Newlon Housing Trust (202113136)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202113136

Newlon Housing Trust

17 December 2021

 

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 request for a replacement of her windows.

Background and summary of events

  1. The resident is a tenant of the landlord. She lives on the third floor of her building.
  2. The landlord’s records show the resident emailed it on 3 September 2020. She said it had advised her earlier in the year that it would replace her windows in the 2020-21 financial year. She asked when it would replace them. The landlord advised that her windows were not due for renewal. It said if they were faulty, it could arrange necessary repairs. It said all upgrade work was on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it would contact her once her property was due for an upgrade. There were several emails between the resident and landlord concerning her request.
  3. The landlord’s records show on 22 February 2021 the resident reported that her kitchen window frame was rotten. The landlord raised a work order, and its contractors attended on 9 March 2021. They recommended follow up work and obtained approval for scaffolding on 23 April 2021.
  4. The resident emailed the landlord on 5 May 2021. She said she was concerned it was not replacing her main room windows. She said the frames were rotten.
  5. The resident raised a complaint to the landlord on 14 May 2021. She said it had previously advised that it would replace all her windows during the 2020-21 financial year, but this was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She said the landlord had investigated and decided to replace her kitchen windows. She said she thought it should also replace her main room windows as they posed a safety risk to the downstairs neighbours.
  6. Contractors attended on 14 May 2021 to replace the kitchen windows.
  7. On 18 May 2021 the landlord advised the resident that her property was not on its list for a window renewal (for her main room windows). It said it would attend on 11 June 2021 to inspect them.
  8. The landlord issued its stage one complaint response on 1 June 2021. It provided a breakdown of what action it had taken since 22 February 2021. It said no further works were required following the appointment on 14 May 2021. It asked her to advise it if she disagreed. It said there had been confusion with which windows needed renewing. It also said it failed to communicate that it needed an extension to erect the scaffolding. It said it should have completed the repair by 22 March 2021. It offered her £120 compensation (£15 per week) for the further eight weeks it took to complete work. It concluded by explaining how the resident could escalate her complaint if she remained dissatisfied.
  9. The resident escalated her complaint on 1 June 2021. She said her complaint was not about the length of time to complete the repair, but about the repair itself. She reiterated that it had advised her in 2019-20 that it would replace her windows in the 2020-21 financial year following multiple visits. She reiterated that she had safety concerns with the main room windows, and asked the landlord to replace them.
  10. The resident emailed the landlord on 11 June 2021 and said nobody had attended that day for the inspection.
  11. The landlord issued its stage two complaint response on 30 June 2021. It acknowledged that it had not addressed the resident’s original concern of her main room windows not being replaced in its previous response. It acknowledged that its contractors failed to attend on 11 June 2021. It said following an appointment on 14 June 2021 it had decided to replace four windows on the garden side of her property (these are understood to be in her main room). It said it would be in touch regarding proceeding with the work. It acknowledged that its contractors had attended before to inspect the garden side windows and had decided not to renew them. It apologised for any frustration and inconvenience caused. It offered her an additional £75 compensation. This comprised of:
    1. £25 for its stage one response not addressing her complaint.
    2. £25 for repeated contractor visits.
    3. £25 for the missed appointment on 11 June 2021.
  12. The landlord’s records show it was awaiting access from the ground floor neighbour in order to erect scaffolding in their garden to complete the outstanding replacements. The landlord referred the matter to its enforcement team as it could not gain access. It remains unclear whether the work has been completed.
  13. The resident referred her complaint to this Service on 8 September 2021. She said her windows had been letting in water and a draft since 2013 which had caused her to have higher energy bills to heat her property. She said she wanted the landlord to compensate her for the increased bills.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. While the resident has advised this Service that she suffered with water ingress / a draft for several years, and that this has had a financial impact on her energy bills, this matter was not raised with the landlord within her stage one or two complaint. The Ombudsman is therefore unable to comment on this as under paragraph 39 (a) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the Ombudsman will not investigate complaints which are made prior to having exhausted the landlord’s complaints procedure. In the Ombudsman’s view, any failure to deal with the alleged water ingress or coldness should have been raised with the landlord in the first instance. The resident will therefore need to bring this to the landlord as a complaint, before being considered by this Service.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s request for a replacement of her windows.

  1. The landlord’s repairs policy states it is responsible for repairs to windowsills, and window frames. Where timeframes are concerned, it will attend to emergency repairs (any situation that is dangerous or likely to become so) within 24 hours and urgent / routine repairs within 20 working days. Its compensation policy states that it will offer £25 for a missed appointment and £25 for a failure of service (for example a failure to meet published timescales, or repeated broken appointments). It will offer £10-£25 per week for delayed repairs.
  2. In September 2020 the resident told the landlord that it had previously advised her that it would replace her windows in the 2020-21 financial year. The landlord said it would not renew her windows, explained why upgrade work was on hold, and advised it would attend for any necessary repairs instead. No evidence has been seen which demonstrates that the landlord made any commitments to replacing the windows. As such, the Ombudsman has been unable to see that there was any obligation to undertake the replacements at this point. Still, however, the landlord managed the resident’s expectations, clearly setting out its intentions, and offering to undertake repair work.
  3. The landlord raised a work order on 22 February 2021 to inspect the kitchen windows. It then replaced them on 14 May 2021. The resident raised a formal complaint as she was dissatisfied it had not also replaced the main room windows (on the garden side of her property). However, no evidence has been provided for this investigation to show the resident reported concerns with these windows on 22 February 2021. It was therefore not unreasonable for the landlord not to initially replace them.
  4. As a result of the resident’s complaint, the landlord raised another work order to inspect the main room windows. It then advised that it would replace them as well. In its stage two complaint response it apologised that it had taken multiple visits for it to reach its decision, and offered the resident £25 compensation for it. It also offered £25 for a missed appointment on 11 June 2021. These offers were in line with its compensation policy as explained above.
  5. In total the landlord offered the resident £195 compensation (for the above, repair delays, and failing to address her stage one complaint). It is understandable the whole situation would have been frustrating for the resident. Nonetheless, the landlord’s total offer was reasonable and in line with the Ombudsman’s own remedies guidance (published on our website). This is because, although there were various shortcomings, no evidence has been provided for this investigation to show there was a resulting long term, or adverse impact on the resident. The landlord acknowledged the resident’s concerns, and took steps to carry out the work she requested to satisfy her complaint.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 55 (b) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress prior to investigation which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily.

Reasons

  1. There were various shortcomings by the landlord in terms of its handling of the resident’s concerns with her windows, however its acknowledgement of its delay in undertaking works, its offer of compensation, and its offer to replace the main room windows were reasonable attempts to redress its failings.

Recommendations

  1. It is recommended that the landlord makes its offer of compensation as this was the basis of our finding of reasonable redress.
  2. It is also recommended that the landlord provides the resident with regular updates concerning expected timeframes for completing the window replacement (if it has not done so already).