Leeds City Council (202328285)

Background

1. The resident lives in a 3-bedroom house with his wife and 4 children. The resident’s 4 children have disabilities that the landlord is aware of. The resident reported a leak from the roof on 20 October 2023 on the chimney breast wall. He also reported that the living room window was leaking.

What the complaint is about

2. The landlord’s response to:
   1. The resident’s reports of leaks, damp and mould in the property.
   2. The associated complaint.

Our decision (determination)

3. There was maladministration in the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of leaks, damp and mould in the property.
4. There was service failure in the landlord’s response to the associated complaint.

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

Summary of reasons

5. There was delay in the landlord completing identified repairs to rectify the roof leak, repair the chimney breast and the associated internal damp works. This was not in line with its repairs policy timescales. It failed to risk assess the property to ensure that it completed the work in a timely manner. This caused the resident unnecessary distress, inconvenience, time and trouble in trying to get the landlord to rectify the leaks, damp and mould in the property.
6. There was inconsistency in the landlord’s record keeping confirming when certain repairs were completed.Its records were insufficiently detailed regarding any communication between the resident and the landlord.
7. There were inconsistencies in the landlord’s complaint responses when compared with the landlord’s repair records and an error in its stage 1 complaint response. Its stage 2 complaint response was sent slightly outside of the landlord’s complaints policy and the Code’s timescale. However, the landlord did note some learning from the complaint that it would use to improve its services which was appropriate.

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.

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

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.

What we did not investigate

8. The resident told us that the leak had damaged his personal belongings and that the landlord had not offered any compensation. We have not seen that the resident raised this issue during the landlord’s internal complaints process. The resident may wish to raise a further complaint if he is not satisfied with the landlord’s response to his reports of damage to his belongings. He may wish to then refer the matter to us if he is dissatisfied after the landlord’s final complaint response.

What we did investigate

9. The resident reported a leak from the roof and chimney breast and through the living room window on 20 October 2023. The landlord raised works orders the same date which was reasonable. Its target date for the chimney breast repair was noted in its repair records for 17 November 2023. The target date for the roof leak and window repair was 25 October 2023.
10. The landlord phoned the resident on 3 November 2023 to advise him of a window inspection for 6 November 2023 and to let him know that a subcontractor was to repair the roof and chimney. According to the landlord’s stage 1 complaint response it did not need to complete any work to the windows. However, it replaced the living room window lock on 6 November 2023. The landlord’s complaint response was therefore inconsistent with its records. There was delay in the landlord raising a further works order on 21 November 2023 and the window was reglazed on 19 December 2023. The window repairs were not completed by the target dates which was inappropriate.
11. The landlord’s repairs policy states that it will complete emergency repairs within 24 hours, priority repairs which include roof leaks within 7 working days and general repairs within 20 working days.
12. The landlord arranged an inspection of the property on 10 November 2023, and it issued a schedule of works on the same date. It raised works orders on 14 November 2023. This was to hack of old plaster that had been damaged after the leak, to complete replastering work, apply dry lining to the rear bedroom, to apply anti-mould coatings and to clean and flush out the gutter.
13. The landlord’s operative reported no access for the internal anti-mould treatment on 23 November 2023, and it was completed on 27 November 2023. The operative reported no access again on 29 November 2023 for the plastering and thermal board work which was marked as complete on 2 January 2024. However, the completion date was unclear as the operative’s photos were dated 18 January 2024.
14. We have not seen that the landlord took account of the resident’s household’s vulnerabilities in considering the timescale to complete the inspection and the associated repairs to remedy the leaks, damp and mould issues. The resident advised the landlord that his 4 children have disabilities, and the landlord should have considered an appropriate risk assessment based on these circumstances. This could have led to earlier completion of the repairs.
15. There was delay in the landlord completing the roof and chimney breast repairs. According to the landlord’s repair records, it completed the roof work on 15 January 2024. It completed the chimney breast repairs on 14 February 2024. The landlord said that the weather had impacted on the work being completed. This would not have been entirely the landlord’s fault, particularly regarding the weather conditions as it could have been unsafe for the operative to complete work on the roof. However, the completion dates were not in line with its repairs policy timescale which was inappropriate.
16. The resident described having to make over 30 phone calls to the landlord to try and get the repairs completed causing him significant distress, inconvenience, time and trouble. He said he was very distressed as he was living in the property with his 4 disabled children which was understandable. We have not seen that the landlord’s contact records detailed all the resident’s phone calls, or the landlord’s response to these calls. It is therefore not possible for us to verify when the calls were made or the landlord’s response to these calls. However, we would expect that given that there was delay, that the landlord needed to update the resident, so he was aware of any delay and the reason for this. The lack of updates was inappropriate.
17. Whilst the landlord apologised in both its complaint responses, it did not consider whether it should compensate for the delays. It also said that its policy was not to erect scaffolding over the Christmas period. We have not seen this mentioned in its repairs policy. However, if the landlord had adhered to its repairs policy timescales, then this would not have been an issue as the work would have likely been completed before Christmas.
18. It took the landlord 80 working days to complete the chimney breast repairs and 58 working days for the landlord to complete roofing repairs which was unreasonable. The resident reported to us on 4 March 2024 that the landlord had fully repaired the roof and there had been no further leaks. The Ombudsman considers that there was maladministration in its response to the resident’s reports of leaks, damp and mould in the property.
19. After carefully considering our guidance on remedies, we have ordered the landlord to pay the resident £350 in compensation. This comprises £200 in respect of the delays and lack of appropriate communication in completing the repairs and £150 to recognise the distress, inconvenience, time and trouble caused to the resident by the landlord’s failings.

20. The resident raised his stage 1 complaint on 2 November 2023. The landlord acknowledged the complaint the same day which was appropriate. It issued its stage 1 complaint response on 10 November 2023 which was within the landlord’s complaints policy and the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code) timescale which was reasonable.
21. The landlord’s complaint policy and the Code require an acknowledgement to be sent at stage 1 within 5 working days and for a landlord to issue its response within 10 working days from the acknowledgement. The Code requires a response at stage 2 to be issued within 20 working days of the landlord’s complaint acknowledgement.
22. The landlord made an error on its stage 1 complaint response as it said that its joiner had attended the property on 20 November 2023 which postdated its complaint response which was inappropriate. There was also some inconsistency in the landlord’s stage 2 complaint response in respect of the dates quoted to complete the repairs which was inappropriate.
23. The resident requested the landlord to escalate his complaint to stage 2 of its internal complaints process on 15 November 2023. The landlord acknowledged the resident’s complaint escalation the same day and issued its stage 2 complaint response on 14 December 2023. This was issued within 21 working days from the landlord’s complaint acknowledgement which was not in line with its complaints policy or the Code, though it was a small delay.
24. The Ombudsman considers that there was service failure in the landlord’s response to the associated complaint. After carefully considering our guidance on remedies, as above, we have ordered the landlord to pay the resident £100 in compensation to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident by the identified service failure.

Learning

25. The landlord identified some learning from the resident’s complaint It said it would feed this into changes on how it manages repairs and the level of service which was reasonable. When reviewing its repairs policy, the landlord should consider clarifying that it does not erect scaffolding over the Christmas period. It should also be mindful of its repairing obligations and consider a risk assessment to inform its actions.

Knowledge information management (record keeping) and communication

26. There were some record keeping issues in this case including incomplete and inconsistent records which would not have helped the landlord in answering the resident’s complaint or in monitoring completion of the repairs. We have not seen many records of the resident’s phone calls or the landlord’s communication to the resident which was also inappropriate.
27. The landlord should ensure that it updates its self-assessment of its knowledge and information management. It should use our Spotlight report on knowledge and information management (May 2023) and follow up report (January 2025) if it has not already done so, to improve its record keeping practices.