Town and Country Housing (202508503)

Decision
Case ID	202508503
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	Town and Country Housing
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Assured Tenancy
Date	7 January 2026

 

Background

1. The resident lives in the property with their family. The resident has a disability which affects their mobility and the property is adapted to meet their physical needs. On 18 February 2025 the resident told the landlord that the flooring in the hallway and kitchen was uneven. When the landlord inspected the flooring, the resident also raised concerns around the building quality of an outhouse. Prior to our investigation the resident initiated legal proceedings relating to the repairs to the outhouse.

 

What the complaint is about

2. The landlord’s handling of:
   1. Repairs to flooring in the property.
   2. Repairs to an outhouse.
3. We have also considered the landlord’s complaints handling.

 

Our decision (determination)

4. We have found that:
   1. There was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the repairs to flooring in the property.
   2. The landlord’s handling of repairs to an outhouse is outside of the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.
   3. A service failure occurred in the landlord’s complaints handling.
5. We have made orders for the landlord to put things right.

 

Summary of reasons

The landlord’s handling of repairs to flooring in the property:

6. The repairs were unreasonably delayed, and the landlord failed to adequately demonstrate it had given proper consideration to the resident’s disability.

The landlord’s handling of repairs to an outhouse:

7. The resident has initiated legal proceedings relating to this complaint. Therefore, this matter is outside of our jurisdiction.

The landlord’s complaints handling:

8. The landlord’s complaint responses were delayed.

 

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.

Order	What the landlord must do	Due date
1	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £400 made up as follows: £300 for the landlord’s handling of the flooring repairs. £100 for the landlord’s complaints handling. This must be paid directly to the resident by the due date. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date. The landlord may deduct from the total figure any payments it has already paid.	No later than 04 February 2026
2	Review order Within 6 weeks the landlord is to conduct a review of the failings outlined by the Ombudsman. The landlord should outline in writing any changes it has considered making to its policies and processes to better flag and prioritise repairs for vulnerable residents, or disrepair matters which could present health and safety risks.	No later than 18 February 2026

 

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
6 March 2025	The resident complained to the landlord and said: The flooring in their downstairs hallway and kitchen required replacing as it was lumpy and uneven. A contractor had recently attended the property and said several patch repairs had been conducted on the flooring, this led to quality issues. The landlord had agreed to send a surveyor to inspect the floor, but this had not occurred despite them chasing. They felt the landlord’s delay in addressing the repair was unreasonable as they had a disability which affected their mobility.
16 April 2025	The landlord sent its stage one response. In it the landlord said: The resident had raised concerns about the flooring in the property on 18 February 2025. It had attended the property on 25 and 26 February 2025. It found that the flooring was uneven due to a series of patch repairs completed by a previous tenant. It acknowledged there had been delays in it arranging for a surveyor to attend the property. It apologised and said it was actively working on bringing down its wait times for repairs.
17 April 2025	The resident escalated their complaint as they were dissatisfied with the landlord’s handling of the outhouse repairs.
6 June 2025	The landlord sent its stage 2 response. In it the landlord said: It upheld the complaint, and it offered the resident £75 in compensation for its lack of communication about the repairs. The remainder of its stage 2 response related to the outhouse.
24 June 2025	The resident referred their complaint to us as they were dissatisfied with the landlord’s handling of the repairs to the outhouse.
5 December 2025	The resident told us they had filed an application in the county court which related to the repairs to the outhouse. They said they wanted this area of their complaint to be handled by the court rather than us.   The resident told us they still wanted us to investigate the repairs to the flooring, as they felt the landlord’s response time was unreasonable considering that they had a disability.

 

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.

Complaint	The landlord’s handling of repairs to flooring in the property
Finding	Maladministration

9. The landlord’s repairs policy says if a repair is not assessed to be an emergency, then it will book in the repair for the next available appointment date. It will aim to complete non-urgent repairs within 28 days.
10. The resident told us they have a disability that affects mobility, making it difficult to maintain balance and increasing the risk of falls. The landlord has adapted the property by installing handrails to support the resident’s mobility needs.
11. On 18 February 2025 the resident reported issues with the flooring in their kitchen and downstairs hallway. On 25 February 2025 a surveyor inspected the flooring and noted it was uneven due to poor repairs carried out by a previous tenant. The surveyor also found that the adhesive floor tiles were rotting.
12. On 7 March 2025 the resident informed the landlord they had tripped on the flooring and reiterated that they have a disability affecting mobility. Once the resident had highlighted the increased risk of slips and falls, it should have prioritised the repair. On 14 March 2025 the resident chased the landlord for an appointment date. It was unreasonable that the landlord had not arranged an appointment by this point.
13. In its stage one response, the landlord apologised for the delay and said it was working to reduce repair times. It was appropriate that the landlord acknowledged the delay. However, it did not provide a timeframe for the repair or address the resident’s concerns about the impact on mobility. This was unreasonable.
14. The landlord confirmed it conducted repairs to the flooring on 20 May 2025, this was 92 days after the resident reported the repair. This response time fell far outside of the timescales in the landlord’s policy. The failure was compounded by the landlord’s awareness of the impact on the resident’s mobility.
15. In its stage 2 response, the landlord apologised for its lack of communication and offered £75 compensation. While it was positive that the landlord acknowledged shortcomings, the offer did not reflect the detriment experienced. It did not address or apologise for the delay in completing the repair or the impact on the resident. On this basis we find maladministration occurred. To address this, we have ordered the landlord to:
    1. Pay compensation of £300.
    2. Conduct a review of its policies and processes to identify any changes it can make to flag and prioritise repairs for vulnerable residents, or repairs for matters which could present health and safety risks.

Complaint	The landlord’s handling of repairs to an outhouse
Finding	Outside jurisdiction

16. On 5 December 2025 the resident told us they had made an application in the County Court which related to the repairs to the outhouse. The landlord has told us they have received a claim for matters associated with the outhouse.
17. Under the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, we cannot investigate issues which are also subject to legal proceedings. Therefore, we have no power to investigate this element of the complaint.

Complaint	The landlord’s complaint handling
Finding	Service failure

18. The landlord’s complaints policy sets out its timeframes for responding to complaints. It will acknowledge a complaint within 5 working days and issue a stage 1 response within 10 working days of that acknowledgement. If the resident requests escalation to stage 2, the landlord will acknowledge the request within 5 working days and provide its stage 2 response within 20 working days of that acknowledgement.
19. The landlord sent its stage one response 16 days after acknowledging the resident’s complaint, and its stage 2 response 30 days after acknowledging the escalation request. Both responses were outside the timescales set out in its complaints policy. The landlord did not acknowledge or apologise for these delays. This was unreasonable.
20. In its stage 2 response the landlord did not mention the repairs to the flooring. As such there is no evidence to suggest the landlord considered the appropriateness of its handling of the repair, or the detriment the resident experienced. This was a failing.
21. We asked the landlord why it did not consider the flooring issues at stage 2, and it said this was because the resident’s escalation request related to the outhouse repairs. It would have been best practice for the landlord to update the resident of the flooring issues considering the content of the complaint, and because the repairs had not been completed. The landlord should consider making improvements in this area.
22. As both complaint responses were delayed, we consider a service failure has occurred. We have ordered the landlord to pay compensation of £100 in compensation for its complaints handling.

Learning

23. The resident has told us that they feel the landlord is not transparent or communicative when it comes to repairs. They have said the landlord doesn’t follow through on its commitments to get back to them, and this means they end up chasing the landlord for updates. The landlord should consider if it requires improvement in this area.