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Clarion Housing Association Limited (202321214)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202321214

Clarion Housing Association Limited

20 May 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:
    1. Reports of a water leak.
    2. Associated complaint.

Determination (jurisdiction decision)

  1. When a complaint is brought to the Housing Ombudsman, we must consider all the circumstances of the case as there are sometimes reasons why a complaint will not be investigated.
  2. After carefully considering all the evidence, I have determined that the complaint, as set out above, is not within the Housing Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

Background

  1. The resident has an assured tenancy for a flat, which began on 14 October 2010.
  2. The landlord is a housing association.
  3. On 27 August 2022 the resident reported that sewage and water was leaking into her property.
  4. The resident made a complaint to the landlord on 4 October 2022. She raised concerns about how the landlord handled the leak and that it did not provide her temporary accommodation straight away.
  5. The landlord issued its final complaint response on 23 December 2022. It did not uphold the complaint. It apologised for the time it was taking to complete the works to her property and explained this was due to the insurance company’s timescales. It offered the resident £50 for the delay in it issuing food vouchers and £50 for the delay in it issuing its stage 1 response.
  6. The resident contacted the Ombudsman as she was not happy with the landlord’s response to her complaint.
  7. The resident started a disrepair court claim against the landlord on 11 March 2025. Court proceedings were issued on 14 March 2025.

Reasons

  1. Paragraph 41.c of the Scheme states the Ombudsman cannot consider complaints which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion concern matters that are the subject of court proceedings or where the subject of court proceedings where judgement on the merits was given.
  2. The resident’s complaint relating to the landlord’s handing of the resident’s reports of a water leak are subject to on-going court proceedings.
  3. As the resident is pursuing her complaint under another provision, that being through the civil court process. It is not within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction to consider this complaint further.