Lambeth Council (202123105)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202123105

Lambeth Council

18 April 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 response to the resident’s:
   1. Reports of a repair to the property roof leading to damp.
   2. Reports of repairs to the windows.
   3. Related complaint.

Background and summary of events

2. The resident and his partner are leaseholders of a property, the freehold of which is owned by the landlord, a local authority.  The landlord also owns the building next door.
3. The resident submitted a repair report concerning the appearance of damp in the front bedroom following repairs to roof tiles on the house next door, on 8 February 2021. He continued to chase the repair and 2 inspections were conducted, but no work was started. The resident reported rotten window frames in July 2021.
4. The resident enquired via his local councillor in October 2021, and a temporary repair was done on the roof and scaffolding erected in November 2021.
5. The resident complained on 4 January 2022 and said that the damp had spread and there was now a crack on the ceiling. The landlord issued a complaint response on 21 January 2022 and said that orders had been raised to repair the roof and windows.
6. The resident escalated the complaint on 17 February 2022 and a new leak from the roof was reported in March 2022, he also raised issues with the windows repairs. The landlord offered a goodwill gesture of £580 in September 2022 in respect of the window repair delays. The resident advised of a further leak from the roof in October 2022.
7. The landlord issued its final response on 21 December 2022, and apologised that the roof repairs were still outstanding but said it hoped they would be completed by 29 December 2022. The resident advised that no one attended to complete the roof repair before it was signed off as complete on 17 October 2023. 
8. The resident feels that compensation should be paid in respect of the roof, which was outstanding longer than the window repair. He was unable to proceed with an insurance claim for internal damage due to the delay in the landlord completing the repairs and providing the completion certificate. 

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

9. It is noted that the resident has said that the repair work has affected his partner’s health as she is asthmatic. The Ombudsman does not doubt his comments; but must clarify that it is beyond the expertise of this Service to decide on whether there was a direct link between the repairs at the property and his partner’s health during this time.
10. The resident therefore may wish to seek independent advice on making a personal injury claim if he considers that his family’s health has been affected by any action or lack of action by the landlord. The fact that the resident was asked about any vulnerabilities when the damp was reported, has been taken into consideration when deciding if the landlord has acted appropriately in this case.

Assessment

Roof repair/damp

11. The landlord’s repairs manual says at page 6 that routine repairs (categorised as R1) will be fixed within 7 days (examples include front door lock/blocked sink) or (R2) within 28 working days (i.e. repairing the ceiling). Planned repairs (R3) will be repaired within 90 days (i.e. cleaning gutters, plaster work after repair and non-urgent work to prevent problems in the future). Page 10 lists the landlord’s responsibilities and includes the roof, windows and guttering. Page 20 refers to the landlord’s Damp Charter and says it will arrange an inspection to diagnose within 28 days. 
12. In this case, there is no dispute about the landlord’s responsibility to fix the leak into the resident’s property, which he said started following work being done on the roof of the neighbouring house.
13. The resident submitted the online repair form regarding visible damp in the property on 8 February 2021. The landlord asked if the household had any vulnerabilities and was advised that his partner was asthmatic, on 18 February 2021.
14. The repair was given a priority ‘3’ rating in March 2021. It is not known if this is equal to the current ‘R3’ grading which has a response time of 90 days, although later repair log entries in July 2021 show a ‘R2’ priority, which has a response time of 28 working days. Given the presence of damp, and the vulnerable occupant of the property and the time of year, a response time of within 28 working days would seem appropriate in this case.
15. The resident continued to chase the repair and a temporary fix was undertaken in November 2021, 9 months after the repair was logged. The resident requested the report that the landlord had been given after inspections, but this was not provided. In December 2021, the resident was advised that landlord records showed the repair was completed, when it had not been.  In its complaint response dated January 2022, the landlord said the job would be monitored to completion.
16. In March 2022 the resident again asked for confirmation the repair had been completed, as the landlord records suggested it had. A contractor attended on 25 March 2022 and found a new leak on the other side of the roof which they said was repaired that day.
17. The resident continued to chase the certificate of completion and after further water damage his MP approached the landlord in May 2022. The landlord’s final response in December 2022 acknowledged that the work was not fully resolved.  Further repairs were logged by the landlord in June and September 2023 and a post inspection of completed works was signed off on 17 October 2023, although a copy not provided to the resident until 10 November 2023, 2 years and 9 months after the repair was first logged.
18. It is not clear how the repairs were noted on the landlord records as completed on more than one occasion when contacted by the resident. This would appear to be in error as there is no documentary evidence of the work being completed before October 2023. The landlord has not provided any explanation for the extended delay or countered the resident’s claim that the problem was ongoing throughout this period.
19. The landlord said that the work was expected to be finished by the end of 2022, however there was no assurances given about monitoring the work. In fact, it was a further 10 months before the work was signed off.
20. There was a lack of credible information about the inspections and subsequent repairs. There was poor communication with the resident and a lack of any explanation for the inordinate delay. The resident and his partner have shown significant patience, and their communication has been professional and polite throughout, despite the distressing situation they were in.
21. The residents had to live with damaged walls and ceiling for almost 3 years and were continually asking for the completion certificate to enable them to repair the internal décor. The landlord has confirmed that there was no mould present, but it was aware that the resident’s partner had asthma. The landlord had specifically asked if there was anyone in the household with any underlying health conditions that would make them vulnerable. Despite this, no apparent effort was made to resolve the issue urgently.
22. The sum of £500 would reflect that there was a failure which adversely affected the resident. The landlord has failed to acknowledge its failings in this case and has made no attempt to put things right by offering a suitable remedy. The sum reflects the period the matter was unresolved and the particular circumstances of the resident and his partner.

Windows

23. As above, the landlord’s policy indicates that the window repairs should have been completed within 90 days at the latest.  In this case, the windows were reported on 21 July 2021 and repaired or replaced in August and September 2022, almost 11 months over the landlord’s own timescales.
24. The resident then approached the landlord via his local councillor and MP. The landlord made an offer of £580 in respect of inconvenience in relation to the windows. The resident accepted this sum, albeit there was still some ‘making good’ required after this to deal with the damage from the new windows being installed.
25. It is noted that the resident did not include the issue of the windows in his approach to the Ombudsman for investigation. As the window repair was included in the formal complaint process, the landlord’s actions in respect of the windows have been considered.
26. The sum of £580 compensation is appropriate in respect of the delay in the windows being replaced. It is in the range of remedies the Ombudsman would suggest  where there was a failure which adversely affected the resident. The sum reflects the period the matter was unresolved and that the resident had to pursue the repair. The replacement of the windows did lead to further chasing by the resident in terms of the making good, but this is a separate issue to the formal complaint, and is not unusual for some damage to occur following such work.
27. Overall, the sum of compensation paid by the landlord is reasonable redress for the complaint about the windows at the property. 

Complaint handling

28. The landlord’s complaint policy says that stage 1 complaints relating to housing will be responded to within 10 working days, and stage 2 within 20 working days.
29. The resident submitted his complaint on 4 January 2022 and the stage 1 response was issued on 21 January 2022, 3 days over the time scale given. Whilst the delay in the first response was minor, the landlord failed to offer any explanation for what a delay of almost 1 year in the repair. This was not a thorough response to the resident’s complaint.
30. The Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code section 6.7 says that landlords must address all points raised in the complaint definition and provide clear reasons for any decisions, referencing the relevant policy, law and good practice where appropriate.  Section 6.9 says that it should also confirm the decision on the complaint and the reason for any decisions, as well as details of any outstanding actions.
31. The resident escalated the complaint on 17 February 2022. There is no evidence to show that the resident was informed of any expected delays or updated at any time prior to the landlord’s final response on 21 December 2022. The response was due on 17 March 2022 and was over 9 months late, albeit the landlord did apologise for the delay in the response. It did not provide an explanation for the delay in the repair or the complaint response and made no offer of compensation to remedy the complaint.   
32. The Ombudsman looks to see whether the landlord’s actions were in accordance with the Ombudsman’s ‘dispute resolution principles’, that is to have a process that seeks to put things right for residents, is fair, and that learns from outcomes.
33. The landlord has not given any indication that it has considered the dispute resolution principles or undertaken any investigation into what has occurred in this case.
34. It is fair in all the circumstances of this case that the landlord pays the resident £200 compensation in respect of its complaint handling. This reflects the particular delay and its failure to evidence an investigation and any monitoring that the intended repairs would be done. This is within the range of payments recommended by the Ombudsman when there has been no permanent impact on the resident, but there was failure which adversely affected the resident and the landlord has not acknowledged this and made no attempt to put it right.

Determination (decision)

35. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was maladministration by the landlord in respect of:
    1. The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of a repair to the property roof leading to damp.
    2. The landlord’s response to the resident’s related complaint.
36. In accordance with para 53 (b) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the member has offered redress to the complainant prior to investigation which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint about the repair to the windows satisfactorily.

Orders

37. Within 4 weeks of the date of this determination, the landlord should:
    1. Pay the resident £500 in respect of its failings in relation to the repair.
    2. Pay the resident £200 in respect of its failings in the handling of the complaint.
38. The landlord should provide evidence to this Service that the above orders have been complied with, within 4 weeks of this determination.

Recommendations

39. It is recommended that the landlord remind salient complaints staff of the correct procedure to ensure the landlord’s complaint process is followed, with the resident being informed of any delays and referred to this Service if appropriate.