Clarion Housing Association Limited (202311551)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202311551

Clarion Housing Association Limited

25 February 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 the resident’s reports of drainage problems.

Background

  1. The resident has been the assured tenant of the property since 2016. She has severe health problems for which she requires an organ transplant. The landlord is a housing association.
  2. The resident first reported problems with the drains in 2020 and has done so frequently since then. She called the landlord approximately 20 times in 2022 to report problems with water failing to drain from sinks and the toilet. The landlord attended but seems not to have investigated the cause of the problem.
  3. The resident complained formally about the continuing poor drainage on 3 November 2022. She said that, since 2020 there had been several eruptions of sewage from the sinks in the bathroom and kitchen, which flooded the property and damaged her belongings. She said the landlord had not solved the problem and had not provided enough compensation.
  4. In the landlord’s stage 1 response of 7 December 2022, it said problems with contractors meant it could not access previously obtained information about the drains. A new contractor would survey them on 14 December 2022 and it would then arrange for works to take place. It offered £150 compensation for the delay and the inconvenience this caused.
  5. The resident escalated her complaint on 22 February 2023, saying that the landlord had failed to resolve the drainage problems for years and failed to reimburse her for her damaged belongings. She said she did not have her own insurance and the landlord’s compensation offer was too low.
  6. In the landlord’s stage 2 response of 14 April 2023, it acknowledged delays in completing the repairs. A recent survey had found the repair would be a large project so it would rehouse the resident in alternative accommodation while the works were completed between 19 May and 6 June 2023. It would not reimburse her for loss of belongings as its compensation policy did not permit this, but offered £900 in recognition of the delays.
  7. The resident referred her complaint to us, and advised in late May 2023 that the works had not yet been completed, so she would have to leave her hotel but could not return to the property. She wanted the landlord to complete the works and provide increased compensation.
  8. The drainage works began as planned on 22 May 2023 but the original timeframe was extended on several occasions because further problems were discovered after the works began. The landlord’s contractors also reported that, on several occasions, the resident returned to the property and interrupted the works. The works were completed and the resident returned to the property on 4 August 2023.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. The resident previously complained to the landlord about similar issues in April 2021 and exhausted its complaints process in June 2021. We investigated and determined the complaint in December 2021 (case ref. 202015582). This report does not revisit the events (including reports of damage) which were assessed as part of that investigation.
  2. This report is focused on the events directly relating to the formal complaint raised by the resident in November 2022, which exhausted the complaints process in April 2023. We have considered events which occurred between July 2021 (which is after the period covered by our previous investigation) and August 2023 (when the repairs were completed).
  3. While we note the resident’s comments about the impact of this complaint on her health, it is not our role to establish a causal link between the landlord’s actions and her ill-health. These matters would be better raised as a personal injury claim through the courts. However, we have considered any general distress and inconvenience the complaint caused.
  4. We note the resident has also raised concerns about the alternative accommodation she was given for the duration of the works, her daily living allowance during that time, and unrelated repair issues at the property. As these matters have not been taken through the landlord’s complaints process, they are not addressed in this report. We have made a recommendation for the landlord to discuss these matters with the resident and, if she wishes to do so, log a new complaint.

Landlord’s handling of reports of drainage problems

  1. Under the terms of the tenancy agreement, the landlord is responsible for the upkeep of the drains. In responding to the complaint, the landlord accepted this responsibility, acknowledged delays in its response, and offered £900 compensation as a remedy.
  2. The landlord’s compensation policy says it will offer £700 compensation or more in cases where its failure has a severe and long-term impact on a complainant. Our own remedies guidance says that, depending on the severity of a failing and its impact on the resident, higher awards may be appropriate. For that reason, we have considered the severity and the impact it had below.
  3. The landlord first recognised that it should conduct a CCTV survey of the drains in July 2021 and it appears this was done at that time. However, when the landlord changed its contractor, the landlord lost access to that survey. Following receipt of the resident’s complaint in November 2022, a further survey took place in December 2022, a year after the original survey. The identified works were due to complete in early June 2023 (some 2 years after the landlord recognised the need for repair). Ultimately, they were not completed until August 2023, over 2 years after the problem was first identified.
  4. The landlord blames much of the delay on the change of contractor. However, it is the landlord, not the contractor, which has legal responsibility for the works. When the need for a new survey became clear, the landlord should have prioritised this as a matter of urgency, but it failed to do so.
  5. The landlord has provided no reasons for the delay, other than the loss of access to the survey. It did not communicate with the resident about her concerns until after she complained and it failed to progress the repairs appropriately. This was poor service with no explanation given. The lack of communication compounded the failure to act as the resident was left not knowing when it would solve the problem. In the meanwhile, she suffered 2 years of blockages and sewage surges.
  6. Overall, the landlord should have ensured that the survey and repairs were carried out much sooner as it knew the drains were backing up frequently with unpleasant consequences for the resident. Its failure to do so was unacceptable. Given the length of the delay, this would amount to severe maladministration but for the fact that the landlord offered the resident £900 compensation. This was not enough but it was a significant recognition of its failures. We have, therefore, reduced the finding to maladministration.
  7. Turning to the impact on the resident, the landlord’s repair records show that, between July 2021 and June 2023, she reported problems with the drains on 17 occasions. Frequently, she had to wait weeks for a plumber to attend. In March 2023, she waited for 3 days with no drainage or toilet and, she stated in her complaint, sewage spread around the property and destroyed food and other belongings. It also left a foul odour.
  8. While the landlord did ultimately recognise its failures, the compensation it offered was not sufficient given the length of the delay and the impact on the resident. We have ordered it to pay her £1,100 for its failures in handling her reports of leaks. If it has already paid her any compensation, it can deduct that from this sum.
  9. The resident has also said she wants compensation for damaged items. The landlord said in its stage 2 response, that “It is the Tenant or Resident’s responsibility to ensure they have suitable insurance for damage to possessions and furnishings, therefore this is not something which is covered or included within Clarion Housing’s complaint compensation policy.” However, where a landlord’s maladministration causes a resident financial loss, it should, as a matter of natural justice, reimburse the costs to a resident. It is not acceptable for a landlord to refuse to do so as a matter of policy. We have recommended that it should amend this policy.
  10. Our guidance on remedies says, “if we have found some level of maladministration, we may order a landlord to pay compensation as reimbursement of actual costs or in recognition of the resulting distress and inconvenience caused to the resident, depending on the circumstances of that particular case”. The resident says she lost £200 worth of food and clothing in the most recent sewage floods. This is an entirely plausible figure given the photographic evidence provided. We have ordered the landlord to pay this sum.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of drainage problems.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of the date of this report, the landlord is ordered to provide us with evidence that it has done the following:
    1. Sent a letter of apology to the resident for the failures identified in this report.
    2. Paid the resident £1,300 compensation as follows:
      1. £1,100 for its handling of the resident’s reports of drainage problems.
      2. £200 for the food and other items ruined by sewage in 2022.

If it has already paid compensation, it should reduce it by that already paid.

Recommendation

  1. The landlord is recommended to:
    1. Amend its compensation policy to make it clear that it does reimburse residents for items damaged as a result of its failures.
    2. Discuss the resident’s further concerns about its service delivery (including the alternative accommodation, living allowance and unrelated repairs at the property) and log a new complaint if the resident wishes to do so.