Camden Council (202415803)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202415803

Camden Council

16 January 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. This complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of problems with a shared drain and gullies.

Background

2. The resident is a secure tenant of a property owned by the landlord. The landlord is aware the resident is disabled. He receives a priority repairs service.
3. In February 2024, the resident made a complaint to the landlord about an exposed drain. He explained leaves and waste clogged the drain, and the wastewater emitted a nasty smell. He said this was a repetitive problem that he had reported on several occasions.
4. The landlord responded at stage 1 on 14 March 2024. It outlined its actions and communication with the resident since he initially reported the issue in September 2023. It said it had arranged for its subcontractor to further inspect the drain and conduct the necessary repairs. It also said it would write to all properties advising them of the correct way to dispose of items to prevent reoccurrences.
5. The resident escalated the complaint on 14 March 2024. He was concerned the landlord had not permanently resolved the issue. He said another tenant had vacated the neighbouring property and was not cleaning the gully, so he felt the problem would reoccur.
6. On 25 April 2024, the landlord issued its stage 2 response. It confirmed it had cleared the blockage, caused by a build-up of wet wipes, on 18 March 2024. It further explained the drain served several properties.
7. The resident was dissatisfied with the landlord’s final complaint response and referred his complaint to this Service.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

8. The resident said the situation with the drain was impacting his health. The Ombudsman empathises with the resident. However, the courts are the most effective place for disputes about impact to health and illness. This is largely because independent medical experts are appointed to give evidence. They have a duty to the court to provide unbiased insights on the diagnosis, prognosis, and cause of any illness or injury. When disputes arise, oral testimony can be examined in court. Therefore, his concerns about the health impact of the issue are better dealt with via the court.
9. This Service can only investigate matters which have completed the landlord’s complaints procedure, as per paragraph 42.a. of the Scheme. We recognise that after the landlord issued its final complaint response, the resident expressed other concerns such as further issues with the drains following a collapse of the guttering system and reports of vermin. It is open for him to contact the landlord directly and make a separate complaint. We would expect it to consider additional concerns through its formal complaint procedure.
10. This investigation considers matters from when the resident reported the issues in September 2023, up to the date of the landlord’s stage 2 response dated 25 April 2024. Reference to more recent events is to provide context only.

Drains and gullies

11. Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 places a statutory obligation on the landlord to keep the structure and exterior of the property in repair.
12. The tenancy agreement sets out that the landlord is responsible for the structure and exterior of the premises, and the services supplying water, gas, electricity, sanitation, and space and water heating.
13. Once on notice of a repair, the landlord must conduct the works it is responsible for within a reasonable period, in accordance with its obligations under the tenancy agreement and in law. The law does not specify what a reasonable amount of time is – this depends on the individual circumstances of the case.
14. Under the landlord’s repairs policy, it is responsible for communal drains and gullies. It sets out that it aims to complete urgent repairs within 5 working days and routine repairs within 20 working days.
15. Records show the resident reported a drain blockage and a smell of sewage to the landlord on 12 September 2023. Contractors attended on 14 September 2023. The landlord’s repair records state they checked the drains and jetted the area. The Ombudsman finds the landlord responded appropriately and in line with the timescales set out in its repairs policy.
16. The resident reported a further bad smell and blocked drain via webchat on 18 September 2023. He said the putrid odour prevented him from opening his kitchen and living room windows. The records provided to this Service by the landlord state it called the resident and left a message for him to contact it to schedule an appointment. The Ombudsman has seen no evidence of further communication between the parties until 6 October 2023, when the resident called the landlord to discuss the issue. Following this, repairs data show it attended the property the same day under an emergency repair request. However, it was unable to gain access to the drain via the neighbouring property.
17. In the landlord’s complaint response, it said that following a further instance of no access on 13 October 2023, its contractor attended on 19 October 2023 and reported that wet wipes blocked the drain. It subsequently jet washed it and said the job was complete.
18. On 23 January 2024, the resident reported a further issue via webchat, stating the shared drain needed unblocking again and that it emitted a foul smell. He asked for a solution to the reoccurring problem. The landlord responded, stating it would contact the neighbouring tenant for access and the housing officer. However, there is no record that it did so. While the landlord identified and apologised for this omission within its complaint response, it failed to consider the impact of this delay on the resident. This was a service failure.
19. The resident raised a complaint on 23 February 2024 about the landlord’s lack of action following his request for repair, and the reoccurring issue. In response, the landlord arranged for a drainage contractor to attend. Records show the contractor accessed the drain via a neighbouring property on 18 March 2024. The Ombudsman has reviewed the records from this attendance. They identified an initial blockage caused by wet wipes, which they removed. A CCTV survey identified further blockages deeper in the pipework by wet wipes, which required “extensive cleaning” to remove. They then did a further CCTV examination which showed the main drain run to be clear. They also jet washed the area to the rear of the property.
20. From the evidence available, the landlord acted reasonably by appointing a drainage contractor to investigate and remedy the issue, as outlined above. However, considering the vulnerability of the resident, his registration for priority repairs, and the repeated contact about the issues, the Ombudsman is minded that the landlord should have acted sooner and adhered to the response times set out in its policy. Its failure to do so was a shortcoming in its repairs service.
21. The landlord informed the resident in its stage 1 response that from the evidence available, the cause of the blockage was wet wipes. It later confirmed the drain serves several properties, as such it could not identify which household was responsible. It said it would write to all residents reminding them of the correct way to dispose of items. This is what the Ombudsman would reasonably expect in the circumstances. The landlord has not provided evidence to show this letter was issued, or that it followed up with its residents after the second wet wipe blockage. Further, the landlord has not commented on its position regarding the missing gully cover, even though it told the resident it would ask its subcontractor to investigate this within its initial complaint response. Therefore, the Ombudsman is unable to determine that the landlord always provided an appropriate level of service and followed through with its commitments.
22. Where a landlord admits failings, the Ombudsman’s role is to assess whether its complaint response put things right and resolved the resident’s complaint satisfactorily in the circumstances. The Ombudsman also considers whether the landlord acted in line with our Dispute Resolution Principles: be fair, put things right, and learn from outcomes.
23. While the landlord partially upheld the resident’s complaint and sought to put right the substantive issue, it did not appropriately consider the impact on its vulnerable resident or the time and trouble he had spent pursuing a resolution. In the circumstances, it would have been fair and reasonable for the landlord to offer compensation for its shortcomings and the distress and inconvenience caused. The Ombudsman’s remedies guidance, available on our website, suggests compensation awards of £50 to £100 for cases where there were minor failures that adversely impacted a resident. After considering all the evidence and the circumstances of this case, the Ombudsman finds that compensation of £100 would be appropriate here.

Determination

24. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of problems with a shared drain and gullies.

Orders

25. Within 4 weeks of the date of this report, the Ombudsman orders the landlord to:
    1. Pay the resident £100 compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused by the failings identified within this report.
    2. Write to the resident setting out its position concerning the gully cover.
    3. Write to all applicable residents to advise them how to dispose of items such as wet wipes and cooking fat.
26. The landlord must provide evidence of compliance with the above orders to this Service.