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Hightown Housing Association Limited (202320493)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202320493

Hightown Housing Association Limited

12 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 request that it install a battery to the solar panels at his property.

Background

  1. The resident holds an assured tenancy with the landlord. The resident is disabled, which the landlord is aware of.
  2. On 31 July 2023, the resident complained to the landlord. He said the solar panels on his property had not been fitted with a battery; therefore, he was unable to store the electricity the panels generated. He said the landlord sold the power generated by the solar panels back to the national electricity grid.
  3. The landlord issued a complaint response on 7 August 2023. It said the panels were designed to feed power to the property when electrical appliances were in use. When no electrical items were on, power was fed back to the national grid. It said it did not benefit from any electricity generated by the solar panels. It advised that the resident could seek permission from the landlord to install his own battery if he wished to do so. It provided information to the resident about the performance of the solar panels.
  4. On 8 August 2023, the resident escalated his complaint to stage 1 of the landlord’s complaint procedure. He said the panels did not generate any power when there was no sun. He said the landlord had told him when he moved in, that the panels would reduce his energy bills. He complained that he could hardly afford his bills and could not afford to fit batteries to the solar panels.
  5. The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response on 22 August 2023. It said it had given the resident information on how the solar panels worked when he moved into the property. It confirmed that the resident would have benefitted from the electricity generated by the solar panels as soon as he moved in. It said he should contact his energy provider to request that he be put on a feed-in tariff so that his provider could pay him for any excess energy fed back into the national electricity grid. It explained it had asked its contractor to attend the resident’s property to check that the solar panels were working but he had refused the contractor access. It advised the resident to contact its contractor if he wanted to schedule another appointment. It said its contractor would also be able to explain how the solar panels worked.
  6. On 22 August 2023, the resident escalated his complaint to stage 2 of the landlord’s complaint procedure. He said the landlord had not told him when he moved in, that the panels did not have any battery storage facilities. He explained his energy provider had told him that his bills were not much lower than a house of a similar size that did not have solar panels. He said he was not interested in the feed-in tariff; he wanted to benefit from all the power generated by the solar panels. He said he had not refused to allow the landlord’s contractor access to his property. He confirmed he had explained to the contractor that he wanted a battery fitted to the solar panels.
  7. In its correspondence with the landlord of 23 August 2023, the contractor said that the resident told them that his energy provider had recently checked the solar panels, and they were working correctly, therefore there was no need for the contractor to check these again.
  8. The landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response on 7 September 2023. It maintained its earlier position that it would not install a battery for the solar panels.
  9. On 13 September 2023, the resident complained to the Ombudsman. He said that before he moved in, the landlord had led him to believe that the solar panels at the property had a battery fitted. He said several energy providers had told him that as he did not own the property, he was not eligible to claim the feed-in tariff. He said he was disabled and used more energy as he was at home all day and wanted to be able to save money on his energy bills. He wanted the landlord to fit a battery to the solar panels.

Assessment

Scope of investigation

  1. As noted above, the resident told the Ombudsman on 13 September 2023 that several energy providers had told him he would not be eligible to claim the feed-in tariff as he did not own the property. He said he had made the landlord aware of this. As this request was not escalated via the landlord’s complaint procedure, it has not been considered in this assessment. This is because the Ombudsman is not able to consider complaints that are made prior to having exhausted a landlord’s complaint procedure. This is so that landlords have the opportunity to respond to complaints and resolve issues before the Ombudsman becomes formally involved. If the resident wishes to pursue this matter further, he can complain to the landlord. He may be able to refer his complaint to the Ombudsman for a separate investigation once it has exhausted the landlord’s complaints process. It is recommended however that the landlord respond to the resident’s report that energy providers have told him he is not eligible to claim the feed-in tariff as he does not own the property.

Policies and procedures

  1. The terms of the resident’s tenancy agreement state he can seek the landlord’s permission to make alterations or improvements to his property. The tenancy states that the landlord will grant permission for this where reasonable, subject to regulations and restrictions.
  2. The landlord’s website states that it can offer residents advice or signpost them to professionals for specialist advice and support if they are struggling financially.
  3. The information the landlord provided to the resident about the solar panels states that to claim feed-in tariff payments, residents need to register with their energy provider. The energy provider will then advise on how to provide meter readings and claim feed-in tariff payments.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s request that it fit a battery to his solar panels

  1. In his escalation of his complaint to stage 1 of the landlord’s complaint procedure, the resident said that he could hardly afford to pay his energy bills. The landlord’s website states that it will offer advice to residents who may be struggling financially and/or signpost them to other professionals for advice and support. It would have been reasonable therefore for the landlord to check with the resident if he needed advice in relation to the cost of his bills and if necessary to signpost him to agencies that may be able to provide him with advice and support. The resident may wish to seek further support from Citizen’s Advice. It is recommended that the landlord carry out training to ensure that its staff can identify when residents may be in need of advice and support in relation to the cost of their energy bills and signpost them to appropriate agencies if necessary.
  2. The landlord acted appropriately in arranging for its contractor to visit the resident’s property to check whether the solar panels were working correctly. In its stage 1 complaint response it said that the resident had not given the contractor access to his property. The resident disputed that he had not allowed the contractor access. It was appropriate therefore that the landlord asked its contractor to clarify why it had not checked the resident’s solar panels. The contractor’s correspondence with the landlord supports the resident’s account that he had not refused it access but he had explained that it was not necessary to check the solar panels as his energy provider had done so recently. Given that the contractor supported the resident’s account of what had happened, it would have been helpful for the landlord to acknowledge this in its stage 2 response to the resident.
  3. It is understandable that the resident may not have been able to afford to fit a battery to the solar panels himself. However, the landlord acted reasonably in advising him that he could seek its permission to do so, should he want to. This was in line with the resident’s tenancy agreement set out above.
  4. There is no obligation on the landlord to install a battery to the solar panels at the resident’s property as this would be an improvement and the landlord is not required to carry out improvements, it is only required to maintain its properties in a good state of repair. The landlord has provided an appropriate and reasonable response as to why it would not install a battery to the solar panels at the resident’s property.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was no maladministration by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s request that it install a battery to the solar panels at his property.

Recommendations

  1. It is recommended that the landlord:
    1. Responds to the resident’s report that several energy providers have told him he is not eligible to claim the feed-in tariff as he does not own the property.
    2. Carries out training to ensure that its staff can identify when residents may be in need of advice regarding financial issues and support and signpost them to appropriate agencies if necessary.