London Borough of Tower Hamlets (202322850)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202322850

Tower Hamlets Homes

11 April 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 the resident’s request for compensation for a missed appointment.

Background

2. The resident is a secure tenant of the landlord, which is a local authority. The property is a 2-bedroom house, and the resident has lived there since February 2017.
3. The resident first complained to the landlord on 28 August 2023. The resident reported that the landlord had missed an appointment on 28 July 2023. The resident noted that the landlord’s policy was to offer £10 compensation for a missed appointment, and he had not received this. The landlord responded on 7 September 2023. It outlined that it did not consider that it had missed the appointment because its contractors had attended to complete the work on the date it advised.
4. The resident responded the same day, he stated that the appointment had been booked for the afternoon, but the contractor had completed the work by 11:36am. The resident outlined that the landlord’s policy states, “you are entitled to a missed appointment voucher if we make a repairs appointment with you, and we don’t turn up within the timeslot we say we will.” The resident asserted that because the landlord had attended earlier than it said it would, it had missed the appointment, and he was entitled to the advised compensation.
5. The landlord emailed the resident on 12 September 2023, it outlined that the repair was an external appointment for the guttering and that the resident did not need to be home. The landlord stated it had written to the resident in July 2023 to ask that he leave his gate unlocked to provide access. The resident responded that he had been unwilling to leave his gate unlocked due to safety concerns.
6. The landlord provided its stage 2 response on 3 October 2023. It apologised for attending earlier than it said it would and offered the resident £10 compensation. The landlord paid the compensation to the resident on or around 2 November 2023.
7. The resident referred his complaint to this Service in October 2023. The resident stated he wanted the landlord to accept that it was wrong to not award compensation for the missed appointment.

Assessment and findings

8. The landlord’s website states,“you are entitled to a missed appointment voucher if we make a repairs appointment with you, and we don’t turn up within the timeslot we say we will.”
9. The landlord’s compensation policy that was in place at the time of the complaint, states it will pay the resident £10 if it does not keep a prearranged appointment. It also states that compensation is only available for internal repairs within the home and not communal repairs.
10. When the resident first complained, he stated the landlord had missed its afternoon appointment on 28 July 2023 and that he had not been compensated for this. In response, the landlord outlined that its contractor had attended on the advised date and explained the evidence it relied on to make this decision. It explained that this meant the resident was not entitled to compensation. The landlord was clear with its decision and reasoning. This was an appropriate response to the information provided by the resident.
11. The resident accepted that the contractor had attended but noted that it was outside of the time frame it had advertised. The resident clarified he was seeking compensation because the landlord attended outside of the advised time, not that it failed to attend.
12. Internal correspondence provided to this Service shows that the landlord took reasonable steps to discuss the resident’s concerns with its contractor to identify what happened. The landlord and contractor discussed whether it was necessary for the resident to be home to provide access and took the resident’s concerns about leaving his gate open into account. The landlord demonstrated that it was taking the resident’s concerns seriously.
13. On the landlord’s recommendation, the contractor agreed to offer the resident £10 because it had arrived earlier than advertised. The landlord apologised to the resident for any inconvenience caused by its early attendance. This was appropriate because it was in line with the landlord’s compensation policy. This was communicated with the resident in the landlord’s stage 2 response and the payment was made to the resident on or around 2 November 2023.
14. There has been no maladministration by the landlord in this case.

Determination

15. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s requests for compensation for a missed appointment.