Hyde Housing Association Limited (202538175)

Decision
Case ID	202538175
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	Hyde Housing Association Limited
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Assured Tenancy
Date	13 May 2026

Background

In May 2024 the resident reported a leak into her bedroom from an overflow in the roof. At the end of September 2024, she reported a leak from guttering into her bedroom. The resident told us that she has a neurological condition which affects her sleep.

What the complaint is about

The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of leaks into her property.
We have also considered the landlord’s complaint handling.

Our decision (determination)

We found maladministration in the landlord’s handling of:
1. leaks into her property.
2. the complaint.

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

Summary of reasons

Leaks into her property

The landlord failed to take all appropriate action to identify and resolve the cause of leaks. It did not complete monitoring of repairs after its stage 2 complaint response, despite agreeing to do so. It delayed raising work to investigate and remove an overflow pipe. It awarded compensation but this did not adequately compensate the resident for the impact of its failings.

The complaint

The landlord delayed providing its stage 1 complaint response and did not communicate with the resident to agree or apologise for this. It did not raise a new complaint when she raised concerns after leak issues returned.

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 10 June 2026
2	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £775 made up as follows: £700 for the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of a leak into her property. £75 for distress and inconvenience caused by its complaint handling failings. This must be paid directly to the resident by the due date. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date. The landlord may deduct from the total figure any payments it has already paid.	No later than 10 June 2026
3	The landlord must contact the resident to confirm details of repairs completed. It should also set out its action plan for monitoring repairs to ensure no ongoing leaks and provide her with a point of contact for this.	No later than 10 June 2026

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
28 November 2024	The resident complained to the landlord. She said various operatives had attended her property to investigate the cause of the leak into her bedroom. She said she was still experiencing water dripping into her bedroom.
20 January 2025	The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response. It said that it was clear it should have completed repairs sooner. It said the primary cause of the leak was identified as deterioration of gutters. It awarded her compensation of £300 for the delay in identifying the leak and the distress and inconvenience caused.
20 January 2025	The resident escalated her complaint. She questioned whether repairs had been completed to address issues and said she had “no faith” in the landlord.
20 February 2025	The landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response. It said: the resident had told it the last instance of water dripping occurred on 10 January 2025. roof repair work was completed on 17 January 2025. its roofing supervisor was to attend weekly to monitor issues.
20 July 2025	The resident reported further leak issues to the landlord.
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident referred her complaint as she remained unhappy with the landlord handling of the reoccurring leak. She confirmed the leak now appeared to be resolved. She said that she wants to redecorate herself. But she wanted a sincere apology, increased compensation and reassurance from the landlord about the work completed to address the leak.

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 the resident’s report of leaks into her property
Finding	Maladministration

What we have not investigated

The resident raised concerns about the landlord’s handling of roof leaks over 15 years. Our scheme rules state we may not investigate complaints that are referred to us normally more than 12 months from the date of the final response. In this case, the resident had 2 complaints. The earlier complaint about roof issues exhausted the landlord’s complaint procedure on 22 August 2023. She did not refer her complaint to us until 2 December 2025. We have not seen any reason which prevented the complaint being raised to us sooner. Therefore, we will not investigate the leak issues raised in this earlier complaint, or events prior to that.

What we have investigated

We have considered the landlord’s handling of leak issues from 10 May 2024, which was when the resident reported a new leak into her front bedroom. She told it that an overflow pipe from the roof was causing water ingress into her front bedroom and that it had started that morning.
The landlord identified internal water damage and noted it needed to access the loft space to investigate further. However, there is no evidence it raised or completed this follow‑on work.
The resident reported further leaks to the landlord in September and November 2024. It raised repairs within its 20-working-day target timescales for routine repairs and identified issues with box guttering. But failed to clearly communicate its findings, plans for work, or likely timescales to the resident.
Despite inspections by its plumbing and roofing team, the landlord did not carry out a full and coordinated investigation of all causes of the leak. Nor did it complete previously identified actions such as accessing the loft space. The landlord later acknowledged in its stage 1 complaint response in January 2025 that it had delayed identifying the root cause of the leak and confirmed that repairs had been completed.
While records suggest the resident did not experience further leaks immediately, the landlord failed to carry out the weekly post‑repair inspections it had committed to in its stage 2 complaint response. It did not respond when the resident reported in February 2025 that these visits were not taking place.
The resident experienced a further leak in July 2025 which damaged her bedroom mattress. The landlord again identified this may be from redundant pipework above. It noted it should remove this pipework. But it delayed raising the required work and again failed to keep her appropriately informed. It was not until November 2025 that the landlord inspected the loft space and identified another pipe as the source of the leak.
The resident reports that the issue has been resolved since January 2026. But overall, the landlord did not carry out a thorough investigation at an early stage, particularly in relation to pipework in the loft space.
Overall, we have found maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of leaks into her property. The resident told us of the damage to her mattress from the leak. It was appropriate that the landlord reimbursed her for the cost of buying a new mattress in August 2025. But she also told us how her sleep was impacted over a period of about 2 months due to a dripping into her bedroom. She said this meant she did not have the energy to leave the house. The landlord’s poor handling of issues led to unnecessary delay resolving all leak issues, and avoidable inconvenience and concern to the resident.
So far, the landlord has awarded the resident £300 for the impact of failings in its handling of leak issues. We have considered all the circumstances and our compensation guidance. We have ordered that it make an increased award of £700 to fully recognise the impact of its failings. This award is in line with the range set out in our compensation guidance where maladministration has had a significant impact.
The landlord told us that repair work had been completed and that there was no sign of further leak but that it is monitoring this. We have ordered that it contact the resident to clearly set out the work it has completed. It must also contact the resident to set out its action plan for monitoring repairs to ensure no ongoing leaks and provide her with a point of contact.

Complaint	The handling of the complaint
Finding	Maladministration

Our Complaint Handling Code (the Code) sets out when and how a landlord should respond to complaints. The landlord’s complaints policy complied with the Code’s response timescales and definition of a complaint.
The resident contacted the landlord to express her dissatisfaction with its handling of the leak issues on 28 November 2024. But the landlord did not provide its complaint response until 20 January 2025. That was 19 working days outside its target response time. There is no evidence it contacted her during this time to explain this delay. Nor did it apologise in its eventual response. It provided its stage 2 complaint response within target response timescales.
The landlord refused to raise a new complaint for the resident in December 2025 after she complaint about the reoccurrence of the leak. It said it would address issues under the earlier complaint. But it is unclear how it planned to do this. That complaint had concluded its complaints process in February 2025. In line with the Code, it should have raised a new complaint for the resident. It did not do so and that was a complaint handling failing which meant it missed the opportunity to consider and resolve her concerns. This caused the resident additional distress and inconvenience.
Overall, we have found maladministration in the landlord’s complaint handling. We ordered that the landlord pay the resident £75. This is in line with the range set out in our compensation guidance for failings that have had no permanent impact.

Learning

The landlord should complete thorough and co-ordinated investigations of repair issues. It should consider more detailed surveys particularly when the cause of issues is unclear.

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

The landlord’s record keeping was satisfactory, but these records would have been improved by additional detail about repair work and investigations completed.

Communication

The landlord failed to keep the resident informed about work plans, timescales or completed work. It did not contact her when its complaint response was delayed.