Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTV) (202335236)

Background

1. The resident said she was experiencing leaks from the guttering which was affecting her property and her parking space. She said she told the landlord about this in May 2023. She also had concerns about the communal entrance door not functioning.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s:
   1. Handling of repairs to the communal entrance door and the guttering.
   2. Complaint handling.

Our decision (determination)

3. We have found that there was:
   1. Service failure in the landlord’s handling of repairs to the communal entrance door and the guttering.
   2. No maladministration in the landlord’s complaint handling

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

Summary of reasons

Repairs to the communal entrance door and the guttering

4. The landlord did not complete communal repairs within its published timescales. Issues persisted after the final complaint response, and its compensation did not fully recognise the resident’s continued time and trouble chasing repairs and updates.

Complaint handling

5. The landlord responded to the resident’s complaint in line with its complaints policy. It addressed the concerns about the communal entrance door and guttering within its responses and in a timely manner.

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.

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

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.

6. The resident’s lease states the landlord is required to repair, redecorate, and renew the structure of the property and the common parts. The resident is to pay service charges in relation to this.
7. The resident told the landlord about her concerns over the level of service charges and future service charges. Matters which concern the level of rent or service charge, or the level of any increase is better suited for the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) as we do not investigate this. The resident could approach the FTT if she wants to dispute the level of service charge levied by the landlord.
8. The landlord’s repairs responsibility guide says routine repairs are to be completed in 28 days. Non-routine repairs (which includes repairs that require scaffolding) are to be completed in 90 days.
9. The landlord was within its 28-day target when attending repairs to the communal door on 11 October 2023. It was fair the resident was provided with a replacement fob and that the landlord carried out temporary repairs at that stage. However, the communal door lock replacement was not completed until 30 November 2023, 22 days over target.
10. We can see the landlord’s first attendance in attempt to repair the guttering by 15 June 2023 was inside its target timescales. However, after waiting for scaffolding to be erected, front gutter repairs were not completed until 27 November 2023, which at that stage was 75 days over the landlord’s non-routine target.
11. Further, the landlord was aware from the resident’s initial contact that there were reported guttering issues to both the front and the side of the property. The landlord’s records from 21 May 2023 evidenced this and we are satisfied this is what the resident complained about. We have therefore included this in our investigation. The landlord’s records did not clearly document what, if anything, had been completed to the side guttering in June 2023. The landlord’s subsequent work orders related only to the front gutters, and it did not complete front gutter repairs until 6 months later.
12. It is evident the resident then expended further time and trouble due to the landlord’s poor record keeping. She chased the landlord about the side gutter repairs, which was not completed until 15 February 2024. Ultimately, this was 155 days over its target from 15 June 2023.
13. The landlord’s offer of compensation for the above matters in its final response accounted for the resident’s time and trouble up until 27 November 2023. Our remedies guidance states that where the landlord may have made an offer of action or compensation, but it does not quite reflect the detriment to the resident, we may find service failure. The resident raised concerns that she was worried about security due to having previously experienced domestic violence. The landlord failed to address or consider this aspect of the resident’s concerns.
14. As above, the resident continued to expend time and trouble chasing guttering repairs for nearly 3 months beyond the stage 2 response. As such, the landlord had not done enough to put things right and the repair issues were unresolved. While it was positive it acknowledged some errors and attributed £110 in compensation towards the resident’s time and trouble (for communal door and guttering repairs), this was insufficient to ‘put things right’ for the resident and does not amount to reasonable redress.
15. We have therefore made a finding of service failure. Having considered our remedies guidance, we have awarded an additional £100 in compensation to better reflect the distress and inconvenience and time and trouble expended by the resident.

16. The landlord’s complaints policy states it will acknowledge complaints at both stage 1 and 2 in 5 working days. At stage 1 it would send its response in 10 working days after acknowledged. At stage 2 it aims to respond in 20 working days after acknowledgement of the complaint escalation. It acknowledged and responded to the resident’s complaint at both stages of its complaints process within its target timescales.
17. The content of the landlord’s complaint responses did address the resident’s concerns about the communal door and guttering. However, it incorrectly stated in its final response that the communal door repairs were booked for 23 November 2023 when it should have been 27 or 30 November 2023. Although it should have taken care to provide accurate information, overall, this did not cause the resident detriment. The landlord’s handling of the complaint was otherwise good, so we have found no maladministration.

Learning

Knowledge information management (record keeping) and communication

18. Our spotlight report on leasehold, shared ownership and new builds made a number of recommendations for landlords. These included that:
    1. A landlord must ensure timely and accurate communication with all residents on complaints about communal areas as these can cause inconvenience and dissatisfaction for many residents.
    2. Where repair work is overdue, residents should receive regular updates clearly explaining the reasons for delay and expected date of completion.
19. This lack of clear and complete record keeping contributed to delays and left the resident without clarity on next steps. It had the opportunity to use its information systems effectively to manage the repairs as per our spotlight report recommendations.
20. In addition, the landlord did not provide timely or consistent updates to the resident after June 2023, despite the repairs becoming substantially overdue. Clear communication would have helped manage expectations and reduced the time and trouble the resident experienced.