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Clarion Housing Association Limited (202347323)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202347323

Clarion Housing Association Limited

22 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:
    1. The resident’s reports of no heating and hot water, a leak and the level of compensation offered.
    2. The associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord with the tenancy beginning on 30 January 2023. The property is a 2-bedroom first-floor flat. The landlord does not have any vulnerabilities recorded for the resident.
  2. Between 20 and 27 January 2023, the landlord visited the property to replace a boiler pump, initially sourcing the wrong part. At this time, the property was not occupied. On 27 January 2023, a void inspection was carried out at the property, which included a void check, un-capping of the gas meter, and advisory notes about smoke alarms being out of date.
  3. On 31 January 2023, the day after the resident’s tenancy began, the landlord’s records show that she reported no heating or hot water. The repair log indicates this visit was initially “no access”. Additional repair notes on the same day show works were carried out to address a leaking bathroom radiator. The following day the resident reported that the leak had worsened, prompting a re-attendance on 1 February 2023, with further work involving draining the radiator, capping the valves, and taking measurements for a new one.
  4. On 2 February 2023, the landlord raised a works order to investigate a suspected leak under the floorboards. On 4 February 2023, the resident called the landlord’s emergency call-out number due to water leaking into a neighbour’s property. The repair log noted that there was heating and hot water, and that the boiler was drained down. The leak was thought to be under the floorboards from where the radiator was “sitting outside the bathroom door”.
  5. On 6 February 2023, a works order was raised to trace and repair the leak. This included the possibility of lifting the floorboards for further investigation. The repair log shows the repairs were completed on 9 February 2023.
  6. The resident raised a stage 1 complaint on 16 March 2023 regarding the lack of support and the impact the boiler issues had on her over a 10-day period. She requested a deduction in rent for that 10-day period. The landlord responded on 18 April 2023, explaining the action it had taken. It also awarded £50 compensation for the delay in providing its stage 1 response.
  7. The resident remained dissatisfied and escalated the complaint to stage 2 on 10 May 2023. The landlord provided its final response on 29 June 2023, saying it could have communicated better with the resident. It awarded an additional £100, totalling £150 compensation, to recognise the lack of heating and hot water between 31 January and 9 February 2023.
  8. The landlord contacted this Service on 4 September 2024, following our “mediation proposal”. It said that it felt it was “appropriate to make a further compensation award of £150”. This was declined by the resident.
  9. In our recent communications with the resident, she stated that she reported a lack of heating and hot water on 30 January 2023. She explained that the heating and hot water worked intermittently and believed this was caused by a lack of water pressure that required the landlord to attend daily to resolve. Additionally, she said that she had to move out of the property temporarily due to a leak, and the water supply being turned off by her neighbour, while it was repaired.

Assessment and findings

Scope of the investigation

  1. Aspects of the resident’s complaint relate to the impact her living conditions have had on her health. Where the Ombudsman identifies failure on a landlord’s part, we can consider the resulting distress and inconvenience. Unlike a court, we cannot establish what caused a health issue or determine liability and award damages. This would usually be dealt with as a personal injury claim.

Reports of no heating and hot water, a leak and the level of compensation offered

  1. The landlord’s repair policy says that:
    1. Emergency repairs will be carried out within 24 hours. An emergency repair is classified as one that presents an immediate danger to the resident, the public or the property, or would jeopardise the health, safety, or security of the resident.
    2. Non-emergency repairs will be completed as soon as possible and within 28 days.
    3. When a resident reports a repair, the landlord’s contact centre will confirm if there are any disabilities or support needs which should be taken into account, so that the service can be delivered appropriately and aligned to the needs of the household.
  2. The landlord’s void procedure says that it will ensure an empty property is inspected, repaired, cleaned, and left in a safe and suitable state for re-letting as quickly as possible.
  3. The evidence shows that the landlord carried out works within the property during the void period. The resident’s tenancy commenced on 30 January 2023. The repair log for 31 January 2023 shows that she reported issues with lack of heating and hot water, as well as a leak from the bathroom radiator. The notes indicated that there were no vulnerabilities at the property and the leak was addressed the same day. The radiator valves were isolated, and a recommendation was made for the radiator to be replaced. This was a prompt response by the landlord and in line with its emergency repair timescale.
  4. However, there were no notes in relation to the resident’s reports from 31 January 2023 of no heating and hot water confirming the issue was addressed. The repair log does refer to previous repairs carried out between 20 and 27 January 2023 regarding a boiler pump. It is vital that landlords keep clear, accurate and easily accessible records to provide an audit trail. If we investigate a complaint, we will ask for the landlord’s records. If there is disputed evidence and no audit trail, we may not be able to conclude that an action took place or that the landlord followed its own policies and procedures.
  5. On 1 February 2023, the resident reported that the leak had “got worse” since the engineer’s visit the previous day and she still had no heating or hot water. The repair log evidenced that the landlord attended the same day, draining the radiator and capping the valves. This was again a prompt response by the landlord and consistent with its emergency repair timescale.
  6. A repair order was raised on 2 February 2023 to trace and repair the leak that was suspected to be beneath the floor. It should be noted that it can take more than one attempt to resolve issues such as leaks, as it can be difficult to identify the cause of the issue at the outset and in some case different repairs may need to be attempted before the matter is resolved. Therefore, arranging a trace appointment after the 2 previous attempts failed was appropriate. Furthermore, responding within 2 working days of the report ensured an early and effective response.
  7. On 4 February 2023, the repair log shows that the resident reported water leaking into a neighbouring property. The landlord responded the same day by “draining down the boiler”. At this point, the cases notes showed that the resident had heating and hot water. On 6 February 2023, the resident requested temporary heaters, which were not available. The repair notes for this period were not comprehensive and so it was difficult to ascertain the landlord’s action in relation to the lack of heating and hot water. Nevertheless, the evidence suggests that the resident experienced inconsistent heating and hot water throughout the repair period. The evidence also shows that all repairs were completed on 9 February 2023, which was reasonable.
  8. The resident advised this Service that she purchased temporary heaters at her own expense. While it was not ideal that the landlord did not provide temporary heaters, especially during the winter months, it is noted that there were no vulnerabilities recorded for the property that would require immediate intervention. The landlord’s relevant policies do not contain any commitment relating to provision of temporary heaters, and it responded to the resident’s request regarding this. Additionally, the heating was restored 3 working days later, which we consider to be a reasonable response time. Nevertheless, the landlord could have demonstrated more consideration for the resident’s circumstances by purchasing additional heaters, considering a temporary decant, exploring other support, or offering to reimburse the resident for costs she incurred.
  9. The resident noted in her complaint of 16 March 2023 that she moved into the property despite there being an issue with the heating. She said that the issue continued for 10 days, and she wanted a reduction in rent for that period. The landlord sent its stage 1 response on 18 April 2023 outlining its understanding of the complaint. It said that:
    1. Its contractor attended the property on 31 January 2023 and identified the bathroom radiator was leaking. At this time it restored the heating and hot water.
    2. The leaking radiator would not have affected the hot water, and for that reason a rent refund was not due.
    3. Its contractors attended on 9 February 2023 to install a new radiator.
  10. The landlord’s response did not address the resident’s reports on 1 February 2023 of continued lack of heating and hot water, despite the repair log evidencing the issue was attended to the same day. Additionally, it failed to include details of the resident’s report on 4 February 2023 regarding water leaking into a neighbouring property. Therefore, the response was not appropriate and did not fully resolve the resident’s concerns, as it did not comprehensively outline its actions or the reported repairs.
  11. The resident requested to escalate her complaint on 10 May 2023. She said she did not “agree with the breakdown of events” and that the landlord did not include the fact the water was turned off for 24 hours. The landlord again outlined its understanding of her complaint. It accepted that it could have communicated better at the “sign up” for the tenancy and offered the resident £100 compensation for the lack of heating and hot water “for the full duration”. It went on to say that it had attached a timeline of events and confirmed that the issue was first raised on 31 January and concluded on 9 February 2023.
  12. It was a positive step by the landlord to apologise and offer compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused by the lack of heating and hot water. Nevertheless, it could have gone further by identifying learning and outlining steps to prevent similar issues occurring in future and improve service delivery.
  13. With regard to the water being turned off, there were no notes or records indicating the issue. While we do not doubt the resident’s account, we rely on documented evidence when carrying out our investigation. Without such evidence or documentation we are unable to provide further comment.
  14. Following intervention from this Service via our mediation process, the landlord offered an additional £150 compensation, in recognition of the heating and hot water issue at the start of the tenancy. A recommendation has been made in relation to this to reflect the increased cost incurred by the resident for purchasing additional heaters and the associated heating costs during that period.
  15. In summary, the landlord promptly responded to the resident’s repair requests and attended to the leak and radiator issues within its policy timescale. Certain aspects of the record keeping were not comprehensive, making it difficult to verify the full extent of the actions the landlord had taken during the repair period, particularly regarding the lack of heating and hot water. Nevertheless, the landlord acknowledged its poor communication at the start of the tenancy and offered the resident £100 compensation for the distress and inconvenience related to the lack of heating and hot water. Therefore, we consider this reasonable redress.

Complaint handling

  1. The landlord’s complaint policy states that responses to stage 1 complaints will be provided within 10 working days of acknowledgement, and stage 2 responses provided within 20 working days from acknowledgement. At each stage it says complaints will be acknowledged within 5 working days.
  2. The case notes show that the resident initially requested to raise a complaint on 8 February 2023. However, a formal complaint was not raised until 16 March 2023, which was 26 working days later. This was not appropriate and significantly outside of its 5-working-day policy timescale for acknowledgement.
  3. The stage 1 response was sent on 18 April 2023, which was 22 working days after the acknowledgement and 48 days after the resident’s initial request to raise a complaint. While the resident did not chase a response during this period, the delay was unfair to her and prolonged a resolution to the matter. Nevertheless, the landlord offered the resident £50 compensation for the delay, which was resolution focused and a positive step to put things right.
  4. On 10 May 2023, the resident requested to escalate her complaint to stage 2. She said that she disagreed with the timeline of events and the landlord had not addressed all her concerns. This was acknowledged within 3 working days and aligned with the landlord’s policy timescale. The stage 2 response was then provided on 29 June 2023, which was 32 working days after acknowledgement. This was contrary to the 20-working-day policy timescale, and not appropriate. The landlord appropriately apologised for the delay in providing its response, explaining this was due to “higher customer contact”. However, the landlord did not offer any compensation, which would have been reasonable in the circumstances and a step towards acknowledging the impact on the resident.
  5. Overall, both complaint responses were late and did not adhere to the timescale set out in the landlord’s policy. Additionally, the stage 1 response did not fully address the resident’s concerns, and no learning measures were identified by the landlord to prevent similar issues in the future. The landlord apologised for the delays and offered £50 compensation at stage 1 which was resolution focused. Nevertheless, we consider the £50 compensation did not reflect the impact of the delays on the resident which caused her distress and inconvenience.
  6. For the reasons outlined above, we find there was service failure in the landlord’s complaint handling and an additional £50 compensation has been awarded.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53.b of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was reasonable redress in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of no heating and hot water, a leak and the level of compensation offered.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was service failure in the landlord’s complaint handling.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of the date of this determination, the landlord is ordered to take the following action and provide the Ombudsman with evidence of compliance:
    1. Pay directly to the resident £100 compensation in recognition for the distress and inconvenience in relation to its response to the resident’s complaint. This is made up of the £50 previously offered to her at stage 1 and an additional award of £50 compensation.
    2. This should be reduced by any compensation already paid. It is noted that the resident had previously requested any compensation be credited to her rent account. The landlord should confirm her preference regarding this.

Recommendations

  1. It is recommended that the landlord:
    1. Pays the resident:
      1. The £100 compensation previously offered at stage 2 in relation to the heating and hot water. Our finding of reasonable redress is made on the basis that this payment is made.
      2. The additional £150 compensation it offered during the mediation process.
    2. Considers assessing its internal recording procedures against the recommendations of this Service’s spotlight report on Knowledge and Information Management (KIM). This could include the completion of this Service’s free online training in relation to KIM for landlords and relevant staff if this has not been done recently.
    3. Familiarises itself with this Service’s spotlight report on complaints about repairs.
    4. Arranges for relevant frontline staff involved in complaint handing to complete this Service’s free online dispute resolution training for landlords, if this has not been done recently.