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Southern Housing (202217797)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202217797

Optivo (now Southern Housing)

26 January 2024 (amended at review)


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:
    1. The resident’s concerns about the communal lighting being connected to her energy supply.
    2. The associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident is a tenant of the landlord. The property is a flat within a building that has been converted into flats.
  2. The communal electricity on the resident’s electric supply. The landlord advised in instances where there is communal lighting on a resident’s electric supply, the landlord will pay the resident an annual amount of £40 to cover the additional costs. This payment runs from 1 July to 30 June the following year.
  3. The resident contacted the landlord on 30 December 2021 advising that she had been having ongoing issues with the communal lighting in her building. The resident advised that the communal lighting is on her electrical supply. The resident advised that the lighting was faulty and should turn off automatically, but it was now on constantly. The resident requested the landlord attend to repair this and for her to be reimbursed for these costs. On 31 December 2021, the landlord advised someone would be in contact with her regarding this. The resident contacted the landlord on 6 January 2022 and 12 January 2022 advising that she had not received any communication from the landlord.
  4. The resident advised the landlord on the 12 January 2022 that she had not received her payment of £40 for the communal lighting cost. She said her energy bills had increased by 50% since the lighting had been left on constantly from 26 December 2021. The resident confirmed that the landlord’s operatives attended to look at this, but the lights were still on.
  5. The resident followed this up again with the landlord on 20 January 2022 and 7 March 2022 stating that operatives visited again to look at the lighting, but they were still constantly left on. The resident asked that someone repair this and remove this from her electrical supply. The resident advised she was seeking legal advice due to no contact from the landlord.
  6. The resident wrote to the landlord on 10 March 2022 advising that she was beginning a legal dispute against the landlord regarding the electricity supply.  The resident advised that the landlord had installed its own meter that day, and the resident was told that she would need to take a picture of the meter monthly to establish the usage on the communal area. She had asked the operatives to stop the work, but they advised they had been told to proceed with this, so they would not stop. The resident stated she would not be spending time each month reading the meters and reiterating that the landlord needed to remove the communal lighting from her supply. The resident advised if the landlord did not resolve this matter within 14 days, she would take the landlord to court.
  7. The landlord emailed the resident on 8 April 2022 confirming that it had sought advice regarding the communal electrical supply, and it was able to install a landlord’s meter for the communal electric supply, so that the resident would no longer have this as part of her bill. The landlord advised that this could take up to 9 months. It further noted that the £40 it paid to the resident towards the cost of the communal lighting was paid up to date, and no further payment would be due until 30 June 2022. The resident acknowledged this on the same day and advised that the landlord needed to remove the communal lighting from her electrical supply and that it needed to read the meter to establish its own usage.
  8. On 6 July 2022, the landlord confirmed it would provide a full response to the complaint by 20 July 2022. It stated that it was still in the progress of obtaining a new landlord’s meter. The landlord advised the resident that this was still within the 6–9-month period it had advised the resident in previous correspondence. It further noted that the resident’s reimbursement of £40 already took into account the fact that the lights were on constantly.
  9. The resident and landlord continued to maintain communication between 2 August 2022 and 23 August 2022, with the resident advising that she had not received the £40 towards the cost of the communal electric in July 2022). The resident advised that this amount was not sufficient as her electricity costs have increased by 50%, which she believed the landlord is responsible for. The resident requested that the landlord read the meter to establish its usage and that she would not accept any payment from the landlord until it had done this.
  10. The landlord advised on 23 August 2022 that it would not take a reading from the meter, as it would be the energy supplier’s responsibility to take meter readings.
  11. The resident requested that her complaint was escalated to the landlord’s stage 2 complaint review panel on 30 August 2022. The landlord acknowledged this on the 1 September 2022. On 21 September 2022, the landlord confirmed that her case would be heard on 27 October 2022, and it would provide the resident with a full written outcome by 10 November 2022.
  12. The landlord issued its written complaint panel outcome to the resident on 8 November 2022. The landlord confirmed it had found that:
    1. Its operative attended the site on 4 November 2022. It confirmed that there was no additional/check meter to measure the specific use on the communal area lighting, therefore it was not able to calculate the specific amount of electricity used by the communal lighting. The landlord advised it pays a flat rate of £40 per fitting per year to residents who have communal lighting connected to their supply. The landlord’s operative advised that there was only one single light fitting connected to the resident’s supply, not two.
    2. It had processed the payment of £40 for the resident to cover the period between 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023. The landlord apologised for the delay in this payment. It confirmed that it would be reviewing its policy regarding communal electricity charges, as it was aware of recent increases in energy costs.
    3. It was still awaiting a date for the installation of a new meter and for this to be authorised. The landlord advised that there may be a delay to the original timescale that it provided the resident. The landlord advised it would ensure that it kept the resident updated. It said it was also speaking to its energy team to see if there was any way to speed up this process.
  13. The landlord confirmed the complaint was partially upheld due to poor communication around the communal lighting. It acknowledged it should have been quicker and more proactive in reviewing the reimbursement policy given the significant increase in energy tariffs. The landlord offered £50 compensation for this.
  14. The resident did not accept the proposed settlement and advised that the findings by the landlord’s project surveyor were false. The resident advised it had been established that both bulbs are from her electric supply. The resident disputed the landlord’s comment that there was no meter to check for increased electrical usage. The resident advised that her energy bill had increased from £40 per month for gas and electric to £131.75 per month since the new lighting was installed. The resident wanted the landlord to pay her at least £32.94 per month since February 2022 when the new lighting was fitted, totalling £296.46.
  15. The resident advised that due to these issues, she was stuck on a higher tariff resulting in an increase of £1,581 per annum. The resident advised that the landlord should reimburse her 50% of this increase in the amount of £790.50. This bringing the total compensation that the resident was seeking from the landlord to £1,086.96.
  16. The resident contacted the landlord again on 31 December 2022 advising she had not received payment from the landlord for the communal supply that was due from the previous year. The resident again was seeking compensation for the communal lighting being left on. The landlord’s notes indicated this had been sent for an urgent authorisation.
  17. The resident is seeking further compensation from the landlord to cover the costs of her energy increase that she believes is due to the communal lighting.

Assessment and findings

Scope of Investigation

  1. The resident advised that the issues regarding the communal lighting date back to when she first moved into the property in 2013. The Ombudsman acknowledges that this is in a longstanding issue. However, we encourage residents 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 whilst the evidence is available to reach an informed conclusion on the events which occurred. As the substantive issues become historic it is increasingly difficult for either the landlord, or an independent body such as the Ombudsman, to conduct an effective review of the actions taken to address those issues. Therefore, although the historic events give context to the more recent issues, this investigation will focus on the events from December 2021, when the resident raised her more recent concerns about the issues with the communal lighting to the landlord.
  2. The resident’s concerns about the communal lighting being connected to her energy supply.
  3. The resident had repeatedly requested that the landlord install its own meter within the block so she would no longer be billed for the communal charges. The landlord confirmed to the Ombudsman on 23 October 2023 that there had been delays regarding arranging a new meter to be installed. The Ombudsman understands that aspects of this delay would be outside of the landlord’s control as it needed input from the electricity supplier and specialist contractors which would take time to arrange. However, it is now over 2 years from the resident raising her initial complaint on 30 December 2021 and the meter has not yet been installed. This is beyond what this Service would deem a reasonable timeframe and the landlord has not provided sufficient evidence to show that the delay was entirely beyond its control. This delay has caused significant inconvenience to the resident.
  4. During this period, we would expect the landlord to evidence that it was keeping the resident updated and it confirmed it would ensure this was done in its stage 2 complaint response. There is no indication of any communication from the landlord to the resident from the stage 2 response in November 2022 until 21 August 2023. The landlord had not maintained regular contact with the resident. This lack of contact is likely to have caused the resident further concern and frustration.
  5. The landlord advised the resident that it would reimburse her £40 in line with its standard practice for residents who have any communal lighting charges on their individual electric supply. The landlord advised that this takes lights being permanently left on into account for this payment. It was reasonable for the landlord to offer a payment to the resident for the increased costs of the communal lighting.
  6. The resident provided the landlord with bank details on 25 September 2021, and had to chase the landlord for payment on 15 December 2021, 26 December 2021, 6 January 2022, and 12 January 2022. The resident has had to chase up this payment annually, which has taken time and would have caused the resident frustration and inconvenience. It would have been reasonable for the landlord to put in place a regular payment to the resident to be issued automatically on 1 July each year. This would avoid the resident having to chase the landlord and the frustration connected to this.
  7. The landlord confirmed that due to the increase in energy costs it had reviewed the payments to residents regarding communal meters. The landlord said it was increasing payments from £40 to £60 and would be backdating this to September 2022. While the landlord could have considered this at an earlier opportunity, it was reasonable for it to recognise the general increase in energy costs and how this may have financially impacted its residents. However, the resident had advised that there had been more than a 50% increase in her energy bills, which she felt was due to the changes in the communal lighting and this now being left on permanently. The landlord should have investigated this further by requesting copies of the resident’s electricity bills for the period when she said her bills had increased and the same period the previous year for comparison.
  8. The Ombudsman had requested copies of relevant energy bills from the period before and after the increase in costs. The resident provided this evidence. This information has been passed to the landlord and it has been ordered to assess whether further compensation is necessary. 
  9. The resident had advised that the landlord had fitted a meter on 10 March 2022 and that there were 2 lights that were being served by her electrical supply in the communal area. The landlord advised in its stage 2 complaint review that there was no additional meter fitted and that there was only 1 communal light served by the resident’s supply. The resident denied this and had advised that she felt the landlord was not being truthful. Due to this continued dispute, the landlord should attend the property to carry out a further inspection to establish if an additional meter had been fitted to monitor the communal lighting energy usage, and if the resident’s supply includes more than one communal light fitting. The landlord should give the resident the opportunity to attend this inspection and it should share the findings of the inspection with the resident. The landlord may need to review compensation offered to the resident following this, if it is found that there are two communal lights connected to the resident’s electricity supply.
  10. While there has been some positive action from the landlord, there have been issues with it failing to maintain regular communication with the resident during the complaints process, and also ensuring it kept her updated following its stage 2 complaint. The landlord failed to reasonably progress the installation of the meter for the communal electricity within a reasonable timeframe. Due to this, there was maladministration from the landlord in its handling of this matter.
  11. Whilst it was reasonable for the landlord to acknowledge its errors and offer £50 compensation, the compensation offered does not fully reflect the time, trouble, and inconvenience caused to the resident as a result of the landlord’s errors. The landlord should offer the resident a further £250 compensation, to bring the total for this aspect of the complaint to £300 in line with this Service’s remedies guidance (published on our website) which sets out the Ombudsman’s approach to compensation. Awards of this amount are appropriate where the landlord has acknowledged failings and made some attempt to put things right, but the offer was not proportionate to the failings identified by our investigation.

Complaint handling

  1. The landlord’s complaints resolution policy states that it will first try to resolve complaints informally. If a resident remains unhappy a formal complaint is logged at stage 1 and the landlord will provide a response within 10 working days. If the resident is still dissatisfied, they can request this is reviewed by the landlord’s complaints review panel. Following a case conference, the landlord will write to the resident to confirm whether the complaint has been escalated to panel review. Once the complaint has been heard at panel, the landlord will issue a final written response to the resident within 10 working days. This being stage 2 of its internal complaints process.
  2. The resident raised her initial complaint with the landlord on 30 December 2022. The landlord attempted to deal with this informally, in line with its complaints policy. The landlord acknowledged this on 31 December 2021 and advised it would provide a further response to the resident. The resident had to follow this up with the landlord on 5 occasions between 6 January 2022 and 10 March 2022. The landlord provided a response to the resident on 8 April 2022 advising it had sought advice and it was able to install its own meter to the block. The landlord advised this would be progressed within 6-9 months. The landlord failed to respond to the resident’s complaint within reasonable timeframes, meaning the resident had to repeatedly chase the landlord for updates before she received any response. This was unreasonable from the landlord and would not have given the resident the confidence that her complaint was being taken seriously.
  3. Following further communication from the resident, on 6 July 2022, the landlord advised it had logged the resident’s complaint, and it would provide her with its formal response by 20 July 2022. This was 10 working days after the resident raised her formal complaint. This is in line with the landlord’s complaints policy and in line with timeframes set out in this Service’s complaint handling code (published online), which sets out our expectations for landlords’ complaints handling practices.
  4. The resident requested her complaint be escalated to the landlord’s complaint review panel (stage 2) on 30 August 2022, as she remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s stage 1 response.
  5. The landlord acknowledged this request on the same day. It confirmed to the resident on 21 September 2022 that her case would be heard with the complaint panel on 27 October 2022, with the written outcome issued on 8 November 2022.
  6. There were 49 working days between the resident requesting her complaint be escalated to the complaint review panel, and the resident being issued with her final complaint response. This is an unreasonable timeframe, which meant the resident had to wait an extended period for a final response. This delayed the resident from being able to bring her complaint to this Service as she had to wait for the final response this Service could formally investigate her complaint. The Ombudsman notes that the timeframes for responses noted in the landlord’s complaints policy are not in line with the Code which specifies 10 working days for a stage 1 response, and 20 working days for stage 2. It is recommended that the landlord brings its complaints policy in line with the timescales in the Code.
  7. Due to the delays in the final complaint response, there has been service failure by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s complaint. The Ombudsman’s remedies guidance states compensation in the range of £100 where there have been failures by the landlord which caused the resident distress and or inconvenience, but the failure may have been of short duration and may not have caused a permanent impact to the complaint. In this case the delayed complaint responses would have caused the resident inconvenience, but these errors did not cause a permanent impact as ultimately the resident was able to bring her complaint to the Ombudsman for independent review.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in the way it responded to the resident’s concern of the communal lighting being connected to her energy supply.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure by the landlord in the way it responded to the resident’s complaint.

Orders

  1. The landlord is ordered to pay the resident a total of £400 compensation. This is broken down as the following:
    1. £300 for the landlord’s poor communication, failure to progress works within a reasonable timeframe.
    2. £100 for the landlord’s failure in its handling of the resident’s complaint.
  2. The landlord to apologise to the resident in writing for the poor communication and the delays in works being progressed.
  3. The landlord’s operative should attend the property to confirm that there is only one light being served by the resident’s electrical supply and there is no current landlord/check meter in place. The landlord should give the resident the opportunity to attend the inspection. The landlord should share the findings of this inspection with the resident and the Ombudsman.
  4. The landlord must consider evidence from the resident which may indicate increased energy usage. The landlord must assess this evidence, and review its compensation offer for increased electricity costs and explain to the resident whether it will agree an increase in compensation and the reasons for its decision.
  5. The landlord should also review its compensation offer if it is found that there are 2 communal lights rather than 1 connected to the resident’s electricity supply and it should explain its decision to the resident.
  6. The landlord is to confirm to this Service that it has complied with the above orders within 28 days of this report.