Wandle Housing Association Limited (202425010)

Background

1. The resident is unhappy with the landlord’s handling of repairs to her living room windowsill. She said it conducted an inspection in October 2023 but did not follow through with a repair. She is unhappy that she has had to chase it repeatedly and water ingress has caused internal damage to her property.

What the complaint is about

2. The landlord’s handling of repairs to a windowsill.
3. We have also investigated the landlord’s complaint handling.

Our decision (determination)

4. We have found:
   1. maladministration in the landlord’s handling of repairs to a windowsill
   2. no maladministration in the landlord’s complaint handling

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

Summary of reasons

Repairs

5. The landlord failed to carry out repairs within a reasonable timeframe. While it recognised failings during its internal complaints process, it failed to follow through with commitments it made in a timely manner.

Complaint handling

6. The landlord responded to the complaint in line with its complaints policy at both stages.

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.

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

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.

7. The resident reported a problem with the living room window on 24 August 2023. The landlord raised an inspection for 20 September 2023, which it rescheduled for 12 October 2023. It is not clear why it changed the appointment, or if it communicated this to the resident. At the inspection the landlord identified that work was needed, but that it needed to be referred to its Major Works team for it to install a new windowsill.
8. The resident chased an update on 9 January 2024 as she said she had not heard from the landlord. It said it would update her within 5 working days, but we have seen no evidence it did this, which was not appropriate. She raised a complaint on 14 May 2024 as she had still not heard anything from the landlord and work had not progressed.
9. In its stage 1 response of 19 May 2024 the landlord apologised that the resident ‘had to raise a complaint’. However, it did not acknowledge its failings or apologise for its lack of action. It said it had now referred the repair to the right team but did not provide any timescales for work to progress. This response was not proportionate, and it did not take reasonable steps to put things right and give her assurance the work would be completed.
10. The resident asked the landlord to escalate her complaint on 27 September 2024 as she had heard nothing since its stage 1 response, which was not reasonable. On 30 September 2024 it said it would arrange another inspection due to the amount of time that had passed. While this was likely reasonable at that time, this would not have been necessary if it had progressed repairs within an appropriate timeframe.
11. In its stage 2 response of 15 October 2024 the landlord explained that it had raised jobs, but these had been closed without a clear reason. This demonstrated a record keeping failure as the landlord failed to keep track of ongoing repairs, leading it to fail to complete them. It acknowledged there had been a serious lapse in communication between its repairs teams.
12. The landlord said that it classified the work as ‘cyclical work’ rather than responsive. However, its repairs policy does not include cyclical works in its repairs timescales, so it is unclear what its timescale for this type of work is. It said the resident had expected it to complete the work within 90 days as per its timescale for major repairs. Given that it had told her it was referring the work to its Major Repairs team, it was reasonable for her believe this was the timescale that applied. The landlord failed to set any expectation with the resident on how long it would actually take, which was not appropriate.
13. The landlord did apologise for the delay and lack of communication and offered compensation of £300 to recognise this. This offer was proportionate to its failings at that time. It explained that it would need to complete a section 20 consultation, after which it would complete the work.
14. The landlord carried out a further inspection on 7 November 2024 and identified that it needed to replace the windowsill and carry out internal decoration. It obtained a quote for the works that day. On 6 December 2024 it told the resident it had started the section 20 process which was due to expire on 9 January 2025.
15. The resident chased the landlord for an update on 14 February 2025. It did not provide this until 14 March 2025, when it said the section 20 stage 2 notice had been issued that day. This was not a timely response, and it was unreasonable that she had to keep chasing for updates. It said the consultation would end on 16 April 2025, and it would then instruct contractors.
16. On 17 July 2025 the resident chased the landlord as work had not started. Its internal communications of 29 July 2025 acknowledged that it had failed to act in April 2025 after the section 20 consultation ended.
17. The landlord scheduled an appointment for it to carry out the on 3 September 2025, however poor weather meant it could not go ahead with this. It has confirmed it completed the work on 11 October 2025, including internal remedial work, a year after its stage 2 response. This represented an unreasonable delay. While we appreciate the landlord needed to follow the section 20 process, there were long periods where it took no actions, which was not appropriate.
18. We have made our award for additional compensation in line with our compensation guidance where there was a failing which adversely affected the resident. The landlord’s continued delay in carrying out repairs and failure to keep the resident updated meant she had to repeatedly chase it for updates. This caused her additional unnecessary distress and inconvenience.

19. As can be seen from above:
    1. the landlord acknowledged the complaint the same day the resident raised it (14 May 2024) – in line with its complaints policy timescale of 5 working days
    2. it sent its stage 1 response 4 working days after she raised the complaint (14 May to 19 May 2024) – in line with its policy timescale of 10 working days
    3. it acknowledged her escalation request after 2 working days (27 September to 1 October 2024) – in line with its policy timescale of 5 working days
    4. it sent its stage 2 response 10 working days after acknowledging the escalation (1 to 15 October 2024) – in line with its policy timescale of 20 working days.

Learning

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

20. The landlord did not keep good records of jobs it raised and cancelled, leading to it not completing work. While it acknowledged this in its complaint responses, it continued to fail to act reasonably.
21. Poor record keeping made it harder for the landlord to carry out repairs effectively. Our spotlight report on Knowledge and Information Management highlights that without good data management, landlords may struggle to use or analyse information to improve services. The landlord should take steps to improve how it records and uses data. This could include better training, clearer guidance, or more support for staff.

Communication

22. In the landlord’s stage 2 complaint response, it provided an incorrect date that work was raised, dated after the complaint which was raised later. It should present information accurately in future complaint responses to ensure clarity.