Southern Housing (202330323)

Background

1. The resident lives in a ground floor flat. She reported that the communal door was broken in April 2023 and that the communal lights were broken in May 2023. The landlord repaired the communal lights in May 2023 and the communal door in June 2024. The resident pays service charge as part of her rent.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s response to the resident’s:
   1. Concerns about communal repairs.
   2. Associated complaint.

Our decision (determination)

3. We found that:
   1. There was maladministration in the landlord’s response to the resident’s concerns about communal repairs.
   2. There was reasonable redress in the landlord’s response to the complaint.

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

Summary of reasons

Response to the resident’s concerns about the communal door and lighting

4. The landlord responded to the communal lights appropriately. However, it could not demonstrate that it responded to the communal entrance door in line with its repairs policy. Despite a survey identifying that the door could not close or lock, the repair was not completed for over a year. It acknowledged delays, apologised and offered compensation. However, the level of compensation was not proportionate to reflect the prolonged impact on the resident.

Complaint handling

5. The landlord did not follow its own policy or our Complaint Handling Code (the Code). It delayed in responding at both stage 1 and 2. It did not agree an extension or provide updates. It provided its stage 2 response only after our involvement. The landlord acknowledged its delays and offered compensation that reflected the impact on the resident of the failures identified.

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.

Recommendations

Our recommendations are not binding, and a landlord may decide not to follow them.

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

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.

Communal lighting

6. The resident reported communal lighting issues on 12 May 2023. While the landlord’s repairs policy does not specify timeframes for non‑emergency repairs, it should complete communal repairs as soon as reasonably possible. It should treat lighting issues as an urgent repair.
7. The landlord raised a works order on 15 May 2023, and records show the work was completed the following day. The resident confirmed the lighting had been repaired in her email of 19 May 2023. This was a prompt and appropriate response to this report.
8. The resident reported further lighting issues near the communal entrance door on 23 May 2023. Although the landlord stated the lights were repaired on 30 May 2023, it did not provide us with evidence confirming this. However, the resident did not dispute that the lighting was repaired and made no further reports. There is no evidence of ongoing inconvenience or risk arising from this repair.
9. Overall, we found that the landlord acted reasonably and completed repairs within reasonable timeframes. While its records were not complete, this did not result in a substantive service failure in how the repairs to the communal lighting were carried out, and the resident did not report further lighting concerns.

Communal door

10. Although we’ve not seen evidence of the resident’s initial report, the landlord raised an emergency repair for the communal door on 26 April 2023. It repairs policy requires emergency repairs to be attended within 6 hours to make safe. We have not seen evidence that the landlord attended within this timeframe or that it completed temporary safety works. This represents a failure to act in line with its emergency repairs policy.
11. The landlord stated that its contractors made the door safe on 30 May 2023 but provided no repair records or completion notes to evidence this. This represents a record-keeping failure. In addition, the landlord’s stage 2 complaint response contained inconsistent information about appointments and completion dates, including references to completion in January 2024 (which was incorrect, and also disputed by the resident). This conflicted with other evidence provided which undermined confidence in the accuracy of the landlord’s records.
12. Furthermore, a surveyor who attended on 7 June 2023 found that the door could not close or lock and recommended a full service or replacement. These findings conflicted with the landlord’s assertion that it made the communal door safe on 30 May 2023. Despite the clear identification of the issue and recommended action, the repairs were not completed until 28 June 2024, over a year later. Given the communal security implications, this delay was not reasonable.
13. While some delays were attributed to contractor availability and factors outside the landlord’s control, the landlord did not demonstrate effective oversight. It failed to maintain accurate records or provide clear and consistent updates to the resident. This contributed to confusion, poor communication, and avoidable delay, requiring the resident to repeatedly chase progress and resulting in distress and inconvenience.
14. Under our dispute resolution principles, landlords must act fairly, put things right, and learn from outcomes. The landlord appropriately responded to the residents request for a refund of service charge in its stage 2 complaint response. It said compensation would be made for appointments rather than a service charge refund, which we consider to be reasonable.
15. Although the landlord apologised, said it had taken learning, completed the communal door repair, and offered £110, this did not adequately reflect the distress, inconvenience, time and trouble caused by the prolonged delays and poor communication. In its response the landlord said that the repair had been completed in January 2024 which was incorrect as we have seen evidence that it was completed 6 months later. As such, in the above order we have increased the compensation. We consider a total of £350 which falls within the range for maladministration in our compensation guidance to be sufficient for circumstances as such where the landlord has acknowledged some failing, but its offer as not proportionate to the failings identified.

What we have not considered

16. The resident reported to us during a call in April 2026 that she had issues with damp and mould. In the interest of fairness, we are only looking at the issues that have been raised through the landlord’s process and exhausted it, and where the landlord had an opportunity to respond to them and initially provide a resolution. If the resident is dissatisfied with the landlord’s handling of damp and mould, she may wish to follow the landlord’s internal complaint process in the first instance.

17. The landlord’s complaints policy mirrors our Code. Its policy says it must acknowledge stage 1 and 2 complaints within 5 working days. It should respond to stage 1 within 10 working days and stage 2 within 20 working days. If it cannot meet these timeframes, it can extend both stages with explanation to the resident.
18. The landlord should have acknowledged the stage 1 complaint by 19 May 2023 and responded by 5 June 2023. However it did not acknowledge the complaint until 30 May 2023, and responded on 13 June 2023, which contributed to a week delay.
19. The landlord acknowledged the stage 2 complaint on 21 July 2023, slightly outside the required timeframe. It should have responded by 18 August 2023, but it did not respond until 22 March 2024, and following our intervention. This was a day after our deadline and over 7 months late and significantly outside its complaint policy timeframes and the Code. Additionally, its complaint responses were incorrect due to its poor record keeping which we explored in the substantive complaint section above.
20. The delays caused the resident avoidable frustration and prolonged resolution of the complaint. The landlord acknowledged its complaint handling failures, apologised, and offered £90 compensation. Furthermore, the landlord showed that it explored service improvement as a result of its acknowledged failures and in attempt to avoid any similar failures reoccurring in future. These were appropriate steps to take. We consider this amount to be proportionate and consistent with both the landlord’s compensation guidance at the time, and sufficient to recognise the impact on the resident.

Learning

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

21. We have highlighted the importance of accurate and complete records for repair appointments, works completed, and communication. Improved record keeping would enable the landlord to demonstrate compliance with its repair obligations and avoid confusion when responding to complaint.

Communication

22. The landlord did not communicate proactively with both the resident and the contractors during the repair process, leading to frustration and repeated chasing by the resident. It has since taken steps to improve communication with contractors and residents, which is a positive step, and should help to manage expectations and reduce similar issues from happening in future.