Camden Council (202119785)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202119785

Camden Council

20 June 2022

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 landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of blocked drains causing a flood on communal balconies.

Background

2. The resident was the leaseholder of the landlord at the property, a second floor flat in a three-storey purpose-built block, from 1997 to early 2022. The freehold is owned by the landlord. The landlord has recorded that the resident has Asperger’s Syndrome.
3. Following a previous complaint on the same issue in late 2020, which had not been upheld, on 12 July 2021, the resident reported that the drains on her balcony, and the one above, were blocked. Having not received a response, the resident complained the next day that she had cleared the drains outside her property for 30 years. She stated that she was a disabled pensioner and felt ignored and was paying the landlord to maintain the infrastructure but when there was heavy rain, the drains on the balconies flooded.
4. The landlord responded on 3 September 2021, it did not uphold the complaint as it could find no failure to provide a service as it had inspected the drains regularly and had raised a repair. The resident reported further flooding during September 2021 and the landlord advised it had cleared the drains.
5. The resident requested escalation of her complaint on 29 September 2021 and on 4 October 2021 the landlord upheld the complaint as it acknowledged that. though it had previously responded reactively to the blocked drains, it was clear preventative work was required to avoid the problem reoccurring. Scaffolding was erected and further work undertaken on the drains and gutters in October 2021. The landlord offered £150 compensation for the effort and trouble caused to the resident as a gesture of goodwill.
6. The resident moved from the property in February 2022. She wants further compensation for the distress of over 30 years and a refund of service charges for doing the job she paid the landlord to do.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

7. This investigation will not consider events back to the start of the tenancy, as requested by the resident, including her request for compensation dating back to this time. The Ombudsman encourages residents to raise complaints with their landlords in a timely manner, so that the landlord has a reasonable opportunity to consider the issues whilst they are still ‘live,’ and whilst the evidence is available to reach an informed conclusion on events that have taken place. As the substantive issues become historic it is increasingly difficult for either the landlord, or an independent body such as the Ombudsman, to conduct an effective review of the actions taken to address those issues.
8. In this case, the landlord searched back to 2008 but did not find a formal complaint prior to the one made in 2020, which it investigated and did not uphold. The resident did not proceed to the Ombudsman at that time. This investigation therefore only considers the complaint made in July 2021, and the reasonableness of the landlord’s offer of compensation in respect of this.

Assessment

9. Section 4.2.1 of the ‘Right to Buy’ lease dated 1997 says that the landlord will maintain and repair external walls, stacks, gutters and rainwater and soil pipes. Section 4.2.2 covers sewers and drains. The landlord’s repairs service booklet says that the clearance of rainwater goods where damage is being caused is the responsibility of the landlord. There is no timescale specified for such repairs.
10. In this case, it is not in dispute that the landlord is responsible for the gutters and drains at the property, or that it failed to respond to the issue reported.
11. The landlord responded in a satisfactory timeframe to the reported repair. It was first reported on 12 July 2021, at which time the resident said she had cleared the blockage, so the landlord not unreasonably cancelled the job it had initially raised on the basis that the matter had been resolved. When the blockage was reported again at the end of July 2021 a new repair was raised and the landlord also said that the drains were checked daily. Following a further report from the resident, the caretaker manager checked on 9 September 2021 and reported the drains as clear.
12. In its stage two complaint response, the landlord acknowledged that in clearing the drains in the past, it had failed to consider how a repeat of this could be avoided in the future. Accordingly, more extensive work was undertaken on 30 October 2021. There is no evidence of any further issues having been reported in relation to the drainage during this time.
13. The landlord’s complaint policy states that stage one complaints will be responded to within 10 working days. It is noted that the resident said she wished to complain on 13 July 2021, but this was the day after the repair was raised, so it is not unreasonable that the landlord treated this as a further repair report. The resident then confirmed her complaint on 29 July 2021. The landlord’s response of 3 September 2021 was outside the landlord’s timeframe. However, an apology was provided and the delay was not significant and did not prolong the repair so the landlord’s response here is considered reasonable.
14. The matter of the blocked drains was clearly distressing for this vulnerable resident but there is no indication that water came into her home, which was the fear she expressed ahead of the heavy rain which had been forecast. The landlord said the compensation was for the effort and trouble that the resident had gone to, to address the blockages herself.
15. £150 is within the range quoted in the landlord’s compensation policy and within the suggested band in the Ombudsman’s remedy guidance for cases where an impact included distress and inconvenience, but the issue was responded to within a reasonable time. This seems fair as the landlord cannot be responsible that the resident is anxious about something which may happen, but it seems did not. The resident has said she had to clear the debris in the drains, but there is no evidence that matters would have been worse if she had waited for the landlord to do this. That said, the landlord recognised that it had not provided reassurance that the resident’s repeated concerns were being addressed in a proactive way, and the compensation offered reflects this.
16. Accordingly, the landlord has taken action to resolve the complaint, which is fair in all the circumstances.

Determination

17. In accordance with paragraph 55 (b) of the scheme, the member has offered redress to the complainant prior to investigation which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily.

Recommendations

18. It is recommended that the landlord pay the resident the sum of £150 already offered if it has not already done so.