Vivid Housing Limited (202402252)

Background

1. The resident reported that the external stairs at the rear of her property were deteriorating. She complained to the landlord about the length of time it had taken to repair the stairs.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of repairs to the external steps.

Our decision (determination)

3. There was service failure in the landlord’s handling of repairs to the external steps.

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

Reasons

What we did not investigate

4. Our Scheme rules state we may not investigate complaints which were not referred to the landlord as a complaint within a reasonable time, which is normally 12 months. The resident reported repairs to the external stairs in 2018 and again in 2021. She also told us that the landlord took a long time to repair the shed. However, there is no evidence she raised a formal complaint which has completed the landlord’s complaints process about the shed or the staircase or that she was prevented from raising a complaint sooner. For that reason, we will not investigate the resident’s reports about repairs to the shed or about conditions of the steps made before January 2024.
5. We do not investigate complaints about the level of service charges. The First Tier Tribunal (property Chamber) or court are more likely to be best placed to consider this matter, given their powers and expertise. In this case, the resident complained about the amount of service charge she had to pay given the amount of time the landlord had taken to complete repairs to the steps. We have investigated how the landlord responded to her query about the service charge, but we have not investigated or considered the level of service charges.

What we did investigate

6. The landlord accepted its responsibility to repair the outside steps when the resident reported it. This was in line with the resident’s lease which states it is responsible for its property leading into the building. The landlord’s repairs policy sets a 28 day time frame to complete routine repairs.
7. The resident raised a complaint with the landlord on 29 January 2024 and the landlord issued its stage 1 response on 12 February 2024. The landlord raised a new repair job for the external steps and apologised for the delay. It explained that it had taken some time to identify the correct team to carry out the work. This explanation was not reasonable, as the landlord should have known which team was responsible for leaseholder repairs. The delay in raising the repair, despite being aware of the issue in January caused frustration for the resident. Positively, the landlord arranged for an inspection to take place within 28 days of the report. This shows that the landlord took steps to address the delay in raising the repair.
8. The resident escalated her complaint on 13 February 2024 because she disagreed with the landlord’s findings and asked the landlord to clear the arrears she had accrued by not paying the service charge, which she had withheld paying as it had had not repaired the staircase. The landlord issued its stage 2 response on 8 March 2024 and explained it would not write off the resident’s service charge arrears because the charges due covered a range of services that residents used and were required to pay for under the terms of the lease, which was appropriate. The landlord’s explanation to the resident as to what the service charge covered and why she was obliged to pay it was reasonable.
9. The landlord inspected the steps on 7 March 2024, which was in line with the landlord’s repairs policy, as the repair was attended to within 28 days. The stage 2 response confirmed that repair work was booked for 2 and 3 April 2024. The repairs did not take place on those dates which was a failing. While we recognise that landlords may not always complete repairs before issuing a final complaint response, we expect repairs to be completedas stated in the stage 2 response. The landlord offered the resident £60 compensation for the delay in completing the repair which was in line with our remedies guidance and would have been reasonable had there not been further delays in completing the work.
10. The evidence does not show when the landlord completed the repair to the outside steps. We asked the landlord for this information, but it did not provide it. The resident told us that the landlord completed the repair in May 2024. Therefore, more than 28 days passed between the inspection and the completion of the work, which was not in line with the landlord’s repairs policy. The delay was not appropriate and would have been inconvenient for the resident.
11. In summary there were failings in the landlord’s handling of repairs to the outside steps. The landlord did not show that it learned enough from the resident’s experience. Our principles say landlords should act fairly, put things right, and learn from outcomes. The landlord completed the repair and referred to learning in its stage 2 response,it said it had instructed a specialist contractor to monitor repairs to avoid delays in future.It did not apply this learning when carrying out the work, because there were further delays when completing the repair. As a result, it did not take steps to prevent similar issues from happening again.
12. We have found service failure in the landlord’s handling of repairs to the external stairs. We order the landlord to pay £100 in addition to the £60 it had already offered. This payment reflects the time, trouble, and inconvenience the outstanding repair caused the resident. This is in line with our remedies guidance.

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.

Recommendations

Our recommendations are not binding, and a landlord may decide not to follow them.