London & Quadrant Housing Trust (202426458)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202426458

London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q)

31 July 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 about the lights in the property.

Background

2. The resident holds an assured tenancy for a terraced house owned by the landlord.
3. In July 2024, the resident reported that her living room light was not working. She replaced the bulb, but the light would not turn on. The landlord attended on 30 July 2024 and said the resident had “tampered” with the light switch, which was reconnected incorrectly. It said that the resident should contact her electrician to return and put it right.
4. The resident raised her formal complaint on 30 July 2024. She said that she had painted the living room and removed the cover of the light switch to finish the work. In later correspondence with the landlord, she asked him to outline the evidence it had relied on to claim she had tampered with the electrics.
5. In its complaint responses, including in its final response letter on 30 September 2024, the landlord said it had completed an electrical test in the property in March 2023. It said everything was working as it should, and it had not carried out further work since. It said the resident was strongly advised to contact her electrician to ensure the safety of the installation.
6. The resident brought her complaint to the Service on 9 October 2024. To resolve the complaint, she would like the landlord to repair the light and pay her compensation.

Assessment and findings

7. The resident’s tenancy agreement reflects the landlord’s obligations under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. It sets out it will repair and to keep in repair the electrical installation in the property, including wiring, sockets and switches. Pertinent sections of the agreement say:
   1. Residents will not interfere with or make alterations to any fixtures or fittings, or electrical appliances, without the landlord’s written consent.
   2. The landlord will not be responsible for repairing items where the disrepair was caused by damage or neglect. In these circumstances, it would allow residents to repair the item themselves within a reasonable specified time, or it may carry out the repair and charge residents the costs it incurred.
8. The landlord’s repairs policy says it will only carry out repairs that are the resident’s responsibility when there is a significant health and safety risk. If a resident carries out repairs or improvements that do not meet the landlord’s quality, or health and safety standards, the landlord may undertake the remedial works and charge the resident the cost incurred.
9. In July 2024, the resident reported that the light in her lounge was not working. The landlord attended and said that the resident had “tampered” with the lights, and it was therefore unable to do any work on it. The resident disputed this. She said she had only removed the light switch cover so she could complete decorating her living room. In her escalation request, the resident asked the landlord to share the evidence on which it had relied to reach its conclusion that she had tampered with the light in the living room.
10. In its final response letter on 30 September 2024, the landlord explained that in March 2023, it had carried out an electrical test in the property and everything was working as it should. The resident reported in August 2023 that the lights flicker and that she sometimes receives a slight shock when touching the light switches. It said its electrical supervisor inspected the property in September 2023 and identified that the resident had installed downlights using her electrician. It recorded that the resident was now responsible for that circuit, and it could not do any work on it.
11. It is understandable that landlords will not accept responsibility where tenants make alterations without their approval. However, landlords should also make reasonable efforts to ensure that residents are living in safe environments, and where it becomes aware that this may not be the case, it should consider whether intervening action would be appropriate.
12. Under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), introduced by the Housing Act 2004, landlords are required to assess risks and take mitigating action to minimise hazards in their rented properties. Electrical safety, including faulty wiring and damaged or loose switches, is a prescribed hazard under the HHSRS. As such, where the landlord was made aware that the resident had experienced minor shocks, it would have been reasonable for it to have considered undertaking its own a safety inspection/action.
13. The landlord also said in its final response letter that for health and safety reasons, it was unable to rectify works carried out by the resident or her electrician and that she was “strongly advised” to contact the company that had completed the work in her home. It said it was “unable to ensure the safety of the installation, and therefore it would not take responsibility for any faults that occur within the property with the electrics and any electrical goods that are fed off this installation”. This was not an unreasonable position to take given that it confirmed for itself that a third party had worked on the lights.
14. The tenancy agreement sets out, however, the actions the landlord could take in circumstances where alterations have been made that do not appear to meet its health and safety standards. It states that where there is a significant health and safety risk, the landlord may carry out the works and charge the resident for the costs incurred.
15. In the Ombudsman’s view, it would have been reasonable for the landlord to have done this here. This would have been resolution-focused and enabled the resident to resolve the issue while also providing all parties assurance that the property was safe. This was a missed opportunity.
16. The Ombudsman has not determined that there was any maladministration as ultimately, the landlord was entitled to refuse to undertake works on the light it did not install. To provide some resolution, however, the Ombudsman has recommended that the landlord inspect the property and liaise with the resident to have the necessary works completed. This will ensure that the property is safe, and the lights stop flickering. The landlord should either propose to complete the works itself and charge the resident for the cost of the works, or it should allow the resident to arrange this for herself, but should actively support the completion. The landlord should also consider how it can better respond to future issues of this nature.

Determination

17. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was no maladministration by the landlord in respect of its handling of the resident’s reports about the lights in the property.

Recommendation

18. The landlord should inspect the property and liaise with the resident to have the necessary works completed. This will ensure that the property is safe, and the lights stop flickering. The landlord should either propose to complete the works itself and charge the resident for the cost of the works, or it should allow the resident to arrange this for herself but should actively support the completion. The landlord should also consider how it can better respond to future issues of this nature.