Peabody Trust (202403068)

Background

1. In January 2024 the resident received the actual accounts for the 2022/23 financial year. He queried 2 specific charges and asked the landlord for the invoices, repair job ID numbers and the dates of the works. In June 2024 he raised a complaint because he was not satisfied with the time taken or the information the landlord had provided. After receiving the landlord’s stage 2 response, he referred the case to us as he was unhappy with the compensation offered.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
   1. a request for service charge information
   2. the resident’s complaint

Our decision (determination)

3. We have found there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of a request for information
4. We have found there was reasonable redress in the landlord’s complaint handling.

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

Reasons

Request for service charge information

5. Section 22 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 lets leaseholders who pay variable service charges ask in writing to inspect the accounts, invoices, records and supporting documents. They must make this request within 6 months of receiving the service charge summary. The landlord must then provide facilities for inspection within one month and make them available for 2 months.
6. On 21 January 2024 the resident asked to inspect the documents for the 2022/23 service charge summary. The landlord should have provided inspection facilities by 21 February 2024 but did not do so.
7. The resident had to chase the landlord in March 2024 after receiving no reply within the promised 5 working days. He did not receive an initial response until 11 June 2024, which was a 6‑month delay. When the landlord responded, it did not provide invoices or the full information requested. The landlord also failed to treat the request as one made under section 22. This was unreasonable and caused the resident extra time and trouble as he had to escalate his complaint.
8. At stage 2 of its complaint process in September 2024 the landlord repeated the information it gave at stage 1. It again failed to provide the full documents required under section 22. As a result, the resident had waited 8 months without access to the information he had asked for.
9. On 7 October 2024, after the stage 2 response, the resident said the information remained incomplete. He said he had not received the documents required under “section 20” of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and asked for further information. He had to chase this request at least 3 times before receiving a response on 8 November 2024. Although the landlord had apologised for its communication failings at stage 2, it did not act on this learning and poor communication continued. This caused the resident further distress and inconvenience.
10. On 8 November 2024 the landlord explained that section 20 did not apply and told the resident to contact a different team if he wanted documents under section 22. This was an unfair response. As the expert, the landlord should have recognised the resident’s repeated requests clearly fell under section 22. Instead of shifting responsibility back to him, it should have handled the request proactively. This failure caused further time and trouble as the resident had to contact another team for information he had already spent 11 months trying to obtain.
11. The resident confirmed he received the information at the end of November 2024. The landlord offered £200 for the delay. While it was positive that the landlord recognised compensation was appropriate, this did not reflect the further failings after the stage 2 response. We have ordered an additional £200 compensation because of the repeated communication failures and the unfair way the landlord handled the requests. The resident had already accepted the landlord’s original offer.

Complaint handling

12. The landlord operates a 2‑stage complaint process. It aims to acknowledge complaints within 5 working days. It also aims to provide a stage 1 response within 10 working days and a stage 2 response within 20 working days of acknowledging the complaint.
13. The resident first raised his complaint on 10 March 2024, but the landlord did not acknowledge it. He raised it again on 12 June 2024. The landlord replied on 25 June 2024, which was significantly outside the stage 1 timescale.
14. The resident escalated his complaint on 17 July 2024. On 20 August 2024 the landlord said it needed more time and would respond by 13 September 2024, but it did not meet this deadline. The resident had to chase again, and the stage 2 response was finally issued on 30 September 2024.
15. The landlord accepted its failings and offered £300 to address the delays and impact of its poor complaint handling. This offer was fair and is consistent with our remedies guidance for failures that have no permanent impact on a resident. We have seen the resident already accepted this offer.

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.