Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council (202528071)
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Decision |
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Case ID |
202528071 |
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Decision type |
Investigation |
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Landlord |
Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council |
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Landlord type |
Local Authority / ALMO or TMO |
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Occupancy |
Secure Tenancy |
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Date |
23 April 2026 |
Background
- From May 2025 the resident reported issues with her boiler including no hot water. In June 2025, she also reported that there were issues with the heating in the property. She complained about the landlord’s handling of these repairs.
What the complaint is about
- The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of boiler repairs.
- We have also considered the landlord’s complaint handling.
Our decision (determination)
- There was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of boiler repairs.
- There was no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the complaint.
We have made orders for the landlord to put things right.
Summary of reasons
- The landlord did not repair the boiler in line with its repair timescales. There was poor communication and its offer of compensation did not reflect the distress and inconvenience caused.
- Although there was a slight delay in the landlord issuing its stage 1 response, this was minimal and did not detriment the resident.
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.
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Order |
What the landlord must do |
Due date |
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1 |
Apology order The landlord must apologise in writing to the resident for the failures identified in this report. The landlord must ensure:
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No later than 21 May 2026 |
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2 |
Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £726 (£522 in addition to the landlord’s offer of £204) for the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of the boiler repairs. The landlord may deduct any payments it has already made from this total figure. It must pay this directly to the resident by the due date. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date. |
No later than 21 May 2026 |
Our investigation
The complaint procedure
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Date |
What happened |
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29 May 2025 |
The resident raised a complaint. She said she reported having no hot water on 26 May 2025. She asked for a call before the engineer arrived, but no one contacted her. The engineer did not return until 29 May 2025 and did not resolve the issue. She said she still had no hot water, missed work because of the delays, and could not bathe her children. |
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16 June 2025 |
The landlord issued its stage 1 response. It apologised for not calling before attending on 26 May 2025. It said it had wrongly diagnosed the boiler issue on 29 May 2025, which meant the resident had no hot water for 8 days. It confirmed it repaired the boiler on 3 June 2025. It offered £54 compensation for loss of hot water, a missed appointment, misdiagnosis, and disruption. |
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19 September 2025 |
The resident escalated her complaint. She said she had been without heating for over 4 months, and this had affected her health and her children’s wellbeing. She also said that the ongoing issue had resulted in a loss of earnings. |
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15 October 2025 |
The landlord issued its stage 2 response. It apologised for delays and poor communication. It said it would contact the resident to arrange a further boiler inspection and a damp inspection. It offered an additional £150 for time, trouble, and inconvenience. |
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Referral to the Ombudsman |
The resident asked us to investigate her complaint. She said she was unhappy with the landlord’s handling of the repair and the compensation offered. |
What we found and why
The circumstances of this complaint are well known by the parties involved, so it is not necessary to detail everything that’s happened or comment on all the information we’ve reviewed. We’ve only included the key information that forms the basis of our decision of whether the landlord is responsible for maladministration.
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Complaint |
The handling of boiler repairs |
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Finding |
Maladministration |
What we have not investigated
- The resident says her family experienced ill health due to the landlord’s handling of her complaint. It would be fairer, more reasonable, and more effective for the resident to make a personal injury claim. The courts handle this type of dispute as they will have the benefit of independent medical advice to decide the cause and duration of any illness. We did not investigate this further. We can decide if a landlord should pay compensation for distress and inconvenience.
What we have investigated
- The landlord’s online repairs information says that it will repair any loss of heating or hot water reported between 1 May and 31 October within 5 working days. The resident reported a loss of hot water on 26 May 2025. The landlord restored the supply 5 working days later on 3 June 2025, which was in line with its repair timescales.
- Although the landlord completed the repair within its 5 working day target, the resident was without hot water for 8 calendar days. It was appropriate for the landlord to recognise this in its stage 1 response on 16 June 2025. It awarded £54 compensation, which included £24 for 8 days without hot water. It calculated this at £3 per day which was in line with its policy. It also awarded £10 for a missed appointment on 26 May 2025 and £10 for the incorrect diagnosis on 28 May 2025. In addition, it offered £10 for the disruption caused. The amounts awarded were appropriate and in line with its compensation policy.
- On 5 June 2025 the resident reported that her heating was not working. The landlord attended on 12 June 2025 and found that it needed to install a new programmer and thermostat. On 17 June 2025, it fitted these but found that it needed to complete further electrical work. This repair took place 8 working days after the resident reported the issue. This did not meet its repairs policy, which says it should fix a loss of heating within 5 working days.
- Between June and October 2025, the evidence shows that the resident contacted the landlord at least 7 times to report that her heating was not working. This included a report on 13 October 2025, when she sent photos of mould around the windows and said she believed the heating issue had caused this. However, by the date of the stage 2 response on 15 October 2025 the issue was still unresolved. This was over 4 months after the resident first reported the heating problem and significantly outside of its 5 working day repair timescale.
- In its stage 2 response, the landlord acknowledged poor communication and delays and offered £150 compensation. This was in addition to the £54 awarded at stage 1 for the loss of hot water and brought the total compensation offer to £204. It explained that it could not offer compensation for loss of earnings, which aligned with its compensation policy. It also told the resident how to make a personal injury claim, which was appropriate and followed its policy.
- However, the £150 compensation offer for the loss of heating was not proportionate to the distress and inconvenience caused. The resident had reported no heating from June 2025 and, more than 4 months later, the issue was still unresolved despite her repeated contact. The family remained without heating throughout this period, and there is no evidence that it offered a temporary heating solution. The resident also made the landlord aware of the impact the lack of heating was having on her household. The landlord’s compensation policy allows for awards of up to £600 where failures result in extensive disruption. In these circumstances, a higher compensation award would have been appropriate.
- In its stage 2 response, the landlord said it would arrange a damp inspection. It completed this inspection on 28 October 2025. This met its online repairs timescale of completing internal repairs within 28 days.
- The landlord also committed to contacting the resident to inspect the boiler. It’s online repairs information says it must complete heating repairs within 5 working days. This created a reasonable expectation that it would complete the inspection and repairs within 5 working days of the stage 2 response. However, it did not complete the repairs to the boiler until 20 February 2026, over 4 months later. This was significantly outside of its online repair timescales.
- We found maladministration because the landlord did not repair the boiler within its repair timescales, and the issue remained unresolved for over 8 months. The resident had to chase the landlord repeatedly, and its communication was poor. Its compensation offer did not reflect the prolonged loss of an essential service or the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident and her family.
- The landlord’s compensation policy says it will pay £3 per day for loss of heating between 1 October and 30 April. The resident reported having no heating from 1 October 2025 until 20 February 2026. Using the landlord’s policy, this amounts to £426, which we consider a reasonable payment for the loss of heating during the winter months.
- The evidence also shows that the resident reported problems with her heating between June and September 2025, a period not covered by the daily rate set out in the policy. However, the resident experienced distress and inconvenience during this time due to ongoing heating issues. In recognition of this impact, we order the landlord to pay a further £300 in compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused during this earlier period
- In total, we order the landlord to pay £726, which is inclusive of the £204 offered through its complaints process. The additional amount reflects the prolonged heating issues for a period of over 8 months. It also recognises the time and trouble the resident spent chasing the issue, as well as the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident and her family. This additional amount is also in line with our compensation guidance where a landlord’s failure has had a significant adverse impact on the resident.
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Complaint |
The handling of the complaint |
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Finding |
No maladministration |
- The landlord uses a 2‑stage complaints procedure aligned to the Complaint Handling Code (the Code). The Code requires stage 1 responses within 10 working days and stage 2 responses within 20 working days.
- The resident raised a complaint on 29 May 2025. The landlord issued its stage 1 response on 16 June 2025. This was 2 working days outside of the timeframe in the Code. However, this delay was minimal and did not detriment the resident.
- The resident escalated her complaint on 19 September 2025. The landlord issued its stage 2 response 18 working days later on 15 October 2025. This was in line with the timeframe in the Code.
- Although there was a slight delay in issuing its stage 1 response, this was minimal and there was no evidence that it had an adverse impact on the resident. As such, we find no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the complaint.
Learning
- This investigation highlighted the importance of progressing repairs in line with its repairs policy. Not doing so led to unnecessary delays and inconvenience for the resident.
Knowledge information management (record keeping)
- The landlord did not effectively monitor or track the boiler repairs. This meant it did not complete the repair in line with its repair timescales.
Communication
- This investigation found gaps in the landlord’s communication, particularly in keeping the resident updated. It did not consistently provide timeframes or explain delays. This created uncertainty and increased the resident’s need to chase for information.