Southern Housing Group Limited (202205106)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202205106

Southern Housing Group Limited

28 March 2023

 

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 handling of repairs to the property following a leak, the condition of the property when handed back to the resident and the level of compensation offered by the landlord.

Background

  1. The resident is a tenant of the landlord.
  2. In November 2021, the resident reported that there was a potential leak in her home that was causing damp. The landlord attempted to trace the leak in November 2021, but was unsuccessful. It continued to search for the leak and decanted (temporarily moved) the resident on 9 December 2021 so it could properly inspect her property. The landlord traced the leak to a concealed pipe behind a kitchen unit on 15 December 2021. Over time the leak had caused extensive damage to the resident’s flooring, kitchen units, doors and electrical sockets. The resident remained decanted while the landlord undertook the repairs. In February 2022, she requested that her kitchen be replaced rather than repaired and the landlord agreed to this.
  3. The landlord has stated that the resident initially complained on 30 March 2022, adding to her complaint on 27 April 2022. She has stated that she was unhappy with the delays to her repairs and the type of temporary accommodation she had been provided with. She asked for a timeline of the scheduled works to be provided, and to be reimbursed for the rent and bills that she had been paying for since December 2021. Additionally, she wished to be compensated for the inconvenience that she had suffered throughout the decant.
  4. The landlord extended the resident’s temporary accommodation on 12 April 2022 to 1 May 2022, to allow time to fit the new kitchen. It emailed the resident throughout April 2022, confirming the end date of her temporary accommodation stay. It emailed the resident again on 25 April 2022 to confirm that the repair works had been completed. The landlord hired a removal company, which contacted the resident on 26 April 2022, to arrange her move back to the property on 1 May 2022.
  5. The resident contacted the landlord on 27 April 2022, to advise that its previous emails had gone to her spam account. She stated that she had not been given enough notice of the moving date and had extended her own stay at the temporary accommodation. The removal company brought the resident’s belongings back to the property on 1 May 2022; however the resident did not meet them at the property and the belongings were placed back in storage. The landlord paid an additional cost of £735.00 for the storage of these items.
  6. The landlord sent its stage one complaint response on 12 May 2022. It apologised that the works had been delayed, explaining that due to the extent of the works involved, the timeline had been uncertain. The landlord explained that it was not required by its decants policy to provide a like-for-like property to the resident. It asked the resident to provide her electricity bill to assess if reimbursement would be appropriate, however it explained that it had already discussed the bills at the property with the resident, which remained her responsibility.
  7. The resident organised to move back in the property on 20 May 2022. She escalated her complaint on 23 May 2022, stating that the property was not clean and that there were still outstanding repairs so she could not move back in. She was dissatisfied with the landlord’s overall communication and felt that she had not been given enough advanced notice of the moving date. She asked the landlord to pay for the arrears which had accumulated on her electricity account, as she had not paid the bill during the period when she was decanted to another property.
  8. The resident did not move back into the property but stayed in her temporary accommodation. She stated to the landlord on 27 May 2022 that her electric supply had been turned off due the arrears on her account. The landlord extended the resident’s temporary accommodation until 14 June 2022 while it cleared the arrears on her electricity account.
  9. The landlord sent its final complaint response on 15 June 2022, explaining that the property had been habitable since 1 May 2022, as the unfinished repairs were routine repairs that were not part of the major scheduled works. It felt that the property had been left to a clean standard. The landlord explained again that it would not refund rent as alternative accommodation had been provided. It would also not refund the resident for the temporary accommodation stay during May 2022, as she had organised this herself, while the property was habitable. However, it had cleared the electricity arrears of £700, and offered a further £300 compensation in recognition of the inconvenience that the delays had caused. It offered to reimburse the resident for reasonable moving costs, such as hiring ‘a man with a van’ and to cover the costs of a cleaner.
  10. In her complaint to this Service, the resident has stated that the property was returned to her in an unfit state. She explained that she felt she had no alternative but to find alternate accommodation and has therefore surrendered her tenancy. She is dissatisfied that she sustained financial loss due to being decanted and would like to be further compensated.

Assessment

  1. According to the landlord’s repair policy, it is responsible for keeping in good repair the structure and exterior of the resident’s property, as well as any installations for the supply of water, waste pipes and overflow systems.
  2. The landlord’s decant policy and procedure states that the landlord will decant residents when major works are needed, such as those caused by serious damp. The landlord will provide reasonable choice of suitable alternative accommodation which considers preferred location and personal circumstances. The policy also states that the landlord will pay disturbance costs for all decants to meet the actual costs of the move, such as removal costs. If a resident is decanted temporarily, the resident will have a temporary tenancy of their alternative accommodation, but the main tenancy will continue to run on their permanent home. Wherever possible, to ensure consistency of rent charges, the landlord will keep the rent charges in place for the permanent home and will not make any charge for the temporary home.
  3. The same policy states that the landlord must remain in contact with the resident throughout the decant process. It must update the resident when a planned action takes place, as well as if an unexpected action, or issue arises. The landlord needs to contact the resident to inform them that it will arrange removal and to agree if any disturbance payment is due. It also needs to inform them of the date the works will be completed. It should confirm all the above in writing.
  4. The landlord acted appropriately and in-line with its above policy, as it decanted the resident due to her property needing major works to repair it. It originally hoped to place her in a nearby hotel, however, the resident asked for accommodation that had cooking facilities. The landlord subsequently provided accommodation in a serviced apartment. This was reasonable, as the landlord’s policies state that it will endeavour to provide a reasonable choice of suitable alternative accommodation that takes into account personal circumstances.
  5. The resident was initially decanted for two weeks on 9 December 2021, while the landlord traced the leak. As the repairs required were extensive, the works took until 25 April 2022 to be completed. These were scheduled works, which included allowing time to dry out the property, overhauling the plumbing, repairing the doors and doorframes, replacing the resident’s kitchen units and all the flooring in the open plan flat. The landlord had also already repaired the kitchen before the resident requested that it replace the units, which would have added to this timeframe.
  6. The length of time that the landlord took to repair the property was reasonable due the extensive nature of the repairs, and the amount of different contractors involved. The landlord did contact the resident, as per its above policies, to update her on the works and to extend her temporary accommodation when needed. However, the landlord did not issue an overall schedule of works with a proposed completion date to the resident. Instead, it extended the resident’s temporary accommodation in a piecemeal fashion. The landlord should have communicated a more realistic timeframe to the resident at the start of the works. This would have managed the resident’s expectations more effectively and may have reduced some of the stress she experienced as a result of the uncertain timeframe of the works.
  7. Initially the landlord hoped to move the resident back into the property in April 2022, finishing the kitchen with her in situ. However, in response to the resident’s dissatisfaction at having repairs outstanding on her return, the landlord extended her accommodation stay until 1 May 2022. The landlord communicated the new moving date to the resident via email on 12 and 19 April 2022. It also stated that the removal company was trying to contact her. The landlord again emailed the resident on 25 April to state that the repairs were completed. The resident emailed the landlord to state that the emails had been going into her spam folder. She did not feel that she now had enough time to arrange her move and was unhappy that the landlord has used this mode of communication.
  8. It was appropriate that the landlord extended the resident’s stay to accommodate her while it finished the kitchen renewal in her property. It was also reasonable for it to have communicated this with her through email, as the resident had already been conversing through email with the landlord previously. It is not the landlord’s responsibility to ensure that the resident has updated her communication preferences. Therefore, the resident had been informed from 12 April 2022 that her last available moving date was 1 May 2022, which was when her temporary accommodation ended. This was a reasonable timescale for her to have arranged a move, and it would have been reasonable for the resident to have been able to vacate the accommodation from this date.
  9. It was arranged with the removal company on 26 April 2022 that the resident’s belongings would be moved on 1 May 2022, but the resident did not meet the company at the property to provide access. She inspected the property on 20 May 2022, informing the landlord that she did not consider the works to be finished, and that the property was unclean. The landlord acted reasonably by explaining to her that the works outstanding were routine repairs which would be completed by its contractors within normal timeframes. It confirmed that all scheduled works had been completed, and that the property had been cleaned to the normal standard expected for empty properties.
  10. The resident stated in May 2022 that she could not move back to the property, as her electric supply had been cut off due to arrears on her account. The landlord acted reasonably by agreeing to pay the debt, as its contractors had used the electricity during this time. However, according to the resident’s tenancy agreement, she should have been continuing to pay for her electricity during her decant as the utility bills were her financial responsibility. She should then have claimed the amount back from the landlord, to allow the electric supply to remain uninterrupted. The landlord was not responsible for the electric supply being cut off, or for the resident’s subsequent difficulties in finding a new supplier due to the arrears.
  11. The landlord acted reasonably in its complaint response by apologising for its initial error in failing to provide a clear end date, or realistic timeframe for the completion of the works. It also acted reasonably by asking the resident to provide an electric bill to consider reimbursement. In its final response it apologised for not actioning the reimbursement for the electric until the resident escalated her complaint.
  12. The landlord acted appropriately by explaining that in accordance with its policies, it could not provide compensation for rent paid when it had provided alternate accommodation or if the property was habitable. As the scheduled works were completed in April 2022, and the landlord was not responsible for resident’s electric supply, it deemed the property to have been habitable from 1 May 2022. As such it stated that it would also not reimburse the resident for her stay in the temporary accommodation for the month of May. The landlord did however act appropriately by offering £300 compensation, in recognition of its errors and the inconvenience caused in this case. As a good will gesture it also offered to reimburse the resident for her moving costs once again, as well as for the property to be cleaned. This was proportionate, as it addressed the impact caused to the resident by its failure to manage her expectations effectively.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53 (b) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress prior to investigation which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily.