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London & Quadrant Housing Trust (202422867)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202422867

London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q)

29 September 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 resident’s complaint is about the landlord’s handling of repairs and security in her permanent property and her temporary housing placement.

Background

  1. The resident has an assured tenancy with the landlord. The property is a 4-bedroom house, and she lives with her 2 adult children. She told the landlord she and her children have health conditions. Her conditions include Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (which affects her breathing ability), an abnormal heart rhythm, and depression. Her children both have asthma, eczema and depression.
  2. The landlord temporarily rehoused the resident (known as decanting) in October 2023 so it could do extensive repairs to resident’s property (including works to resolve damp and mould). The resident complained that the landlord was taking too long to start the repairs and escalated her complaint to us. In February 2024 we investigated her case and found severe maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the repairs. In May 2024 the landlord explained to us and the resident the works it planned to do.
  3. The resident complained to the landlord again on 21 June 2024. She said unauthorised occupiers had illegally entered her vacant property. She said her electric bill had increased and they damaged her possessions. She said the landlord was responsible, as it had not left her property secure enough and delayed in starting the repairs. She asked the landlord for £10,000 compensation to replace her damaged belongings. She also asked it to protect the remaining items she stored in the loft.
  4. The landlord responded to the resident’s complaint on 3 July 2024. It said she would need to provide a copy of her energy bills, so it could review whether it would compensate her for these. It said it was in the process of evicting the illegal occupiers and would keep her informed of its progress on this and protecting her belongings. It acknowledged it should have started the repairs sooner and communicated better and apologised.
  5. The resident was unhappy with the landlord’s first complaint response and escalated her complaint on 8 July 2024. She reported later that month that the belongings in her loft were stolen. The landlord responded on 30 July 2024. It said it evicted the unauthorised occupiers from her permanent home on 13 July 2024. It said she could claim from its insurance company for her damaged and lost possessions and gave the details. It began works on 22 July 2024 and apologised for its delay starting them. It offered her £360 in compensation for this.
  6. The resident was unhappy with the landlord’s response and escalated her complaint to us. When investigating her complaint in September 2025, we contacted the landlord and the resident. The landlord and resident confirmed the repairs were done and she moved back into her permanent property. The resident claimed for the loss of her belongings from the landlord’s insurers, but it did not accept liability. The resident wrote to the landlord suggesting she may start court action.

Assessment and findings

Scope of the investigation

  1. The resident said this situation had a detrimental impact on her health and wellbeing. She also said the landlord was responsible for the loss and damage to her belongings. The courts are the most effective place for disputes about personal injury and/or illness and alleged negligence claims. We cannot decide causation or liability like a court can. However, we can consider the overall impact of the situation on the resident. If the resident wants to pursue a personal injury claim or claim for the loss and damage to her possessions, she may wish to seek independent legal advice.
  2. The resident raised another complaint with the landlord, which she escalated to us, about its handling of repairs and damp and mould in her decant property. Whilst the issues are linked, this case will be investigated separately. The scope of this investigation is limited to the issues raised in the resident’s formal complaint made on 21 June 2023.

The landlord’s handling of repairs and security in her permanent property and her temporary housing placement

  1. Between August and September 2023, the resident began discussing arrangements with the landlord to move into the temporary property it offered her. She viewed and accepted the property on 29 August 2023 providing the landlord resolved some repair issues (this issue did not form part of this complaint). On 7 September 2023 the landlord told the resident it would fit a key safe outside her permanent property and she would need to leave a key in there on the day she left, so tradespeople could gain access.
  2. On 12 September 2023 the resident asked the landlord to store some of her belongings. In its reply 2 days later, the landlord said it could store anything she could not take to the temporary property. We have not seen evidence of what was stored. However, in an internal email on 18 July 2024 the landlord confirmed it stored some of the resident’s belongings. It said the “resident did not mention to us that belongings were left in the loft however we only remove items that will be obstructive to the works taking place”.
  3. The landlord provided us with a copy of its “Temporary decant process”. This says it may use one room within the property as storage, but if not, its removal team will place the items into storage. In this case the landlord adhered to its policy regarding storing the resident’s belongings whilst she was temporarily rehoused. The landlord’s security measures when its properties are empty, including its use of a key safe, are not covered in its decant process. However, it is common practice for these to be used to allow tradespeople access to carry out repairs. The landlord explained this to the resident in its complaint response.
  4. It was extremely unfortunate the resident’s property was illegally entered, and she said her belongings were damaged and taken whilst she was not living in it. The landlord said it became aware of the occupants on 11 June 2024. The landlord acted reasonably quickly in removing the occupants. It said it issued a notice on 19 June 2024 asking them to leave within 7 days. They did not leave, and the landlord obtained a court order on 12 July 2024 requiring them to leave within 24 hours, which they did.
  5. It is evident this situation was distressing for the resident. She said sentimental items in her loft space (including her parents’ wedding rings) were stolen. She also reported it had affected her mental health. The landlord’s response to her complaint was empathic and in line with its policy. It said, “We are not responsible for criminal acts although I recognise that you felt had repairs commenced earlier the situation may not have occurred.” It said complaints about a landlord’s liability were out of the remit of its complaints process. It said she should either claim from her home insurance, or from its insurers, and gave clear details on how she could claim.
  6. Our guidance on “Decant expectations” is available on our website. It summarises what landlords should do when a resident needs to move temporarily to alternative accommodation. It says, “landlords should provide residents with clear information about the reason for the decant, the expected duration, and when they can return to their permanent residence, delays should be notified at the earliest opportunity”.
  7. The landlord recognised its service failed in both of its complaint responses. It acknowledged it poorly managed the resident’s expectations about how long the complex repairs would take. It confirmed works began on 22 July 2024 and it apologised for its delay in starting them. It offered £360 compensation to the resident which included offered £300 for the distress and inconvenience and £60 for her “time and effort”. It also agreed to consider compensating her for any additional energy charges and advised her what evidence it needed.
  8. Where there are admitted failings by a landlord, our role is to consider whether the redress it offered to put things right was reasonable and resolved the resident’s complaint satisfactorily in the circumstances. We consider whether the redress was in accordance with the Dispute Resolution Principles; be fair, put things right and learn from outcomes.
  9. The apologies and actions the landlord took to complete the work and resolve the complaint went part way towards putting things right (in line with our Dispute Resolution Principles). However, because of the delay starting the works the compensation the landlord offered was disproportionately low when considered against the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance for a complaint in these circumstances. This is where a resident has been caused unnecessary levels of distress, inconvenience, and frustration.
  10. Our guidance on remedies suggests compensation between £100 and £600 where there is evidence of service failure by the landlord which adversely affected the resident. Considering the landlord did not start works until 5 months after our previous order we consider final compensation of £560 to be appropriate for the frustration and inconvenience caused by the landlord’s delay in this case. This is in line with our remedies guidance which says such a sum is payable where the “landlord acknowledged failings and/or made some attempt to put things right but failed to address the detriment to the resident and/or the offer was not proportionate to the failings identified by our investigation”.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of repairs and security in her permanent property and her temporary housing placement.

Order and Recommendation

Order

  1. Within 4 weeks from the date of this report the landlord is ordered to pay compensation of £560 to the resident in recognition of the failings identified in this report. This amount is inclusive of the £360 it has already offered to the resident, so it may deduct this if it has already been paid.
  2. The landlord must provide the Ombudsman with evidence of complying with this order by its deadline.

Recommendation

  1. The resident told us that she would like the landlord to provide a full explanation for the delays in her repairs being started. We recommended that the landlord contacts the resident to provide this.