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London Borough of Lambeth (202125494)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202125494

Lambeth Council

29 November 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. The resident’s reports of floods and concerns about drainage.
    2. The resident’s concerns about electrical faults.
    3. The resident’s complaints.

Background

  1. The resident is a secure tenant of the landlord living in a first-floor flat. The tenancy began on 14 July 2014.
  2. The resident has multiple medical conditions and considers himself disabled. The conditions include a spinal condition, long COVID and bipolar. At the time of the incidents which are the subject of this complaint, the resident was recovering from spinal surgery. The landlord was aware of these issues at least since the resident raised his stage 1 complaints as they were outlined as aggravating factors.
  3. The resident began reporting leaks and back surges from the main drainage stack on 5 November 2021, when the stack began overflowing with raw sewage. The most significant back surge occurred on 3 December 2021, when a blockage in the main sewer stack caused flooding of foul water and sewage into the resident’s property overnight. The flooding continued each time a neighbouring resident used an appliance or otherwise drained water. This flooding was not stopped until 5 December 2021.
  4. On 24 December 2021, the resident also reported that he had lost power to his property and had noticed that the fuse box had melted. The repair was not completed until 13 January 2022, although the resident paid privately for an electrician to attend on Christmas Eve to ensure the fuse board was safe.
  5. The resident raised a complaint about the flooding and leaks on 6 December 2021 and about the electrical issues on 24 December 2021. The complaints centred around the landlord’s delays, poor communication and insufficient remedies for the distress and inconvenience that the resident had suffered.
  6. The landlord issued its stage 1 response regarding the leaks on 10 March 2022, in which it apologised for the delayed response and upheld that the repairs had been delayed. As a result, the landlord offered £250 compensation and suggested that the resident make an insurance claim for any damaged goods.
  7. The landlord responded at stage 1 to the electrical issues on 14 April 2022 and apologised for the delays in completing the works. The landlord offered a £100 goodwill gesture towards the cost of spoiled freezer food, but said it could not compensate for the cost of a private electrician as they were neither insured or authorised to work on the landlord’s property.
  8. The resident disputed many points of facts within the landlord’s complaint responses, along with the level of redress offered and escalated his complaints on 11 March 2022 to stage 2 of the landlord’s complaint procedure.
  9. The landlord issued its stage 2 response regarding the leaks on 19 April 2022 in which it apologised for both the factual inaccuracies in the stage 1 response and provided some explanation for the delays in the repairs being undertaken. 
  10. The landlord issued its stage 2 response regarding the electrical issues on 22 May 2022. The landlord outlined that work had been undertaken with contact centre staff to address communication issues and that feedback had been passed to its contractor regarding the repair appointments. The landlord offered £555 compensation in recognition of invoice paid for private repairs by plumber and for the cost of food damaged due to lack of electricity.
  11. The resident remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s responses and escalated his complaint to the Ombudsman seeking an investigation into why this matters arose and additional compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused.

Assessment and findings

Flooding and concerns about drainage

  1. The primary incident involving leaks and flooding took place between 3 – 5 December 2021, when the resident reported that a back surge of foul water and raw sewage was flooding his property from the kitchen sink. This was caused by an obstruction in the main soil stack. As other residents within the block used appliances or emptied water into the drainage system, this was surging back out of the resident’s sink.
  2. The landlord’s repairs policy states that it is responsible for communal repairs, blockages (unless caused by the resident) and electrical wiring, amongst other items. The policy outlines five levels of repair priority:
    1. Urgent emergency (EO1) – to be attended within 2 hours and fixed within 24 hours. These are defined as anything that could cause serious health and safety problems or severe damage.
    2. Emergency (EO2) – to be fixed within 1 working day. These are defined as anything that could cause serious health and safety problems or severe damage.
    3. Routine (R1) – to be fixed within 7 days.
    4. Routine (R2) – to be fixed within 28 working days.
    5. Planned works (R3) – to be completed within 90 days.
  3. Alongside this, the landlord has legal obligations for repair under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (the Act). Specifically, this places an obligation on landlords to maintain and keep in good repair the drains, gutters and external pipes as well as the installations for gas, electricity and sanitation (which includes sinks and basins, but not other fixtures and fittings, such as taps). Once it is notified of the issue by a resident, landlords are responsible for ensuring that all repairs are lasting, effective and completed in a timely way to avoid impacting on the resident’s enjoyment and use of their property.
  4. Prior to the leak occurring, there is evidence that the resident contacted the landlord on 5 and 30 November 2021 to report blocked communal drains and a back surge in the kitchen sink respectively. This is indicative of a wider problem with the drainage system, which the resident attributes to a lack of preventative maintenance and de-scaling by the landlord. The landlord’s repair logs indicate that these issues were not resolved until 21 January 2022 and therefore almost 2 months after being reported. 
  5. During the main leak, the resident called the landlord numerous times over this three-day period in an attempt to affect a repair to the drain stack and associated pipework. On at least three further occasions, an engineer was dispatched but they were not able to complete the repairs, due to a lack of clarity around the job and not having appropriate equipment. A further engineer visit stopped the leaks at around 1.30pm on 4 December 2021. The engineer advised that a further repair was needed to the pipework underneath the kitchen sink. Following further calls and two further ineffective engineer visits, the pipework was repaired at around 8pm on 5 December 2021.
  6. It is not disputed that the landlord should have attended within 2 hours and fixed the leaks within 24 hours and that as a result, the landlord breached its policy timescales. Practically, this delay also caused the resident considerable distress and physical pain, as he was recovering from a spinal operation the previous week. Furthermore, the landlord’s poor communication and information management, paired with the number of ineffective repair visits, would have caused the resident additional, unavoidable frustration and distress.
  7. The leaks also caused damage to the resident’s flooring and possessions, notably this included rugs, towels and bedding. Many of these items were used by the resident in an attempt to contain the leak as he awaited repair.
  8. Whilst not directly related to this complaint, for context, there is evidence that a further leak occurred on 21-22 January 2022 within a neighbour’s property. The landlord’s repair records show this as a blocked stack pipe and flooding in a neighbouring flat when the sink above is used. The resident asserts that this incident involved the fire service being contacted to safely remove the neighbouring resident from his property. This event indicates that the landlord did not affect a lasting repair to the issue when it was reported by the resident several weeks earlier.
  9. As a remedy to this incident, the landlord offered an apology for the delayed works and £250 compensation as a goodwill gesture. The landlord also suggested that the resident make a claim on his own contents insurance or, if this was not possible, to raise a claim with the landlord’s own insurer.
  10. The resident submitted an insurance claim to the landlord on 30 March 2022 on the grounds of personal injury, following the pain he suffered whilst attempting to contain the leak. This claim was not successful and no payments were made as the landlord’s insurer felt that it had responded effectively to the issue.
  11. Overall, there have been significant delays in the landlord’s repairs, which were worsened by a number of ineffective repair appointments. The evidence also suggests that various warning signs were given that a more significant issue was present with the drain stack, which were not heeded by the landlord. As a result, the resident suffered acute distress, and other detriment as a result and this was compounded at all stages by poor communication and ineffective record keeping. Taking all of these factors together, there has been maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the leaks, for which its existing remedies are not sufficient. 

Electrical faults

  1. On 24 December 2021, the resident’s property lost all power and he smelt burning from the fuse box. On inspection, the resident noted that the fuse board plastic was melting and called the landlord to attend and repair the issue. Due to a lack of response, the resident arranged for a private electrician to attend his property and make the fuse board safe. The electrician noted that the fuse board had been incorrectly installed and that the regular electrical maintenance checks had not been carried out.
  2. Following multiple further calls and despite the severity of the situation, the landlord’s electrician did not attend until 5pm on 25 December 2021. This electrician had not been told that the fuse board needed replacing by the landlord and therefore could not complete any work and the appointment was rebooked for 29 December 2021. In response to this, and concerned with his safety, the resident moved out of the property for three days.
  3. When the resident called the landlord on 29 December 2021, it had no record of the booked appointment, so it was re-logged but no electrician attended. The resident made further calls the following day, but again no electrician attended. The landlord called the resident back on 31 December 2021 and advised that, due to contractual working arrangements, an electrician would not be able to attend until 4 January 2022, four days later.
  4. On 4 January 2022, an electrician attended but did not have a fuse box and stated that one would need to be ordered. The electrician rebooked to attend on 10 January 2022. Nobody attended on this day so the resident raised a further complaint with the landlord.
  5. The works were completed on 13 January 2022, 20 days after the resident first raised the repair request. Given the landlord’s policy timescales for emergency repairs, this was 19 days over the timescale and represents an unreasonable delay for a potentially dangerous safety issue. Furthermore, given the time of year, this caused the resident additional distress and inconvenience including spoilt food and needing to cancel his Christmas Day plans. The landlord’s lack of responsiveness and poor record keeping also caused the resident additional time and trouble in progressing the issue over an extended period.
  6. As a remedy to this situation, the landlord apologised for the delays in completing the repair works and initially offered a £100 goodwill gesture for the spoiled freezer food. Within its stage 2 complaint response, the landlord later increase this offer to £555 to take account of the £345 cost of the private electrician and an increased contribution to the spoiled food.
  7. Overall, taking together the delays, the breach of policy timescales, and the distress, inconvenience, time and trouble caused to the resident, this represents significant failings in the landlord’s handling of these electrical faults. Additionally, the evidence suggests that the resident was left in his property with a dangerous fault that could have led to fire or an electrical injury.
  8. This situation was made safe only through the attendance of a private electrician, paid for by the resident and this is wholly unacceptable. This amounts to maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the electrical faults. The landlord’s existing remedy is not sufficient in this case and it must now pay additional compensation, arrange suitable inspections and learn from this incident to prevent a further dangerous reoccurrence. 

Complaint handling

  1. The landlord’s complaints policy outlines its two-stage complaint process in which it commits to respond to stage 1 complaints within 20 working days. No timescale is given for responding to stage 2 complaints.
  2. The resident raised two stage 1 complaints related to the leaks and the electrical faults respectively on 24 December 2021 and 11 January 2022. The landlord’s stage one complaint responses were issued after 51 working days and 67 working days, resulting in a combined delay of 78 working days over the landlord’s policy timescales. There was a further 1 working day of delay within the stage 2 process.
  3. The initial complaint response regarding the leaks also, incorrectly, referenced the issue as being a faulty tap. Aside from an obvious record keeping and information management error, this caused additional distress to the resident who had been subject to extended flooding of foul water and sewage.
  4. While the landlord made several apologies within the complaint handling process, there is little explanation as to why the delays took place (in either repairs, or within the complaints process itself), nor any evidence of learning or changes to processes to prevent a reoccurrence of this.
  5. In the time between the resident escalating his complaint to the Ombudsman and this determination being issued, the landlord has conducted a review of this case and awarded a further apology for the delays and £1100 in additional compensation. This outcome was communicated to the resident on 14 September 2023. It was positive to note that the landlord had undertaken a complaint review, however this process took 5 months to complete and culminated 21 months after the incident was first reported.
  6. Overall, the landlord has apologised for delays and offered a total of £1900 compensation but has failed to use the complaints process effectively to learn from the issues and therefore this amounts to maladministration in the landlord’s complaint handling process.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there has been:
    1. Maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of floods and concerns about drainage.
    2. Maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s concerns about electrical faults.
    3. Maladministration in the landlord’s complaint handling and redress offered.

Orders

  1. Within 28 days of the date of this determination, the landlord must:
    1. Arrange for a senior officer to apologise to the resident in person.
    2. Carry out an inspection on the current serviceability of the drainage system and provide the resident and this service with a copy of the report.
    3. Assess what preventative maintenance is required to the drainage system within this property to prevent future build up and back surges. The landlord must provide a written schedule of works that show when this will be carried out.
    4. Carry out an inspection on the current serviceability of the fuse board and associated electrics and provide the resident and this service with a copy of the report.
    5. Assess what level of inspection and maintenance is required for the electrics within the property, including mandatory safety inspections and provide the resident and this service with a schedule of works for this.
    6. Pay £1000 compensation to the resident, in addition to any compensation previously paid. This compensation is to be paid to the resident and not applied to his rent account unless this is requested by him in writing. The compensation payment is comprised of:
      1. £250 for the distress and inconvenience of the leaks, which affected the resident’s enjoy and use of his home.
      2. £550 for the distress, inconvenience and potential safety risks associated with the electrical faults, which affected the resident’s enjoyment and use of his home.
      3. £200 for the maladministration in the landlord’s complaint handling.
  2. Within 8 weeks of the date of this determination, the landlord must:
    1. Review its complaint handling processes to ensure that meaningful and substantive complaint responses are issued within its policy timescales.
    2. Review its processes for recording repair appointments, telephone calls and actions to ensure complete records are held and available for inspection by this service. The landlord may wish to consider the findings in the Ombudsman’s spotlight report on Knowledge and Information Management (KIM), which is available on our website, to support this.
  3. The landlord must provide the Ombudsman with evidence of compliance with these orders by the deadlines shown above.