Clarion Housing Association Limited (202303921)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202303921

Clarion Housing Association Limited

17 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

The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s:
1. Reports of repeated loss of heating and hot water in his property.
2. Complaint.

Background

The resident has an assured tenancy with the landlord and occupies a 1-bedroom ground floor flat. The landlord has confirmed to the Ombudsman that it has no vulnerabilities recorded for the resident, but he has told it he is disabled.
There is a communal heating and hot water supply to all the properties in the resident’s block, which is managed by a heating contractor (“the contractor”) on behalf of the landlord. The resident has said that a monthly service charge is paid to the landlord for the provision of this service.
The resident has told the Ombudsman there have been intermittent but persistent issues with the loss of heating and hot water ever since he moved into the property 19 years ago. He has provided a newspaper article from 2011 relating to a loss of heating over the Christmas period.
The Ombudsman has seen reports dating back to March 2021 and, more recently, regular issues from December 2022 to May 2023. During this time, the resident has raised several complaints about the loss of heating and hot water with the landlord, to which he received no formal response, and the Ombudsman intervened on 2 May 2023.
The landlord issued its stage 1 response on 17 May 2023. It stated:
1. It apologised for its and its contractor’s handling of the communal heating and hot water issues at the resident’s property and for any inconvenience caused.
2. Its repairs team was notified of the heating and hot water issues in his property on 5 May 2023 and this was a sitewide issue.
3. There were recurrent issues with the gas detection system, which the contractor attended and reset on 6, 7 and 9 May 2023. A specialist was appointed to establish if it could be repaired or needed replacing. The heating had now been restored and the specialist would attend on 18 May 2023 to carry out the works required to complete the repair.
4. It accepted that the contractor would benefit from identifying recurring issues more quickly, so that a permanent solution could be offered if needed.
5. If the resident’s energy bills had increased as a result of using plug-in heaters, it asked him to send proof of this so it could consider reimbursement.
6. In recognition of the heating and hot water issues, it offered compensation of £100.
The resident declined the landlord’s offer of compensation on the same date, saying this did not cover the costs of “excess electricity and gas in order to heat the flat and endless boiling of the kettle over the many years”, as well as the payments it had received for a service it had not delivered. He said the problem had been ongoing for the 18 years he had lived there, “going without heating and hot water in the coldest winters on record months on some occasions year after year”, including while undergoing treatment for serious health issues. He noted the “stress … frustration and anger” he experienced in trying to contact it over the years in order to resolve matters, but being ignored, “without any resolution or even apologies.” Accordingly, he said he wanted to escalate his complaint to the next stage “without delay”.
The landlord’s stage 2 response, dated 11 July 2023, stated:
1. The contractor began managing the communal repairs in 2020, and the first report by the resident of loss of heating and hot water to his property was received in April 2021. The contractor responded within the required timeframe, where it attempted to investigate the problem but was unable to gain access.
2. No further reports were received from the resident until 6 December 2021, when the contractor attended and found the heating system was in working order.
3. Another report was received on 5 May 2023 and repairs were carried out on 6, 7 and 9 May 2023 as outlined in its stage 1 response. A specialist also attended on 18 May 2023 to complete further works. Thereafter, it had tried to book in a full inspection of the resident’s property, but he had declined and said he would contact it when suitable.
4. The contractor carried out quarterly checks of the heating system to ensure this was in working order. A more thorough inspection was undertaken during the annual service in order to identify if any repairs were required.
5. Its stage 1 response was fair, reasonable and accurate. It gave the correct information and appropriate action was taken to resolve his reports and maintain the functioning of the system. It had identified its service failures and awarded compensation to reflect the loss of heating and hot water.
6. It would be beneficial to carry out a full inspection of his property and the site in order to ensure any issues had not been missed and address his ongoing concerns. It invited him to book this in. Following an inspection, it could review the compensation offered if additional failings were found.
7. It apologised and offered compensation of £50 for the delay in providing its stage 2 response.
The resident referred his complaint to the Ombudsman on 2 August 2023. He has told us that, each time he contacted the landlord about the issues, it referred him to the contractor and did not respond to his numerous complaints over the years. He had asked but it had not confirmed how many times he had contacted the contractor. He said the landlord had cut its previous compensation offer by half. He reiterated that its “unacceptable” handling of heating and hot water issues over the years had left him “freezing” during cold winters and cost him hundreds of pounds. It reportedly failed to offer him any help, despite knowing he was recovering from surgery for serious health issues. In all the circumstances, he said he believes £1,000 is fair compensation.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

Paragraph 42.c of the Scheme states that the Ombudsman may not investigate complaints that were not brought to the landlord’s attention as a formal complaint within a reasonable period (normally 12 months) of the matters arising. Residents are encouraged to raise complaints with their landlords in a timely manner, so that the landlord has a reasonable opportunity to consider the issues while they are still ‘live’, and while the evidence is available to reach an informed conclusion on the events that occurred. As the substantive issues become historical, 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. Accordingly, this investigation cannot reasonably consider issues arising over 19 years.
This assessment is based on the landlord’s responses to the resident’s formal complaint in 2023. He brought similar concerns to its attention in March 2021, while a complaint was first submitted on 7 February 2022. These were not addressed through its complaints procedure at the time. Together with evidence of the resident telling the landlord he was in hospital on 2 separate occasions in April 2021, his comments about undergoing surgery and treatment for serious health conditions, and reference to him being disabled, there are reasonable grounds for the Ombudsman to include within the scope of our investigation matters dating back to March 2021. This also falls within the 12 months preceding his complaint in February 2022.

Reports of repeated loss of heating and hot water

Social landlords must ensure their properties meet the Decent Homes Standard. This includes assessing their properties for hazards and risks in line with the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). Excess cold is a potential hazard. Properties must also provide a reasonable degree of thermal comfort, which means having both effective insulation and efficient heating.
The Ombudsman has not been provided with a copy of the resident’s tenancy agreement or the terms and conditions relating to the supply and management of communal heating and hot water at the property. The landlord has explained that it carried out a comprehensive search of its systems but could not locate the tenancy agreement. It has provided an extract of terms and conditions that it says would have been included in the resident’s assured lifetime tenancy agreement. These do not provide any clarity on the responsibilities of the landlord and the contractor in relation to the communal heating and hot water supply, nor the level of service charge payable for this. In any event, the 2011 news article supplied by the resident suggests the landlord at the time was Affinity Sutton, prior to its merger into the landlord.
The landlord’s responsive repairs and maintenance policy, which covers heating and day-to-day repairs delivered by it and its contractor, provides for:
1. Emergency repairs to be attended within 24 hours to be made safe and repaired if possible.
2. Non-emergency repairs to be completed as soon as possible and within 28 days.
Within the scope of this investigation, the earliest reports from the resident of a loss of heating and hot water were on 16 and 26 April 2021. The evidence indicates he could not accommodate appointments at the time as he was in and out of hospital due to his health. The next report of no heating and hot water was made on 5 December 2022. The job was marked as ‘complete’ on the landlord’s system the following day, suggesting that the contractor attended. There is no evidence of frequent reports in the period from April 2021 to December 2022.
The resident had a responsibility to report repairs to the landlord. The number and frequency of his earlier reports do not indicate that the landlord ought reasonably to have been aware that there was a long-term, ongoing issue with the heating and hot water. In the circumstances, the landlord cannot reasonably be criticised for not having addressed these issues in previous years. However, given the potential impact of the loss of such services, it could have been more proactive in following up with the resident in relation to his reports in April 2021 – particularly as it was made aware of his health issues and hospital admissions and if it had reason to suspect that other residents may be affected.
Records show 15 attendances by the contractor for loss of heating and hot water affecting the whole block between 8 February and 2 May 2023. It appears that, in line with the landlord’s repairs policy, the contractor treated these as emergencies and attended within 24 hours on each occasion. From 1 April 2023 onwards, the attending operatives’ notes repeatedly suggested that a controls specialist attend to investigate the recurring issue. However, those recommendations were not acted upon, which unnecessarily delayed a resolution of the heating and hot water issues.
The distribution of roles and responsibilities between the landlord and the contractor is not clear from the available evidence. While the Ombudsman understands the landlord’s point that it was not notified of the recurrent issues, it was ultimately responsible for any acts or omissions by its contractor.
The landlord has not demonstrated, to the Ombudsman’s satisfaction, that it had sufficient oversight of the contractor’s management of the communal heating and hot water supply to the resident’s block. Records show that the landlord accessed the contractor’s portal on 5 May 2023 and became aware of an issue with the gas controls, which the contractor had not reported to the landlord. However, an email on the same day noted that the contractor’s quarterly reports dated 19 January and 19 April 2023 showed a fault with the gas alarm but no details of the error.
The landlord’s communications with the contractor on 5 May 2023 demonstrated the necessary urgency to restore heating and hot water to the resident’s block and resolve the recurring issue. It requested an update from the contractor on 9 May 2023, to which the contractor responded with a quote for the recommended repair on 12 May 2023. It apologised for the delay in reverting, explaining that it was awaiting costs for the required parts from its supplier.
Meanwhile, the landlord received a concerning report from another resident in the block on 9 May 2023. They said they had been without heating and hot water “for a couple days now” and the contractor refused to attend “as they have been out 11 times since Easter”. The landlord’s records relating to the report said the contractor had advised “res needs to call [the landlord] to fix the issue.” They noted that “this is affecting elderly and disabled residents along with young children.” The landlord’s investigation at the time uncovered a note on the contractor’s system that read, “no heat hw in the block vulnerable elderly tenants … not sending another OOH engineer when it same issues arising [sic]”.
This demonstrated an unsympathetic and dismissive attitude on the contractor’s part towards the residents in the block, which was unacceptable. To the landlord’s credit, it promptly took the matter up with the contractor, which offered its sincere apologies. This constituted appropriate contract management, and further highlights the importance of proactive oversight and timely interventions by the landlord where residents raise concerns about the contractor’s handling of matters.
It is understood that, following further attendances by the contractor to restore heating and hot water on 6, 7 and 9 May 2023, the fault was repaired on 18 May 2023. This was 14 weeks after the contractor’s first attendance on 8 February 2023, over 6 weeks after the first suggestion for a controls specialist to attend, and within 2 weeks of the landlord becoming aware of the recurring issue.
The intermittent loss of heating and hot water in the block from February to May 2023 clearly affected the resident, as he personally reported the issue on 4 occasions. For example, his email of 13 February 2023 stated, “I am sick of the heating going off and being left with no heating and hot water this has been going on for years… [the contractor] sorted it one day the next day it was off again.” That these concerns were not addressed at the time was a missed opportunity by the landlord to look into the matter. It also points to the lack of a clear process for residents to escalate issues and concerns about the contractor’s handling of these services.
The Ombudsman recognises that the nature of the heating and hot water issues affecting the resident’s property required the involvement of a specialist and there was some delay, from 6 to 18 May 2023, while it awaited quotes and parts. However, had there been an effective mechanism in place for oversight by the landlord, this impact may have been avoided over such a prolonged period of time.
In his request to have his complaint escalated to stage 2, the resident referred to payments the landlord had received for services it had not delivered. However, its stage 2 response did not address these comments. Therefore, the Ombudsman cannot fairly assess the landlord’s position in this regard. (The landlord’s complaint handling is dealt with in more detail later in this report.)
The landlord has confirmed to the Ombudsman that the resident pays monthly service charges in addition to his rent, although it is not clear what proportion of this the heating and hot water charge represents. In any case, its failure to address the resident’s comments in this regard was unfair and unreasonable.
While the compensation offered at stage 1 (£100) showed that the landlord sought to remedy the heating and hot water issues, it failed to acknowledge the frustration, distress and inconvenience of repeated outages in the 4-month period from February to May 2023.
The landlord’s compensation policy states that it will compensate a resident for loss of amenities, including heating and hot water, in certain circumstances. Based on the available evidence, the Ombudsman cannot ascertain if (and over what period) those conditions for compensation were met in the resident’s case. As noted above, records indicate that the contractor attended and restored these services to the block within 24 hours of each report. That said, reports from the resident on 8 May 2023 and another resident in the block on 9 May 2023 suggest that there may have been a slightly longer outage on that occasion. In any case, the compensation awarded (detailed below) encompasses any payments due for loss of amenity.
The complaint responses demonstrated the landlord’s willingness to put things right and learn from its failings, which is consistent with the Ombudsman’s Dispute Resolution Principles. For example, at stage 1, it recognised the need for the contractor to identify recurring issues more quickly so that a permanent solution could be offered if needed. It also asked the resident to provide his electricity bills so it could consider his request for compensation for his increased heating costs. Similarly, its stage 2 response offered to arrange a full inspection of the resident’s property in order to address his ongoing concerns about heating and hot water issues. These were reasonable proposals given the resident’s complaint.
For completeness, there is evidence that the resident disclosed his health issues to the landlord in March/April 2021. Further, in an email of 13 February 2023, he stated that he was disabled. In the circumstances, the landlord’s confirmation to the Ombudsman that no vulnerabilities are recorded for him on its system points to a record keeping failure. It is also important for the landlord to consider its obligations under the Equality Act 2010.
While the Ombudsman recognises the landlord’s efforts to put things right, its failings, and those of the contractor, go beyond a trivial service failure and low-level impact (as indicated by its offer of compensation). Therefore, its offer of £100 as part of its stage 1 response was not proportionate to reflect the collective impact of those failings. In the circumstances, the Ombudsman has found that the landlord was responsible for maladministration in its handling of the resident’s reports of repeated loss of heating and hot water in his property.
The landlord’s multiple failings and the repeated loss of heating and hot water caused the resident a significant amount of distress and inconvenience over a 4-month period, from February to May 2023. Therefore, a mid-range compensation award is considered a fairer and more proportionate remedy.

Complaint handling

The landlord’s interim complaints policy, dated June 2022, defines a complaint as “an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service, actions or lack of action by the organisation, its own staff, or those acting on its behalf”. It states that the landlord will accept a complaint unless there is a valid reason not to do so. It will always provide a detailed explanation setting out the reasons why a matter is not suitable for its complaints process. It will also manage complainants’ expectations from the outset.
The complaints policy provided for acknowledgement of complaints and escalation requests within 10 working days of receipt, a stage 1 response within 20 working days, and a stage 2 response within 40 working days.
The resident submitted his complaints via the landlord’s online webform on 7 February 2022, 13 February 2023, 22 April 2023 and 1 May 2023. Except for the complaint of 13 February 2023, the landlord acknowledged receipt of each of these and told the resident it had passed them to either its heating team, customer solutions team or the contractor. It also acknowledged a complaint on 6 December 2022. However, none of these were dealt with under its complaints procedure. In fact, the resident’s concerns were only addressed after the Ombudsman contacted the landlord on 2 May 2023.
The landlord’s repeated failure to engage with the resident’s complaints over a period of 15 months was unacceptable. As well as being at odds with its complaints policy, this was also contrary to the Ombudsman’s Dispute Resolution Principles and the Complaint Handling Code applicable at the time. As a result of its failings, the resident felt ignored and experienced a significant amount of frustration, distress and inconvenience.
Once the complaint was logged, the stage 1 response was issued promptly, within 11 working days of the Ombudsman’s notification. This was appropriate, and in accordance with the landlord’s complaints policy in place at the time.
Again in line with its policy, the landlord acknowledged the resident’s request for escalation within 5 working days. Then, on 13 June 2023 – a further 14 working days later – it emailed the resident, apologising for the delay in allocating his stage 2 complaint. It said it would aim to provide its response within a further 20 working days, which it did. This was reasonable. Nevertheless, the landlord offered £50 for the delay in providing its stage 2 response.
The landlord’s complaint responses have been highlighted and commended above for their commitment to putting things right and learning from the resident’s experience. However, they did not address the earlier complaint handling failures, even though the resident raised these in his complaint of 1 May 2023 and the escalation request of 17 May 2023. Nor did the stage 2 letter respond to his comments about the service charges he had paid. These omissions were unsatisfactory.
The level of compensation offered by the landlord for the time taken to provide its stage 2 complaint response was reasonable and in line with its compensation policy. However, this does not reflect the additional frustration, distress and inconvenience that the resident experienced as a result of its multiple complaint handling failures, as identified above. The collective impact was compounded and lasted an extended period of time. Therefore, a finding of reasonable redress cannot be made.
Taking all matters into account, the Ombudsman has found maladministration in respect of the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint. In the circumstances, it is considered appropriate to award mid-range compensation for this level of failure according to the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance. This is also in line with the landlord’s compensation policy for cases involving “considerable failure” but with no permanent impact.

Determination

In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was:
1. Maladministration in respect of the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of repeated loss of heating and hot water in his property.
2. Maladministration in respect of the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

The Ombudsman orders that, within 4 weeks of the date of this determination, the landlord must:
1. Apologise in writing to the resident for its failings in this case, in accordance with the Ombudsman’s apologies guidance.
2. Contact the resident in order to confirm the nature of his disability and/or vulnerabilities. It should then update its records to reflect these and any reasonable adjustments required.
3. Provide a written response to the resident to address his concerns about service charges relating to the communal heating and hot water supply in the context of the recurrent issues from February to May 2023.
4. Pay the resident compensation totalling £600, which includes the sums awarded by the landlord and comprises:
  1. £100 offered by the landlord for the heating and hot water issues.
  2. £250 in recognition of the additional distress and inconvenience resulting from its lack of oversight of the contractor’s management of the heating and hot water supply.
  3. £50 offered by the landlord for the delay in providing its stage 2 response.
  4. £200 in recognition of the additional frustration, distress and inconvenience resulting from its multiple and longstanding complaint handling failures.
  5. This amount should be paid directly to the resident and must not be offset against any arrears.
  6. If already paid to the resident, the landlord may deduct from the total compensation payable under this order the sum of £100 offered on 17 May 2023 and £50 offered on 11 July 2023.

~~45.~~ The Ombudsman orders that, within 12 weeks of the date of this determination, the landlord must :

Ccarry out a review of its handling of heating and hot water issues in this case. A report detailing the outcome of the review should be submitted to the Ombudsman and should identify:
1. What went wrong, what it has learned from the resident’s experience, and what it will do differently to avoid the same happening again.
2. Any changes (or planned changes) to its processes and practices to ensure it deals with heating and hot water repairs effectively and without delay. This should include, but is not limited to, consideration of its communications with the contractor, appropriate oversight and monitoring of issues.
3. Any staff training needs to ensure vulnerabilities are accurately recorded and complaints are dealt with in a reasonable and timely manner.

Recommendations

It is recommended that the landlord self-assesses against the recommendations made by the Ombudsman at pages 62 to 64 of the spotlight report on attitudes, respect and rights – relationship of equals, unless it can demonstrate it has done so within the last 12 months.
It is recommended that the landlord considers introducing a procedure, if it does not already have one, for residents to escalate any issues and concerns that are not dealt with effectively by the contractor.