Notting Hill Genesis (202010653)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202010653

Notting Hill Genesis

23 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 landlords handling of the:
    1. resident’s reports concerning no access to hot water for a week.
    2. formal complaint.

Background and summary of events

  1. Background
  2. The resident is an assured tenant of a 1-bedroom flat in a converted building at a rent of £1200 per calendar month.
  3. The landlord’s repairs policy notes emergency repairs as heating (during October to March only) or hot water failure with a response within 24 hours and all further work being completed within 24 hours within reason. Routine repairs are classified as non–urgent work to rectify or prevent damage to, and ensure the proper working order of the property and its fixtures. Works will be carried out within 20 working days.
  4. The landlord’s complaint policy notes a complaint will be logged within 1 working day of the complaint being made and the resident contacted within 2 working days and a response within 10 working days. If a review is requested this should be acknowledged within 2 working days and a response provided within 20 working days.
  5. The landlord’s compensation policy notes compensation will be paid for the loss of hot water after the first 48 hours based on 10% of the daily rental charge. It notes goodwill gestures can be made to acknowledge that there has been a service failure that it is committed to putting right.

Summary of events

  1. On 19 April 2020, the resident made a formal complaint to the landlord that on 3 April, an engineer attended her property to resolve low pressure issues. The boiler was left in working condition, however shortly after, a leak occurred. The engineer reattended noting that the boiler had to be drained and a part ordered which would be fitted on 7 April. The resident advised that as she needed hot water to wash her hands given the pandemic, the boiler should have been left on with a bucket under as the leak was ‘minimal’.
  2. The resident noted that as the landlord was leaving her without hot water to wash her hands it was putting her in danger, as she could not then adhere to government advice. The resident advised that she had contacted a friend (qualified engineer) who reinstated the boiler, and the leak was manageable, stopping the following day. She noted that she therefore had hot water to wash her hands. The resident noted that the landlord’s engineer had returned on 7 April, but she had not confirmed the appointment which was made the previous day and she was unavailable. The engineer returned on 9 April. The resident alleged that she was purposefully left without hot water.
  3. The resident resent her complaint via Resolver on 4 May as she had no formal response. The landlord acknowledged the complaint on 13 May in relation to another issue. On 11 June, the landlord acknowledged the resident’s complaint in relation to the hot water issue.
  4. On 29 August, the landlord provided its stage 1 response. It apologised for not following up the complaint. It confirmed the resident’s version of events as per her complaint and apologised that its engineer had been unable to leave the boiler on. It noted that whilst her friend had switched the boiler on, the leak had remained. It advised parts had been ordered following its engineers visit and a follow-on appointment was booked for the earliest opportunity. It noted an offer of temporary heating was made. It acknowledged it could not provide temporary hot water apart from suggesting the use of a kettle. It advised that it did not encourage residents to use their own engineers to switch on a boiler that had been deemed unsafe or failing unless a complete repair was carried out.
  5. The landlord offered £90.82 compensation broken down as £75 for the delay in the complaint response and £15.82 for the loss of hot water. It advised that it was unable to compensate her for one month’s rent.
  6. On 11 September, following communication with the resident and her request for £1200 compensation, the landlord clarified that the engineer had been unable to leave the defective boiler running and as there was a leak it was right to turn the boiler off. It explained whilst there was no hot water there was a water supply to allow her to wash her hands, an offer of heating had been made and she was able to use the kettle to gain hot water. It reiterated the £90.82 compensation offer.
  7. The resident escalated her complaint on 29 September.
  8. On 18 November 2020, the landlord provided its final response noting that it had delayed throughout the complaints process. It apologised and offered £50.00 for the delayed Stage 1 complaint response and £50.00 for the delayed Stage 2 response.
  9. It acknowledged the events leading to the complaint. It advised it had reviewed if there were any government guidelines around timescales for reinstating heating and gas during the pandemic and that it had followed this with the boiler being reinstated at the earliest opportunity.
  10. It clarified that government guidelines were to wash hands with soap and water and there was always running water at the property. It acknowledged the inconvenience of not having hot water and heating for 4 days and offered £85.71. It explained that residents should not make changes to boilers without prior permission as it could have caused a significant risk to not only the resident but other residents in the block. It advised the hot water was also reinstated in line with guidelines during the summer period which was within 7 days.

Assessment and findings

Loss of hot water

  1. Following the resident’s report, the landlord appropriately attended the property to rectify the matter. It is unfortunate that there then followed a leak. Given that the engineer reattended and noted the issue, it was reasonable that he took steps to secure the property and stop the leak. While the resident disagreed with this course of action, it was taken by a suitably qualified operative and in line with keeping the property and occupants safe.
  2. The resident’s decision to engage her own operative without the landlord’s permission, was one she was responsible for. Whilst the resident advised that she needed hot water due to the pandemic, the Ombudsman has considered guidelines at the time and notes that government advice was to wash hands regularly using soap and water. There was no reference that this needed to be hot water and as such the resident’s insistence that the lack of hot water put her at risk and prevented her from following government advice was unfounded.
  3. The Ombudsman is unclear whether following the resident engaging her own operative who switched the boiler back on, whether she then had hot water and heating as she continued to state she did not for four days. In any event, as noted the landlord had offered temporary heating and given the period was outside the October to March timeframe, the landlord responded to the repair in a reasonable time.
  4. While this is the Ombudsman’s position, the landlord reasonably considered the resident’s concern and offered compensation and further increased this at stage 2 of its complaint response, for the loss of the amenities. The Ombudsman calculates that 10% of the daily rent equates to roughly £3.95 and given compensation is offered after 48 hours the amount payable would have roughly been £15.80. As such the landlord’s increase to £85.71 was more than reasonable in the circumstances.

Complaint handling

  1. The landlord has accepted that it delayed in both responding at both stages of its complaint procedure. While the stage 1 response was delayed by 4 months the stage 2 response was delayed by 3 weeks. The Ombudsman notes that at stage 1 the landlord offered £75 compensation for its delay, and this was later reduced to £50 at stage 2 with an additional £50 being offered.
  2. The Ombudsman would usually frown upon the decreasing of compensation, however, given that the same compensation was awarded for a lesser delay the Ombudsman finds that the cumulative amount of £100 for the overall delay was reasonable. This is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance which considers the impact on the resident. As the core issue had been addressed back in April, whilst there was a delay in formal responses, this did not unduly affect the resident.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 55b of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord made an offer of redress to the resident prior to the investigation which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, was reasonable and resolves the complaints about the:
    1. resident’s reports concerning no access to hot water for a week.
    2. formal complaint handling.

Reasons

  1. The landlord repaired the boiler in line with its repair obligations and the government guidance did not state that washing of hands needed to be with hot water. The landlord in any event considered the inconvenience and offered appropriate redress.
  2. The landlord acknowledged its failing caused by delay in the complaints process and offered adequate compensation.

Orders and recommendations

Recommendations

  1. The Ombudsman recommends that the landlord pays the resident £185.71 as offered in its stage 2 response.