Tower Hamlets Community Housing (202440368)

Background

1. The resident initially complained to the landlord on 27 September 2024. He said the landlord had not given timely or clear updates about roof repairs. On 2 October 2024, the resident confirmed his complaint related to repair works at a neighbouring property. The resident said the landlord should inform the whole block because the repairs required in the neighbouring property could affect all residents. He wanted the landlord to accept responsibility for what he viewed as misleading communication about the repairs to the neighbouring property and the impact of those repairs on his building insurance and service charges.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s response to the resident’s concerns about repairs to a neighbouring property and the impact of those repairs on his building insurance and service charges.

Our decision (determination)

3. We have found there was service failure by the landlord in its response to the resident’s concerns about repairs to a neighbouring property and the impact of those repairs on his building insurance and service charges.

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

Reasons

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.

4. In his complaint the resident raised concerns about the landlord breaching previous orders made by us in relation to its communication with him. Orders made by us in previous determinations would be specific to those complaints. Were there to be similar failings by the landlord in relation to the specific circumstances of this case, these would be addressed in this investigation.
5. We expect landlords to provide clear communication and timely responses to queries raised by their residents with regards to their service charges and service chargeable services. However, we would not expect a landlord to answer the resident’s questions about repairs to a neighbouring property, unless those repairs:
   1. Affected the resident’s safety and/or the condition or repair of their own home.
   2. Related to shared elements of their block, such as the roof.
   3. Impacted the service charges the resident paid the landlord.
6. In its complaint responses the landlord confirmed:
   1. The repairs to the neighbouring property had no bearing on the main roof, which remained secure and under guarantee.
   2. The issue in question related solely to the balcony connected to the neighbouring flat and did not affect the block as a whole.
   3. This was a localised issue, which did not affect the overriding structure of the block.
   4. Should a repair impact the block, it would ensure residents were updated accordingly.
7. Given there is no evidence to challenge the above, we are satisfied that it was reasonable for the landlord to refuse to share any further details about the repairs to the neighbouring property with the resident. However, there was a failure by the landlord in respect of its response to the resident’s concerns about the impact on his building insurance and service charges.
8. This is because whilst this evidently formed part of the resident’s complaint, this matter was not addressed in either of its complaint responses. In order for the resident to be provided with this information, he had to continue to chase the landlord following its stage 2 response, of 10 December 2024. The landlord then confirmed on 10 January 2025, that the works in question would have no impact on either his building insurance or service charges. Whilst this represented a relatively short delay, this was not reasonable as we expect landlords to address all points raised in the complaint during the formal complaints process. The delay and having to chase the landlord would also have understandably caused unnecessary inconvenience and frustration to 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.