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Royal Borough Of Greenwich (202319710)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202319710

Royal Borough Of Greenwich

31 January 2025

 

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 residents reports of:
    1. Repairs to his windows and doors.
    2. Repairs to his fence.
    3. Plastering work in his living room.

Background

  1. The resident lives in a 1-bedroom bungalow. He holds an assured tenancy with the landlord, a local authority.
  2. In March 2023 the resident raised a complaint as the landlord had erected a fence in an unsafe condition. In May 2023 the resident raised a complaint as his front door had not been fitted correctly. In July 2023 the resident raised a complaint relating to cracks in his living room wall that required plastering, and the resident also raised a complaint in the same month about cold coming through his windows and doors.
  3. On 8 August 2023 the landlord provided a stage 1 response which covered all the outstanding issues. The landlord said that:
    1. It visited the resident in May 2023 to complete an inspection of the windows and doors, and other than some repairs required to the back door no other work was required. However, the resident had refused the work to the back door, so no follow up work was arranged.
    2. An issue raised with the resident’s kitchen door had not previously been reported, therefore a carpenter had been booked to attend on 23 August 2023.
    3. The fence repairs were completed on 3 August 2023.
    4. Compensation totalling £350 would be offered for the delay in responding to the complaints, for the delay and inconvenience caused and for its poor communication.
  4. The resident escalated his complaint on 9 August 2023 and on 5 September 2023 the landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response. In its response it advised that after receiving a determination from this Service, it would be conducting a new inspection of the windows and doors.
  5. The resident raised a further complaint on 29 October 2023 where among other things he complained that the plastering in his living room had still not been completed and that he had his heating on all day due to excess cold.
  6. In its stage 1 complaint response dated 6 November 2023 the landlord advised that following the inspection of his windows it was decided that all windows in the property should be upgraded and replaced. It advised that it had recently appointed a contractor to undertake this work, and the resident would be contacted to arrange a start date. In addition, it acknowledged that the plastering repairs had not been progressed and it had contacted the relevant team for a repair to be arranged.
  7. The resident escalated his complaint on 6 November 2023 and on 18 December 2023 the landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response. It advised that it was still waiting on an update from its repairs team relating to the plastering, and that the windows in the property would be replaced starting on 2 January 2024 as agreed with the resident. As part of the stage 2 complaint response the landlord offered £600 compensation as payment toward the resident’s energy bills.
  8. The resident’s windows were replaced in January 2024 and the resident asked to rebook the plastering work several times due to ongoing medical appointments and this work has yet to be completed.
  9. The resident referred his complaint to this Service in September 2023. The resident has since told this Service that to resolve the complaint he wants the plastering work to be completed and for the landlord to consider if a more suitable property is available for him to move in to.

Assessment and findings

Scope of Investigation

  1. The landlord’s internal complaint procedure investigated and responded to several issues. However, the resident has subsequently confirmed to this Service that he only considers the issues defined above to be outstanding, and that the other issues of complaint have been resolved. Accordingly, this investigation has focussed and assessed the circumstances of the 3 issues that remain outstanding.
  2. It is noted that the resident has received a determination from the Ombudsman related to a complaint about his windows and doors. The case 202219125 dealt with the landlord’s actions up to 22 November 2022. Therefore, as this investigation will focus on the landlord’s actions from 23 November 2022 onwards.
  3. The Ombudsman also notes that the resident has raised several other complaints with the landlord about its actions after the stage 2 complaint response was issued on 18 December 2023. In the interest of fairness, this investigation will focus on the landlord’s actions up to 18 December 2023 and will only consider the actions after this date if they relate specifically to the resolutions offered in in its stage 2 complaint response.

Windows and doors

  1. Following the stage 2 complaint response on 22 November 2022, the landlord arranged an inspection to look at the windows and doors in the resident’s home. This was arranged as the resident had raised issues about his property being excessively cold. The original inspection was arranged for 9 December 2022. However, the resident requested that the inspection be rearranged 7 times between December 2022 and April 2023. The inspection took place on 9 May 2023.
  2. The Ombudsman understands that the resident needed to rearrange these appointments due to his ongoing health concerns. This is understandable, and it is positive that the landlord was flexible with in arranging new appointments each time the resident asked for them to be rearranged.
  3. The inspection found that the resident’s windows were all “working fine” and that there was some damage to his back door. However, the resident did not want the back door to be repaired. The resident was told that no further work would be ordered to the windows or doors in his property. While the resident was frustrated with the result of the inspection, the landlord’s actions were reasonable. It was flexible in arranging an appointment and it is entitled to rely on the results of the inspection when considering whether any further repairs were required.
  4. On 10 May 2023 a repair was requested for the resident’s front door. The landlord arranged for an inspection and any repairs to be completed on 24 May 2023. This was appropriately assessed as a non-urgent repair by the landlord in line with its repairs policy. An urgent repair includes situations such as an insecure external door, but the repair reported did not suggest that the door was insecure, or the resident’s safety was at risk.
  5. The landlord attended the resident’s property and conducted a repair to the front door. This repair was completed in line with its repairs policy which says that non-urgent repairs should be fixed within 20 working days.
  6. The resident requested that the landlord inspect his kitchen door on 31 July 2023 as he believed the door was warped and letting in drafts. The landlord arranged an appointment to inspect the door on 2 August 2023. This was in line with its timescale for non-urgent repairs.
  7. The resident contacted the landlord on 31 July 2023 as he was unavailable for the 2 August 2023 appointment. The landlord originally offered a new appointment for 5 October 2023, but the resident advised he could not wait that long. Following some internal discussions a new appointment was booked for 14 August 2023. The landlord’s actions here were reasonable. The evidence shows it was flexible and considered the resident’s individual circumstances when rearranging the appointment.
  8. The landlord inspected the kitchen door on 14 August 2023 and agreed with the resident for follow on work to be completed on 18 September 2023. However, on 18 September 2023 it called the resident and left a voicemail to advise that it would be unable to attend due to ‘emergencies’, and a new appointment was booked for 13 October 2023. The Ombudsman understands that unexpected events can happen which prevent appointments being attended. In this instance, the landlord attempted to communicate this with the resident as soon as it became aware. While frustrating for the resident, the Ombudsman considers the landlord did try to mitigate its failings, and therefore its actions were reasonable.
  9. The landlord’s repair logs show that the work to the kitchen door was completed on 12 February 2024. The landlord has not provided any explanation for this and there is a lack of evidence to show why the repair took an additional 3 and a half months to complete. Given the lack of explanation and evidence the time taken (around 6 months) to complete this repair was unreasonable and caused some distress to the resident.
  10. As part of its stage 2 complaint response dated 5 September 2023, the landlord addressed the resident’s concerns about his windows and doors. The landlord referenced this Service’s determination on case 202219125 which was issued on 21 August 2023 and ordered the landlord to arrange a surveyor to inspect the windows and doors again. It advised the resident that he would be contacted about this new survey which had been referred to a contractor. The following actions were taken over the next 4 months:
    1. A survey was arranged for 5 October 2023
    2. On 6 November 2023 the resident was advised following the survey his windows would be replaced and upgraded.
    3. The work to replace the windows was scheduled for January 2024.
    4. The resident’s windows were replaced over several days in January 2024.
  11. This work was carried out as part of a planned programme of works by the landlord. However, it used its discretion to replace the resident’s windows at the earliest opportunity within this programme of works. The landlord’s repairs policy does not set out a timescale for planned works, but the evidence shows that the resident was kept updated on the timeline for the replacement. It is the Ombudsman’s view that the landlord’s actions here were reasonable. This is because the landlord followed the recommendations of the surveyor, replaced the windows promptly, and kept the resident updated.
  12. The Ombudsman has identified 1 failing, where the time taken to conduct repairs to the resident’s kitchen door was unreasonable. The landlord did not conduct this repair in line with its repair policy and this caused some frustration and distress to the resident. Given the length of the delay, the Ombudsman considers this amounts to maladministration.
  13. The Ombudsman’s guidance on remedies says that where there was a failure which adversely affected the resident but had no permanent impact a payment of between £100 to £600 is appropriate. Given the length of delay in completing the repair a payment of £150 is a fair remedy to acknowledge the impact on the resident.

Fence Repairs

  1. The resident first raised concerns about a fence erected by the landlord was not completed correctly on 14 March 2023. The resident advised the landlord that metal brackets had not been attached to the inner part of the fence which left it unsafe. The landlord did not take any action to repair the fence after this initial report. This was unreasonable and caused the resident some unnecessary inconvenience and frustration.
  2. The resident raised the issue with his local councillor who contacted the landlord to chase this repair. On 5 July 2023 the landlord responded to the councillor and said that the issue had not been reported before. This shows that either the landlord’s record keeping around this issue was lacking, or that it did not consider the history of the resident’s case before providing a response. Either way, this was unreasonable and contributed to the delay in repairing the fence. This caused some further frustration and inconvenience to the resident.
  3. Following this, the landlord repaired the fence on 3 August 2023. The landlord’s repair policy sets out that non-urgent repairs should be completed within 20 working days, however, this repair took 100 working days, a delay of 80 working days. This shows that the time taken to complete this repair was unreasonable and added to the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident. Taking all the above circumstances into account, the Ombudsman considers this amounts to maladministration.
  4. In its stage 1 complaint response dated 8 August 2023, the landlord offered £200 for the delay and inconvenience caused, and poor communication. The resident accepted this offer before he escalated his complaint due to some outstanding issues. However, this compensation amount was not solely for the failings related to the fence repair.
  5. The Ombudsman’s guidance on remedies says that where there was a failure which adversely affected the resident but had no permanent impact a payment of between £100 to £600 is appropriate. Given the length of delay in completing the repair, coupled with the failure in its record keeping the Ombudsman considers a payment of £200 is appropriate to recognise the distress, inconvenience caused to the resident, and the time and trouble he took in raising this issue multiple times before it was resolved. This amount is in addition to the compensation the landlord offered in its stage 1 complaint response.

Plastering

  1. The resident reported that there was a large crack in his living room that required plastering on 23 May 2023. However, no action was taken by the landlord in relation to this until the resident raised a complaint on 1 July 2023. This failure to take any action was unreasonable and left the resident distressed and frustrated.
  2. Following his complaint the landlord contacted the resident and arranged for the initial inspection of the living room to take place on 11 July 2023. This inspection took place and recommended that follow on work would be required to carry out the relevant repairs. It was recorded that before the plastering work could be conducted, the living room radiator would need to be removed. However, the resident had to chase the landlord again on 9 August as he had not received any further communication about the follow-on work.
  3. The landlord’s repairs policy says that if an inspection is required that it would tell the resident at the inspection when the repairs should be completed. The evidence shows that the landlord failed to follow this part of its policy which contributed to the time and effort the resident took in chasing the landlord. This added to the resident’s distress and inconvenience.
  4. Despite the resident chasing the landlord about this repair on 9 August no follow on work was arranged. The resident contacted the landlord again on 29 October 2023 and asked for an update on this work. The landlord provided the following updates:
    1. On 6 November 2023 as part of its stage 1 complaint response dated 6 November 2023 the landlord advised that the follow-on works identified in July 2023 had not been progressed. It told the resident that once the relevant repairs were arranged it would provide an update.
    2. On 18 December 2023 it confirmed as part of its stage 2 complaint response that the following on works had yet to be arranged.
    3. On 20 December 2023, the landlord contacted the resident to arrange an appointment for 29 December 2023. However, the resident was unavailable, and the landlord advised the next available date for the repair would be 6 March 2023.
    4. On 2 January 2024, the landlord wrote to the resident to confirm that the plastering work would be completed as agreed on 6 March 2024.
  5. As already set out, the landlord’s repair policy sets out that a non-urgent repair should be completed within 20 working days. The evidence shows that the landlord took 151 working days to offer the resident an appointment to carry out the relevant repairs. The time taken to offer this appointment was outside of the timescales set out in its policy. In addition to the time taken, the communication over the same period about the repairs was poor. It was often left to the resident to chase the landlord for an update, rather than the landlord being proactive in managing the repair. Taking all the circumstances into account, this amounts to maladministration.
  6. The landlord apologised to the resident for its failings related to the plastering. However, this apology does not go far enough to recognise the impact its actions had on the resident. The evidence shows through various emails sent to the landlord that the resident was frustrated and distressed about the situation. As advised earlier in this report, the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance says that compensation of between £100 to £600 is an appropriate remedy for this type of complaint.
  7. Therefore, the Ombudsman considers a payment of £400 is a fair remedy that recognises the impact caused to the resident. This includes the distress and inconvenience caused and the time and trouble the resident took in raising this issue several times. The payment also considers that the repair related to the residents living room, and that any distress would have been increased by having to view the issue daily.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of:
    1. Repairs to the resident’s windows and doors.
    2. Repairs to the resident’s fence.
    3. Plastering work in the resident’s living room.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks the landlord is ordered to:
    1. Provide a written apology to the resident for the failings identified in this report.
    2. Pay the resident £750 compensation (in addition to the £200 compensation already offered in its stage 1 complaint response), broken down as:
      1. £150 for the failings related to the windows and doors.
      2. £200 for the failings related to the fence repair.
      3. £400 for the failings related to the plastering.

Recommendations

  1. It is recommended that the landlord contact the resident in writing to confirm if there are any outstanding issues relating to repairs within the resident’s property.