Paragon Asra Housing Limited (202427884)

Background

1. The resident lives in a flat in a block. She reported repairs at the property in September 2024. She reported repairs to the windows, the roof and guttering, and the parking area. She was unhappy with the landlord’s response to her reports of repairs, and made a complaint in October 2024.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of repairs, in particular:
   1. Repairs to the roof and guttering.
   2. Repairs to the windows.
   3. Repairs to the external wall.
   4. Repairs to the communal car park area.
3. We have also considered the landlord’s complaint handling.

Our decision (determination)

4. There was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of repairs, in particular:
   1. Repairs to the roof and guttering.
   2. Repairs to the windows.
   3. Repairs to the external wall.
   4. Repairs to the communal car park area.
5. The landlord made a reasonable offer of redress which resolved errors in its complaint handling.

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

Summary of reasons

The landlord’s handling of repairs

6. The landlord accepted its handling of the repairs was poor and offered compensation. It failed to complete the inspection it committed to in its final complaint response. Its position on the windows was inappropriate and it failed to thoroughly inspect to consider what interim repairs were needed.

The landlord’s complaint handling

7. There were delays at both stages of the complaint process. The landlord apologised for the delay at stage 1 but failed to offer appropriate redress. It put this right by offering compensation for its complaint handling errors at stage 2.

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.

Recommendations

Our recommendations are not binding, and a landlord may decide not to follow them.

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.

8. The resident reported concerns about repairs at another property in the same block during her complaint. A relative of hers is a leaseholder in that property. We have not investigated the landlord’s handling of the repairs at the neighbouring property. We can only investigate complaints brought by a person who has a landlord tenant relationship, or an authorised representative. We have not been given evidence the resident was authorised to bring the complaint on her relative’s behalf. We have therefore only investigated the landlord’s handling of the repairs at the resident’s property.
9. The resident told us that the landlord’s handling of the repairs impacted her health and wellbeing. It would be fairer, more reasonable, and more effective for the resident to make a personal injury claim for any injury caused. The courts are best placed to deal with this type of dispute as they will have the benefit of independent medical advice to decide on the cause of any injury and how long it will last. We’ve not investigated this further. We can decide if a landlord should pay compensation for distress and inconvenience.
10. We have extended the scope of our investigation beyond the landlord’s stage 2 complaint response. This is because matters were outstanding at the time of its final response. We have limited this scope to commitments the landlord made in its complaint responses. If the resident is unhappy with the landlord’s handling of any issues raised after its final complaint response she may want to make another complaint. We may then investigate if she remains unhappy after exhausting the landlord’s complaint procedure.
11. The landlord accepted its handling of the repairs was poor and appropriately offered compensation. It is not possible to determine what compensation was offered for the individual repair issues. As such we have considered its handling of the repairs as a whole.

Repairs to the roof and guttering

12. The landlord was on notice about the roof and guttering repairs from an inspection on 30 September 2024. It found some roof tiles had slipped and there were issues with the guttering. It completed the repairs by 6 November 2024. The landlord has not provided records of this repair, which is a shortcoming in its record keeping. The resident did not dispute its version of the repair set out in its complaint response. It is therefore reasonable to conclude the repair did go ahead as described. This was within its 60 day target timeframe for complex repairs. We welcome the fact the landlord accepted its communication about the repairs was poor, which showed learning.
13. At the time of its final complaint response the landlord was reasonably of the view the roof and guttering issues were resolved. The resident reported to us there were still issues with water ingress from the roof and she had concerns about the safety of the chimney stack. We have no power to investigate complaints which the landlord has not had the chance to respond to first, so have not investigated its handling of the above concerns. However, considering the resident’s concerns we recommend it inspects the roof/chimney stack when it completes the inspection we have ordered.

Repairs to the windows

14. The resident was evidently unhappy about the condition of the windows from when she purchased the lease to the property in 2022. We have not investigated the matter dating back to 2022. We have considered the landlord’s handling of the matter in the reasonable period leading up to the resident’s complaint in October 2024. In line with the approach set out in our Scheme we have considered the landlord’s handling of the matter from October 2023 onwards.
15. The landlord raised a repair to the lounge window on 5 October 2023. Its notes say the window was not weather proof as the sill was removed earlier that year. Its repair log shows it booked an appointment for 26 October 2023, which was within a reasonable timeframe. The evidence indicates it was unable to gain access to do the repair at the time. We are not commenting on the resident’s reasons for being unavailable for the repairs appointments, but this impacted on the landlord’s ability to respond. This impacted on the landlord’s ability to progress the matter.
16. When the resident made a complaint about its handling of the window repairs, the landlord appropriately arranged an inspection. It inspected the windows the next day and identified some repairs to the windows. However, it does not appear the repairs went ahead at the time. This inconvenienced the resident. She was evidently distressed at the condition of the windows. The landlord’s failure to progress the repairs at the time may have increased the distress she experienced.
17. The landlord’s stage 1 complaint response appropriately said it would do interim repairs to the windows ahead of the consideration of their renewal. However, its response lacked detail about what repairs it would do.
18. The landlord’s stage 2 complaint response was also inappropriate in relation to the windows. It did not set out what repairs it would do and described their condition as “fair”. Its repair records from around this time describe the windows “not in great condition”. It is not for us to determine whether the windows need replacing, and the landlord was entitled to rely on its appropriately qualified operatives to determine whether they needed replacing. However, what is clear is the landlord did not appropriately progress with interim repairs or show transparency in its complaint responses about what repairs were needed.
19. From the records provided it is unclear whether any interim repairs went ahead. The resident reports the interim repairs were not done, and the windows are beyond repair. We order the landlord to inspect the windows to identify whether they are repairable, or need replacing. It must set out its findings to the resident including whether it plans to replace the windows. It must also set out what repairs it will do and when it plans to complete them by.

Repairs to the external wall

20. The landlord was on notice about the resident’s concerns about the external wall and her request for repointing when she escalated her complaint to stage 2 in October 2024. The landlord appropriately said it would inspect the external wall to identify what repairs may be needed.
21. The landlord told us, in November 2025, the planned inspection for 3 March 2025 did not go ahead. This was a failing in its handling of the matter. It said this was due to an error in its communication with the resident about the inspection. It said it would raise an inspection, but we have not been provided with evidence this went ahead at the time. The landlord must do an inspection now, which includes an inspection of the external wall.

Repairs to the communal car park area

22. The landlord was on notice about the resident’s reports of repairs to the parking area from October 2023. The records indicate the landlord did repairs to the slabs to remove the reported trip hazard in October 2023, which the resident confirms were done at the time.
23. The landlord said in its final complaint response that there were issues in getting access to complete repairs to the lighting in the parking area. Its records support this conclusion. We are not commenting on the resident’s reasons for being unavailable for the repairs appointments, but this impacted on the landlord’s ability to respond. We welcome the fact the landlord committed to inspect the parking area as part of its final complaint response.
24. As set out above, it was a failing the inspection did not go ahead in March 2025 and we have ordered it to do an inspection. Its inspection must include an inspection of the parking area.

The landlord’s offer of redress for repairs

25. The landlord accepted its handling of the repairs was poor and offered compensation. Considering the landlord failed to do the inspection it committed to, and its errors in its handling of the window issue, we do not consider its offer of £200 in compensation appropriate to fully put things right.
26. Our remedies guidance sets out that for findings of maladministration an order of compensation between £100 and £600 may be appropriate to put things right for the resident. The exact amount of compensation will depend on the individual circumstances of the complaint. The guidance states that findings of maladministration may be made when we identify failures “which adversely affected the resident”. This will depend on the severity of the failing and the impact on the resident. Considering, the failings identified above we have determined an order for a further £250 in compensation is appropriate, taking the total order to £450.

27. The landlord sent its stage 1 complaint response outside of the 10 working day timeframe set out in its complaints policy and our complaint handling code. While not an excessive delay, any delay causes some inconvenience. It appropriately apologised for the delay but missed an opportunity to put things right by not offering compensation.
28. There was a longer delay in the landlord sending its stage 2 complaint response, 78 working days. This was well outside of the 20 working day timeframe set out in its complaints policy and our Code. The landlord appropriately apologised for the delay, and for its errors at stage 1. The £100 it offered was in line with our compensation guidance for complaint handling, available on our website. This put right the inconvenience caused by errors in its complaint handling.

Learning

Communication and record-keeping

29. Our spotlight report on repairs and maintenance explains that failures can be avoided when landlords:
    1. let residents know what to expect regarding repairs and provide a clear schedule for repair visits
    2. gather feedback from residents and conduct inspections to ensure the work is satisfactory.
30. In this case, the landlord’s communication about the repairs was poor, a fact it accepted. Frustration and dissatisfaction may have been avoided if the landlord’s repairs and maintenance team followed our spotlight report recommendations. The records also lack recorded outcomes of reported repairs for some repairs. This poor record keeping may have impacted on its ability to respond to the repairs appropriately.