Rochdale Boroughwide Housing Limited (202221351)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202221351

Rochdale Boroughwide Housing Limited

13 July 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

The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of repairs in the property following reports of leaks and damp.
The Ombudsman has also considered the landlord’s complaint handling.

Background

The resident held an assured tenancy with the landlord in a three-bedroom house. The resident is potentially vulnerable and has referred to a number of health issues.
On 23 January 2022 the resident reported to the landlord a leak around her kitchen sink and ‘black damp’ on her walls. She also reported repairs to her kitchen worktops.
On 28 January 2022 the landlord attended the property and identified a leak under the kitchen sink. It noted that the kitchen walls were black. It stopped the leak and raised remedial plastering works for the walls. The landlord’s repair log suggested that the resident cancelled the remedial work.
On 19 May 2022 the resident reported a leak coming from her bathroom and said that it had caused damage to her kitchen blinds. The following day the landlord attended the property and found a leak from the boiler. It replaced the flow adapter and stopped the leak.
On 20 June 2022 the landlord inspected the resident’s property. It did not find any leaks, however, raised a number of remedial works to address the dampness in the property.
On 23 June 2022 the resident raised a complaint with the landlord about continuous repairs over 10 years. Further, she added that damage had been caused to her electrics and belongings due to reported leaks. She was concerned that the landlord had been unable to find the leak upon its inspections and the time taken to inspect the property.
Between July and August 2022 extensive repair works were carried out on the property. On 4 August 2022 the resident contacted the landlord and said that its contractors had cut a big hole around the loft and that ‘things’ were falling out.
On 23 August 2022 following a visit to the resident’s property the landlord raised a formal complaint on behalf of the resident in relation to the works that had been carried out from July to August 2022. The complaint said:
1. The contractor had removed and damaged her hallway and living room carpet.
2. She had no water supply for an extended period.
3. She had no kitchen facilities for an extended period, and she had to order takeaways for three days as a result.
4. Her living room and kitchen blinds were removed and taken away.
5. Her property was left messy by the contractors.
6. Her neighbours complained about the noise and disruption.
On 24 August 2022 the landlord responded to the complaint at stage one of its complaints process. It accepted that it and its contractor had fallen short of its usual standards. It apologised for any inconvenience and distress caused and offered her £500 compensation. Following receipt of its stage one response the resident refused this offer and said that £800 would be more appropriate.
On 25 August 2022 the landlord issued its final response. It apologised for the service she had received from its contractor and said that it had raised these issues with them to avoid it happening in the future. It said it was happy to increase the offer of compensation to £800, which comprised of:
1. £300 towards living room carpet and underlay.
2. £300 towards hallway carpet and underlay.
3. £80 for living room and kitchen blinds.
4. £70 takeaways for three days and bottles of water for the period whilst without water.
5. £50 for inconvenience and time taken to report the complaints.
In the resident’s complaint to the Ombudsman, she said that complaints about damp problems had been made for months but were ignored. She said that she had agreed for the contractors to lift the carpets, but they had disposed of them. She said that furniture and items were thrown out by the contractors and that she wanted compensation of £4,000; for two leather sofas and carpets, and compensation for personal injury as she said that the situation had made her unwell.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

The Ombudsman acknowledges the resident’s comments that disrepair in the property has been ongoing for over 10 years. This Service will not be looking into matters that took place prior to January 2022. This is in line with paragraph 42(c) of the Scheme, which states that the Ombudsman may not consider complaints that were not brought to the attention of the member as a formal complaint within a reasonable period which would normally be within six months of the matters arising.
The resident has stated that the issues raised in the complaint have affected her and her family’s health.. Often when there is a dispute over whether someone has been injured or a health condition has been made worse, the courts rely on expert evidence in the form of a medico-legal report. This will give an expert opinion of the cause of any injury or deterioration of a condition. Without that evidence, this Service is not able to draw any conclusions on whether the resident’s health has been affected by the way in which the landlord handled the repairs in her home. This question may be better for the courts to decide, where an expert can be cross examined during a live hearing.

The landlord’s handling of repairs in the property following reports of leaks and damp

When investigating a complaint, the Ombudsman applies its Dispute Resolution Principles. These are high level good practice guidance developed from the Ombudsman’s experience of resolving disputes, for use by everyone involved in the complaints process. There are only three principles driving effective dispute resolution:

a. Be fair – treat people fairly and follow fair processes;

b. Put things right, and;

c. Learn from outcomes.

The Ombudsman must first consider whether a failing on the part of the landlord occurred, and if so, whether this led to any adverse effect or detriment to the resident. If it is found that a failing did lead to an adverse effect, the investigation will then consider whether the landlord has taken enough action to ‘put things right’ and ‘learn from outcomes’.
The landlord’s repairs policy states that it will respond to uncontrollable leaks within 24 hours and routine repairs within 60 calendar days. The landlord’s records showed that it attended to the leak four days outside of its timescales, however, its repair log indicated that the resident had cancelled the initial repair request. Although the Ombudsman is unable to assess whether this was a failure on the part of the landlord, it attended to the leak and kitchen repairs within a reasonable timescale.
As part of the resident’s reports of issues to the landlord she stated there was black damp on the walls, which the landlord confirmed during its repairs visit on 28 January 2022. The landlord’s repair log indicated that the resident had cancelled the scheduled remedial works, however, this Service has seen no evidence of any further attempts from the landlord to inspect her property between February and May 2022. Given the resident’s concerns and her known vulnerabilities, the landlord should have made reasonable efforts during this period to inspect the property and carry out any remedial works.
The potential detriment of damp and mould to a resident’s health and wellbeing has been highlighted in this Service’s spotlight report and the longer it is left untreated, the more damaging it can be to a person’s health. Under the Housing health and safety rating system (HHSRS), damp and mould is classified as a category two hazard. The government plans to make amendments to the Social Housing Regulation Bill to introduce ‘Awaab’s Law’, which will make it compulsory for landlords to investigate and fix damp and mould in its properties within strict time limits. While the law is not in place yet, it highlights the expectations of landlords and demonstrates the significance and weight that should be given in consideration upon receiving reports of damp and mould.
The resident reported a further leak in May 2022 which the landlord resolved the same day in line with its repair timescales, however, it took the landlord over a month to carry out a full inspection of the property, where it identified extensive repair works. Overall, this Service considers that the landlord missed opportunities to inspect the property sooner which caused delays to the repairs. These delays were avoidable and would have caused distress and inconvenience to the resident.
During the repair works the resident raised concerns about the workmanship. The landlord visited the property and responded to her concerns through its internal complaints process. The response acknowledged and apologised for its contractors’ failings and indicated liability for damage to her carpets and blinds for which it offered compensation. This was in line with its compensation policy which states that it will compensate residents up to £1,000 where there has been damage caused to possessions by its contractor and was also the amount that the resident had requested.
However, the Ombudsman notes that after the landlord’s final response, the resident informed both the landlord and this Service that in fact the cost of her damaged items exceeded the £800 compensation offered by the landlord. The landlord’s records showed that in March 2023 it advised the resident that the best way for her to claim for her damaged possessions would be through her contents insurance. This advice was inappropriate. Where there is a claim of negligence from the landlord or its contractor the resident should be informed that she can make a claim through the landlord’s liability insurance. The landlord should have referred her claim to its own insurers. The Ombudsman has made a recommendation below, in this regard.
Overall, it took five months for the landlord to inspect the property. The landlord failed to take proactive action to inspect the property and it therefore missed opportunities to begin the repair works sooner. It also failed to acknowledge or compensate the resident for the considerable delays in carrying out the remedial works and the distress and inconvenience this would have caused. This amounts to maladministration from the landlord and orders are made below for remedy.

The landlord’s complaint handling

Following the resident’s complaint in June 2022, the landlord acted promptly in contacting the resident to acknowledge and discuss her concerns, however, it failed to respond to her complaint at all. This was contrary to the landlord’s complaint policy which states it will respond to complaints within 10 working days.
In August 2022 the landlord raised a new complaint on behalf of the resident. It is unclear why the landlord did this as the resident’s complaint in June 2022 had already been acknowledged. The landlord issued its complaints responses at the end of August 2022. This was over two months after the resident’s initial complaint. This delay was avoidable, and in any case, the resident did not receive a ‘full’ response to all her complaint points, specifically the delays in inspecting the property. Further, the landlord’s responses were lacking in detail, and it failed to explain what investigations it had carried out. There is little indication that the landlord took action to ‘learn from outcomes’, and it also failed to advise the resident that she could claim damaged belongings through the landlord’s own liability insurer.
Overall, there were serious failings in the landlord’s complaint handling. It failed to respond to the resident’s original complaint and there was no evidence that it had thoroughly investigated the resident’s concerns. This would have caused distress and inconvenience to the resident. The Ombudsman remedies guidance sets out the Ombudsman’s approach to compensation. The guidance suggests compensation of between £100 to £600 should be considered where there has been a failure from the landlord that has adversely affected the resident. The landlord should provide compensation to the resident as detailed in the order below, for the complaint handling failures identified in this report.

Determination

In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in respect of its handling of repairs in the property following reports of leaks and damp.
In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in respect of its complaint handling.

Orders

The landlord must, within the next four weeks, take the following action:
1. Pay the resident £500 compensation, comprised of:
  1. £300 for distress and inconvenience caused by the landlord’s handling of repairs in the property following reports of leaks and damp (this is in addition to the £800 offered in the landlord’s final response which should also be paid if it has not already done so).
  2. £200 for distress and inconvenience caused by the complaint handling failures identified in this report.
2. Review the complaint handling failures identified in this report and write to the Ombudsman with an action plan setting out what actions it will take to ensure this does not happen again.
3. Review the handling of the repairs from January to August 2022, and identify the reasons for the delay in carrying out the inspection, and what actions have been/will be taken to avoid such delays in the future.

Recommendations

It is recommended that the landlord refer the resident’s compensation claim for damaged items to its insurers.