South Tyneside Council (202312194)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202312194

South Tyneside Council

25 November 2024

 

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 response to the resident’s reports of faulty windows and her request to have all the windows in the property replaced.

Background

  1. The resident has a secure tenancy with the landlord. The property is a 3‑bedroom house. The landlord is a local authority. It has no vulnerabilities recorded for the resident. The resident had a representative in bringing her complaint to the Ombudsman, who we shall refer to as the representative.
  2. The repair log shows that the resident has regularly reported problems with the windows of the property over the time she has lived there. The repair log shows inspections of the windows have taken place and notes the action that the landlord took to resolve the issues raised including replacing some of the double-glazed units, mending/replacing some window catches and sealing around the bedroom windows.
  3. On 15 January 2023 the resident reported to the landlord’s out of hours service that a pane had fallen out of the bedroom window. The landlord attended the same day. We understand that the landlord screwed the pane back into the window frame.
  4. On 6 February 2023 the resident reported that the window hinges were in a poor state of repair. At the end of that month, the landlord inspected the windows. It identified that it should take the following action: replace the rear bedroom window and silicon around all the windows to prevent draughts. It also noted that there was rust on the hinge on the large front window. The operative carrying out the inspection noted that the resident wanted the landlord to renew all the windows. He said he could not authorise that and would speak to his manager.
  5. The landlord made an appointment for 1 March 2023 to adjust the bedroom and bathroom window handles and hinges; however, the resident cancelled that visit on the grounds that, if the windows were to be replaced, that would be a waste of time. An appointment was also made for 12 April 2023 to measure up to replace the glass in the bedroom window and to silicon around the windows to prevent draughts.
  6.  On 14 March 2023 the resident made a formal complaint to the landlord saying she had had multiple inspections and repairs of the windows over the last 6 years. She expressed concerns about the safety of the windows after a pane had fallen out earlier that year. The resident said she had expected a response on whether or not the windows would be replaced but had heard nothing until that day when an operative had visited and had confirmed only one window would be replaced. In a telephone call to the landlord about the complaint 2 days later, the resident said that there was mould around several of the windows.
  7. On 22 March 2023 the landlord issued its stage one complaint response to the resident. It set out the planned repair schedule for the windows and said it had explained when it had spoken to the resident a few days previously that it was not able to renew all the windows. It gave its reasons for that saying that it would only replace windows if they could not be repaired.
  8. The landlord said the resident should contact it to re-arrange the works that had been due to take place on 1 March 2023 and offered to bring forward the other work to 23 March 2023. It added it had asked an operative to attend to check all the rooms in the property for damp and mould on 28 March 2023.
  9. That inspection identified that work was required to repoint the brickwork (around the waste pipes and high-level pipes to the rear of the property). It noted that it should treat mould on the bathroom ceiling and that the replacement of the rear bedroom window was still outstanding.
  10. On 6 April 2023 the representative asked the landlord to escalate the complaint. They said they believed that the poor state of the windows was causing damp and mould in the property. We understand the resident cancelled the appointment of 12 April 2023 while the complaint was ongoing and because she wanted to seek advice from her local councillor before proceeding.
  11. In mid-May 2023 the landlord applied an anti-mould treatment to the bathroom ceiling.
  12. On 17 May 2023 the landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response after discussing the complaint with the resident the previous week. It said it had acted within time to get works scheduled and completed and, at a recent visit to the property on 2 May 2023, it had confirmed the windows did not have any issues that would require their replacement. It noted the windows were due to be renewed in 2030 in line with its scheduled works.
  13. The landlord said the resident should contact it to rearrange the works that had previously been identified. It added that, following the damp inspection, it had raised repointing work. It asked the resident to contact it in relation to an anti-mould treatment. The landlord did not uphold the complaint. However, it offered decorating vouchers to the value of £50 as a goodwill gesture.
  14. When the representative and resident approached the Ombudsman, they said no work had been done to the windows and the bathroom window was now jammed open. They said that the windows had continued to deteriorate, and water was coming in from the outside. The resident told us that she had had to pack the bedroom window (where the pane had fallen out) with black bags and gaffer tape to try to prevent draughts as her daughter had asthma and the draughts were causing her ill health.
  15. She also said she had 2 younger daughters with additional needs who were also affected by the cold in the property. She said that her energy bills had increased due to the poor state of the windows. The resident said she wanted the windows replacing. The resident said the mould was not too bad at the moment as she had redecorated recently.

 Assessment and findings

Scope of the investigation

  1. We have considered matters from March 2022 in our investigation, which is 12 months before the resident raised a formal complaint with the landlord. This is because the Ombudsman may not consider complaints which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, were not brought to the attention of the landlord as a formal complaint within a reasonable period which would normally be within 12 months of the matters arising. This is in line with paragraph 42.c of the Scheme. This is because residents are expected to raise complaints with their landlords in a timely manner so that the landlord has a reasonable opportunity to consider the issues whilst they are still ‘live’, and while the evidence is available to reach an informed conclusion on the events that occurred.
  2. The resident mentions that the condition of the property is affecting the health of her daughters. The Ombudsman does not doubt the resident’s comments regarding her family’s health, and we understand this has been a difficult time for the family. However, this Service is unable to draw conclusions on the causation of, or liability for, impacts on health and wellbeing. Matters of personal injury or damage to health, their investigation and compensation, are not part of the complaints process, and are more appropriately addressed by way of the courts or the landlord’s liability insurer as a personal injury claim. However, we can consider any distress and inconvenience the resident and her family may have experienced as a result of errors by the landlord as well as the landlord’s response to the resident’s concerns about the health of the household.

The landlord’s response to reports of faulty windows and request to have all the windows in the property replaced

  1. The landlord’s repairs and maintenance policy says that the landlord is responsible for the window frames, glazing, window ironmongery, and window sills. This reflects its obligations under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.
  2. This policy explains that the landlord has differing categories of repair including:
    1. Emergency: Where there is a risk to the safety of people and/or property. The landlord will attend and make safe within 4 hours. Where necessary, it will make a repair.
    2. Urgent: Where the repair is affecting the resident’s ability to live comfortably in their home. The landlord will complete the repair within 3 working days.
    3. Routine: This is a day-to-day fault. The landlord will complete the repairs within 20 working days.
  3. The landlord acted appropriately by carrying out an emergency repair in January 2023 when the resident reported that a pane had fallen out of a window and by arranging an inspection when the resident reported further problems with the windows a short time later.
  4. The landlord’s communication with the resident about her request for all the windows to be replaced was not reasonable. This request was taken away by an operative and, while he had told the resident it was usual to repair where possible, it would have been reasonable for the landlord to have confirmed its position before taking steps to carry out the repairs.
  5. The window inspection identified repairs including the reglazing of the window that was broken in January 2023. The landlord acted appropriately by arranging an appointment within 20 working days to adjust the bedroom and bathroom window handles and hinges. However, a second appointment arranged for April 2023 was outside this timescale as set out in the repairs policy. That said, we consider there was no detriment to the resident from this as she cancelled that appointment.
  6. The Ombudsman is not questioning the resident’s reasons for refusing the works, but this ultimately impacted the landlord’s ability to resolve the issues, and the landlord is not fully responsible for delays caused by a lack of access. However, the repair log suggests that this work is still outstanding over 18 months later. It would have been reasonable for the landlord to have contacted the resident to arrange appointments to carry out these repairs after she had completed the complaints procedure in May 2023. This is because it still had responsibility for maintaining and repairing the windows. It was not appropriate for it to leave the windows in a poor state of repair over such a long time period.
  7. While the landlord carried out a repair, the fact that a window frame fell out of the window raises significant concerns for this Service. The ongoing issue with the resident being unable to close the bathroom window also raises security concerns. We have therefore made an order for the landlord to arrange for a survey of the windows by an independent window contractor and for them to make recommendations. This survey should be carried out within 4 weeks of the date of this report. The landlord should provide a copy of that survey to the resident as well as the Ombudsman. It should carry out the recommendations made in that survey report. If it is unable to carry out any of these recommendations it should write to the resident (copied to the Ombudsman) to explain why not.
  8. When the resident reported mould within the property, the landlord acted appropriately by arranging a damp inspection in line with its damp, mould and condensation policy which it had recently introduced in February 2023. This identified some repair issues. We can see that the landlord again acted appropriately by applying an anti-mould treatment to the bathroom ceiling in May 2023; however, there is no evidence that it carried out repointing to the external brickwork. That was a failing as it should have done so within 20 working days in line with its repairs policy. We have made an order for the landlord to carry out this work now if it remains outstanding.
  9. The Ombudsman’s role is to provide fair and proportionate remedies where maladministration or service failure has been identified. In considering this the Ombudsman takes into account our Dispute Resolution Principles: Be Fair, Put Things Right and Learn from Outcomes as well as our own guidance on remedies. Consideration of any aggravating factors (such as the household’s mental or physical health condition) may justify an increased award to reflect the specific impact on the resident.
  10. Financial compensation of £400 is appropriate for the inconvenience and distress caused to the resident and her family as a result of the landlord’s mishandling of the window repairs. This sum takes into account the vulnerabilities of the household which meant the failure to carry out the repairs would have had a more severe effect on them compared to other residents in the same position without their vulnerabilities. The sums awarded in this report are in line with the Ombudsman’s Remedies Guidance (published on our website) which sets out our approach to compensation. Awards in this range include cases where there have been significant delays in carrying out repairs which had a detrimental impact on the resident and her family.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was maladministration by the landlord in respect of its response to the resident’s reports of faulty windows and her request to have all the windows in the property replaced.

Orders

  1. The landlord should take the following action within 4 weeks of the date of this report and provide evidence of compliance with these orders to the Ombudsman:
    1. A senior manager to apologise to the resident in writing for the failings identified in this report. In doing so, the landlord should have regard to the apologies guidance on our website.
    2. Pay the resident the sum of £400 for the impact of its handling of the reported window repairs.
    3. Arrange for a survey of the windows (to include recommendations) by an independent window contractor. This survey should be carried out within 4 weeks of the date of this report. The landlord should provide a copy of that survey to the resident as well as the Ombudsman. It should carry out the recommendations made in that survey report. If it is unable to carry out any of these recommendations it should write to us and the resident to explain why.
    4. Carry out the repointing repairs to the external brickwork that were identified in March 2023, if it has not done so already.