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Southwark Council (202323695)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202323695

Southwark Council

18 March 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 about hot water outages in the property.

Background

  1. The resident is a secure tenant. The property is a 1-bedroom flat, within a 6-storey building. The property was built in or around 2021. The building has a communal boiler, which serves all flats. Each flat has a heat interface unit, which acts as a bridge between the central boiler and the hot water outlets in each property. This removes the need to install individual boilers in each dwelling.
  2. The resident is an older person and has a respiratory illness.
  3. The resident first reported having no hot water in the property on 4 April 2023.
  4. The resident raised the stage 1 complaint on 30 June 2023. The resident expressed dissatisfaction because he had been without hot water for 10 weeks. He explained that he was vulnerable due to ill health and was having to boil kettles so he could wash, which was making him breathless. He expressed concern about the capability of the landlord’s contractor to resolve the issue. He said that the landlord should apologise, provide an explanation, restore the hot water, improve its service, and compensate him for his increased electricity costs.
  5. The landlord issued the stage 1 response on 10 July 2023. The landlord explained the steps it had taken to resolve the issue with the hot water. It recognised that there had been delay finding a solution and apologised for the inconvenience this had caused. It offered £367 compensation, in recognition of inconvenience, time and trouble, and additional costs incurred.
  6. A family member of the resident emailed the landlord on 19 July 2023, asking it to escalate the complaint to stage 2. They suggested that it was unacceptable for an older person with severe health issues to be left with no hot water for 10 weeks, particular during the hot weather. They explained that the resident had now injured his back, filling up and carrying kettles back and forth, so he could bath.
  7. The landlord responded to the resident’s family member on 25 July 2023. It said according to its records it had resolved the issues with the hot water supply on 6 July 2023. But offered to arrange another repairs appointment, if the resident felt this was not the case. It directed the family member to escalate the complaint, using the link at the bottom of the stage 1 complaint response.
  8. The resident’s family member emailed the landlord on 18 August 2023, chasing the stage 2 response. They suggested that the compensation previously offered was inadequate. They reminded the landlord that the resident was not a well man and deserved better.
  9. The landlord responded to the resident’s family member later the same day. It said it was sorry to hear the resident was dissatisfied with the stage 1 outcome. It committed to logging the resident’s dissatisfaction as a stage 2 complaint.
  10. The landlord sent a stage 2 acknowledgement on 22 August 2023. It committed to issuing the complaint response by 19 September 2023. The landlord wrote to the resident on 18 September 2023, extending its timescale for providing the full stage 2 response to 29 September 2023. The landlord explained that this would allow time for its contractor to carry out the prearranged inspection on 19 September 2023.
  11. The resident phoned the landlord on 21 September 2023, suggesting that it install an electric shower as a temporary solution.
  12. The landlord issued the stage 2 response on 29 September 2023. The landlord:
    1. Set out the action that it had taken in response to the resident’s reports about no hot water. It said that an appointment had been made for the heating manufacturer to attend the property on 11 October 2023. It expressed its hope that there would be “a breakthrough” when this happened.
    2. Apologised for the delay in finding the cause of the problem and for its delay in issuing the stage 2 response.
    3. Said it had passed the resident’s request for an electric shower to senior staff for a decision.
    4. Provided the resident with instructions on how to raise a personal injury claim with its insurer.
    5. Offered £966 compensation, in addition to the £367 that it had already paid at stage 1. This compensation was broken down as follows:
      1. An additional £150 compensation in recognition of the resident’s distress at stage 1.
      2. An additional £200 compensation in recognition of the resident’s time and trouble at stage 1.
      3. £250 compensation in recognition of the resident’s time and trouble reporting the issue, chasing for updates, and for its delay in escalating the complaint to stage 2.
      4. £186 compensation because the resident was without hot water between 31 July 2023 and 30 September 2023. It said this equated to £3 a day for each day the resident was without hot water. It committed to paying additional compensation for any additional weeks that the resident was without hot water in October 2023.
      5. £180 compensation in recognition of the resident’s distress between 31 July 2023 and 30 September 2023. It said this equated to £20 per day over this period.
  13. The resident told us on 11 March 2025, that he was still experiencing hot water outages. The resident said he was the only one experiencing this issue within the building. He explained that his physical health had been significantly impacted by this and suggested that the compensation offered by the landlord was inadequate. He said the landlord should replace the hot water and heating system if it was unable to deliver a reliable supply of hot water to the property.

Assessment and findings

Scope of the investigation

  1. This investigation will consider the issues raised by the resident during the landlord’s internal complaint process and that were addressed by the landlord in its final stage 2 response.
  2. Our assessment will focus on the landlord’s actions between 4 April 2023 and 29 September 2023. This being the date the resident first reported having no hot water, through to when the landlord’s internal complaint procedure was exhausted. However, this report may reference events outside of this timescale, when taking into account any commitments made by the landlord in the stage 2 response.
  3. The Ombudsman cannot draw conclusions on the causation of, or liability for, impacts on health and wellbeing. This is a matter best suited for the courts. But this investigation may consider the likely distress and inconvenience caused to the resident by the situation.

Landlord’s obligations, policies, and procedures

  1. The landlord had a contractual and statutory obligation under the tenancy agreement and Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, to keep in repair and working order, the installations for the supply of gas, electricity, water, sanitation, space heating, and water heating.
  2. The landlord has provided a copy of its tenant handbook and its repairs guide, which set out its approach to completing responsive repairs. The landlord will complete emergency repairs within 24 hours, urgent repairs within 3 days, and non-urgent repairs within 20 working days. A total loss of heating or hot water between 31 October and 1 May, would be classified as an urgent repair.
  3. The landlord had a compensation policy, which set out the circumstances under which it may pay compensation. The landlord may pay:
    1. Between £5 and £20 a week, depending on the impact, where there have been delays providing a service.
    2. Between £5 and £20 a week, depending on the impact, in recognition of distress caused a resident.
    3. Between £50 and £250 in recognition of a resident’s time and trouble.
    4. The costs incurred by a resident, which would not have been necessary, but for the fault.
    5. £3 per day for the duration of a communal heating or hot water outage, which includes the resident’s reasonable costs incurred in relation to additional electricity usage.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports about hot water outages in the property

  1. The resident first reported having no hot water in the property on 4 April 2023. The landlord raised a repair, with a target completion date of 5 April 2023, in line with its repairs policy. However, there is no evidence that the landlord attended within the target timescale. This was inappropriate.
  2. The resident phoned the landlord on 7 April 2023, reporting that he still had no hot water. The landlord raised a repair for the same day. It is unclear if the landlord had agreed this appointment with the resident prior to it attending. It was unfortunate that the resident was not available to provide access.
  3. The resident phoned the landlord again on 8 April 2023, to report there was no hot water. The landlord raised a repair, with a target completion date of 11 April 2023. The landlord’s contractor attended the property in a timely manner, on 8 April 2023. Again, it is unclear if the landlord had agreed this appointment with the resident prior to it attending. It was unfortunate that the resident was not available to provide access.
  4. The resident phoned the landlord again later the same day, reporting that he still had no hot water. The landlord’s contractor attended the property the same day but was unable to fix this. It explained to the resident that further investigation and follow on works would be necessary. The resident said that he would not be available to provide access, until at least midday on 11 April 2023.
  5. The landlord’s contractor attended the property several times between 12 April 2023 and 6 July 2023, when a consistent supply of hot water was eventually restored. It is likely to have been frustrating for the resident that the landlord’s contractor struggled to find the root cause of problem and had to try a series of different repairs before being satisfied that it had found a resolution.
  6. The evidence shows that the landlord was responsive to the developing situation over this period, and that it was doing its best to find a long-term solution. However, there is no evidence that it explored if there was any interim support it was able to offer the resident over this period. This was a concern, given the landlord was aware of the resident’s vulnerabilities and his struggle to bath safely, carrying kettles of hot water to the bathroom.
  7. The resident reported another hot water outage on 31 July 2023, which suggests that further investigation was needed. The landlord responded by raising another repair, with an expected target completion date of 23 August 2023. This was in line with its repairs policy.
  8. The landlord’s contractor attended on the same day, which was encouraging and suggests that the repair had been prioritised. It was unfortunate that the landlord was unable to gain access to the property. The landlord’s contractor endeavoured to gain access again on 1 August 2023 and 21 August 2023 but was unsuccessful. It is unclear if these appointments had been prearranged with the resident from the available evidence.
  9. The landlord tried to phone the resident on 21 August 2023, which shows that it was trying to progress the matter. However, there was no answer and it was unable to leave a message. After the resident contacted the landlord on 22 August 2023, a repairs appointment was arranged for later the same day.
  10. The landlord’s contractors attended the property on multi occasions between 22 August 2023 to 29 September 2023, when the stage 2 response was issued. Over this timeframe, numerous inspections were carried out by different trades and a range of different repairs options were progressed. However, the landlord’s contractors were unable to secure a reliable supply of hot water to the property, in despite of this.
  11. Of particular note, the resident asked the landlord on 21 September 2023, if it would consider installing an electric shower in the property, to provide an immediate source of hot water until the problem was fixed. The landlord’s complaint handler promptly escalated the matter for consideration, which was encouraging. However, there was limited evidence prior to this, to suggest that the landlord had considered, or had proactively explored, whether the resident required any additional support given his circumstances. This was unfair.
  12. The landlord’s contractor also contacted the hot water and heating manufacture on 21 September 2023, asking if they would be willing to carry out a joint inspection. This was a positive direction of investigation. The landlord contacted the resident on 27 September 2023, to see if the manufacture could attend the next day. It was unfortunate that the resident was unwell and could not commit to an appointment for 2 weeks.
  13. The resident has expressed a view, that a lack of experience by the landlord’s contractor’s operatives, unduly prolonged the resolution of the matter. It has not been possible to verify what experience the landlord’s contractor may have had in maintaining and repairing communal hot water and heating systems. But it was incumbent on the landlord to ensure that any contractor it used was suitably qualified. We accept that when its operatives were called out to restore the hot water initially, they were unsure how to address the problem. But the evidence shows, they appropriately deferred to more experienced members of staff and later to the manufacture when all of the available options had exhausted. This was reasonable in the circumstances.
  14. The resident has also suggested that the landlord’s contractor did not always turn up when it said it would, causing him to wait in for no reason. While we do not seek to dispute the resident’s account, this could not be verified from the available evidence.
  15. As previously inferred, our investigation did note occasions when the landlord’s contractor said it had attended appointments but the resident had not provided access. For example (not an exhaustive list), on 20 April 2023, 31 July 2023, and 21 August 2023. Issues with access are likely to have contributed to the overall delay in the landlord resolving the substantive issue. But it was not possible to establish the level of mitigation that this might afford, since it was unclear from the landlord’s records if these appointments had been prearranged with the resident.
  16. The evidence shows that the resident repeatedly chased the landlord for updates, throughout the timeframe of the complaint. This suggests that the landlord was not keeping the resident proactively updated. Although the landlord said in the stage 2 response, that it had done its best to keep the resident informed, it also accepted that the resident had often needed to chase it for updates. Given the complexity of the case and the resident’s vulnerabilities, it may have been helpful to both parties, if the landlord had agreed an action plan with the resident at an early stage. The landlord could then have reviewed this action plan with the resident at agreed intervals, creating greater certainty for the resident and helping him to feel more supported.
  17. The landlord apologised in the final complaint response, for its delay in identifying the problem with the availability of hot water. It tried to put things right by committing to further investigations with the manufacturer on 11 October 2023. It also revised its offer of compensation, increasing it to the maximum levels of compensation allowed under its policy. This was encouraging and suggests the landlord recognised there had been significant impact on the resident.
  18. The landlord appropriately directed the resident to make a personal injury claim if he felt that his health had been affected. It explained that it had escalated his request concerning the installation of an electric shower for a decision. However, it would have been better if the landlord had provided an expected timescale for providing this decision, to manage the resident’s expectations.

Following issue of the stage 2 response

  1. The landlord’s contractor and the manufacture of the hot water and heating system attended the property on 11 October 2023, as it had committed. The manufacture changed some parts on the system and diagnosed an issue with a control valve belonging to the energy provider. The landlord arranged for the energy provider to attend on 16 October 2023, when further repairs were identified.
  2. The landlord agreed to install an electric shower for the resident as an interim measure, which was completed on 16 October 2023. All of the identified repairs were completed in a timely manner, on 17 October 2023. The resident confirmed to the complaint handler later the same day, that he now had a consistent supply of hot water, which was reassuring. It is unclear if the landlord paid the additional compensation it committed to providing, for the additional days the resident was without hot water in October 2023.
  3. While outside the scope of this investigation, the resident reported another hot water outage 5 weeks later, which suggests that a long-term solution had not been found. It is not in dispute that the property has continued to experience intermittent hot water outages, every 6 weeks on average. The landlord accepts that this is not something that should be happening, since the property was newly built.
  4. The landlord has since reflected on its handling of the substantive issue, which was positive and shows a commitment to learning from complaints. The landlord has itself identified that it did not adequately consider the overall impact of the repeated issues on the resident. It also identified that it had not taken “a holistic approach” and it had not fully considered “the pattern of outages”. It said it was happy to consider further compensation for the repeated outages and for the inconvenience that these will be causing”.
  5. The landlord also stated that it had “reached out to the resident to advise that we will be reviewing the pattern and engaging with our engineering team to determine what the issue is which causes the outage. The resident was receptive and glad that we were looking at the cause rather than just addressing the symptom”. However, the resident told us in March 2025, that he could not recall receiving any contact from the landlord concerning this.
  6. We wrote to the landlord on 5 March 2025, giving it the opportunity to provide a case update. However, the landlord did not respond. The resident told us on 11 March 2025, that he was still experiencing hot water outages.

In summary

  1. The resident has experienced repeated hot water outages since April 2023, creating him significant inconvenience and distress. The landlord was unsuccessful in resolving the root cause of the issue during the timeframe of complaint, despite its own efforts and the involvement of the manufacture and energy company.
  2. But the landlord ought to have explored at early stage, if there was any additional support that it could have offered the resident, given his vulnerabilities and the difficulties he was having bathing. The landlord has accepted since issuing the final stage 2 response, that it did not consider the overall impact of the repeated issue on the resident. It also recognised that it should been more holistic in its approach.
  3. While this investigation has not assessed the landlord’s actions after 17 October 2023, it is of concern that the resident continues to be inconvenienced by repeated hot water outages, nearly 2 years after the issue was first reported.
  4. The landlord made a commitment of action and a reasonable offer of compensation in the final stage 2 response, for the failings it itself identified. However, this was not quite proportionate to the failings identified by this investigation and that were later identified by the landlord itself upon its own review. An order of compensation is made later, which has been determined in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance and the landlord’s compensation policy.
  5. On balance, the Ombudsman finds service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports about hot water outages in the property.
  6. The landlord should reflect on its handling of the substantive matter of complaint after 21 November 2023. Where failings are identified, it should consider making a further offer of compensation to the resident.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman’s Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports about hot water outages in the property.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. The landlord must pay £1,561 compensation directly to the resident, which is reduced to £228 if the landlord has already paid the compensation previously offered. This compensation has been determined in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance, the landlord’s compensation policy, and is broken down as follows:
    1. £501 compensation, in recognition of the lack of a consistent hot water supply at the property between 8 April 2023 and 5 July 2023, and 31 July 2023 to 17 October 2023.
    2. £460 compensation, for the distress caused to the resident between 12 April 2023 and 5 July 2023, and 31 July to 17 October 2023, by the landlord’s failure to provide a reliable hot water supply.
    3. £250 compensation in recognition of the resident’s time and trouble progressing the matter at stage 1.
    4. £250 compensation in recognition of the resident’s time and trouble reporting the issue at stage 2, for having to chase for updates, and for delays in complaint handling.
    5. £100 compensation in recognition of the landlord’s failure to explore if there was any additional support that it could offer the resident, given the difficulties he said he was having bathing.
  2. The landlord must endeavour to arrange a face-to-face meeting with the resident at the property. During this meeting, the landlord must:
    1. Explain the measures that it has taken since 21 November 2023, to diagnosed the root cause of recurring hot water outages at the property and to provide a long-term solution.
    2. Explain what action it is taking, or plans to take, to monitor the effectiveness of the latest repair.
    3. Explain the course of action that it is likely to take and explore any additional support that the resident may need, in the event of further hot water outages.
    4. Commit the actions agreed by the parties during the meeting into a written action plan, including expected timescales for action. The landlord must review this action plan with the resident at agreed intervals, until such as time as the parties agree a long-term resolution has been achieved.
  3. The landlord must provide evidence to the Ombudsman that it has complied with the above orders, within 4 weeks of the date of this decision.

Recommendations

  1. The landlord should reflect on its handling of the substantive matter after 21 November 2023. If any failings are identified, it should consider making a further offer of compensation to the resident.