Hyde Housing Association Limited (202342050)

Decision
Case ID	202342050
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	Hyde Housing Association Limited
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Assured Shorthold Tenancy
Date	31 March 2026

Background

The resident lives in a first floor flatof a low-rise building with her child and newborn.She reported that leakshad damaged the property and her belongings. She was unhappy with the landlord’s responseabout this and referred the complaint to us.

What the complaint is about

The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s:
1. Reports of leaks into the property and the subsequent damage.
2. Complaint.

Our decision (determination)

We have found there was:
1. Maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of leaks into the property and the subsequent damage.
2. No maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint.

We have made orders for the landlord to put things right.

Summary of reasons

The landlord’s handling of reports of leaks into the property and the subsequent damage

The landlord did not assess the reports of leaks to determine its response time. Whilst it offered compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused, it delayed in completing repairs. It also did not respond to some of the resident’s requests for compensation for damage to the property and her belongings, as it said it would do.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint

The landlord responded to the resident’s complaint in line with its complaint policy.

Putting things right

Where we find service failure, maladministration or severe maladministration we can make orders for the landlord to put things right. We have the discretion to make recommendations in all other cases within our jurisdiction.

Orders

Landlords must comply with our orders in the manner and timescales we specify. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of compliance with our orders by the due date set.

Order	What the landlord must do	Due date
1	Apology order The landlord must apologise in writing to the resident for the failures identified in this report. The landlord must ensure: the apology is specific to the failures identified in this decision, meaningful and empathetic it has due regard to our apologies guidance	No later than 28 April 2026
2	Starting the works The landlord must take all steps to ensure it starts the kitchen tile replacements no later than the due date. If it cannot start the works in this time, it must explain to us and the resident, by the due date: why it cannot start the works by the due date, with evidence to support its reasons a revised timescale of when it will start and finish the works If it has already completed the replacement of the kitchen tiles it must provide evidence of this to us by the due date.	No later than 28 April 2026
3	Specific action The landlord must consider its compensation policy and write to the resident as to whether it would compensate for the damage that she said the leaks caused to her air fryer and gaming console. It must provide a copy of this to us by the due date.	No later than 28 April 2026
4	Learning order The landlord must write to the resident and set out what it has learnt from the failures identified in this report. This must include its assessment of reports for repairs, delays to complete repairs, and its record keeping. It should set out what actions it will take to prevent the same failures from happening again in the future.	No later than 28 April 2026

Recommendations

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

Our recommendations
We recommend the landlord provides a written response to the resident as to whether it would replace the fridge as she said the leaks damaged it.

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
Between 19 June 2023 and 25 July 2023	The resident reported to the landlord that there was a leak coming through her light fixture. The landlord repaired the leak.
11 September 2023	The resident reported further leaks coming into the property that she said affected her newborn. She said the leaks damaged her child’s gaming console, soaked the carpet, caused her stress, and she chose to sleep at her friend’s home. She complained that the landlord had not resolved the issue.
5 October 2023	The landlord provided its stage 1 response. It said it should have been proactive to book in repairs to remedy the damage in her property. It said on 30 October 2023, it would: repair the ceiling in the lounge and affected areas stain block and paint the affected areas refix the lounge lights renew the kitchen tiling It apologised to the resident and offered her £650 of compensation for the distress, inconvenience, and effort caused to her in its delay in handling the repairs in the property.
Between 12 October 2023 and 29 November 2023	The resident escalated the complaint. She said she was unhappy with the offer of compensation as the leaks caused damage to the property, affected her mental health, and her child could not sleep in the bedroom. She said the leak damaged her sofa, cooker and washing machine.
30 November 2023 and 7 December 2023	The landlord said its decision had not changed, but it would compensate her for the damage to her sofas. It explained it would not replace the cooker and washing machine as she said these appliances worked. It said it would find out if it could compensate her for the damaged gaming console and air fryer. It said this was its final response and she could refer the complaint to us.
26 and 27 February 2024	The resident escalated her complaint because she said the landlord ignored her request to replace her carpets. She said it had not replaced her kitchen tiles and the lights in the lounge, as it said it would do.
20 March 2024	The landlord sent its stage 2 response. It said it had not communicated with her about the repairs set out at stage 1 and it had not completed the repairs when it should have. It apologised for this. It said it would attend on 20 March 2024 to: repair and redecorate the lounge ceiling refix the lounge lights renew the kitchen tiling It said it would consider replacing the carpet if the resident provided 3 quotes to replace it. It offered her £900 of compensation for the distress, inconvenience, and effort caused to her for its delay handling the repairs. It said it had paid her £450 for the damage caused to her sofas.
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident said the landlord had refused to escalate the complaint to stage 2. She said it had handled the leak and repairs poorly. She said it had promised a new kitchen, and she wanted a new cooker and fridge due to the damage caused to it by the leaks.

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.

Complaint	The landlord’s handling of reports of leaks into the property and the subsequent damage
Finding	Maladministration

The landlord repaired a leak coming through the lounge light fixture within 26 working days. It found the cause of the leak was the cartridge of a tap in the upstairs property. The time it had taken to repair the leak did not align with its repair policy. This says where there may be immediate risk to the safety of the resident it should complete the repair within 24 hours.
The landlord referred to the resident reporting a further leak in the property sometime in July 2023, but there is no evidence of this. This is a failure of the landlord’s record keeping and has made it difficult to assess whether it responded appropriately to the report.
On 11 September 2023 the resident’s Member of Parliament (MP) forwarded an email from the resident to the landlord. The resident said the landlord had not repaired a “severe leak” from 8 September 2023 that had been ongoing for hours and caused puddles in the lounge.
It is unclear whether the resident reported this leak to the landlord’s emergency service as she said. However, it had taken 5 working days for the landlord to contact her from when it was aware of the issue. This did not align with its repairs policy to assess if this was an emergency repair to make safe within 24 hours. She confirmed that the leak had stopped but her property and belongings were damaged.
On 22 September 2023 the landlord provided a dehumidifier to dry the damp rooms in the property. It said it would complete repairs to the property on 30 October 2023. Ittried to complete repairs on that date butit was unable to access the property as the resident was not there. This was outside of its control.
The landlord completed some of the repairs on 13 November 2023 and 16 November 2023, including cleaning mould from the kitchen and lounge, and repairing the lounge lights. On 7 February 2024 it carried out another mould wash, completed a stain block and applied one coat of plaster in the kitchen and lounge. It completed a further mould wash on 14 February 2024.
In that time the resident reported 2 further leaks into the property. There is no evidence the landlord investigated the cause of the recurring leaks, repaired them or communicated with the resident about this. This was not in line with its repair policy that sets out it is responsible to repair leaks in the property. If it had done so, it may have prevented damage to the property and her belongings.
On 26 February 2024 the resident explained to the landlord that it had ignored her request for it to replace the damaged carpets, that it had not repaired the damaged kitchen tiles, the lounge lights needed further repairs, and her property smelled of damp.
In its complaint responses the landlord offered £900 compensation. Our remedies guidance allows for awards of £600 to £1,000 where there had been failures which had a significant impact on the resident. Therefore, we have not ordered the landlord to pay additional compensation. It evidenced that it had credited the resident’s rent account with the compensation. This was in line with its compensation policy which sets out that it would use compensation to offset the rent arrears.
The landlord evidenced that it paid £450 compensation to the resident for damaged sofas. However, there is no evidence that the resident provided the quotes for her carpets as the landlord requested. Both actions align with its compensation policy which states that it would consider discretionary compensation where its delays or inaction may have caused a loss.
There is no evidence that the landlord said it would replace the kitchen. However, it had repaired and repainted the lounge ceiling and refixed the lounge lights, as it said it would do. It had also said that it would not replace the resident’s cooker and washing machine as they were working. This was reasonable.
There is no evidence the landlord renewed the kitchen tiling as promised and it has not responded to the resident about whether it would replace her air fryer or the gaming console as it said it would. This does not align with our dispute resolution principles to put things right. Therefore, we have made orders for the landlord to apologise and put matters right.
There is no evidence the resident asked the landlord to replace the fridge. We have therefore made a recommendation it provides a response to the resident about this.

Complaint	The landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint
Finding	No maladministration

Our Complaint Handling Code (the Code) sets out when and how a landlord should respond to complaints. The relevant Code in this case is the 2022 edition.
The landlord has a 2-stage complaint process. It aims to acknowledge complaints within 5 working days and provide its stage 1 response within 10 working days. If it needs more time to respond it will explain this to the resident.
If the landlord accepts the resident’s escalation to stage 2, the resident should receive a formal response within 20 working days. Where an exclusion applies, as set out in its complaint policy, it may refuse to escalate the complaint. It would explain its reasons to the resident and provide our details.
The landlord acknowledged the complaint in 5 working days. It explained to the resident it needed more time and that it would respond by 9 October 2023. It provided its stage 1 response by that date. These actions were in line with its complaint policy.
Between 12 October 2023 and 29 November 2023, the resident explained to the landlord she was not happy with the compensation it offered. It responded to her on 30 November 2023 and said this was its final response. It said it would not increase its compensation as there was no new information to consider. It provided our details. This aligned with its complaint policy which said that it may not escalate a complaint to stage 2 where an exclusion applied, such as a request for more compensation.
The resident escalated her complaint, which the landlord accepted and provided its stage 2 response within 20 working days, as set out in its complaint policy.
We have found no maladministration in the landlord’s complaint handling because its response to the resident’s complaint aligned with its complaint policy at the time.

Learning

It would have been in line with our dispute resolution principles of putting things right and learning from outcomes for the landlord to set out areas of learning to the resident within its internal complaint procedure. This was a missed opportunity to do so.

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

Our Knowledge and Information Management (KIM) Spotlight report recommends that landlords keep clear records. The landlord’s record about the leaks and the complaint were unclear at times. This could have affected its ability to meet its obligations. It may wish to review its record keeping in line with the recommendations set out in our spotlight report if it has not done so already.

Communication

Our spotlight report on repairs and maintenance explains that proactive and tailored communication can reduce distress and minimise the impact of failures. The landlord may wish to review its communication with residents in line with the recommendations set out in our spotlight report if it has not done so already.