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Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTV) (202302071)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202302071

Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTV)

27 June 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 landlords handling of:
    1. Boiler repairs.
    2. The associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured joint tenant of a local authority landlord. He is disabled and lives in a 2 bedroom bungalow.
  2. The resident made a complaint to the landlord on 24 January 2023. He said his boiler had broken down and he had been waiting 12 hours for someone to fix it. He said that he is disabled and was unhappy with how many times his boiler had broken down. The landlord acknowledged his complaint on 31 January 2023 and provided the stage 1 complaint response on 9 March 2023. It apologised for service failure and acknowledged repeated breakdowns between 19 November 2022 and 24 January 2023. It offered the resident £225 compensation made up of £75 for service failure, £10 for a missed appointment, £115 for time and trouble and £25 for its delayed complaint response.
  3. On 10 March 2023 the resident asked for his complaint to be escalated. He said the complaint was also about a lack of heating.  He said his carer had tried to help fix it which was not right as it was a gas boiler. The landlord acknowledged the resident’s complaint escalation request on 16 March 2023 and told the resident the stage 2 complaint response should be provided within 20 days.
  4. The resident reported a boiler breakdown on 29 March 2023, and the contractor attended that same day. It noted ongoing boiler pressure problems, checked for gas leaks throughout the property, fitted several new parts and ordered a water pressure sensor which was fitted on 4 April 2023.
  5. The resident told the landlord on 5 April 2023 that the boiler had stopped working again ‘’but his carer had got it working but he shouldn’t have to do that.’’ On 14 April 2023 the landlord told the resident it needed a further ten days to investigate his complaint. It issued the stage 2 complaint response on 24 May 2023. The landlord confirmed it had replaced the boiler on 17 May 2023. The landlord also increased compensation to £340 made up of:
    1. £200 time and Trouble,
    2. £75 failure of Service (as offered at Stage One)
    3. £10 missed appointment (as offered at Stage One)
    4. £55 poor Complaint Handling
  6. The resident contacted us following the stage 2 complaint response. He said he did not feel that the compensation for the complaint delays was adequate. We accepted the complaint for investigation on 17 September 2024.

Assessment and findings

The landlords handling of boiler repairs

  1. The landlord did not dispute that the resident experienced repeated boiler breakdowns, and it acknowledged and apologised to the resident for this. It awarded the resident compensation for service failure and time and trouble and replaced the resident’s boiler on 17 May 2023. This was appropriate as, as set out in the landlord’s tenancy agreement, the landlord is responsible for the maintenance of installations for heating and hot water.
  2. The landlord’s repairs policy states it will treat heating break down and total loss of service from the gas boiler emergency repairs and will attend within 24 hours. A review of the boiler reports show the resident reported boiler break downs on 22 December 2022, 24 January 2023 and 29 March 2023. All these reports were attended on the same day. It is noted that the residents said in his complaint on 24 January 2023 that he had been waiting for 12 hours however the landlords’ records do indicate an attendance that day. Overall, the landlord’s response was timely and in line with its repairs policy.
  3. Between 22 December 2022 and 17 May 2023, the landlord attended the resident’s property on 8 occasions in relation to boiler repairs. While the frequency of visits over a 5 month period was understandably a source of frustration and inconvenience for the resident 3 of these visits were to install previously ordered replacement parts and one visit was to install a new boiler.
  4. The landlord’s file shows the resident asked to cancel two boiler repair appointments, one was because the resident had a hospital appointment. Although both appointments were later rescheduled the resident was issued a warning letter for potentially breaching the tenancy agreement which requires residents to allow access for necessary repairs. It appears the contractor applied the landlord’s policy without consideration of the residents’ health issues. The landlords file shows that it discussed this issue with the resident on 15 May 2023 and appropriately raised this with the contractor that same day.
  5. The resident had told the landlord several times that he was disabled but the landlord later told us that it was not aware of the resident having any vulnerabilities. This inconsistency raises concerns about the landlord’s record keeping and its approach to recognising and responding to vulnerability. We have made an order for the landlord to contact the resident and update its records accordingly in relation to any vulnerabilities within the household.
  6. The resident told the landlord on 30 March and 5 April 2023 about his carer attempting to help get his boiler working. He stated that a contractor tried to instruct his carer how to get the boiler working however his carer refused due to gas safety concerns. It would not be appropriate for a contractor to advise someone who is unqualified on how to operate a gas boiler. Although the landlords’ records do not provide full details of this incident the residents report should have promoted further investigation by the landlord given the safety risks involved.
  7. We acknowledge that boiler repairs can be challenging and can require several visits before an issue is fully resolved. It was also reasonable for the landlord to rely on appropriately qualified contractors and engineers in deciding what repair action to take and the landlord acted reasonably in its efforts to resolve the issue. The Ombudsman’s spotlight report on repairs recommends that landlords monitor repairs and regularly review its approach for effectiveness and in replacing the boiler the landlord acknowledged that the repeat repairs were not resolving the issues.
  8. The landlord was responsive to each repair report, the majority of which were attended within 24 hours. Where parts were needed, they were obtained and fitted in a timely manner. Once it was recommended that a new boiler was required the landlord acted promptly and replaced the boiler within 6 weeks.
  9. The landlord’s stage 1 complaint response offered apology and £200 compensation.It acknowledged the residents time and trouble, service failure and a missed appointment.
  10. The stage 2 complaint response however provided an additional £85 compensation due to further the boiler breakdown and inconvenience. It also confirmed that the boiler had been replaced which was an outcome the resident had requested. This demonstrated that the landlord took effective action to resolve the issue. The landlord’s total compensation award of £285 is reasonable redress for the failings identified as this in line with our remedies guidance where the landlord has acknowledged failings and made some attempt to put things right.

The landlords handling of the associated complaint

  1. The landlord’s complaints policy says that it will provide its stage 1 complaint response within 10 working days of receiving a complaint. Where it is unable to do this, it says it will keep the resident informed and agree new response times. The landlord’s complaint logs state the resident’s complaint was received on 31 January however the landlords’ records confirm it was received on 24 January 2023 and acknowledged on 31 January 2023. The landlords’ complaints policy states it will acknowledge complaints within 5 working days, and the resident’s complaint was acknowledged within its policy timescale of 5 working days.
  2. The landlord told the resident in its complaint acknowledgement that it aimed to provide its stage 1 complaint response within 10 working days. However, it also said that the response may be delayed due to a high volume of cases. The stage 1 complaint response was not issued until the 09 March 2023, 21 working days beyond the standard 10 working day timeframe and the additional 10 working days extension period as set out in its complaint policy.
  3. According to its policy the landlord should have formally requested an extension, but it failed to do so. While it had warned of potential delays it did not communicate appropriately with the resident about the extended delay. We have seen emails from the resident chasing the stage 1 response and this delay was a source of frustration for the resident. While the landlord offered £25 compensation to the resident for its delay this amount does not fully reflect the impact of the failings identified.
  4. The resident’s stage 2 escalation request made on 10 March 2023 was acknowledged by the landlord within the 5 day timescale on 16 March 2023. On 14 April 2023 it requested a ten day extension stating it needed more time for the investigation. The landlord spoke to the resident on 15 May 2023 and apologised for the ongoing delay. The stage 2 complaint response was eventually issued on 24 May 2023 which was 17 working days over the time scale communicated to the resident. The landlord did not acknowledge the delay in its stage 2 complaint response.
  5. The landlord took appropriate steps to acknowledge its failings by offering an apology and compensation for delays in complaint handling. At stage 2 it increased the complaint handling compensation to £55. However, the level of compensation offered is not proportionate to the inconvenience experienced by the resident due to complaint delays. The landlord failed to follow its complaints policy by not formally requesting an extension and updates to the resident during the delay. This amounts to service failure therefore additional compensation of £45 is appropriate to reflect the impact on the resident. This sum is in line with our remedies guidance which says such sums should be paid when there was minor failure by the landlord in the service it provided, and it did not fully put them right.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53(b) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, and in the Ombudsman’s opinion, there was reasonable redress offered by the landlord in relation to its handling of boiler repairs.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s complaint.

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of this report the landlord is ordered to:
    1. Provide a written apology to the resident for the failings identified in this report.
    2. In addition to the £55 compensation already paid, pay the resident a further £45 compensation for inconvenience due to complaint delays.
    3. Contact the resident and update its records accordingly in relation to any vulnerabilities within the household.