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London & Quadrant Housing Trust (202335510)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202335510

London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q)

30 August 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 reports of repairs to the communal entrance door.

Background

  1. The resident’s lease began in 2016. The property is a second floor flat.
  2. In late December 2023, and early January 2024, the resident told the landlord that the entrance door to the block was “still fully opened and it’s been like this for over 2 months”. He said that this was allowing non-residents to access the building and that resident’s deliveries had gone missing. He asked that his complaint be escalated to stage 2.
  3. The landlord told the resident, on 11 and 12 January 2024, that he did not have a complaint to escalate. It registered a new complaint. It stated its recent repairs actions and its understanding that the door was fixed. The resident said it was not.
  4. The landlord’s stage 1 response, on 24 January 2024, apologised for the inconvenience caused by the door issues, which it said had been resolved the previous week. It stated its actions to improve its future service. It offered £150 compensation for his loss of facility and his efforts getting the complaint resolved.
  5. Following contact from us, the landlord sent the resident its stage 2 response on 2 February 2024. It repeated its stage 1 findings. It said that, as the door was fixed, it should stop non-residents accessing the block and any associated issues.
  6. The resident asked the Ombudsman to investigate the matters above. He said that he did not feel he had been adequately compensated and that he wanted the landlord to improve its repairs service.

Assessment and findings

  1. The evidence shows that the landlord raised communal door repairs in August and October 2023, which were both attended within 1 week. Its stage 1 response, on 24 January 2024, accepted that its October 2023 attendance had identified the need for new parts, which were not installed until 8 December 2023. It stated the measures it was taking with its contractor to improve the speed at which it obtained new parts.
  2. The landlord raised a further repair on 22 December 2023, following the resident’s report the same day. It responded in a mostly timely manner to his requests for updates during early January 2024. Its stage 1 response accepted that, following its attendances at the beginning of the month, its intended installation of further new parts had been pushed back until 10 January 2024. It further accepted that, following this, other residents had made it aware that the issues had continued, and it was not until 17 January 2024 that it was fully resolved.
  3. While there was some confusion over when the resident’s complaint was made and escalated, the landlord’s stage 1 and 2 responses were both timely and apologised for the delays in completing the door repair. Its £150 compensation offer was fair and in line with our remedies guidance.
  4. Overall, the landlord accepted and apologised for the delays in resolving the communal door issues. It stated its efforts to improve its future service. It offered compensation in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53.b of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has offered redress to the resident prior to investigation which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, satisfactorily resolves the complaint.

Recommendation

  1. The landlord should pay the resident any part of its £150 award that it has not already done so.