GreenSquareAccord Limited (202442369)

Background

1. The resident has complained about boiler issues, causing a lack of heating and hot water. She also reported a leak, causing damage to the property and belongings. The resident informed the landlord that she suffers from arthritis and that 2 young children live in the property.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
   1. Repairs to the boiler, loss of heating and hot water.
   2. Reports of a leak and associated damage.
   3. The associated complaint.

Our decision (determination)

3. We have found:
   1. Reasonable redress in the landlord’s handling of repairs to the boiler.
   2. No maladministration in the landlord’s handling of a leak.
   3. No maladministration in the landlord’s complaint handling.

We have not made orders for the landlord to put things right.

Summary of reasons

Repairs to the boiler, loss of heating and hot water

4. The landlord attended repairs within its required timescales. However, it did not identify the underlying fault promptly, resulting in repeated loss of heating and hot water. It failed to offer temporary heaters initially and did not proactively follow up on the repairs. The landlord acknowledged its shortcomings, took learning actions, and offered reasonable compensation.

 Reports of a leak and associated damage

5. The landlord responded promptly to the resident’s reports of a leak, provided dehumidifiers, and arranged repairs to the ceiling. The landlord offered compensation for the alleged damage as a goodwill gesture.

Complaint handling

6. The landlord responded to the complaint within the required timescales. It correctly identified the issues raised by the resident and addressed each point.

Recommendations

Our recommendations are not binding, and a landlord may decide not to follow them.

The complaint procedure

What we found and why

The circumstances of this complaint are well known by the parties involved, so it is not necessary to detail everything that’s happened or comment on all the information we’ve reviewed. We’ve only included the key information that forms the basis of our decision of whether the landlord is responsible for maladministration.

7. The resident’s daughter communicated with the landlord on her behalf. For the purposes of this report, we will refer to both as the resident, unless we need to specify.
8. The resident first reported a heating and hot water failure on 2 December 2024. The landlord attended the same day, bled and refilled the radiators, and confirmed that the boiler was working. Its repairs policy requires emergency attendance within four hours and follow‑up within 24 hours, and the landlord met these requirements.
9. Between 8 December and 31 December 2024, the landlord attended several further calls. It identified issues with the expansion vessel, a radiator, and the pressure sensor and repaired each fault. However, it did not identify the underlying cause until 3 January 2025. Given the vulnerabilities in the household and repeated failures, it would have been reasonable for the landlord to carry out a more thorough investigation and follow up after each repair visit.
10. Due to the lack of working boiler, the resident had to use fan heaters. The landlord did not initially offer heaters to the resident, which meant that she had to borrow these from her daughter. This is a failure.
11. In its complaint responses, the landlord has acknowledged its failure to quickly identify and repair the boiler issues. It also highlighted communication issues and its lack of support to the resident. The landlord confirmed has taken steps to improve and learn from the complaint.
12. The landlord provided compensation for the loss of heating and hot water, increased energy usage, distress, and inconvenience. It also provided compensation for failures to schedule follow up work and applying part of the compensation at stage 1 to the resident’s rent account. It offered total compensation of £1,141 in relation to this complaint
13. The landlord failed to quickly identify and resolve a boiler issue. This led to delays in it restoring the resident’s heating and hot water. The resident highlighted the impact of the lack of heating, due to her disability.
14. While there have been failings, the landlord’s complaint responses, and the compensation it offered were reasonable. The landlord has provided evidence to show that it has made this payment to the resident. As such, we have not made any orders or recommendations for this issue.

15. The resident reported a leak on 31 December 2024. The landlord attended and identified a leaking boiler filter. The resident later reported that the leak had caused damage to the ceiling, flooring, stairs, stair rail, and some belongings. The landlord requested photos and provided dehumidifiers. The resident could only use these briefly, due to the health condition of one of the occupants.
16. An Area Manager inspected the property and found damage to part of the ceiling only. The landlord needed to repair the bottom 2 stairs, but this was unrelated to the leak. The landlord attended a follow‑up appointment to repair these on 5 February 2025. Although it found no evidence of further damage, it still offered goodwill payments totalling £304 for the clothes, cleaning the bed and carpet, and the cost of running a dehumidifier.
17. The landlord’s compensation policy says it can provide payment for the value of belongings. The landlord requires evidence of purchase, valuation of the items, together with evidence of loss or damage from visual inspection or photographs.
18. The landlord acted within reasonable timescales, sought evidence of damage, and attended the property quickly. It also exceeded its policy by offering compensation without evidence of damage or the value of the items. The landlord followed up on the actions promised in its stage 2 response.
19. As the resident claimed the landlord’s actions caused the damage, we would recommend that it provides details of its insurance. This would allow the resident to make a claim. We have not ordered the landlord to take any action to resolve this part of the complaint but have included this recommendation.
20. When we investigate complaints, we can only look at issues that have exhausted a landlord’s complaints procedure. The landlord’s stage 2 response is the end of the complaints procedure. We can look at the complaint up to the stage 2 response, including any actions it promised to take in this.
21. The resident continued to report leaks after the landlord sent its stage 2 response. This includes continued leaks and damage to the property. We cannot look at these issues as part of this investigation. The resident will need to raise these with the landlord as a formal complaint.

22. The landlord’s complaints policy requires it to acknowledge complaints at stage 1 and 2 within 5 working days. After acknowledging the complaint, the policy requires the landlord to respond within 10 working days at stage 1 and 20 working days at stage 2. This is in line with the Complaint Handling Code (the Code).
23. The resident raised the complaint on 12 December 2024. The landlord responded on 18 December 2024. She escalated the complaint on 20 December 2024, and it responded on 21 January 2025. The landlord met the required timescales.
24. In its responses, the landlord correctly identified the resident’s complaint issues and responded to these. Its complaint responses were inline with the Code.

Learning

25. The case shows that delays in providing temporary heaters created additional disruption for a vulnerable household. It also highlights the need for the landlord to be clearer about when it will provide insurance details to residents alleging damage.

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

26. The absence of notes from the operatives attending in the repair history made the sequence of events harder to understand. This demonstrates where record‑keeping should improve.

Communication

27. The landlord missed opportunities to follow up after repairs, which is especially important where vulnerabilities and repeated faults are present.