London Borough of Enfield (202115537)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202115537

London Borough of Enfield

7 March 2023


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. Reports of low water pressure in the resident’s bathroom.
    2. The associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident is a secured tenant of the landlord, which is a local authority. The property is a maisonette.
  2. Prior to the complaint considered in this report, the resident had previously raised concerns regarding low water pressure in her bathroom in 2019. The resident’s concerns were considered by the landlord through its formal complaints process and in an previous investigation by this service for which we issued our determination in June 2021. At that time the resident informed this Service that the water pressure issues persisted but that this had not been raised with the landlord. It was therefore recommended that the resident inform the landlord of her ongoing concerns.
  3. The resident contacted the landlord again to report her further concerns about the water pressure on 16 June 2021. The landlord responded on 23 June 2021 apologising the works actioned to date had not been successful and said that it would arrange an inspection. It was then arranged for the landlord’s contractor and repair supervisor to attend on 28 July 2021, however, its contractor attended alone, and the resident refused access as she expected the repair supervisor to also attend. 
  4. The resident raised a formal complaint in late July 2021 about the delays in resolving the low water pressure issues in her bathroom. She explained that the issue had been ongoing since 2014 during which she had insufficient water to have a bath. The resident was also unhappy with the landlord’s missed appointments, its level of communication and that it did not provide regular updates. She believed that her mental and physical health had been exacerbated by the landlord’s handling of the low water pressure issue. The resident stated that she had paid a private contractor to inspect the low water pressure (the date of which is unclear), in which it advised that a booster pump (to increase low water pressure) was required. The resident believed that the landlord should provide an apology and compensation for the stress and inconvenience caused to her.
  5. This Service wrote to the landlord in January 2022 and again in April 2022 requesting that it respond to the resident’s complaint in line with its complaint procedure. A final complaint response was then not issued until 10 June 2022. 
  6. The landlord upheld the resident’s complaint on the basis that it had exceeded its timeframe of 90 calendar days for a repair of this nature. It confirmed that a shower was fitted on 7 December 2021. As a resolution, it apologised for the delays, and for the three missed appointments in July, August and September 2021. The landlord stated that its team had been reminded of the importance of being on time to appointments. It recalled that the resident had also refused access on some occasions in September and October 2021. The landlord apologised for its failure to notify the resident in advance of the appointments. By way of redress, the landlord offered £285 compensation, which was broken down as follows:
    1. £150 for the delays from September 2021 when the repair should have been completed, to December 2021 when the shower was fitted.
    2. £60 as a gesture of goodwill for the three missed appointments in July, August and September 2021.
    3. A further £75 for its failure to respond to the resident’s complaint to this Service in January and April 2022.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. Whilst reference to the resident’s previous complaint to the landlord has been made, this is to provide contextual background to the current complaint. This assessment focuses on events from 16 June 2021 onward when the resident again reported issues of low water pressure to the landlord. The issues about low water pressure issues prior to this will not be considered in this investigation, as they have already been determined by this Service.
  2. The resident has referenced how the landlord’s failure to resolve her water pressure issues impacted her mental and physical health. The Ombudsman does not doubt the resident’s comments regarding her medical conditions, but this Service is unable to draw conclusions on the causation of, or liability for, impacts on health and wellbeing. Nonetheless, consideration has been given to the general distress and inconvenience which the situation may have caused the resident.

Policies and procedures

  1. The tenancy agreement states that the landlord is responsible for keeping in good repair and proper working order the installations in the property for the supply of water, gas, electricity, sanitation, heating and hot water.
  2. The landlord’s repairs, maintenance and planned works policy, provided to this service by the landlord, lists routine repairs as defects which are unlikely to cause serious discomfort or inconvenience, if not given an urgent response. It states that routine repairs will be completed within 30 calendar days.
  3. The policy lists planned works as works which are identified as being required from a stock condition survey and which do not cause serious discomfort or inconvenience to the resident or present an immediate health and safety risk. It states that planned works should be completed within 90 days. It lists external works and internal decent homes works as part of its planned programme of work.

Reports of low water pressure in the resident’s bathroom

  1. In accordance with the tenancy agreement, the landlord would be responsible for the repair and maintenance of issues relating to the supply of water. Therefore, when the resident contacted the landlord again regarding the low water pressure on 16 June 2021, it would be expected to complete the repair within the 30 calendar days timeframe for routine repairs stated in the landlord’s repairs, maintenance and planned works policy.
  2. The landlord sought to resolve the issue by arranging for an electric shower to be fitted in the resident’s bathroom but this did not take place until 7 December 2021, almost six months or 120 calendar days after the resident had contacted it on 16 June 2021. It is also understood that the landlord installed a pump but this did not take place until 10 December 2021, however this was not referred to in the landlord’s final response.
  3. The repair issue does not appear to have been a complicated one, or require specialist contractors or parts. The landlord did act reasonably in arranging inspections and repairs in an attempt to identify the issue and resolve the low water pressure in the resident’s home. However, there were unreasonable delays in the works being completed and the landlord missed three appointments in July, August and September 2021 which caused further delays in resolving the issue. The landlord should have ensured punctually attended its appointments, and attended joint appointments when required. It should have also gained the resident’s confirmation before attending the property to avoid refused access and further delays.
  4. In the landlord’s correspondence, it advised that the water pressure should have been resolved within 90 calendar days, which is the timeframe for planned works. However, the repairs policy provided states that planned works are those which were identified from a stock condition survey. There was no evidence to show that the repairs were identified from a stock condition survey or had been included in a planned programme of work. In line with the repairs policy provided, defects which are unlikely to cause serious discomfort or inconvenience, would be considered routine repairs and should be completed within 30 calendar days.
  5. The landlord acknowledged that there were failures in its handling of resolving the issue, particularly: delayed repairs, missed appointments, and its communication with the resident. The landlord offered the resident a total of £210 compensation, made up of £150 compensation for the delays from the 18 September 21 to 7 December 2021, when the new shower was fitted, and £60 for three missed appointments.
  6. However, the landlord’s offer of £150 for the delay in resolving the low water pressure was not reasonable. In calculating its offer the landlord had incorrectly taken 18 September 2021 as the date by which it should have carried out the repair, within 90 and not 30 days. As the resident had contacted the landlord on 16 June 2021, the repair should in fact have been completed by 28 July 2021, given that the landlord was expected to complete the repair within 30 calendar days in accordance with its repairs, maintenance and planned works policy.
  7. This constitutes maladministration and additional compensation should be offered in view of this. As the landlord does not have a compensation policy, the Ombudsman has assessed the level of compensation which should be paid using our own remedies guidance, which suggests offers between £100 and £600 for cases where the landlord has acknowledged failings and/or made some attempt to put things right but the offer was not proportionate to the failings identified by our investigation. The landlord has therefore been ordered to pay the resident total of £560 made up as follows:
    1. The £210 it had previously offered, if this has not already been paid.
    2. A further £150 for the additional delay not recognised in its complaint response.
    3. An additional £200 for the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident.

The associated complaint handling

  1. The landlord’s complaints policy sets out a two-stage complaint procedure. It states that at stage one it aims to respond within ten working days. The policy states that its stage two complaint response should be provided within 30 working days of its acknowledgement. The policy states that if the response cannot be completed within its timeframe, it would contact the resident to inform of the delay and advise when it would provide a respond. 
  2. The resident raised a formal complaint on 29 July 2021 and the landlord issued its stage one complaint response on 19 September 2021, 53 days outside its complaint procedure of 10 working days. The resident escalated her complaint on 10 December 2021, she then passed her complaint to this Service on 19 January 2021 as she had not received a response. This Service wrote to the landlord on 19 January and again on 6 April 2021, requesting that it respond to the resident’s complaint in accordance within its complaint procedure. The landlord issued its final complaint response on 10 June 2022, 183 days outside its complaint procedure. This was a significant delay for which the landlord has not provided a satisfactory explanation.
  3. Whilst the landlord did apologise to the resident and offer £75 compensation for its failure to respond to the resident’s complaint to this Service in January and April 2022, given the significant length of the delay in its providing its response, the involvement of this service and the unreasonable inconvenience caused to the resident the £75 offered by the landlord was not reasonable.
  4. This constitutes maladministration and additional compensation should be offered in view of this. The landlord has therefore been ordered to pay the resident an additional £125 compensation, bringing the total payable for its complaint handling failures to £200. This is in line with the Ombudsman’s own remedies guidance which suggests offers between £100-£600 for cases where the landlord has acknowledged failings and/or made some attempt to put things right but the offer was not proportionate to the failings identified by our investigation.
  5. With regards to the landlord’s complaints policy, it has been noted that the policy provided by the landlord does not comply with the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling code. This is because the code states that Stage two responses should be provided within 20 working days from request to escalate and the landlord’s policy sets a 30 day timescale, which is not consistent with the Complaint Handling Code. Both policies allow for situations where it may not be possible for the landlord to provide its response and that an explanation and a date when the stage two response will be received. However, whilst the Complaint Handling code states that this should not exceed a further 10 working days without good reason, the landlord’s complaints policy provides no clear timescale as to when it will do this. A recommendation has therefore been made for the landlord to review its complaints policy against this the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code and to ensure that it complies with the Code going forward.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in respect of its handling of reports of low water pressure in the resident’s bathroom. 
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there maladministration by the landlord in respect of the associated complaint handling.  

Orders and Recommendation

Orders

  1. That within 28 calendar days of this report, the landlord is ordered to:
    1. Pay the resident a total of £760, made up as follows:
      1. The £210 it had previously offered with regards to the repairs, if this has not already been paid.
      2. A further £150 for the additional delay in carrying out the repairs not recognised in its complaint response.
      3. An additional £200 for the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident.
      4. £200 for its complaint handling failures, which includes the £75 it had previously offered if this has not already been paid.
    2. Confirm to this service that is has complied with these orders.

Recommendation

  1. That the landlord reviews its complaints policy against this the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code to ensure that it complies with the code going forward.