Southern Housing (202400350)

Background

1. The resident raised repairs for the water pressure at her property on 26 September 2023. On 5 December 2023, the resident complained about a missed appointment and incomplete repairs to her boiler.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s response to the resident’s:
   1. Reports of boiler repairs.
   2. Complaint.

Our decision (determination)

3. We found:
   1. Service failure in the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of boiler repairs.
   2. Reasonable redress in the landlord’s complaint handling.

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

Summary of reasons

The landlord’s response to boiler repairs

4. The landlord missed appointments and delayed responding to repairs. It acknowledged these delays and offered appropriate compensation to try and put things right. However, it did not respond to the resident’s reports that the boxing in of the boiler was not complete and she said this repair remains outstanding.

Complaint handling

5. The landlord did not comply with its complaints policy. It acknowledged this and offered compensation which was sufficient to put right the impact on the resident.

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.

What we did not investigate

6. The resident has raised complaint issues which have occurred since the complaint exhausted the landlord’s complaint procedure. We have no power to investigate complaints which the landlord has not had the chance to put right first. There is no evidence the resident raised the complaint about repairs to her toilet. Therefore, we have no power to investigate this issue. The resident can raise a separate complaint to the landlord about the toilet repair if she wants to. She may be able to refer this complaint to us if she remains dissatisfied once she has received the landlord’s final response to her concerns.

What we did investigate

7. On 26 September 2023, the resident reported the water pressure was low in the upstairs of her property. The landlord’s repair records said it had not been able to gain access but did not give details of when this took place. The landlord’s repairs policy says it will attend an emergency repair within 6 hours and for other repairs it will confirm an appointment as soon as possible that suits the resident.
8. On 16 November 2023, the landlord attended the property for a boiler repair. It recommended a new boiler, and a surveyor appointment was booked in for 30 November 2023, however, it did not attend this appointment. On 4 December 2023, the landlord attended the property to repair the water stopcock, but the resident was not at the property to give access.
9. On 5 December 2023, the landlord attended the property to survey the boiler. On the same day, the resident raised her complaint. She said she was unhappy it had missed an appointment the previous week and the boiler repair needed to be completed sooner. The landlord rearranged the appointment and on 12 December 2023, it installed a new boiler. On 21 December 2023, it attended the property and repaired the water stopcock.
10. The landlord’s compensation policy says it will assess cases individually and calculate compensation on what is fair in the circumstances. It says it will pay a £10 one off payment plus £2 per day until the repair is completed up to a maximum of £50. It also says it will pay £20 per each missed appointment.
11. On 3 January 2024, the landlord replied at stage 1. It upheld the resident’s complaint and apologised for the delays and missed appointments. It said all repairs were complete and it had brought forward the boiler repair as she requested. It apologised and offered £220 compensation in line with its policy and our compensation guidance. The landlord’s actions were reasonable.
12. On the same day, the resident escalated her complaint. She said the landlord had not boxed in the new boiler and pipes were exposed. She also said there was still no cold water from the upstairs taps, and the hot water was losing pressure.
13. On 17 January 2024, the landlord said it replaced the reviver in the cold basin tap. It also said the pressure reducing valve was faulty.
14. On 1 February 2024, the resident said 2 weeks previously the landlord’s staff spoke to her in an unprofessional manner. She said she paid for a private plumbing repair and asked for it to reimburse her. The resident said the stopcock was still leaking and the landlord had not boxed in the new boiler.
15. On 17 April 2024, the landlord replied at stage 2 of its complaints process. It apologised for the delayed repairs and for the resident’s cost of arranging works from a private company. It said it had given feedback to staff about the telephone call on 17 January 2024. It upheld the resident’s complaint and increased the offer of compensation to £618 which included reimbursement of the private repair. These were reasonable actions by the landlord.
16. On 12 June 2024, the resident told the landlord the stopcock repair and the boxing in of the boiler pipes had not been completed. However, the landlord told us that since February 2024 there were no further repair reports by the resident and the issues were resolved.
17. In summary, the landlord missed appointments and delayed completing repairs. It replaced the boiler and the cold basin tap. However, the resident said it had not completed the boxing in of the pipes of the boiler and the stopcock was still faulty but it took no action. This was a communication and repairs failure by the landlord.
18. Where the landlord acknowledged failings, our role is to consider whether the redress it offered put things right for the resident. Its final offer of £618 was in line with our compensation guidance for a finding of maladministration where failures have had a significant impact on the resident. However, there were outstanding repairs after the final response and the landlord should pay additional compensation for this.
19. We have found service failure in the landlord’s response to the resident’s repairs. We have ordered it to apologise and pay her a further £200 compensation. This is in line with our compensation guidance for a service failure where the landlord has made some attempts to put things right but has not gone far enough. It also recognises the delay to the outstanding repairs.

20. The landlord’s complaint policy at the time of the complaint complies with the definition of a complaint in the Code (April 2024). The timescales in the landlord’s complaint procedure complied with the Code.
21. The landlord acknowledged the resident’s complaint within 5 working days. However, its stage 1 response was sent on 3 January 2024, which was a delay of around 3 working days. It apologised for the delay and offered £30 compensation to put things right.
22. The resident escalated her complaint on the same day she received the stage 1 reply. She chased the landlord for her stage 2 reply on 1 February 2024. On 21 February 2024, it said it would respond by 13 March 2024, but it did not. On 11 April 2024, we contacted the landlord and asked it to respond within 7 days, which it did. At stage 2 the landlord apologised for its delays in responding at stage 2 and offered the resident a further £50 compensation.
23. In summary, the landlord did not comply with its complaints policy, however, it recognised the delays at both stages and offered compensation to try and put things right. This offer was in line with our compensation guidance for a failure that caused distress and inconvenience. As such we have found reasonable redress in the landlord’s complaint handling.

Learning

24. The landlord should ensure it responds to complaints and repairs within its policy times.

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

25. The landlord’s recording keeping in this case missed key information in its repair records. As per our spotlight report on knowledge and information management, published in May 2023, we expect landlords to keep a robust record of contacts with residents. This is because clear, accurate and easily accessible records provide an audit trail and enhance landlords’ ability to identify and respond to problems when they arise.

Communication

26. The landlord failed to respond to some of the resident’s reports of repairs. We expect landlords to complete repairs within a reasonable time. What is reasonable will depend on the circumstances and the nature of the repair. Where there is a delay in completing repairs, we expect landlords to be proactive in communicating the cause of delays to residents. It should also explain to the resident what it intends to do about the delays and what it can do to mitigate the impact of the delay on residents.