South Kesteven District Council (202413942)

Background

1. The resident raised concerns about the condition and safety of an external wall. He was dissatisfied with the delay in completing the necessary repairs and therefore raised a formal complaint.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of repair to an external wall.

Our decision (determination)

3. There was maladministration in the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of repair to an external wall.

We have made orders for the landlord to put things right.

Reasons

4. The landlord is responsible for external repairs to the property. Its repair policy says, non-emergency repairs should be completed within 20 working days, and more complex major repairs should be completed within 60 working days following an assessment.
5. The resident reported on 8 February 2024 that the wall was “compromised” and requested an inspection. An assessment took place on 4 March 2024, 17 working days later. While this was within the policy timeframe of 20 working days, the landlord should have considered whether a more urgent response or interim safety measures were required. There is no evidence that the landlord undertook any prior risk assessment before the inspection visit. This was particularly important given the wall’s location alongside stairs and at the entrance to the resident’s home, which presented a potential safety hazard that ought to have been considered.
6. The policy further states that non-emergency repairs should, where possible, be completed in a single visit. In this case, this standard was not met. However, the landlord did acknowledge that multiple visits were required.
7. The landlord confirmed that the works were completed on 29 May 2024, 74 working days after they were reported. The repair log set a target completion date of 2 May 2024, indicating an expected turnaround of 60 working days. The actual completion time therefore exceeded both the stated target timeframe and the landlord’s policy timescales. This amounted to an avoidable delay in completing the works. There was also no clear evidence that the resident was kept appropriately updated about the reasons for this delay.
8. On 20 June 2024 the resident reported that the wall had become “severely unstable” once again and that the handrail had not been re-secured. The landlord attended and completed the necessary works on 24 June 2024, which represents a timely and appropriate response, particularly in light of the potential safety risk posed by a loose or damaged handrail on a staircase.
9. However, it remains unclear why the wall deteriorated to this extent shortly after the landlord’s previous attendance on 29 May 2024, when brickwork had reportedly been replaced. This raises questions as to whether the earlier repairs were carried out to an adequate standard or were sufficiently robust, as further remedial works were required within a relatively short period.
10. Although the landlord upheld the complaint at both stage 1 and stage 2, it failed to offer any meaningful redress for the inconvenience caused. In doing so, it did not adequately acknowledge the impact of the delay, the repeated need for the resident to chase for updates, or the distress arising from concerns about safety. While upholding a complaint is an important step, it should be accompanied by appropriate remedies to put matters right. The absence of such measures suggests that the landlord did not fully recognise or address the extent of the failure of service or its impact on the resident.
11. The landlord’s compensation policy states that it will consider discretionary compensation where there has been a delay in undertaking repairs, a failure to follow policy and procedure, or where an unreasonable amount of time has been taken to resolve an issue. As the policy does not set out specific award levels, compensation has been considered in line with our guidance.

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.