Sanctuary Housing Association (202126459)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202126459

Sanctuary Housing Association

28 June 2022

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 reports of no heating.

Background

2. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord.
3. On 23 May 2021, the resident reported that he had no heating in the property due to a dial controller being missing. A contractor attended the property on 27 May 2021 and stated that if the heating did not turn on within an hour to contact the landlord. The resident subsequently contacted the landlord and informed it that the heating had not turned on. The landlord contacted several contractors who could not attend the property due to it being a bank holiday weekend. On 31 May 2021, the resident called to cancel the repair.
4. On 22 June 2021, a contractor attended the resident’s property and found that there were no faults to the boiler and the hot water and heating was working properly.
5. On 2 November 2021, the resident contacted the landlord to state that he had no heating in the property. An emergency booking was raised for a contractor to attend. However, due to the property being powered by renewable energy a specialist contractor was required and on 12 November 2021 an appointment was made for 15 November 2021. On the appointment date, the resident called to rearrange the appointment and was advised it would be a two week wait, the appointment was rescheduled for 30 November 2021.
6. Also on 24 November 2021, the resident raised a complaint with the landlord. The resident stated that there had been no heating in his property since moving in, several contractors had been out to repair the heating, but had never attended with the tools required to complete the job. Due to the lack of heating, the resident said he had to move out of his property, as he had developed chest infections as a result. The resident requested a rent rebate as compensation for not living in the property and an apology for the stress caused to him. He also stated that suitable accommodation, with heating ‘would be nice’.
7. On 29 November 2021, the landlord responded at stage one noting the timeline of events, including appointments being cancelled or rearranged and that it could only act when informed. The resident requested escalation as he believed the landlord had not taken the matter seriously.
8. On 30 November 2021, a contractor attended the property and found that the resident had fitted his own controls onto the heating system. The contractor ordered parts to complete the repair, but no date was set for the repairs to be completed.
9. On 29 December 2021, the landlord issued its stage two response. It stated that after a contractor attended the property on 22 June 2021, there was no further contact from the resident regarding any heating issues until November 2021. The landlord stated that delays to the repair in November were due to an oversight regarding the type of contractor required to attend the property, and acknowledged that this caused inconvenience to the resident. However, further delays to the repair occurred due to the resident requesting the appointment be rescheduled to 30 November 2021. The landlord stated that compensation of £3 per day could be awarded for the period 1 April to 1 October for no heating; however, this would only be paid if the delay was caused due to a consequence of the landlord’s inaction, which had not occurred on this occasion. In recognition of the delay to the repairs, the landlord offered £125 compensation. A further £25 compensation was also offered for how the complaint was handed at stage one – specifically that the complaint had not been formally acknowledged, prior to the complaint response.
10. The resident referred this matter to this Service on 2 March 2022. As a resolution to his complaint, the resident is seeking compensation for the lack of heating between May 2021 and December 2021, the money spent on moving out of the property, and an apology from the landlord.

Assessment and findings

Policies and Procedures.

11. The landlord’s repairs policy states that heating repairs will only be dealt with as an emergency during the winter season and where there is no other heating.
12. The repairs policy also states that appointed repairs – defined as non-emergency repairs – will be completed within 28 days. If the resident needs to move an appointment, they will be offered a suitable alternative, provided they give at least half-a-day notice.

Scope of investigation.

13. It is noted the resident has stated that the lack of heating caused chest infections and stress. The Ombudsman does not doubt the resident’s concerns about his health, but this Service is unable to draw conclusions on the causation of, or liability for, impacts on health and wellbeing. However, we have considered the general distress and inconvenience which the situation involving the property caused the resident. The resident may be able to make a personal injury claim against the landlord if he considers that his health has been affected by its actions or inaction. This is a legal process, and the resident should seek independent legal advice if he wants to pursue this avenue.
14. The Ombudsman is unable to give legal advice and therefore cannot comment on this matter further. This is an accordance with paragraph 39(i) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme which states the Ombudsman will not investigate complaints which concern matters where the Ombudsman considers it quicker, fairer, more reasonable or more effective to seek a remedy through the courts, a designated person, other tribunal or procedure.

Assessment

15. When not in winter months, heating repairs fall under the category of appointed repairs, which the landlord aims to repair within 28 days. The resident reported the repair on 23 May 2021 and the landlord arranged for a contractor to attend the property on 27 May 2021. Therefore, the landlord attended the repair within its policy obligation of 28 days.
16. However, the repair was not fully completed on this visit and the resident contacted the landlord again on 27 May 2021. The landlord attempted to engage a contractor to attend the property; however, due to it being a bank holiday, no contractors were available. This was outside of the landlord’s control and, therefore, could not be deemed an unreasonable delay. The resident subsequently cancelled the repair request on 31 May 2021, and the reason for this remains unclear. Therefore, the landlord had no obligation to attend the property until further reports of heating issues were received.
17. The landlord did not receive another report of an issue with the heating until 2 November 2021. As per the repairs guide, the landlord should have attended the property within 24-hours, as the report of no heating was now in the winter months. However, it did not attend the property until 30 November 2021. Whilst there was a 19-working-day delay, this was partially attributable to both the  landlord and resident, given an error in the wrong contractor being booked and then subsequently the resident requesting the appointment be rescheduled. Nevertheless, the landlord acknowledged the inconvenience that the delay in hiring the specialist contractor would have caused the resident and offered £125 compensation and an apology as way of redress. In the Ombudsman’s opinion, this satisfactorily resolved the issue surrounding the delay.
18. A landlord will not be held responsible for any repairs that it was not aware of. In this case, the resident did not contact the landlord to inform it of his concerns regarding the heating not working between the period June 2021 to October 2021, despite the resident stating that this was ongoing for the whole duration of living in the property. The landlord cannot be held responsible for a period of time which it was unaware that a repair needed to take place. Therefore, the landlord acted reasonably in informing the resident that it would not be responsible for any period, where it was unaware a repair needed to be completed and as such no compensation was due for this timeframe.
19. The resident also stated that he had moved out of the property due to the lack of heating, and requested compensation for his rent during this period. Whilst the Ombudsman appreciates the inconvenience caused by the heating issues, again the landlord was not entirely made aware, and no evidence has been provided to suggest that the property was inhabitable at any stage. Therefore, the landlord would not be expected to make any additional compensation awards for any rent paid during this period.

Determination

20. In accordance with paragraph 55 (b) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress prior to investigation which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, satisfactorily resolves the complaint about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of no heating.

Recommendation

21. This Service recommends that the landlord pay the resident, the £150 compensation offered in its final stage response.