Wandle Housing Association Limited (202109612)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202109612

Wandle Housing Association Limited

4 July 2022


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:

a. The resident’s request to replace the communal carpets in her building.

b. The associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord. The property is a flat within a building comprised of similar properties.
  2. The resident contacted this Service on 06 July 2021. She complained of an unpleasant smell of urine on the first-floor stairwell. The resident stated that she had reported a similar incident to the landlord previously and had requested for the carpet to be replaced with lino or a similar hard flooring. She stated that the landlord had replaced the old carpet with new carpet instead of lino, and she remained unhappy, as the smell of urine had returned. The Ombudsman raised a stage one complaint to the landlord, on behalf of the resident.
  3. The landlord issued a stage one complaint response on 13 July 2021. It stated it had completed its investigation of the urine smell on the new carpet under its anti-social behaviour (ASB) policy. Following its investigation, the landlord stated it would send a letter to the residents in the block, erect signs at the location of the incident, and suggest a deep clean to be carried out on the carpet. The landlord stated it had closed the complaint following its actions as set out above.
  4. The resident contacted this Service again on 25 November 2021 as she had not received a response from the landlord. The Ombudsman requested the landlord to respond to the resident with a stage two response. The landlord issued a stage two response on 17 December 2021. In its response, it apologised for not fully addressing the resident’s concerns regarding the carpet replacement. The landlord stated that the resident’s block was scheduled for internal decorations in the next financial year and would include a replacement of the carpeted areas in the block with lino. The landlord stated that in the meantime, it had scheduled a deep clean of the carpet to take place within eight weeks.
  5. In the resident’s complaint to this Service, she stated that she remained dissatisfied that the landlord had failed to replace the carpet with lino and wished for it to do so. 

Assessment and findings

Policies and procedures

  1. The tenancy agreement states that the landlord retains the responsibility to take reasonable care to maintain common entrance halls, stairways, lifts, rubbish chutes, electric lighting and any other common parts.
  2. The landlord’s repair policy states it should attend to emergency repairs within 24 hours, routine repairs within 28 working days, and major works within 90 working days, unless scheduled as part of its large-scale repairs programme in which case a separate timescale will be arranged.
  3. The landlord’s complaints policy states it would respond to complaints in two stages. It states that it would aim to respond to stage one complaints within 10 working days, and stage two complaints within 20 working days. The landlord’s complaints policy also explains that it will offer compensation when a service failure has caused distress or inconvenience to a resident. It can also offer discretionary compensation in recognition of a resident’s time and trouble seeking a resolution. The policy does not specify how much compensation it will offer.

The landlord’s response to the resident’s requests to replace the communal carpets.

  1. The resident raised a stage one complaint to the landlord on 06 July 2021.The evidence shows that the landlord appropriately conducted an investigation into the reports of the urine smell in the communal stairway. It was reasonable for the landlord to inspect the area and schedule a deep clean of the carpet upon its findings. The landlord erected signs in the affected area and it sent out letters regarding anti-social behaviour to its residents in an effort to reduce the chances of the problem recurring. Although this Service understands that the incident was unpleasant for the resident particularly given that a similar issue had happened previously, the landlord acted reasonably and took appropriate action in its response to the reports of the urine smell.
  2. In her complaint to this Service, the resident stated that the landlord had recently replaced the first-floor carpet with new carpet rather than lino following a previous report of a urine smell. The landlord acknowledged that it would have been helpful if it had replaced the carpet with lino sooner, as it is easier to clean, but it was not obliged to do so and it was entitled to choose to replace the carpet with carpet on that occasion. When the issue happened again, it was appropriate for the landlord to replace the carpet with lino as at that point it was clear that this was a recurrent problem rather than an isolated incident. Until the carpet is replaced with lino, it is recommended that the landlord carry out regular inspections of the communal areas, in order to assess the need of any further deep cleans to the carpet. 
  3. The landlord is a social landlord with a limited budget and is entitled to schedule more costly repairs or maintenance works in advance, according to its budget as a way of managing larger costs. Therefore, it was reasonable for the landlord to agree to replace the carpet with lino in the next financial year, in response to reports that the urine smell had reoccurred rather than replacing it immediately. The landlord stated it could not yet provide a date of when the planned works would take place; it is recommended therefore that the landlord update the resident with the relevant timescales once the works have been scheduled.

The landlord’s handling of the associated complaint

  1. The landlord’s complaints policy states that it has a two-stage formal complaints process. At stage one of its process, the landlord should respond to the complaint within ten working days. If the resident remains dissatisfied, they are able to escalate their complaint to stage two. In this case, the evidence shows that the landlord closed the complaint after its stage one response, without providing the resident with the opportunity to escalate her complaint, which was not line with its complaints policy. It would have been appropriate for the landlord to have considered her concerns at stage two in line with its formal complaints process.
  2. Following contact from the resident, the Ombudsman asked the landlord to respond to the resident’s complaint on 25 November 2021. Following this, the landlord stated it had reopened the complaint at stage two and would respond within its appointed timescales. The landlord issued its stage two complaint response on 17 December 2021. Whilst this was within twenty working days of the Ombudsman’s request, there were significant delays in the landlord investigating the complaint at its stage two process. There is a lack of evidence to demonstrate that the landlord had fully explained its complaints process to the resident at an earlier stage which was likely to have caused the resident uncertainty and inconvenience. It is noted that the resident needed to contact this Service in order for the landlord to consider her complaint at stage two which was likely to have caused additional inconvenience.
  3. The landlord should offer £150 compensation to the resident in recognition of the inconvenience caused by its poor complaint handling. This amount is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance (published on our website) which states that we may make awards ranging from £50-£250 where there has been service failure which had an impact on the resident but did not change the overall outcome of the complaint. This includes circumstances such as, repeated failures to reply to letters or return phone calls, not having regard to a resident’s preferred method of contact or contact requirements, and failure to meet service standards for actions and responses but where the failure had no significant impact.
  4. It is also recommended that the landlord considers carrying out staff training for complaint handlers to ensure that residents are provided with clear information regarding the complaints process and are provided with updates following any delays.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was no maladministration by the landlord in respect of its handling of the resident’s request to replace the communal carpet in her building.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration y the landlord in respect of its handling of the associated complaint.

Orders

  1. The Ombudsman orders that the following actions are taken within four weeks:

The landlord is to pay the resident £150 in recognition of the inconvenience caused by its poor complaint handling.

Recommendations

  1. Until the carpet is replaced with lino, it is recommended that the landlord carry out regular inspections of the communal areas, in order to assess the need of any further deep cleans to the carpet.
  2. It is recommended that the landlord update the resident with the relevant timescales once the carpet replacement works have been scheduled.
  3. It is recommended that the landlord considers carrying out staff training for complaint handlers to ensure that residents are provided with clear information regarding the complaints process and are provided with updates following any delays.