London & Quadrant Housing Trust (202339725)

Decision
Case ID	202339725
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	London & Quadrant Housing Trust
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Assured Shorthold Tenancy
Date	8 December 2025

Background

1. In 2023 the resident reported to the landlord noise from the floorboards of the upstairs property. The resident continued to report the issue throughout 2024. In December 2024 the landlord completed repairs to the floorboards which resolved the noise, but the resident has said the noise has resumed. The resident told the landlord in her complaint that the noise affected her mental health.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of noise from floorboards.
3. We have also considered the landlord’s complaint handling.

Our decision (determination)

4. We have found:
   1. There was maladministration in the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of noise from floorboards.
   2. There was maladministration in the landlord’s complaint handling.

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

Summary of reasons

The landlord’s response to reports of noise from floorboards

5. The landlord failed to show what efforts it made to access the upstairs property or that it acted in line with its property access or repair policy in arranging the floorboard repair. There were also failures in its level of communication and safeguarding.

 

 

 

The landlord’s complaint handling        

6. The landlord acted in line with its complaint policy timeframes for responding at stage 1 and stage 2 of its complaint process. However, it delayed escalating the resident’s complaint which was not in line with its complaint policy.

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	Apology order The landlord must apologise in writing to the resident for the failures identified in this report. The landlord must ensure: The apology is provided by a senior person. The apology is specific to the failures identified in this decision, meaningful, and empathetic. It has due regard to our apologies guidance.	No later than 14 January 2026
2	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £400 made up as follows: £300 for the likely distress and inconvenience caused by its response to the reports of noise from floorboards £100 for the likely distress and inconvenience caused by its complaint handling This must be paid directly to the resident by the due date. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date. The landlord may deduct from the total figure any payments it has already paid, on providing evidence to verify this.	No later than 14 January 2026

 

Recommendation

Our recommendations are not binding, and a landlord may decide not to follow them.

Our recommendations
We recommend the landlord inspect the resident’s property to identify if there are any further measures which it can take to reduce any noise transference from the upstairs property.

 

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
28 September 2023	The resident complained about a “horrendous creaking noise” coming from the floorboards of the property upstairs. She said she had reported this in April 2023 and expressed dissatisfaction with the landlord’s inaction.
9 October 2023	The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response and said: The reports did not amount to antisocial behaviour (ASB) The noise related to a repair and its neighbourhood housing lead had raised repairs in April 2023 and May 2023 Although it had completed a flooring assessment and agreed to return at a future date to carry out the work, it had experienced ongoing access issues with the resident’s neighbour It had to follow its no access policy It hoped the repairs would reduce the noise transference.
31 October 2023	The resident requested an escalation of her complaint.
5 January 2024	The landlord refused to escalate the complaint because it said the resident reported the issue as ASB when it was not. It said it would ask its repairs service to contact the resident’s neighbour.
11 January 2024	The resident requested the landlord escalate her complaint a second time.
4 June 2024	The landlord acknowledged the resident’s complaint at stage 2 of its complaint process.
6 June 2024	The landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response. It said although it raised a job for the floorboards it had cancelled this without informing the resident. It agreed to rebook this, and it agreed to contact the resident once it had done this. It awarded the resident £50 for distress.
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident told us that, although she previously reported that the landlord had resolved the noise coming from the upstairs floorboards, the noise has resumed. The resident wants the landlord to address this. The resident requested we investigate the landlord’s handling of the repair and was unable to confirm if she had received the £50 compensation. The landlord told us it paid this, but we have not seen any evidence of this.

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 response to the resident’s reports of noise from floorboards
Finding	Maladministration

7. The resident told us that the landlord’s response to her reports of noise affected her mental health. It would be fairer, more reasonable, and more effective for the resident to make a personal injury claim for any injury caused. The courts are best placed to deal with this type of dispute as they will have the benefit of independent medical advice to decide on the cause of any injury and how long it will last. We’ve not investigated this further. We can decide if a landlord should pay compensation for distress and inconvenience.
8. Although the resident told us she reported the upstairs property’s floorboards were making noise in April 2023 we have not seen evidence of any report before 3 May 2023. The landlord told the resident on 9 October 2023 that it had completed an initial assessment of the flooring and had problems accessing the upstairs property. However, it failed to show what efforts it took to obtain access in line with its property access policy, or when it completed the initial assessment. We cannot be satisfied that it acted reasonably in these circumstances.
9. The landlord decided the reports were not ASB as it identified the noisy floorboards as a repair issue. This was reasonable as everyday noise issues do not amount to ASB under its ASB policy. It told the resident’s MP that it agreed to complete these repairs on 15 March 2024, but there is no evidence it completed them then. It also said it approved minor works on 11 June 2024. It promised to contact the resident by the end of June 2024 with more information, but there is no evidence it did so.
10. The landlord raised minor flooring works on 8 November 2024 with a site inspection and booked these for 13 November 2024 and 14 November 2024. It told the resident on 21 November 2024 that it had completed an inspection of the  floorboards and approved a quote for the work. The resident said the landlord completed repairs to the floorboards at the end of December 2024 which resolved the noise, although we have not seen evidence of the exact date.
11. It took the landlord 608 calendar days to resolve the repair to the upstairs property’s floorboards (3 May 2023 to the end of December 2024), based on an assumed completion date of 31 December 2024. This was against a target of 25 calendar days in its repairs policy in force at the time. The delay in raising works and completing timely repairs, together with the lack of updates on the repair, likely caused the resident distress and inconvenience.
12. The resident disclosed to the landlord in September 2023 that the noise had affected her mental health and added in December 2023 that she felt suicidal. We have not seen evidence the landlord considered whether it ought to take any action to safeguard the resident in these circumstances which was a serious failure.
13. While the landlord told the resident that it would book in the repairs and offered £50 compensation this was not proportionate compensation to the level of failings we have found. We have made an order for the landlord to apologise to the resident and to pay compensation of £300, less any already paid. This is in line with our remedies guidance which allows for compensation of this amount where a landlord’s failings have adversely affected a resident.
14. While the resident confirmed to us on 15 January 2025 the landlord had resolved the noise, she told us more recently it resumed at some point in 2025. As we have not seen she reported this to the landlord we cannot fault the landlord for not investigating this when it was unaware. We have made a recommendation for the landlord to inspect the resident’s property considering her recent comments.

Complaint	The handling of the complaint
Finding	Maladministration

15. The landlord’s complaint policy at the time of the complaint complies with the definition of a complaint in the Complaint Handling Code (April 2022). The timescales in the landlord’s complaint procedure complied with the Code.
16. The landlord responded to the resident’s complaint at stage 1 of its complaint process within 10 working days and within 20 working days at stage 2 of its complaint process (from when it acknowledged it). However, it took it 148 working days to acknowledge her escalation request (31 October 2023 to 4 June 2024). It refused to escalate the resident’s complaint on 5 January 2024 and this was not in line with its complaint’s policy.
17. This failing delayed the resident being able to refer her complaint to us and likely caused her distress and inconvenience. We have awarded £100 compensation in line with our remedies guidance. This allows for compensation of this amount where a resident has experienced detriment because of a landlord’s failures.

Learning

18. It is important for landlords to keep robust records of all contacts with residents and repairs to create an audit trail and to help identify and resolve issues. Without such records it is difficult to assess a landlord’s actions and evidence an effective repair service. It is important for landlords to provide regular updates to residents, where there are delays to work. It is also essential for landlords to consider when and whether it would be appropriate to trigger their safeguarding protocols. Recommendations 4, 7 and 11 of our spotlight report on knowledge and information management (KIM), and the good practice section of our spotlight report on complaints about repairs contain good practice.

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

19. There were significant gaps in the landlord’s records, for example it has been unable to evidence when the resident first reported noise in 2023 or when it completed the repairs. It is also unclear in places if the gaps were down to the landlord’s inaction or its record keeping.

Communication

20. The landlord’s communication with the resident over the repairs was poor. There is no evidence it updated the resident by the end of June 2024 as it promised, or offered the resident regular updates on the progress of any proposed work.