Homes Plus Limited (202224381)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202224381

Homes Plus Limited

31 October 2024


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. Shower repairs.
    2. The resident’s requests for the heating system to be upgraded.
  2. The Ombudsman has also investigated the landlord’s complaint handling.

Background

  1. The resident has been an assured shorthold, fixed term tenant of the landlord, a housing association, since 2018. The property is a 2 bedroom flat.
  2. In May 2022, the resident reported that the shower in the wet room was leaking and the electric storage heaters were old and needed replacing. She asked the landlord to set up a gas supply and install gas central heating. She requested an inspection and the landlord confirmed that it had passed her request to the relevant department.
  3. The resident made a complaint via this Service on 24 January 2023. She said she had made several complaints to the landlord about the leaking shower and the heating system but nothing had been done. The landlord provided its stage 1 response on 8 February 2023 and partially upheld the complaint. It confirmed that it would attend to assess the works required and it had started the process to replace the electric storage heaters with gas central heating.
  4. In September 2023, the resident escalated her complaint via this Service. She confirmed that the landlord had installed gas central heating but had refused to box in the pipework, which she wanted it to do. She said she had not heard anything about the repairs to the shower. The landlord provided its stage 2 response on 3 November 2023 and did not uphold the complaint. It said it had inspected the property the previous month and none of the repairs identified related to her original complaint.
  5. The resident asked this Service to investigate her complaint in July 2024. She said she wanted the landlord to box in the heating pipes and to install floor tiles in the wet room, or change it completely as it was old and leaked every time she used the shower.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. The resident has reported that these issues have been ongoing since she moved to the property in 2018. Complaints should be brought to the attention of the landlord within a reasonable time of the problem occurring, usually within 12 months. This is so that the landlord has an opportunity to resolve the issues while they are still ‘live’ and the evidence is available to properly investigate them (reflected at paragraph 42.c of the Scheme).
  2. In this case the resident’s formal complaint was raised in January 2023, so the scope of this investigation has included events 12 months prior to this. Anything that happened before January 2022, is considered for context but not assessed or determined as part of this investigation.

Handling of shower repairs

  1. The landlord is responsible for repairs to the shower under the terms of the tenancy agreement. This says that the landlord is responsible for repairs to the structure and exterior of the property, including installations for sanitation, which includes the shower.
  2. Shortly after moving to the property, the resident confirmed that she installed her own shower tray and shower screen in the wet room. There is no evidence that she sought written permission from the landlord to do this, which she is required to do under the terms of the tenancy. The landlord’s repairs policy says that residents are responsible for repairing any items they have installed themselves, so it would be reasonable for the landlord to decline to carry out repairs related to the shower tray or shower screen.
  3. When the resident reported that the shower was leaking in May 2022, there is no evidence that the landlord took any action to investigate or address this. This left the resident feeling ignored and amounts to maladministration.
  4. When the landlord inspected the property in February 2023, it identified leaks in the ducting and shower tray. As the resident had installed the shower tray, it would have been within the landlord’s rights to decline to carry out these repairs. However, it agreed to complete them, which was resolution focused. 
  5. Despite agreeing to complete the repairs, the landlord delayed in raising the works order by over 2 weeks. The resident had told the landlord that the leak occurred every time she used the shower and, while not an emergency, it was important that the landlord progressed this as quickly as possible in order to resolve the leak. Its delay in raising the works order amounts to maladministration.
  6. Once the landlord raised the order, it attended in 10 working days, which was in line with the committed timescale of 17 days for routine repairs, set out on its website. The operative that attended noted that they resealed around the shower tray but that this was the residents own installation, which implies that a full repair was not carried out to resolve the leak. This is confirmed by the resident reporting that the leak was ongoing in May 2023.
  7. The landlord’s position on whether it would repair the leak from the shower tray was inconsistent. It raised a works order to address this, but the operative then did not complete works to resolve the leak on the basis that the resident installed it. Ultimately, the landlord was entitled to decline to do the repair, but it should have ensured that its response and position was consistent. The inconsistencies caused confusion for the resident and amounts to maladministration.
  8. In April and May 2023, the resident reported that the shower was continuing to leak and causing damp and mould in the wet room. The landlord said it had raised this with its repairs service in May 2023. However, there is no record of this, or that any further action was taken until after the resident escalated her complaint via this Service 4 months later. This amounts to maladministration.
  9. The landlord reinspected the wet room in October 2023 and agreed to replace the flooring, which included removing and reinstating the shower tray. Despite committing to do this, there is no record that it was progressed this until 9 months later, in July 2024, and this was only after the resident had chased it up on at least 5 occasions. This amounts to maladministration and left the resident feeling ignored.
  10. The landlord attended in July 2024 to complete the works to the wet room. While these works did not go ahead, this was not as a result of any failure by the landlord. The resident has asked the landlord to replace the wet room completely, but the landlord is not required to do so where it can carry out repairs to address the issues. Ultimately, it is for the landlord to determine what is required and the Ombudsman notes that the landlord has an upcoming appointment to carry out further works at the property.
  11. The landlord acknowledged there were failures in its communication in respect of this issue and apologised to the resident. However, there is no evidence that it considered any other redress for the resident. Therefore, an order is made for it to pay the resident £350 compensation, which is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance for findings of maladministration.

Handling of the resident’s requests for the heating system to be upgraded

  1. The landlord is responsible for repairs to the heating system under the terms of the tenancy agreement, which says it will repair installations for the supply of space heating. It is reasonable that landlords carry out repairs to a heating system, where these can resolve any issues. Where repairs cannot resolve the issues, the landlord should then replace the system.
  2. In this case, the landlord said it identified that the storage heaters were old and in poor condition and so it agreed to the resident’s request to install a new heating system, which was reasonable. The resident asked for this to be gas central heating, but there was no gas supply at the property. The landlord was not obliged to agree this as setting up a gas supply went beyond its repairing obligations. Despite this, the landlord agreed to the resident’s request, which showed that it took the matter seriously and was resolution focussed.
  3. When the resident asked for the heating system to be upgraded in May 2022, there is no evidence that the landlord responded to her. While the landlord was not obliged to agree the request, it should have responded to confirm its position. Its failure to do so amounts to maladministration and left the resident feeling ignored.
  4. After the landlord confirmed it would upgrade the system in February 2023, it did not provide any further updates to the resident until 3 months later, on 12 May 2023, and only after the resident chased this up on at least 2 occasions.
  5. The landlord could not upgrade the heating system until the gas supply was installed. This was completed in June 2023 and had to be done by the gas distribution network. While frustrating for the resident that this took 4 months, this was outside the landlord’s control and therefore, not a failure in service. However, it should have kept in regular contact with the resident during this period. Its failure to do so amounts to maladministration and left her uncertain on what was happening.
  6. From the records provided, it is unclear exactly when the heating system upgrade works were completed. However, the resident confirmed on 23 August 2023, that they had, which was 79 days after the works order was raised. The landlord’s repairs policy says it will complete major works within 60 to 90 days, depending on the complexity of the works. Considering that this work required an asbestos survey and installation of a new gas central heating system, including pipework, the timescale it completed this in was reasonable.
  7. The landlord said it would not box in the newly installed pipework, on the basis that this was cosmetic. While frustrating for the resident, this decision was reasonable as the landlord was not required to box the pipes in. The resident has said the landlord never told her it would not box the pipework in and, while disappointing for her, there is no evidence that it told her that it would.
  8. Overall, the landlord’s handling of the heating system upgrade was reasonable in respect of the timescales and decisions. However, there were failures in its communication, which amount to maladministration. The landlord acknowledged this and apologised to the resident, but there is no evidence that it considered any other redress. Therefore, an order is made for the landlord to pay the resident £250 compensation, which is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance.

Complaint handling

  1. The resident raised her complaint via this Service in January 2023 and said she had made several complaints to the landlord but been ignored. From the records provided, the resident specifically asked to make a complaint regarding these issues in May 2022. However, the landlord not only failed to raise a formal complaint, it failed to respond at all. This amounts to maladministration and left the resident feeling ignored. An order is made for the landlord to provide staff training to all front line staff on how to recognise a complaint.
  2. The landlord ultimately acknowledged the resident’s stage 1 complaint in 4 working days, on 27 January 2023. This was in line with the committed timescale of 5 working days, set out in its complaints policy at the time.
  3. The landlord provided the stage 1 response in 12 working days and the stage 2 in 26 working days. Both responses were slightly over the committed timescales of 10 and 20 working days, set out in its complaints policy at the time. While not significant delays, the landlord should have acknowledged this and apologised to the resident, but it failed to do so.
  4. Overall, there was maladministration in the landlord’s complaint handling. Orders are therefore made for the landlord to apologise to the resident and pay her £200 compensation, which is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of:
    1. Shower repairs.
    2. The resident’s requests for the heating system to be upgraded.
    3. The formal complaint.

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks, the landlord is ordered to:
    1. Pay the resident £800 compensation, made up of £350 for its handling of shower repairs, £250 for its handling of her requests for the heating system to be upgraded and £200 for its complaint handling.
    2. Apologise to the resident for its complaint handling.
  2. The landlord to provide evidence of compliance with the above orders, to this Service, within 4 weeks.
  3. In accordance with paragraph 54.g of the Scheme, within 8 weeks, the landlord is ordered to provide staff training to all front line staff on how to recognise a complaint. Evidence of compliance to be provided to this Service, within 8 weeks.