord removed the fire in 2019 because it was not working and told her it would replace it. It gave her a plastic sheet to cover the hearth where the fire was, as a temporary measure. The landlord inspected the property around 27 August 2020. It then asked its contractor to complete repairs in the resident’s property which included fitting a plate to the chimney.
9. The landlord’s repair policy does not set out timescales for when it will complete repairs. Some repairs which are subject to the Right to Repair Scheme have timescales, which this was not. However, it logged the repair with a target of 21 days. This meant it should have completed the repair by 6 October 2020. However, this repair was already an unfinished job when the landlord removed the fire in 2019.
10. There was a delay because it found asbestos in the property. It updated the resident that it needed an asbestos survey before it could give her a start date. This was reasonable in the circumstances.
11. There was a further delay when the landlord changed asbestos contractors in September 2020. The reason for this is unclear, though an email suggests this followed a conversation with the resident.
12. On 26 October 2020 the resident asked the landlord for an update. She said the contractor had first booked an appointment for Friday 30 October 2020, then changed it to Monday 2 November 2020. This caused her inconvenience because she had arranged to take leave from work. She asked the landlord for a plan of works and dates it would complete the works.
13. We understand landlords may have to change appointments at short notice. This can be due to different reasons, such as contractor availability or supplies. Where this happens the landlord should inform residents promptly. In this case, the contractor informed the resident of the change of dates on 26 October 2020, which was 4 days notice. Whilst we understand this would have caused inconvenience for the resident, we cannot say the landlord did not give sufficient notice on this occasion. 
14. The landlord emailed the resident on the same date and confirmed the contractor would complete the works between 3 November 2020 and 11 November 2020. It said the resident would need to provide continuous access during these dates.
15. In November 2020 the contractor informed the landlord it could not fit the plate over the chimney because there was a flue pipe present and it was not possible to push this back. Following contact from the resident the landlord emailed her on 25 November 2020. It relayed what the contractor had told it about not being able to complete the repair. It said the contractor had offered to board over the fireplace and insert a vent but the resident had refused.
16. Putting a board across the chimney was a suitable temporary measure. We would not consider this to be a lasting and effective repair. The landlord removed the fire and therefore it should have either replaced the fire or sealed the chimney. Unused chimneys not only allow heat to escape, but they can also pose a potential damp and infestation problem. When its contractor said it could not complete the work, the landlord should have considered using another contractor to see if there was a way to resolve the issue for the resident. It did not do this.
17. The landlord completed approximately 6 inspections between 2021 and 2023. There were also several repair appointments during this period. The landlord has not provided copies of the inspection reports or job completion sheets. The repair records are incomplete and do not state what the appointments were for. Therefore, we cannot say what the landlord inspected, what it found, or what works it agreed to complete. The resident says that at least 2 surveyors told her the landlord would complete the work to the chimney.
18. In its complaint responses the landlord said there had been delays in it completing the works to the chimney in 2023. It said this was due to its surveyor leaving the business. We appreciate the landlord could not have foreseen this. However, it should have systems in place to deal with such issues when they arise. The fact that it did not have such a system in place resulted in it not being able to comply with its own repair policy and unreasonable delays for the resident.
19. At stage 2 the work to the chimney had been outstanding for approximately 3 years and 5 months (November 2020 – January 2024). Whilst it attempted to complete the works in November 2020, it did not take any further steps after this, despite several inspections taking place. This was not acceptable and is likely to have affected the resident’s enjoyment of her home.

Replacing an air brick

20. On 24 November 2020 the resident emailed the landlord regarding outstanding repairs. This included replacing a broken air brick behind her washing machine. In its response on 25 November 2020 the landlord said it would not complete this repair because the resident had raised it after she submitted a right to buy application in September 2020. It said it would only complete emergency repairs.
21. We have not seen the landlord’s right to buy policy or know if it had one at this time. However, the government’s guide on the right to buy scheme states there may be certain repairs and maintenance work which a landlord does not need to complete once it has received a right to buy application. This is because the value of the property is based on the condition of the property on the date of the application. We therefore cannot say the landlord’s decision not to complete this repair at this time was unreasonable.
22. The resident cancelled her right to buy application in March 2021. In July 2021 she asked the landlord to replace the air brick. The landlord said it would inspect again and reraise any required repairs. Due to lack of adequate records we do not know if this inspection went ahead or what the outcome was.
23. The landlord completed further inspections in September 2022 and March 2023. It has not provided copies of its inspection reports and therefore we do not know what it found or what follow-on works it needed to complete.
24. On 18 May 2023 the landlord raised a repair to complete a mould wash behind the washing machine and insert an air brick. The landlord logged the repair with a target of 21 calendar days. It should have completed this work by 8 June 2023. The resident has told us the landlord completed the mould wash but did not replace the air brick. We have not seen any job sheets in relation to this repair and therefore we cannot say why the landlord did not complete it at this time.
25. The landlord was on notice of this repair from at least July 2021. Whilst it completed inspections and raised works orders, the repair was still outstanding when the landlord sent its stage 2 complaint response. This was a delay of 2 years and 6 months (July 2021 – January 2024).

Drainage repairs

26. In June 2022 and July 2022 the resident reported her rear drains were blocked. Following attendance by its contractors, the landlord raised follow-on works to replace 2 drainage gullies with a target of 21 days. It raised the works on 3 August 2022 which meant it should have completed them by 24 August 2022. It is unclear from the records what happened next. We can see an inspection occurred on 29 September 2022 but the records do not say what this was for.
27. The contractor attempted to start the works on 10 October 2022 and 14 November 2022. But on both occasions the resident refused them access, stating that she had not known about the appointments. The contractor completed the repairs on 1 December 2022. This was 3 months after its target date. Whilst there was a delay (24 August 2022 to 10 October 2022), the records indicate the resident arranged the appointments with the contractor and then refused access therefore we cannot say the landlord was entirely at fault.
28. On 15 December 2022 the resident contacted the contractor to report water pooling at the rear of her property. The contractor inspected and sent an email to the landlord recommending it install a channel for the water to run into. Upon receipt of this recommendation the landlord should have raised further works. It should then have completed the works within a reasonable timeframe. This did not happen.
29. In March 2023 the resident raised the issue again. The landlord inspected the drains again. Although the landlord marked the job complete, it has not provided us with a copy of the inspection report.. Further to this, it did not raise any follow-on works or take any steps until the resident made her complaint.
30. In its stage 1 complaint response the landlord said it would speak to its drainage contractor to find out what work was outstanding. If there was any outstanding work it would complete it. The contractor confirmed that it had recommended installing a channel in December 2022. It referred to communication it had with the landlord about the same issue in May 2023. The drainage repair was outstanding at the date of the resident’s stage 2 complaint response.   
31. In summary, the landlord failed to take action to complete the drainage repairs for approximately 13 months (December 2022 – January 2024). This was not acceptable.

The fence

32. In relation to the fencing between the resident’s garden and her neighbour’s. The resident told us the landlord asked her to remove this so it could complete the drainage repairs. She said a surveyor had agreed to reinstate the fence in May 2023. In her complaint the resident said a contractor had attended twice unannounced to complete this work. But had not returned.
33. In its complaint responses the landlord said it would not replace the fence or offer compensation because its contractor had attended to complete the works. A failed or missed appointment is no reason not to complete the works. This is even more so, if the landlord had not scheduled the appointment. The landlord removed the fence to carry out works. It was obligated to make good after it completed the repairs. The landlord’s repair records are incomplete and there is no evidence to show whether the landlord informed the resident of these appointments or not.
34. We understand the neighbour has since replaced the fence at no cost to the resident.

Conclusion

35. Based on the information we have considered, there were significant delays with all 4 repairs in the resident’s complaint. We have considered the mitigating factors surrounding the communication issues between the resident and contractors and the times the contractor said the resident was reluctant to provide access. For example, in November 2020 the contractor expected to have continuous access to the property whilst it completed the internal repairs. The resident restricted access at times due to her working from home, which wasted time for the contractor. However, we also note that the landlord first booked this appointment for Friday 30 October 2020, then changed to Monday 2 November 2020, then 3 November 2020 and 11 November 2020. These moving dates would have made it difficult for the resident to plan access. 
36. However, this does not remove the landlord’s responsibility to complete repairs. It should be proactive.  It should ensure it completed repairs to an acceptable standard and within a reasonable timescale. The delays in this case exceed what could be mitigated by the issues outlined above.
37. The landlord attempted to put things right by apologising and agreeing to complete the outstanding repairs. It made reasonable attempts after stage 2 to complete the works. This included communicating with the resident, providing a schedule of works, offering fixed and flexible appointments, and providing a member of the housing team to support the resident. It completed the work to the chimney in July 2025. It is our understanding that the air brick and drainage repairs are outstanding.
38. We have considered the resident’s request for compensation for her increased heating costs. She attributed these costs to heat escaping through the open chimney. The landlord referred her to its insurers. We understand the resident has submitted a claim to the landlord’s insurers. We have not reviewed the landlord’s insurance policy and do not know whether the resident’s claim is one the insurance company will accept.
39. Our assessment does not follow the approach of an insurance provider. While the resident has provided 2 utility bills, we have not seen evidence covering the entire period the chimney repair was outstanding. Even if we did, we cannot determine the exact financial loss incurred. However, the open chimney is likely to have allowed heat to escape which is likely to have resulted in increased heating costs. The landlord delayed fitting the plate to the chimney so there was a failure. We have therefore ordered the landlord pay the resident £500 compensation to recognise the fact the resident had incurred costs which may have not arisen had the failures not occurred.
40. Based on the significant delays in the landlord completing the repairs we have made a finding of maladministration. We have ordered the landlord to pay £2,700 compensation (£1,500 for the delay in completing the chimney works, £500 in recognition of the resident’s increased heating bills, £300 for the drainage repairs, £200 for the repair to the air brick, and £200 for the fence). This amount fairly recognises the distress and inconvenience caused and the time and trouble the resident went through in chasing the landlord to complete the repairs.

Complaint	The handling of the complaint
Finding	Maladministration

41. The Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (‘the Code’) sets out when and how a landlord should respond to complaints. The relevant Code in this case was the 2022 edition (April 2022). Our findings are:
    1. The landlord’s complaint policy at the time of the resident’s complaint did not comply with the terms of the Code. This was in respect to the definition of a complaint and timescales. The landlord’s 2024 policy complies with the Code in respect of these points.
    2. The landlord should have acknowledged the resident’s complaint by 7 December 2023 and sent its response by no later than 21 December 2023. The landlord acknowledged the complaint but we do not know what date the landlord sent this. Its stage 1 response was within the required timescales. This was in line with the Code.
    3. The landlord should have acknowledged the resident’s escalation by 27 December 2023 and sent its stage 2 response no later than 18 January 2024. It acknowledged the resident’s escalation in time but delayed sending its response by 1 working day. This was not in line with the Code.
    4. The landlord did not acknowledge this delay at stage 2 within its complaint responses.
    5. Acknowledgements should set out the landlord’s understanding of the complaint and the resident’s desired outcome. The landlord failed to do this at both stages of the complaint. This was not in line with the Code.
    6. The resident asked the landlord to compensate her for increased heating costs. The landlord said it could not consider this issue because the resident had not raised it sooner. It referred her to its insurance provider. The landlord should have considered the resident’s request as part of its complaint investigation and provided a response. It did not do this, which was not in line with the Code.
42. Due to the failures outlined above there was maladministration. To reflect this we have made an order that the landlord pay £250 compensation in recognition of the distress and inconvenience caused. This amount is in line with our remedies guidance.

Learning

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

43. The landlord’s systems should enable them to keep accurate and accessible records of repair reports, responses, inspections, and investigations. This means keeping everything in one central place, not saved on individual computers. The landlord was unable to access information when staff members left the business which caused significant delays in this case.
44. The landlord’s repair records were incomplete. It has not provided evidence of all inspection reports or completed works. Its repairs records are unclear and do not detail the nature or outcome of the works completed. At times, this has affected our ability to assess its actions.
45. There are times that the landlord had to go to its contractors to chase information that was years old. If the landlord changes contractors or if the contractor cease to trade this information could be lost.

Communication

46. The landlord’s communication with the resident was, at times, heavy-handed, unsympathetic and inappropriate. An example of this was its email to the resident dated 25 November 2020. Our Spotlight Report on Repairing Trust recommends landlords should have communication strategies in place to ensure it is timely, transparent, tailored, and the tone is respectful of residents.