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London & Quadrant Housing Trust (202305784)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202305784

London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q)

29 November 2024

 

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:
    1. Decision to issue a notice of seeking possession (NOSP).
    2. Handling of the associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident is a secure tenant of the landlord. The property is a second-floor studio flat.
  2. In February 2022, the Ombudsman determined a related complaint from the resident (our reference 202017187). This complaint was in relation to outstanding repairs, among other issues. Following this determination the resident remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s actions.
  3. On 10 October 2022, the resident informed the landlord by email that she would be withholding her rent payments until all works were completed.
  4. The landlord responded to the resident on 11 October 2022. It acknowledged her comments and said that the income officer had been informed that she would be withholding her rent.
  5. An arrears letter was issued to the resident on 14 November 2022. The resident contacted the landlord the following day and explained why she was withholding her rent.
  6. On 21 November 2022, a NOSP was issued to the resident for non-payment of rent. The notice said that taking court action would be a last resort and encouraged the resident to make contact with the landlord.
  7. On 28 November 2022, the resident made a complaint to the landlord in relation to the NOSP. She said that the landlord “had agreed to her decision to withhold payment of rent until the repair works had been done”.
  8. The evidence shows that the resident cleared her outstanding balance in December 2022 and no further possession proceedings followed.
  9. The resident contacted this Service on 8 March 2023 to say that the landlord had failed to respond to her complaint. Following our intervention the landlord escalated the matter to stage 2. Within its response dated 22 June 2023, it said that:
    1. It had failed to follow the correct procedure at stage 1 and did not issue a decision letter.
    2. It did not give the resident permission to withhold rent. She was informed that she would receive warnings about any arrears.
    3. It had attempted to resolve the outstanding arrears issue without success.
    4. The tenancy agreement states that residents must pay a set weekly rent and any failure to so would be a breach of tenancy. Action could then be taken to recover the outstanding balance or seek possession of the property.
    5. In respect of the complaint handling failures, it offered the resident £310 compensation:
      1. £100 for time and effort
      2. £200 for its failure at stage 1
      3. £10 for not responding when she requested an update in March 2023
  10. The resident remained dissatisfied and escalated her complaint to the Ombudsman.

Assessment and findings

Notice of seeking possession

  1. Section 3.2 of the tenancy agreement states that residents are to pay rent and any other charges due under the agreement regularly on a Monday and in advance.
  2. Section 4.4 states that the landlord may seek possession of a property on the grounds of non-payment of rent or a breach of tenancy.
  3. In contacting this Service, the resident stated that she had informed the landlord of her intention to withhold her rent until it completed the outstanding repairs to the property. It was the resident’s understanding that the landlord had agreed to this course of action. The evidence shows that the landlord did respond to the resident’s email dated 10 October 2022 and said that “the income officer had been informed that she would be withholding her rent”. While this response should have explained the possible implications of such an action, it would be unreasonable to conclude that it was an acceptance or agreement for the withholding of rent.
  4. As the arrears on the account began to grow, the landlord issued correspondence informing the resident that her account was in substantial arrears prior to serving the NOSP. This was appropriate, and although the landlord has not provided a copy of its arrears policy, this is usual practice among housing providers’ procedures. There is no indication that the resident did not receive or understand the correspondence.
  5. The evidence provided to this Service shows that between November 2022 and December 2022, the landlord appropriately tried to engage in conversation with the resident about the arrears that had accrued on her account. It offered her the opportunity to discuss her financial situation, however, the resident was clear on her decision to withhold rent. Email exchanges show that the resident did not wish to engage in telephone discussions as she wanted all correspondence to be in writing. This matter was addressed in a separate formal complaint made by the resident around the same time. Although that complaint does not form part of this assessment, it is noted that within its complaint response the landlord informed the resident that the purpose of the telephone calls was to discuss the withholding of rent, the potential breach of tenancy and the likely possession actions. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that the landlord made appropriate attempts to discuss the situation with the resident prior to issuing the NOSP.
  6. Within the landlord’s final response regarding the substantive issue, it informed the resident of her tenancy obligations. It said that in failing to pay her rent she had breached her tenancy agreement, and as a result it was within its rights to seek possession. While this Service acknowledges the resident’s frustration, this was a reasonable response by the landlord in the circumstances.
  7. In respect of the resident’s belief that the landlord had agreed to the withholding of rent, it said that following her contact on 10 October 2022 she had been informed that she would continue to receive arrears communication. The landlord has not provided any call logs or written communication to support this. However, in an email dated the 26 June 2023, the resident confirmed that she was “eventually told the landlord may still make contact about arrears”. This Service can’t make a finding based on any verbal or undocumented conversations between the resident and landlord, as our findings must be based on documentary evidence.
  8. In summary, although the landlord could have made its position clearer from the point of the initial contact in October 2022, its decision to issue a NOSP to the resident was one that it was entitled to make in line with the terms set out in the tenancy agreement. Furthermore, it made reasonable attempts to resolve the issue prior to the issuing of the notice and provided the resident with appropriate reasoning within its final complaint response. A finding of no maladministration has therefore been made.

Complaint handling

  1. The landlord’s complaints policy says that it aims to respond to stage 1 complaints within 10 working days and to stage 2 complaints within 20 working days.
  2. In this case, it is not disputed that the landlord did not provide the resident with a response at stage 1 and that this caused distress to her. Following intervention from this Service, the landlord appropriately acknowledged this failure within its stage 2 response. It apologised and offered the resident redress of £310. This amount was in line with its internal compensation policy.
  3. For the reasons set out above, the landlord has made redress to the resident which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily. The measures taken by the landlord to redress what went wrong were proportionate to the impact that its failure had on the resident. Furthermore, the landlord demonstrated learning by highlighting further training for its staff.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was no maladministration by the landlord in respect of its decision to issue a NOSP.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 53.b. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress prior to investigation which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint handling failure.

Recommendations

  1. It is recommended that within 6 weeks (allowing for the Christmas period) the landlord pays the resident £310 compensation it offered for its complaint handling failure, if it has not already done so.