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Places for People Group Limited (202211133)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202211133

Places for People Homes Limited

12 June 2023

 

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 fence repairs and replacement.

Background

  1. The resident is a tenant of the landlord which is a housing association. The property is a two-bedroom house with a fenced garden.
  2. There is no evidence provided to show when the resident’s concerns were raised before she made a complaint to the landlord in June 2022. She complained that her fence needed replacing. She also said she could not open or close her back gate as the fence was not secure due to high winds.
  3. The landlord responded on 1 July 2022. It acknowledged its communication had not been consistent on the issue and it apologised for the time taken to resolve it. It stated it was in the process of checking the ownership of the fence. Once it had confirmation of ownership it would get a quote to replace the fence as part of its works programme. In the meantime, it had arranged for its in-house team to make repairs to ensure the resident’s safety and avoid any further damage.
  4. A housing officer attended the property on 24 August 2022, to take photographs of the fence. On the same day the resident escalated her complaint, as she thought the fence was going to be replaced. Instead a housing officer came to take photographs for repairs. She stated a repair would not help as the wood was rotten and that the fence needed replacing.
  5. On 8 September 2022, an operative attended the property and inspected the fence. He stated the fence was a bit “wobbly” but not unsafe and he did not think it needed replacing. Later that day the resident contacted the landlord to dispute that the fence did not need replacing. The landlord provided its final complaint response on 20 September 2022. It stated that it had been seeking confirmation of the legal boundary line ahead of replacing the fence as part of its replacement program. However, following the operative’s visit on 9 September 2022, and photographic evidence, it had concluded that the fence was safe and secure and did not need replacing.
  6. The resident brought her complaint to this Service because she was dissatisfied with the landlord’s decision not to replace the fence. The resident wanted the fence replacing.

Assessment and findings

  1. When receiving a report of a repair issue, a landlord is expected to investigate and inspect the issue and decide on an appropriate course of action to resolve it. In this case, the resident reported that her fence was in poor condition and needed replacing. Nothing in the evidence provided shows the landlord inspecting the fence before telling her in its first complaint response that it would repair it, and then replace it in the long term as part of its works programme. It is not apparent what it based that decision on. Nonetheless, the decision predictably would have given some reassurance to the resident that the problem would be resolved in the manner she believed was appropriate.
  2. The landlord then inspected the fence in August and September 2022. Based on those inspections it changed its mind and decided the fence was not in such a poor condition that it needed to be repaired or replaced. The decision about what repair action to take is a landlord’s to make, based on the relevant circumstances and views and opinions of its operatives. While the resident clearly disagreed, nothing in the evidence suggests the landlord overlooked or ignored any specific evidence, or that its decision was unsound.
  3. However, the landlord did not manage the resident’s expectations well, and it was not reasonable or fair to tell her in the first place that it would repair and replace the fence, given that it had not yet inspected or made a properly informed decision. Having made that error, the landlord had the opportunity to make things right in its final complaint response by apologising, and explaining how it had come about. It did not do that, meaning that its original mismanagement of the resident’s expectations went unaddressed.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure by the landlord in respect of the complaint.

Orders

  1. In light of the landlord’s failure to manage the resident’s expectations about the fence repair it is ordered to pay her £150 compensation. This payment must be made within four weeks of this report.
  2. The landlord’s final decision not to proceed with the fence repair was not unreasonable. Nonetheless, it is not apparent why it promised to replace the fence originally, and the resident has explained her ongoing concerns about its condition. Because of that the landlord is ordered to conduct a further inspection, in conjunction with the resident, and then retake its decision. This will allow the resident the opportunity to specifically identify for the landlord where she believes repairs or replacements are needed, and allow the landlord the opportunity to explain what standard of fence condition it considers acceptable. The decision about whether the fence needs to be repaired/replaced or not remains the landlord’s to make. Evidence of this inspection and discussion with the resident must be provided to this Service within six weeks of this report.