London Borough of Islington (202308155)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202308155

Islington Council

21 March 2025

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. The resident’s reports of having no heating or hot water.
   2. The associated complaint.

Background

2. The resident was a secure tenant of the landlord, a local authority. The tenancy began on 28 August 2019. The property is a second floor 2-bedroom flat. The resident lived at the property with his partner and 2 young children. The landlord has advised it had no vulnerabilities recorded for the household. At the time of this investigation, the resident advised the Ombudsman he has since moved out of the property.
3. The resident reported having issues with his boiler on 24 September 2022, he reported to have no heating or hot water throughout his property. The landlord carried out a temporary repair on 26 September 2022 and noted that a part for the thermostat was required. On 19 December 2022, the resident reported again the loss of heating and hot water. The landlord attended on the same day, but as parts were required left 2 fan heaters at the property.
4. The resident made an online complaint on 27 December 2022. Within his complaint, the resident said he was “heavily disabled” and advised there were 2 small children under the age of 3 in the property. He stated he had been without heating for over a week and had “continuously called the council” chasing the repair. He stated mould had developed on the walls due to the lack of heating and it was too cold to open the windows.
5. The landlord provided a stage 1 response on 17 January 2023, which included:
   1. It confirmed it attended on 20 December 2022 and left 2 fan heaters at the property.
   2. It attended on 31 December 2022 but could not gain access.
   3. It attended on 3 January 2023 and left the heating and hot water “operational”.
   4. A further report was raised on 4 January 2023, and it attended on 6 January 2023 but could not gain access.
   5. It had arranged to complete the repair with the resident on 18 January 2023.
   6. It upheld the resident’s complaint, apologised for the delay and acknowledged the disruption to the heating and hot water for over 5 consecutive days.
   7. It said the resident was entitled to compensation and it had passed this to the relevant team to calculate.
6. The resident requested his complaint be escalated on 15 February 2023, he disagreed with some of the factual information within the landlord’s response and said he still did not have a working thermostat, and the hot water could only be used if the heating was on. He again said he was registered disabled and had 2 young children. He said the landlord did not attend an appointment arranged for 14 February 2023.
7. The landlord provided its stage 2 response on 11 October 2023 following contact from the Ombudsman. This response included:
   1. It apologised that the resident’s escalation was not acted upon and for its service not being at the standard expected.
   2. It confirmed no compensation had been awarded at the time of its response.
   3. It upheld the resident’s complaint as although it noted the resident had heating and hot water for the majority of the time and there were a few access issues, it recognised the inconvenience caused in having to accommodate multiple 24-hour gas engineer attendances.
   4. It also said that it took too long to install the thermostat, and noted that between 30 January 2023 until 27 March 2023, the resident was unable to regulate the heating.
   5. It said as the appointment on 14 February 2023 was marked as ‘no access’ the resident would need to reschedule another appointment.
   6. It offered £550 compensation, which included:
      1. £25 for its failure to log a stage 2 complaint.
      2. £200 for the 8-month delay on receiving the stage 2 response.
      3. £25 for its failure to respond at stage 1 in time.
      4. £250 for the inconvenience between Sept 22 – March 23 calculated at £41.66 per month.
      5. £50 for the time and effort to complain.
8. The resident confirmed on 17 October 2023 that he would like the Ombudsman to investigate his complaint.

Assessment and findings

Heating and hot water repairs

9. Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 details the landlord’s repair obligations to keep in repair and proper working order the installations for space heating and heating water. Once on notice, the landlord is required to carry out the repairs or works it is responsible for within a reasonable period of time, in accordance with its obligations under the terms of the tenancy agreement and in law. The law does not specify what a reasonable amount of time is; this depends on the individual circumstances of the case. It was necessary for the landlord to investigate the resident’s repair reports and take appropriate steps to resolve any issues identified.
10. According to the evidence provided, between 19 December 2022 and 13 January 2023, the landlord raised 5 separate works orders for no heating or hot water. It recorded 3 of these as no access visits. Although some of the notes indicate its contractor attempted to call the resident, where a landlord does not gain access to a property it is good practice for a card to be left so that the resident is aware that the landlord attended and how they can rearrange the appointment, this is also in the landlord’s repair guide. However, there is no evidence that the landlord left a card at the resident’s property or otherwise notified the resident that it had not managed to gain access until its stage 1 complaint response which was not reasonable.
11. The landlord has advised that it has no records of the telephone contact made by the resident which is not appropriate. The resident said in his complaint that he contacted the landlord on multiple occasions to chase the repair. Clear record keeping is core to a repair service and assists the landlord in fulfilling its repair obligations. Accurate, complete, and accessible records ensure that the landlord can understand what repairs were reported, what is required, monitor outstanding repairs, and enable the landlord to provide accurate information to residents. A system should be in place to maintain accurate records of repair reports, responses, inspections and investigations. Good record keeping is vital to evidence the action a landlord has taken and failure to keep adequate records indicates that the landlord’s processes are not operating effectively.
12. According to the landlord’s stage 2 response, the resident first reported having no heating or hot water on 24 September 2022. It acknowledged in its stage 2 response that this was not attended to within its policy timescale and although a temporary fix was carried out, the follow on works to repair the thermostat were not raised. The landlord acknowledged that the work recommended from this initial report was not carried out until 17 March 2023, a period of 6 months. In acknowledgement of its failure, the landlord offered £250 compensation for the inconvenience experienced in allowing access for multiple appointments in its stage 2 response.
13. The resident reported mould to be forming in the property as he was unable to heat the property adequately due to the faulty thermostat. In his escalation request on 15 February 2023, he made the landlord aware the thermostat had been set at 16 degrees by an operative and he therefore was unable to heat his home. Although the landlord had recorded the heating to be operational, it was not adequate, especially during the coldest months of the year, taking into account 2 young children resided at the property. It is not clear why the thermostat was set to that temperature, as the landlords housing repair guide gives guidance to residents to not set there heating to lower than 18 degrees during the colder months to help prevent damp and mould. It is not evident the landlord investigated this aspect of the resident’s complaint which was not reasonable.
14. Furthermore, it is particularly important that landlords proactively seek to eradicate damp and mould in property because of the potential damage to property and the effect on health that can occur, as well as the general distress and inconvenience caused by outstanding repairs. In this case a surveyor was due to inspect the property on 14 February 2023, the landlord recorded this as a no access, but the resident stated that no one attempted access. As noted above, it would have been good practise and in line with its guidance for the landlord to leave a card advising it had attempted to access. The landlord has been unable to demonstrate that it attempted access when it said it did, this could be a record keeping error as noted above, nevertheless it is a failure by the landlord. In addition, the landlord advised the resident that he would need to reschedule this inspection within its complaint response. The landlord could have scheduled an appointment on behalf of the resident, demonstrating its commitment to inspect the property following the resident’s report of mould.
15. The landlord advised in its stage 2 response that the resident was also awarded compensation for the loss of heating and hot water over a period of 22 days. It did not include this amount within its breakdown of compensation in its complaint response which was not reasonable. The landlord stated that a separate department would pay this amount, but it is not evident it did.
16. In summary, the resident had made the landlord aware he was disabled, and he had 2 young children, he was left without hot water for a period of 3 weeks and was unable to adequately heat his home for 6 months, over the coldest months of the year. The landlord apologised for the delay to fix the issue and offered financial redress for the inconvenience, but it failed to acknowledge any other impacts this would have had on the resident and his household. Therefore, a finding of maladministration has been made, and the landlord has been ordered to pay the resident a further £300 for the distress caused over a 6-month period. This is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance where a landlord has acknowledged failings and made some attempt to put things right but failed to address the detriment to the resident.

Complaint Handling

17. At the time of the complaint the landlord operated a 2 stage complaints process. Its policy states, at stage 1, the landlord should respond within 10 working days. If the resident remains dissatisfied, they can then escalate their complaint to stage 2. At stage 2, the complaint will be reviewed by the corporate central complaints team and a response should be issued within 20 working days. If, at any stage, there is likely to be a delay, the landlord would be expected to contact the resident, explain the reason for the delay and provide a new complaint response timescale.
18. It is evident and not disputed that the landlord failed to follow its own policy. The landlord took 8 months to respond to the Stage 2 complaint. This was well outside the timeframe for responding to complaints. Complaint procedures provide a focus and framework for the timely resolution of complaints. In allowing the complaint to be delayed for so long before it was in a position to provide the Stage 2 response, the landlord failed to meet the objective of its complaint’s procedure.
19. The landlord in its final response, acknowledged its delay and offered £200 compensation for this. It also offered £25 for its delayed stage 1 response and £25 for its failure to log the stage 2. Its compensation guidance states awards of £25 for each month of delay should be considered; therefore, the landlords offer was appropriate and in line with its compensation guidance at the time.
20. The landlord apologised for its poor complaint handling and in recognition of the time and trouble spent pursuing the complaint offered £50. Its compensation guidance at the time states offering between £100-£300 for time and effort should be considered when a complainant has to pursue a complaint to a higher level as appropriate remedies had not been offered at the earliest stage. The Ombudsman’s remedies guidance provides for compensation awards of £250 to £700 for “failure over a considerable period of time to act in accordance with policy” and “significant failures to follow complaint procedure”. Therefore, the landlord should pay the resident an additional amount for its excessive delay in providing its final stage complaint response, to recognise its failure to act in accordance with its policy.
21. In conclusion and considering all factors, this Service deems the failings above to constitute maladministration by the landlord in handling of the resident’s complaint.

Determination

22. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s reports of no heating or hot water.
23. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s complaint.

Orders

24. The landlord is ordered to pay the resident an additional amount of £350, to include:
    1. £300 for the distress caused by being without adequate heating over a period of 6 months.
    2. £50 for the time and trouble spent pursuing his complaint over a prolonged period of time.
25. This amount is in addition to the landlord’s previous offer of £550 for compensation related to this complaint. If the landlord has already paid the resident this amount, the landlord should pay the resident £350. If the £550 has not been paid, the landlord should pay the resident £900. This is to be paid directly to the resident and not offset against any arrears in line with the Housing Ombudsman guidance on remedies.
26. The landlord should provide evidence to this Service that it has complied with the above order within 4 weeks of this determination.

Special Investigation

27. The Ombudsman completed a special investigation in October 2023 into the landlord using its systemic powers under paragraph 49 of the Scheme. This investigation found that the landlord was responsible for a series of significant systemic failings. This included findings regarding disrepair and complaint handling. Poor record keeping and managing third party repairs was also highlighted as an issue. As part of the special investigation, the Ombudsman requested that the landlord provide an action plan to address the report’s recommendations. Many of the failings identified by this complaint mirror the issues noted by this investigation. As such, and in view of the date of this complaint in comparison to the published report, the Ombudsman will not make any orders that may duplicate what has already been asked of the landlord as part of the special investigation.