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City of Westminster Council (202310682)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202310682

City of Westminster Council

28 August 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 landlord’s handling of a leak to the property and pest control.

Background

  1. The resident is a leaseholder of the property, a 1-bedroom flat.
  2. On 28 July 2022 the resident reported water was penetrating the ceiling of his property due to the external pipes being blocked by pigeon excrement. The landlord completed some repairs in September 2022. On 10 October 2022 the resident complained the issue was ongoing.
  3. The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response on 15 August 2023. It partially upheld his complaint and said a further inspection would be carried out to identify the repairs needed. The landlord offered the resident £275 compensation.
  4. On 25 August 2023 the resident asked the landlord to review his complaint. The landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response on 28 September 2023. It apologised for the delays and poor communication and committed to completing the necessary works. The landlord increased its compensation offer to £325.
  5. The landlord completed the repairs in February 2025 and improved its compensation offer on the basis of the amount of time it took to undertake the works. It increased its offer of compensation to £1,750. This was paid to the resident.
  6. In this instance the evidence shows the landlord’s offer of compensation after its complaints process was made, not in response to a referral to the Ombudsman, but in recognition of its delays to complete actions it had committed to as part of its complaints process. As such, it was appropriate for the landlord to make its offer at that time.
  7. The resident remained unhappy with the landlord’s handling of his complaint.

Assessment and findings

  1. Paragraph 53.c. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme states:
    1. “The Ombudsman may determine the investigation of a complaint immediately if satisfied that the member has made an offer of redress following the Ombudsman’s intervention which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily.”

The Ombudsman’s intervention

  1. We contacted the landlord on 21 August 2025 and provided it with a summary of our understanding of the events. This included some comments on areas that could have been handled better and what the landlord could do to resolve the resident’s complaint.
  2. The landlord offered to pay a further £250 compensation for its handling of the resident’s complaint. The resident informed us that he was satisfied with this as a resolution to his complaint.
  3. We are therefore satisfied that, following our intervention, that the landlord has agreed to take actions to remedy the matters raised which resolve the complaint satisfactorily.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53.c of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the complaint was resolved with intervention.

Recommendation

  1. The landlord should now make the £250 compensation payment to the resident. The complaint has been resolved with intervention on this basis.