Newham Council (202114253)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202114253

Newham Council

10 October 2022

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 response to the resident’s request to have a pressure pump/electric shower installed at the property.

Background

2. The resident and his family live in a three-bedroom upper maisonette (‘the property’). The resident originally occupied the property as a temporary accommodation licensed occupier, with the landlord (a Local Authority, hereafter referred to as ‘the landlord’) having placed the household under its homelessness responsibilities. The direct landlord (‘the direct landlord’) owns the property and, at the point that the landlord ended its duty to house the household, in 2019, it issued the resident with an assured shorthold tenancy so that they could remain in occupation at the property. The landlord retained the responsibility to manage the property and responded to the complaint under investigation here.
3. The resident has stated his wife suffers with chronic pain syndrome, although the landlord has confirmed that it has no vulnerabilities recorded for the household.
4. The landlord attended the property twice in 2019 and again in 2020 and March 2021 in relation to reports of low water pressure which it said were resolved at the time. On 14 April 2021, the resident submitted a complaint and asked for an electric pump to boost the water to the shower as the landlord had informed him that it was only obliged to provide hot and cold water, not a shower. In its response of 24 May 2021, the landlord apologised for the delay but said there was no defect or disrepair, and this was a request for a new installation, which it was not obliged to do.
5. The resident appealed further, and a job was raised to check the water pressure again. The resident was not at home for the first notified inspection, but the pressure was found to be adequate when an inspection took place on 10 August 2021. The landlord’s final complaint response of 1 September 2021 confirmed there was no defect with the bath taps requiring investigation or repair. It also responded to the resident’s claims that he was discriminated against for being in Temporary Accommodation (TA) by confirming that the family were no longer in TA, as they now had an assured shorthold tenancy.
6. The resident referred the matter to his local MP and stated that his wife now had a disability and could not sit in the bath but needed to stand to have a shower.  He also said that due to the Covid pandemic, the family needed to shower each day. The landlord says is it not obliged to provide a shower and the shower handset supplied is for cleaning the bath only.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

7. It is noted that the landlord advised this Service on 11 March 2022 that it did not have a landlord/tenant relationship with the resident, although it did manage and maintain the property on behalf of the owner, and this has been considered. The landlord has responded to the complaint as the managing agent for the property and as such it falls within the Ombudsman’s remit. As advised in the letter from this Service on 12 May 2022, we are satisfied that the case falls within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction in accordance with paragraph 25 of the Scheme which defines those able to bring complaints top this Service as “a person who is or has been in a landlord/tenant relationship with a member. This includes people who have a lease, tenancy, licence to occupy, service agreement or other arrangement to occupy premises owned or managed by a member”.             

Assessment

8. The assured shorthold tenancy agreement effective 16 April 2019 says at section 2.4 (i) that the landlord agrees ‘to keep in good repair..baths’.
9. In this instance, the landlord has shown that it responded to the reports of low water pressure reasonably and appropriately and found that it was adequate. The most recent inspection on 10 August 2021 found a flow of 7 litres per minute on the last tap in the run at the property, the kitchen flow recorded 10 litres per minute and the kitchen mains 18 litres per minute, which was considered to be good pressure for a 2nd floor flat with upstairs mains supply. The contractor said a pressure pump was not required.
10. The Ombudsman looks to see that a landlord has taken appropriate action to respond to a resident’s reports. It cannot make a finding on technical issues such as the water pressure in the property. The landlord has expert personnel who have concluded that the water pressure is adequate and there is no fault with the equipment provided, and the Ombudsman has no basis for making a contrary finding.
11. It appears that the resident is seeking a shower as an alternative to a bath, but this is not something that the landlord is obliged to provide. The landlord has said that the shower attachment is for cleaning the bath, and therefore is not designed to be used at a height, as an actual shower would be. Whilst the Ombudsman appreciates that this has been a frustrating issue for the resident, and understands him desiring a shower at the property, it has not been shown that there is a requirement for the landlord to provide one in the current circumstances. The landlord has acted reasonably by checking the pressure and confirming that household has adequate services for essential facilities within the household for bathing. Accordingly, the landlord’s response was appropriate and in accordance with the tenancy agreement and the landlord’s obligations under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. 
12. It is also noted that whilst the landlord is not obliged to provide a shower, it does not say that the resident cannot have a shower.  It may be that permission could be considered for the resident to fit a shower at his own cost, and this may be something that the resident could request.
13. There has been no evidence provided to this Service to suggest that the resident made the landlord aware of his wife’s chronic pain syndrome before or during the complaints process. The landlord is under no obligation to provide shower facilities at the premises for the reasons outlined above, however, household disability or vulnerability might mean that the property needs to be assessed by a qualified Occupational Therapist (OT) to see if the facilities are suitable.
14. The Ombudsman is unable to make a binding decision as to what amendments need to be installed to enable the household to live comfortably, an OT has the authority and expertise to assess potential disability and make recommendations, including, potentially, those requested by the resident here. Now that the landlord is aware of this development and the particular circumstances of the family, it is recommended that it contact the resident and discuss her options for arranging an OT inspection.

Determination

15. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme there was no maladministration in respect of the landlord’s response to the resident’s request to install a pressure pump/electric shower at the property. 

Recommendations

16. It is recommended that the landlord signpost the resident to obtain an Occupational Therapy referral so that household needs can be assessed. 
17. The landlord to explain whether the resident has the option of requesting permission for a shower to be installed at the property and if so, confirming to him the process that he would need to follow, including the likely costs of such an amendment.