Notting Hill Genesis (NHG) (202309002)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202309002

Notting Hill Genesis (NHG)

28 October 2024

 

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 report that she had no heating or hot water.

Background

  1. The property is a 2-bedroom, first floor flat. The resident has an assured tenancy, which began on 6 September 2004.
  2. The landlord has advised this Service that it has no vulnerabilities recorded for the resident.

Summary of events

  1. The resident submitted an online complaint to the landlord on 21 March 2023 and advised the landlord she had phoned on 11 March 2023 to report that she had no heating or hot water. The contractor attended on 13 March 2023 but the resident said she was told by the contractor that it had to order a part for the boiler. She stated that she was without heating and hot water and as a result her children were feeling unwell. The resident said she phoned the contractor on 21 March 2023 as she had not received any communication and she was told that they were still waiting for the part to arrive.
  2. The landlord wrote to the contractor on 21 March 2023 and advised that the resident was still without heating and hot water. The landlord asked the contractor to expedite the repair.
  3. The contractor wrote to the landlord on 17 April 2023 and stated that it had attended on 13 March 2023 and identified that parts were needed. It had then attended on 23 March 2023 and been unable to obtain access to the property. The contractor stated that it had then rescheduled the appointment to 24 April 2023.
  4. The landlord sent its stage one reply to the resident on 28 April 2023 in which it stated the following:
    1. The resident had reported the lack of heating and hot water on 11 March 2023. The contractor had therefore attended (the date of attendance is not stated in the landlord’s letter) and found that parts were needed.
    2. The landlord said that the contractor attended on 23 March 2023 but was unable to obtain access. A new appointment was confirmed for 24 April 2023 and the landlord stated that the contractor attended and repaired the boiler on this date.
    3. The landlord stated that it would only consider compensation for the period from 11 to 23 March 2023 as the contractor had not been able to obtain access on 23 March 2023.
    4. The landlord advised the resident that in line with its compensation policy, it would offer total compensation of £50.35, which was comprised of £20.35 for the loss of services between 11 and 23 March 2023 and £30 for the additional energy cost of using the temporary heaters.
    5. The landlord stated that the repair had taken a long time to resolve, however, it said this was due to the contractor not obtaining access on 23 March 2023.
    6. The landlord said it did not uphold the resident’s complaint as it had fitted the parts within its service level agreement and had not been able to fit them sooner due to the lack of access.
  5. The resident wrote to the landlord on 9 May 2023 and stated that the heating and hot water had not yet been restored. She said that she reported the lack of heating and hot water on 11 March 2023 and an engineer attended on 12 March 2023. However, the engineer had advised the resident that he needed to order a new thermostat and therefore an appointment was made to attend on 23 March 2023. After calling the landlord, the resident was told that the contractor was still awaiting the part and it was unable to say when it would arrive. She stated that an engineer attended on 24 April 2023 but was unable to restore the heating and hot water because he said the water pump was not working.
  6. An internal email dated 14 June 2023 from the landlord stated that it had received incorrect information from the contractor about the no access visit to the property on 23 March 2023 and that the repair had been completed.
  7. The resident contacted this Service on 13 June 2023 and advised that the boiler had only been repaired during the previous week. She stated that she had requested the landlord to escalate her complaint to stage 2 on 9 May 2023 but not yet received reply.
  8. The landlord wrote to the resident on 20 June 2023 and confirmed it had spoken to the resident and she had agreed to an extension of time for the landlord to reply to the stage 2 complaint by 23 June 2023.
  9. The landlord sent its stage 2 reply to the resident on 23 June 2023 in which it stated the following:
    1. The landlord said it had reviewed the resident’s complaint that she had been without heating or hot water for a period of 44 days and had examined the length of time the repair had taken, the poor communication from the contractor and the cost of running the temporary heaters.
    2. The resident had reported the problem on 11 March 2023 and the contractor had arranged an appointment to attend on 22 March 2023. The contractor stated that it had been unable to gain access on this date but had not been able to provide the landlord with evidence that it had attended the appointment.
    3. The contractor attended on 23 March 2023 and found that parts were needed. As the contractor could not restore the resident’s heating and hot water, it provided temporary heaters.
    4. The contractor arranged an appointment for 24 April 2023 and fitted the parts on this date. The heating was therefore restored.
    5. The landlord decided that the contractor was not performing as it should and therefore decided to end its contract. The landlord had also restructured its own team and introduced dedicated compliance officers for managing the performance of individual contractors.
    6. The landlord confirmed that the resident had been offered compensation of £50.35 at stage one, however, it had recalculated its offer for the period of loss. The landlord’s new offer was £455 made up as follows:
      1. £80 compensation for loss of services.
      2. £105 towards the cost of running the temporary heaters.
      3. £20 for inconvenience for the deadline extension.
      4. £250 as a gesture of goodwill (the landlord said this was the highest amount it could award for stress and inconvenience).
    7. The landlord concluded by apologising and advising the resident that it was upholding her complaint as it had failed to deliver an adequate service.
  10. The landlord’s records show that the above sums were paid to the resident on 17 October 2023.
  11. The landlord wrote to the resident on 7 October 2024 and explained that it had reviewed the date the boiler had been repaired and found that it was repaired on 24 May 2023, rather than on 24 April 2023 as had been stated in its stage 2 reply. The landlord therefore apologised for the oversight, recalculated its offer of compensation and offered an additional £210 comprised of:
    1. £110 for the use of the temporary heaters.
    2. £50 for poor communication and misinformation in its responses.
    3. £50 additional compensation for the confusion caused by the error it had made with the date the boiler was repaired.
  12. The landlord sent this Service a copy of the repair ticket and advised that it had tried to call the resident on 28 April 2023 to arrange to fit the parts, however, there was no answer. The landlord therefore sent a text message to the resident on the same day asking her to contact the contractor to arrange the repair. The landlord’s records state that the contractor contacted the resident on 9 May 2023 and an appointment was agreed to attend on 15 May 2023. However, the engineer called in sick and therefore the appointment was rearranged to 24 May 2023 and the work was completed on this visit.

Assessment and findings

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s report that she had no heating or hot water

  1. Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 places a statutory obligation on the landlord to keep in repair and working order the installations for the supply of gas, water, electricity, sanitation, space heating, and heating water.
  2. The landlord’s Responsive Repairs Policy states that it categorises responsive repairs as follows:
    1. Emergency repairs – the policy states that any emergency repair should be attended within 4 hours and works to make safe or temporarily repair should be completed at this visit or within 24 hours. Further repairs may then subsequently be required to complete the repair.
    2. Standard repairs – the policy states that the landlord aspires to complete standard repairs within 20 working days from the date of report. The policy adds that in complex cases, where it must consult with other residents, this may take more than 20 days. In which case, it will communicate the time frame with the resident.
  3. The policy also states that emergency repairs include: “a serious failure of heating or hot water in the property (during October to March only)”.
  4. The landlord’s Compensation and Goodwill Gestures Procedure states:
    1. A payment can be made to a resident for direct loss in response to a specific request where the landlord is at fault. For example, a payment can be made as a contribution to energy costs where the landlord has provided temporary heating.
    2. An inconvenience or distress discretionary payment of up to £250 can be made where there has been a serious failure in service standards and the impact has been high.
    3. Where there has been a loss of heating and/or hot water due to the landlord’s failure to carry out repairs, the landlord will pay compensation at a rate of 10% of the daily rent for each day without heating or hot water (excluding the first 48 hours).
  5. The resident reported having no heating and hot water on 11 March 2023. The evidence shows that the landlord attended on 13 March 2023, which was inappropriate as the loss of heating and hot water in March should be categorised as an emergency under the landlord’s repairs policy and should therefore have been attended within 4 hours.
  6. Following the visit on 13 March 2023, the landlord advised the resident that it needed to order a part for the boiler. It is not clear from the evidence seen whether the landlord provided the resident with temporary heating at this stage. The resident phoned the landlord on 21 March 2023 and submitted an online complaint on the same day. She stated that she had not received any communication from the landlord or the contractor regarding the outstanding repair. The Ombudsman has not seen any evidence to show that the landlord or the contractor contacted the resident to provide an update from 13 to 21 March 2023. This was unreasonable as the resident had been without heating and hot water for 10 days.
  7. The contractor wrote to the landlord on 17 April 2023 and said that it had attended on 23 March 2023 but had not been able to access the property. However, the landlord accepted in its stage 2 reply that the contractor had not provided any evidence to show that the resident had not provided access. The landlord also accepted in its stage 2 reply that it had failed to deliver an adequate service due to the performance of its contractor. It apologised for the delay in resolving the matter and for the lack of communication with the resident and offered compensation.
  8. The landlord explained in its stage 2 reply that it had ended the contract with the contractor due to its performance and had transferred responsibility for the area to an alternative contractor from June 2023. It also advised the resident that it had restructured its own heating and hot water team to improve contractor management.
  9. Although the landlord’s stage 2 reply stated that the heating and hot water had been restored on 24 April 2023, it later confirmed to this Service and to the resident that it was restored on 24 May 2023. This means that the resident was without heating and hot water for 74 calendar days. The contractor stated that it had to order a part for the boiler and had therefore provided the resident with temporary heating.
  10. Despite needing to order a part for the boiler and providing temporary heating, the Ombudsman’s view is that it was unreasonable that the resident was left without heating and hot water for such an extended period. She had advised the landlord on 21 March 2023 that her children were feeling unwell because she had no heating or hot water. However, even despite notifying the landlord of this, it took a further 2 months to restore the heating and hot water.
  11. When there are failings by a landlord, as is the case here, the Ombudsman will consider whether the redress offered by the landlord put things right and resolved the resident’s complaint satisfactorily in the circumstances. In considering this, the Ombudsman takes into account whether the landlord’s offer of redress was in line with the Ombudsman’s Dispute Resolution Principles; be fair, put things right and learn from outcomes.
  12. In this case, the landlord acted fairly by acknowledging and apologising for its failings in handling the reports of no heating and hot water and in its communication. It accepted that the resident had received a poor service.
  13. The landlord demonstrated that it had learnt from outcomes by taking action in relation to the contractor and restructuring its own heating and hot water team. Finally, after it had restored the heating and hot water, the landlord offered compensation to the resident to put things right. The landlord used the formula in its compensation procedure and calculated that the resident should receive an amount equivalent to 10% of the daily rent for the period 11 March to 24 April 2023 (excluding the first 48 hours). Although this calculation was in line with the landlord’s compensation procedure, the end date for the calculation was incorrect as the heating and hot water were restored on 24 May 2023 rather than 24 April 2023.
  14. The landlord also offered £105 for the additional energy costs during the period the resident had used the temporary heaters. This was also in line with the landlord’s compensation procedure but again was based on an incorrect date for when the boiler was repaired. Finally, the landlord offered £250 as a gesture of goodwill to recognise the distress and inconvenience the resident had experienced.
  15. As the resident had been without heating and hot water for an excessive period, it was reasonable for the landlord to offer an additional sum to reflect the distress and inconvenience experienced by the resident. The amount offered was the maximum amount allowed under the landlord’s compensation procedure for situations where there has been a serious failure in service standards and the impact has been high.
  16. The overall amount offered by the landlord at stage 2 was £455, which was within the range of sums recommended in the Ombudsman’s Remedies Guidance for situations where there was a failure which adversely affected the resident. In this case, the Ombudsman accepts that the landlord tried to put things right by offering compensation that was in line with its procedure. However, as previously stated, due to an error on the landlord’s part, the amount offered did not cover the full period the resident was without heating and hot water.
  17. Had the landlord not attempted to put things right by making an offer of compensation, the Ombudsman would have made a finding of maladministration. However, this Service has made a finding of service failure to recognise that the landlord made some attempt to put things right but had calculated its offer using incorrect information about the date the heating and hot water were restored.
  18. The Ombudsman has noted that the landlord offered the resident additional compensation of £210 on 7 October 2024 to reflect that the heating and hot water were restored on 24 May 2023 rather than on 24 April 2023. Whilst it is positive that the landlord reviewed its offer, this cannot be considered reasonable redress. This is because the landlord acted after the resident had exhausted the landlord’s complaints procedure and only after the involvement of this Service. The revised financial offer was, however, proportionate and this Service will not be making a further order of compensation.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s report that she had no heating or hot water.

Reasons

  1. The landlord acted fairly by acknowledging and apologising for its failings in handling the reports of no heating and hot water and in its communication. It demonstrated that it had learnt from outcomes by taking action against the contractor and restructuring its own heating and hot water team. After it had restored the heating and hot water, the landlord offered compensation to the resident to put things right. Although the amounts offered were in line with the landlord’s compensation procedure, the end date used in the calculation was incorrect.

Orders

  1. The landlord is ordered within 4 weeks of this report to pay the resident the £210 offered on 7 October 2024 if this has not already been paid.