Southern Housing (202438647)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202438647

Southern Housing

3 September 2025

 

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 the resident’s reports of a boiler repair.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord, which is a housing association. The property is a flat.
  2. In February 2024 the resident moved into the property and discovered heating issues. On 15 February 2024, the resident reported a boiler issue, with no hot water. According to the repair log, the landlord assigned emergency priority to this repair. Between 20 February 2024 and 26 April 2024, contractors inspected the boiler, identified further faults, carried out repairs and missed an appointment. The boiler was repaired on 26 April 2024.
  3. On 30 April 2024 the resident submitted a formal complaint stating he had had no heating or hot water for over 2 months as the repair was delayed. The resident wanted compensation and reimbursement for the service charge and cancelled appointments.
  4. On 17 May 2024 the landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response. It acknowledged the delay and the inconvenience it had caused the resident by the lack of heating and hot water for 43 days. It offered an apology and £306.66 compensation.
  5. On 12 September 2024 the resident reported further issues with the boiler and an inspection found that the port valves needed replacing. The landlord carried out further repairs in September and October 2024. However, on 16 October 2024 the manufacturer recommended replacing the boiler, which was fitted on 31 October 2024. However, some works remained outstanding.
  6. On 7 November 2024 the resident requested escalation of his complaint. He explained the heating issue had persisted over months, with cancelled appointments, inconvenience caused and 18 appointments without resolution. The resident wanted compensation and the heating to be fixed.
  7. On 11 November 2024 all outstanding work was completed and the new boiler was left in working order.
  8. On 25 November 2024 the landlord issued its stage 2 response. It acknowledged the further delay and offered £297.63 compensation to recognise the further 26 day period of no heating and hot water, repeated visits and inconvenience.
  9. On 7 December 2024 the resident referred the complaint to the Ombudsman. The resident is seeking increased compensation for distress and inconvenience over the 10 month period.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. Throughout the period of the complaint, the resident raised concerns about how the issues and the landlord’s subsequent service delivery may have impacted on his health. The Ombudsman is unable to make a determination that the actions or omissions of a landlord have had a causal impact on a person’s health. Such a determination is more appropriate through an insurance claim or by a court. Should the resident wish to pursue a personal injury claim he has the option to seek legal advice. The Ombudsman has, however, taken into account any general distress and inconvenience that the landlord’s service delivery may have caused.

Landlord’s handling of a boiler repair

  1. The tenancy agreement states that the landlord is responsible for keeping in working order installations for the supply of water, gas and electricity, heating and hot water. This includes central heating systems, gas and water pipes, and water heaters. This reflects the landlord’s obligations under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.
  2. The landlord’s responsive repairs policy sets out that a loss of heating between 31 October and 30 April will be considered an emergency repair. The policy says the landlord will complete works to make safe within 6 hours. It adds the landlord will provide temporary alternative forms of heating if there is a heating loss and it was not able to repair the system at the first visit.
  3. The compensation policy states that the landlord will pay compensation if there has been a service failure.
  4. According to the repair log, when the resident first reported the boiler repair in February 2024, the landlord assigned emergency priority to this request. This was reasonable and appropriate considering the nature of the issue as there was no heating or hot water at the property. Furthermore, this was reported within the date period 31 October and 30 April where heating loss was to be considered an emergency. However, the first inspection mentioned in the evidence took place on 20 February 2024. This was 5 calendar days after the initial report rather than 6 hours and therefore not in accordance with its policy. That delay was not appropriate.
  5. The landlord tried different solutions to fix the issue and, upon receiving advice that a new boiler was needed, it replaced the boiler. However, there were delays and which contributed to the overall time taken to do so and this caused inconvenience to the resident. For example, between the valve and pump being replaced, there was a 3-week delay. There is no information about the delay and whether this was due to parts being ordered, or the resident or contractor’s availability. It would have been reasonable for the landlord to have monitored the repairs, have a clear action plan and timeframes for a permanent and comprehensive solution. It should also have communicated clearly with the resident about the delays and what action it was taking to minimise any adverse effect where possible. Therefore, while it is appreciated that this was a complex repair which the landlord showed a commitment to resolve, the length of delay exceeded what would reasonably be considered an acceptable timeframe.
  6. The overall repair and installation of the new boiler took 9 months to resolve (11 November 2024). However, we did not find any evidence of temporary alternative forms of heating considered or offered to the resident. This would have been appropriate, however it is noted that the resident did not report this adverse effect in relation to not having heating as he did not use the heating over the summer months.
  7. During the repair period, the resident was caused significant inconvenience. He had to repeatedly chase the landlord for updates and raise multiple repairs. The landlord acknowledged that the resident had to chase for updates and offered an apology and compensation. This was appropriate as the landlord tried to put things right. The resident was also inconvenienced by multiple appointments during the repair period. Furthermore, the resident explained he had to cancel three medical and dental appointments for the repairs. The contractors failed to attend an appointment on 15 March 2024, for which the landlord offered compensation (£20). This was reasonable and in line with its compensation policy.
  8. The landlord acknowledged its failures, which have also been identified in this report and offered compensation at both stage 1 and 2 of its complaints process. At stage 1, it offered £306.66 compensation for the inconvenience including compensation for 43 days without heating and hot water in line with its compensation policy. At stage 2, it offered £297.63 compensation for the further period (16 October 2024 to 11 November 2024) of no heating and hot water.
  9. The landlord’s total compensation offer of £604.29 is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance and proportionate for the failures identified in this report and length of time taken by the landlord to resolve matters. Therefore, the landlord made a reasonable offer to put things right.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53.b. of the Scheme, the landlord has offered redress to the resident prior to investigation which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint about the landlord’s handling of a boiler repair.

Recommendation

  1. We recommend that the landlord pays the resident the compensation totalling £604.29 offered in its complaint handling, if it has not done so already. The finding of reasonable redress has been based on the landlord making this payment to the resident.