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Southend on Sea City Council (202347584)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202347584

Southend-on-Sea City Council

13 August 2025

 

Our approach

Under our early resolution process, the Ombudsman works with the resident and landlord to explore the issues in dispute, identify the matters that remain outstanding and assist in reaching an agreed settlement.

The complaint

  1. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s:
    1. Reports of leaks in the property and subsequent remedial repairs.
    2. Reports of a fence repair.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53.c. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the resident’s complaints have been resolved with intervention.

How the complaint was resolved

  1. The resident is a secure tenant of a 3-bedroom house since August 2020. The landlord is a local authority. The resident lives in the property with her children.
  2. The resident had reported to the landlord in August 2022, and again in April 2023, that water was leaking from the bathroom into the room below. The landlord carried out repairs to the bathroom in May, July, and August 2023.
  3. In early September 2023 the landlord carried out a property survey and then arranged further works. At the start of October 2023 the resident contacted the landlord because the repairs being booked in by the landlord’s contractor were not what she had been expecting. The works took place in early November 2023, but the resident continued to try and discuss her concerns about the works with the landlord.
  4. On 13 December 2023 the resident submitted a formal complaint. She said that the repairs completed in the property were not the works that the landlord had agreed to do, including installing a new bath and redirecting wastewater. The resident was concerned that, as a result, she would continue to have issues with the bathroom leaking. The resident also stated that the contractor had intended to lay flooring tiles which were not non-slip, which she had declined for safety, therefore the flooring remained unfinished. The resident also complained about the behaviour of the contractor’s operatives.
  5. On 27 December 2023 the landlord’s stage 1 complaint response offered to put things right for the resident by visiting the property in January 2024 with the surveyor and contractor. It stated that it would install a new larger bath after checking the area for mould and install non-slip flooring. It also stated that it would survey the guttering and roofing outside the bay window for further leaks and replace 3 fence panels in the garden that the resident had previously reported.
  6. On 26 January 2024 the resident escalated her complaint to stage 2 because she had not had a visit from the landlord as offered in the stage 1 complaint response. Also, she said repairs to the bathroom were still outstanding, and the contractor had not attended an appointment the previous day to repair the guttering.
  7. The landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response the next day and acknowledged that its handling of the repairs had fallen below its standards. It offered the resident £350 in compensation. The resident told us in August 2024 that the issue of water leaking into the kitchen was still ongoing and was causing damp and mould.
  8. Since bringing the complaint to us, the resident has told us that all repairs and works relating to her complaint have been completed. She told us that to put things right she was looking for an increase in the amount of compensation offered by the landlord for the length of time taken to get the repairs resolved.
  9. Paragraph 53 (c) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme states that:

“The Ombudsman may determine the investigation of a complaint immediately if satisfied that the member has made an offer of redress following the Ombudsman’s intervention which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily.”

  1. We contacted the landlord and provided it with a summary of our understanding of the events. We explained the resident was seeking an increase in the offer of compensation.
  2. The landlord told us it would like to offer the resident £950 compensation in total. This included the amount offered within its complaint process, which had not yet been paid to the resident.
  3. The resident has informed the Ombudsman that she is satisfied with this as a resolution to her complaint.
  4. The Ombudsman is therefore satisfied, following the intervention of this Service, that the landlord has now taken action to remedy the matters raised which resolve the complaint satisfactorily.

Recommendation

  1. The landlord should now pay the resident £950 compensation within 4 weeks of the date of this decision. It should provide us with evidence that it has paid this.