London Borough of Tower Hamlets (202338412)

Decision
Case ID	202338412
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Landlord type	Local Authority
Occupancy	Assured Tenancy
Date	26 March 2026

Background

The resident complained to the landlord about prolonged loss of heating and hot water due to issues with a communal boiler. The landlord completed work on the boiler over several months and provided the resident with £100 in compensation.

What the complaint is about

The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
1. Repair issues with a communal boiler.
2. The complaint.

Our decision (determination)

We found:
1. Service failure in the landlord’s handing of repair issues with the boiler.
2. Maladministration in the landlord’s complaint handling.

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

Summary of reasons

The landlord’s handling of repair issues with a communal boiler

The landlord acknowledged failings, and there was significant impact on the resident. However, it did not refer to its compensation policy regarding the loss of essential services or follow up on its promise to consider reimbursing for increased energy use.

The landlord’s handling of the complaint

The landlord did not follow its own complaints policy and did not acknowledge or offer any redress to the resident for the long delay in responding to the complaint.

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.

Order	What the landlord must do	Due date
1	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £500 for the failings found in this report, comprising: £200 for complaint handling delays. £300 for the communal boiler issue. This must be paid directly to the resident by the due date. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date.	No later than 23 April 2026
2	Review order The landlord must, by the due date, write to the resident about the additional electricity costs she explained she incurred and consider reimbursement if the evidence she provides reasonably shows increased energy consumption over the relevant period (increased costs are not, in themselves, evidence of increased usage, so the evidence should show how the consumption changed). If the resident is dissatisfied with its decisions she is entitled to make a new complaint to the landlord.	No later than 23 April 2026

Order

What the landlord must do

Due date

Compensation order

The landlord must pay the resident £500 for the failings found in this report, comprising:

£200 for complaint handling delays.
£300 for the communal boiler issue.

This must be paid directly to the resident by the due date. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date.

No later than

23 April 2026

Review order

The landlord must, by the due date, write to the resident about the additional electricity costs she explained she incurred and consider reimbursement if the evidence she provides reasonably shows increased energy consumption over the relevant period (increased costs are not, in themselves, evidence of increased usage, so the evidence should show how the consumption changed).

If the resident is dissatisfied with its decisions she is entitled to make a new complaint to the landlord.

No later than

23 April 2026

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
14 November 2023	The resident complained to the landlord about the communal boiler. She said that problems with it went back at least 10 years, and that it was not uncommon for her to be without heating, hot water and adequate water pressure. The resident said she had made multiple reports but no effective repair had taken place. She said the problems had caused health issues for her family, and sought compensation for the loss of heating and hot water.
29 November 2023	The landlord gave its stage 1 response. It acknowledged its service had fallen below what would normally be expected. It also accepted that the communal boiler plant would benefit from upgrade work. It said an operative had attended the resident’s flat that day and found the radiators warm. The landlord apologised for the delay and inconvenience.
30 November 2023	The resident escalated the complaint and disputed the landlord’s response. She said she had bought fan heaters which had increased her electricity bill, and that her flat was very cold.
12 December 2023	The resident chased the landlord for a response. It acknowledged the complaint two days later.
Referral to the Ombudsman – 22 February 2024	The resident contacted us about the issues with heating and hot water. She said she had not received a response to her stage 2 complaint.
Between 13 March 2024 and 23 April 2024	We wrote to the landlord on 3 occasions, each time asking it to respond to the complaint.
April 2024	The landlord gave its stage 2 response (dated 23 March 2024 but evidence indicates the actual date was on or after 23 April). It said issues with the boiler system had been resolved and that it had visited the resident to confirm this.
Complaint to the Ombudsman	The resident brought her complaint to us. She was unhappy that she paid service charges despite having no heating and hot water for months, and thought recent increases in the service charge were excessive. She also wanted compensation for the loss of services, and to be reimbursed for additional electricity costs.

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.

Complaint	The landlord’s handling of repair issues with a communal boiler
Finding	Service failure

What we have not investigated

Part of the resident’s complaint to us involved her concerns about increases to the fixed service charge she pays for heating and hot water. We do not investigate complaints about the level of service charges and so have not considered this part of the complaint. The courts are best placed to consider this.

What we have investigated

In her stage 1 complaint, the resident complained about the ongoing boiler problems and the impact of the heating and hot water loss on her family.
In its response in November 2023, the landlord accepted that the service had fallen below expectations and that the communal boiler system would benefit from upgrades. It said that immediate work would be carried out to improve the system. It sent 3 letters to residents in early December 2023 apologising for the interruption to services and advising them of support such as temporary heaters and the use of hot showers at a local sports centre. The landlord also said it intended to offer “some financial assistance for affected residents, in relation to running costs of temporary heaters”.
The landlord engaged the services of a new contractor in December 2023, telling the contractor that “many residents had complained of being without heating and hot water for over 2 months”. The contractor made temporary repairs to the system and various recommendations about further work. This work was agreed in January 2024 and began the same month. The landlord said in its stage 2 response in April 2024 that the issues had been resolved, though the contractor continued to work on the system until August 2024. The contractor said significant improvements were made, and that it had visited more than 100 residents who had confirmed that their heating and hot water were working.
The landlord wrote to all residents of the block in April 2024. It apologised for the interruption to services and said it was crediting each household with £100 in recognition of the inconvenience and the delay in implementing a solution.
The occupancy agreement states that the landlord is responsible for the keeping the heating and hot water services in repair and working order. Its responsive repairs policy states that “complete loss of heating in winter” and “loss of hot water” require emergency repairs, though this might not involve the immediate reinstatement of services if further work is needed.
The landlord attempted to make temporary repairs to the system, but the report from the contractor in December 2023 indicated substantially more work than could be completed on an emergency basis, and this took time to complete. Accordingly, the overall time taken to resolve the problems appears to be related to their nature and scale, and nothing in the evidence clearly indicates missed opportunities for the landlord to complete the work more quickly.
The landlord kept residents informed about the schedule of work and provided some mitigations to the loss of services, such as fan heaters and the provision of hot showers at a local sports centre. Nonetheless, the landlord accepted that the service provided had fallen short of expectations
The landlord’s compensation and refund guidance states that it will consider offering compensation when tenants are unable to use rooms or facilities in their home, through a fault of the landlord. This includes compensation of £3 per day for loss of heating after 72 hours, and £1.50 per day for hot water after 5 days. The landlord had also said that it would compensate residents for increased electricity costs, but later offered a flat rate of £100 for “inconvenience and delay”. It is not apparent how that amount was calculated.
There was significant impact on the resident due to the loss of services. Between November 2023 and January 2024, she made over 30 reports to the landlord about the loss of heating and hot water, and told it about very low temperatures, condensation, pooling water, and the appearance of mould.
While accepting that its service had “on this occasion fallen below what would normally be expected”, and its guidance saying it will consider compensation in such situations, there is no evidence that the landlord did so in response to the resident’s complaint. Furthermore, it did not consider providing any refund for additional electricity costs, despite saying it would. In the face of the impact on the resident, the £100 it offered outside the complaint process was not proportionate or reasonable.
There was service failure on the part of the landlord. Although it completed significant work to repair the communal boiler system and restore services, it did not apply its compensation policy and did not follow up on its stated intention to provide financial assistance in relation to electricity costs. That left the complaint incompletely resolved. We have made a compensation order and an order regarding the electricity costs to address that.

Complaint	The landlord’s handling of the complaint.
Finding	Maladministration

The landlord’s complaints policy at the time said it should acknowledge complaints within 48 hours and resolve them within 10 working days at stage 1, and within 20 working days at stage 2. This was in line with our Complaint Handling Code (the Code) from 2022, which was applicable at the time.
The landlord responded to the stage 1 complaint after 11 working days, slightly outside its policy.
The landlord acknowledged the stage 2 complaint after 10 working days (rather than 48 hours as set out in its policy) and only after the resident had sent a reminder email. It sent the stage 2 response at least 99 working days (nearly 5 months) after the complaint, almost five times longer than the 20 working days set out in its policy. The response was issued after the resident contacted us, and after we sent several letters to the landlord asking it to respond to the complaint.
In its stage 2 response to the resident, the landlord did not mention the long delay in replying. The letter was incorrectly dated 23 March 2024, more than a month earlier than it was actually sent. (Other evidence, such as our interventions, emails from the resident, and information contained in the letter itself, support the date being incorrect.) The landlord made no apology for the handling of the complaint and offered no redress.
Overall, the landlord did not follow its own complaints policy, missing the timescales for responding by a wide margin, and despite our interventions. In its eventual response, the landlord did not acknowledge, apologise for, or offer any redress regarding complaint handling. There was maladministration regarding complaint handling, and we have made a compensation order to address that.

Learning

Communication

The landlord should reflect on the standard and timeliness of communication with the resident and ensure that its processes for complaint handling are robust enough that complaints are dealt with in line with its own policy and our Code.

Record keeping

The landlord’s records were of an appropriate standard, which enabled us to robustly consider its actions and decisions regarding the boiler repairs and the associated complaint.