Wiltshire Council (202303945)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202303945

Wiltshire Council

27 June 2024

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

The complaint is about:
1. The condition of the property when it was let to the resident.
2. The landlord’s handling of various repairs at the property.
The Ombudsman has also considered the complaint handling in this case.

Background

The resident lives in a 2 bedroom mid terrace bungalow owned by the landlord on a secure tenancy agreement that began in April 2023. The resident has vulnerabilities that include both mental ill health and physical health affecting her mobility.
The resident identified outstanding repairs at her new home from the start of the tenancy. The landlord responded and arranged an inspection of the property and then for subsequent joinery work, a replacement toilet and plaster repairs.
The resident complained to the landlord in April 2023. However, she had difficulty contacting the landlord’s complaints team by telephone and thereafter contacted this Service on 11 May 2023. This Service contacted the landlord and the landlord progressed her complaint. It responded at stage 1 of its complaints process on 1 June 2023. The resident was concerned about the newly fitted toilet that was smaller than the previous, and it did not meet her medical needs. The landlord outlined a list of repairs it had identified that it was willing to resolve. The landlord did not offer the resident a resolution to the toilet issue, however, it had referred her onto the council’s adult care team to conduct an assessment of her medical needs.
The resident remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s complaint response and escalated her complaint on 2 June 2023. The resident referred to the difficulty she was having using the shower and told the landlord on a number of occasions that she could not use it because water pooled on the floor when in use.
The landlord sent the resident its stage 2 complaint response on 30 June 2023. It provided the resident with a response to each of the outstanding repairs that included additional repairs it had identified on an inspection of the property on 27 June 2023. The landlord identified additional work was required to the drains at the property and it was conducting exploratory work before it could decide on the repairs required. The landlord said it believed it had remained engaged with the resident, it was trying to resolve the issues she had with the toilet, drainage and shower. The resident and landlord relationship became strained as repairs remained outstanding and on some occasions, work was delayed because of access issues. The landlord did not complete full works at the property until April 2024; 12 months after the tenancy began.
The resident has recently confirmed to this Service that all work has been completed at her home. However, she said she could not use the toilet properly for 7 months and she was unable to use the shower for over 11 months.

Assessment and findings

Policies and procedures

Voids (empty homes) policy

The landlord’s voids policy has a set of objectives that includes its commitment to provide good quality homes that meet the minimum ‘lettable standard’. It also aims to achieve high levels of customer satisfaction.
The landlord prioritises empty property repairs into two categories as follows:
1. Essential: repairs that must be completed while a property is empty including health and safety checks.
2. Non-essential: minor repairs that can be completed while the outgoing tenant is living in the property or once the new tenant has moved into their home.

Property lettings standard

The landlord’s empty homes are brought up to a lettable standard to ensure the property is safe and in a clean condition. The lettable standard ensures the general condition, cleanliness, internal and external fixtures and fittings are to an acceptable standard. For example, it provides a comprehensive checklist to ensure the property is structurally sound and weatherproof, all floor surfaces are in sound condition, heating is in working order, the property is clean throughout, there is a minimum standard of kitchen units, all sanitary ware is in good condition and free from cracks and internal doors operate.

Repairs policy

The landlord’s repairs policy refers to responsive repairs, cyclical and planned maintenance. It refers to its approach to aids and adaptations where it will conduct work at a property because a tenant or a family member who resides with them is disabled or has a medical need or other vulnerability. The landlord will undertake this type of work in conjunction with a referral from an Occupational Therapist and this type of work falls outside the scope of the repairs policy.
The landlord’s responsive repairs policy prioritises repairs into 4 categories from an immediate response e.g. complete loss of power or water, within 24 hours e.g. no hot water, toilet not working, 5 working days e.g. repairs or replacement of doors, cupboards and 20 working days e.g. replacement floor tiles, fascia boards and soffits.

The condition of the property when it was let to the resident, and;

The landlord’s handling of various repairs at the property.

The landlord has provided this Service with a copy of its report dated 10 April 2022, which was compiled when the property was empty and before the resident’s tenancy began. This report is referred to as the ‘void inspection’. The landlord also provided a report dated 13 April 2023 (1 day prior to the resident’s tenancy start date), that showed photographs of each room within the property. The report requested a signature and date from the new tenant. However, the report is not signed and dated by the new tenant. Attached to these reports is a schedule of works form and a specific question asks the staff member completing the form to assess if the property is ‘suitable to let’. The question is unanswered on the form. There are other unanswered questions such as the general condition of the property.
The Ombudsman expects landlord’s to keep robust records to ensure it provides effective and efficient services and in this case, that it can evidence whether or not it was satisfied its ‘lettable standard’ was met prior to the resident’s tenancy start date.
The resident started to raise concerns about the condition of her new home from the beginning of the tenancy. The resident told the landlord the toilet was dirty and she was concerned about a number of outstanding repairs. The landlord conducted an inspection of the property on 20 April 2023 and identified the following:
1. There was limescale on the toilet. The resident disputed this as she believed the stains to be faeces. The landlord agreed to replace the toilet and the work was conducted on 25 April 2023. The new toilet cistern did not sit flush to the wall and the landlord packed it out with blocks of wood until it could complete the work to ‘box in’ and tile behind the cistern.
2. Plaster repairs – it arranged the work on 21 April 2023 and this was completed 20 June 2023.
3. Electrical work – the landlord assured the resident the electrics had been checked when the property was empty. However, it arranged for pendant light fittings in the bedroom to be replaced on 23 May 2023 and the work was completed 31 May 2023.
4. Joinery repairs – bedroom window sill, adjustment of the rear door and bedroom 2 door. This work was arranged for 24 and 27 April 2023. The landlord attended and found the rear door was secure, however, it had ‘swelled’; and so it conducted a temporary repair and said it would get further advice because it believed the door threshold may have been the issue. The landlord then arranged further work on 25 April 2023 to overhaul locks on the bedroom and bathroom door which were completed 20 June 2023.
The resident had not moved into her new home at the start of the tenancy and she agreed for some work to be completed when she moved in, such as the redistribution of loft insulation. This was to ensure arrangements were in place for ease of access.
The resident raised a concern to the landlord about water pooling on the shower floor. The landlord inspected the property on 27 April 2023 and noted there was a small amount of water present when the shower was used, and stated no further work was required.
The resident contacted the landlord on 28 April 2023 and said the new toilet was a “disaster”. The landlord responded to the resident the same day to say it was fully aware of the resident’s concerns, that it had visited her and continued to work to find a resolution. However, the resident refused for the landlord to complete the work to ‘box in’ behind the toilet cistern and she also raised concerns that the new toilet was smaller than the previous one. The resident said to the landlord that she had medical needs that required her to empty a catheter in the toilet and she struggled to do this as the new toilet was a smaller size.
The resident tried to complain to the landlord in April 2023, however, she had difficulty contacting its complaints department and she therefore complained via this Service on 11 May 2023 about the toilet and other outstanding repairs at her new home. The landlord registered a stage 1 complaint.
On 25 May 2023, the landlord agreed to refer the resident to the council’s adult care team for an assessment to take place of her medical needs in relation to the type of toilet that would be most suitable to her requirements. It is unclear when the landlord made this referral.
The landlord sent the resident its stage 1 complaint response on 1 June 2023. It relayed information about the jobs it had raised. It stated it had visited the resident at her new home to assess the outstanding work, it acknowledged the resident was feeling stressed by the situation and noted she was receiving ongoing treatment and medical support. However, the landlord failed to assess whether the property met its ‘lettable standard’ and this was unreasonable given it was a main point in the resident’s complaint.
The landlord did not provide the resident with assurance of when it would be in a position to resolve the toilet and neither did it proactively manage the situation or communicate an action plan including an estimated timescale to resolve the toilet issue and this was inappropriate. The resident remained unhappy because the landlord had not resolved the toilet issue and she escalated her complaint on 2 June 2023.
The resident told the landlord a plumber had told her the shower drain should be positioned on the outside of the property rather than on the inside. The landlord followed this up and identified additional drainage work and a job was arranged on 14 June 2023, however, the landlord conducted further exploratory works that involved a drain survey and then coordinated its actions with an OT to ensure the bathroom fully met the resident’s requirements.
The landlord responded at stage 2 of its complaints process on 30 June 2023. It noted the resident contacted the landlord on 27 June 2023 as she had to report an emergency repair for the shower that was leaking onto the laminate floor. It noted a surveyor had inspected the shower and water was running along the floor when in use. The landlord said it would consider installing a shower door to stop the water seepage. It also itemised a list of outstanding work required at the property that included adjustment of doors, joinery work, plaster repairs, redistribution of loft insulation, shower drainage, plumbing and wider drainage work. It said it was awaiting an OT assessment in relation to the type of toilet that was most suitable to the resident’s needs.
The landlord acknowledged the resident had experienced concerns about her new home and the toilet and it believed it had remained engaged with her to move things forward. It is of concern to this Service that the landlord did not understand the full impact on the resident and have a grip on the situation. There were 2 essential facilities (toilet and shower) that the resident could not fully use and the landlord did not demonstrate it had a plan of how it would proactively manage the situation by including realistic estimate timeframes for completion of work. Further, the landlord did not recognise the full extent of its failings nor offer the resident any compensation to put things right and this was inappropriate.
On 4 July 2023, the resident’s MP raised concerns that the toilet was too narrow for the resident’s medical needs and despite ongoing concerns the situation had not been resolved. The MP also raised concerns about the shower and a drainage issue. The landlord responded to the MP the same day and referred to its complaint responses. It said it had referred the resident to the council’s adult social care team for an occupational assessment on the toilet in relation to her medical needs.
The resident contacted the landlord on 12 July 2023; she had to delay some planned work by the landlord to the kitchen which was associated with drainage as she had been ill. However, she was concerned that the shower water seepage had not been resolved. The landlord’s notes state “resident was using towels to stop the water tracking through the floor and into the hallway”. The landlord’s records do not show what work, if any, was conducted.
The OT provided their report to the landlord dated 31 July 2023 about the resident’s medical requirements and the suitability of the toilet. It confirmed the new toilet had a “smaller, more oval aperture compared to the previous toilet that had a rounded aperture which the resident could manage well”. The OT explained the resident had difficulty using her catheter and she was getting urine infections. It went on to state “the current toilet had been left sitting away from the wall and was pretty shocking” and asked for a larger, rounded aperture toilet so the resident could manage the toilet in a safe way.
Within the OT report dated 31 July 2024, the OT commented on a drainage issue and described “foamy dirty water rising through the level access shower, wash hand basin and kitchen sink whenever the resident used the washing machine and the shower did not drain quickly and flooded the floor so the resident was not using it.
The landlord replied to the OT on 14 August 2023 to say the existing toilet could be changed and it gave advice about the size of toilet pans. The landlord followed up with a visit to the property on 18 August 2023 and wider issues about the bathroom and plumbing were discussed with the resident.
The landlord arranged a visit to the resident’s home on 18 August 2023. The resident had recently used the shower but water seeped under the shower screen and she had to put two large towels down that became saturated. The resident made contact with the landlord on 6 September 2023 as she had become increasingly frustrated with not being able to shower. The landlord arranged to visit the resident the same week, however, it is unclear what was discussed as the landlord has not provided the records of the visit.
The OT chased up the landlord on 4 September 2023 as the resident had contacted the OT “very distressed” by the situation and had not heard anything about what was going to happen. The landlord replied to say it was considering the need for a different type of toilet and this may be something that was resolved while the drains were repaired.
The landlord contacted the resident on 14 September 2023 and told her it had arranged a drain survey to ensure there was no issue underground. It then arranged for a gully drain to be installed on 27 September 2023 and then it would change the kitchen sink and bathroom basin plumbing that would involve removing kitchen units and the bathroom floor.
In November 2023, the landlord’s records referred to a survey of the kitchen and bathroom and a joint visit with the OT on 2 November 2023. However, by now, the resident and landlord relationship had become strained and in January 2024, bathroom work was underway and the resident had stopped work. The resident asked the landlord to find her somewhere to stay. She was concerned her health was deteriorating. On 17 January 2024 the landlord visited the resident and confirmed work in the bathroom was nearly complete and kitchen drainage work was to be undertaken in February 2024.
On 29 January 2024, the resident contacted the landlord and said she wanted to end her life due to her living conditions. She reported she had not had a shower for 7 months. The landlord arranged a support visit. The resident asked if the guest room in the building was available and the landlord said it was but did not feel it would be suitable as it was one room with no bathing facilities and was not situated on the ground floor.
The landlord was concerned the resident may be at risk of injury as work was only partially completed. Repairs remained ongoing and in April 2024, the landlord visited the resident to sign off all the work at the property. The resident highlighted a list of items within the kitchen and bathroom that she remained unhappy with. The landlord confirmed minor snagging work was required within the bathroom to the shower door. The landlord attended to conduct the work to silicone around the basin but the resident refused entry.
The landlord’s records suggest the toilet was not replaced until January 2024. In the interim, the landlord has confirmed, the resident was provided with a commode.
On 12 February 2024, the resident stopped all the work and asked the landlord to contact her. The landlord responded the following day to arrange a home visit and provided her with a list of ‘snagging’ work to be completed at the property. The resident has recently confirmed to this Service that work is now complete.
The landlord’s ‘lettable standard’ is specific in relation to what repairs it will conduct for a property to meet its criteria. For example, the landlord states to meet the lettable standard that “all internal doors should operate, any defective plaster will be repaired and all sanitary ware should be clean and in good condition”.
While the landlord provided its identified schedule of repairs when the property was empty, it was clear upon its later inspection on 20 April 2023 that a high volume of work remained outstanding upon start of the tenancy. The landlord’s voids policy allows it to conduct minor repairs after the resident had moved in to her new home. While the landlord could protest that all of the repairs were minor in nature, and therefore permitted under its voids process, the cumulative volume of them all represented a situation where it was unfair on the resident. The evidence shows it was the resident that reported the requirement for a number of repairs and not the landlord who had identified all of the necessary repairs through its void processes.
The ambiguity over the landlord’s administration of its void process shows it has not provided definitive information as to whether it considered the property had met the minimum ‘lettable standard’. As such, it is reasonable to conclude that the weight of evidence supports the property was not in a suitable condition to be let at the start of the resident’s tenancy and caused unnecessary distress, disruption and inconvenience to the resident. In allowing the tenancy to begin in these circumstances, the landlords actions were unreasonable. The landlord’s failure caused considerable impact on the resident and caused her unnecessary distress and inconvenience and this amounts to maladministration. The landlord should therefore compensate the resident £500 to put things right. This amount of compensation is aligned to the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance.
The landlord identified further work that became more extensive and complex in nature such as repairs to the toilet, drains and shower. It was clear from an early point in April 2023 that the replacement toilet was a smaller size and did not meet the resident’s medical needs. It appears the resident was provided with a commode to assist until a resolution was found. However, while it was appropriate for the landlord to refer the resident to the council’s adult care team for an occupational therapist (OT) to assess her medical needs, this assessment did not take place until 3 months after the resident’s tenancy began and the toilet was not replaced until January 2024. In total, the resident was inconvenienced for 9 months and this was unreasonable in the circumstances.
Given the resident’s vulnerabilities and her reports of the difficulty she experienced in using the toilet, the landlord has not demonstrated that it considered alternatives that could have alleviated the situation for the resident such as an expedited OT assessment, sourced a larger toilet or temporary accommodation if other options were not feasible. The landlord’s delayed actions were therefore inappropriate.
The landlord first attended to the resident’s concern about the shower in April 2023, however, at that point, it did not identify there was an issue with the shower. It was not until June 2023, it identified an issue that appeared to be significant works to the drainage. However, there is no reasonable explanation as to why the landlord took until April 2024 (10 months) to complete the works. Due to the prolonged delays, the resident and landlord relationship had broken down to the point some delays were caused by the resident due to access issues and her losing faith in the landlord’s ability to resolve the situation.
While it was clear additional drainage work was required that would take longer to resolve and would not necessarily have been identified at the empty property stage, the landlord has not evidenced that it conducted temporary repairs such as the installation of a shower screen, as it had suggested, to reduce the amount of water and potential damage to the property while the shower was in use.
The resident was clearly concerned about using the shower and described how she did not feel she could use it and the situation was causing her serious concerns about the impact on her health and welfare. The landlord therefore delayed unreasonably to provide a permanent solution for the resident to access basic sanitary facilities and this led to detrimental impact on her wellbeing. The landlord’s combined failures to conduct repairs within a reasonable timeframe led to distress and inconvenience to the resident, which was enhanced due to her vulnerabilities. The landlords failed actions in this complaint amount to severe maladministration. The landlord is therefore ordered to compensate the resident of £2000 in recognition of the prolonged delays in resolving the toilet and shower, her difficulty in using an essential toilet facility, her inability to enjoy the full use of the shower without causing potential damage to the property and the adverse impact this caused to the resident of distress and inconvenience. This compensation is equivalent to £200 per month for the 10 months the resident was most impacted by the landlord’s failings. This amount of compensation aligns to the Ombudsman’s Dispute Resolution Principles.

Complaint handling

The resident started to raise concerns about the condition of her new home on 4 April 2023. She struggled to contact the landlord’s complaints team as she said there was no telephone service and despite her email to them and a visit to an office, she was not able to resolve her concerns. It is unclear from the landlord’s records why the resident had difficulties as the landlord has a telephone line direct to its complaints team that is open daily. However, when the landlord responded to the resident on 11 April 2023, it apologised to the resident for the difficulty she had experienced.
It is unclear when the landlord registered the resident’s complaint and there is no record of it acknowledging it. The resident had to contact this Service on 11 May 2023 and then the landlord sent the resident its stage 1 complaint response on 1 June 2023. The Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (1 April 2022) states “when a complaint is made, it must be acknowledged and logged at stage 1 of the complaints procedure within 5 working days of receipt”. It was therefore inappropriate that the landlord delayed in registering the resident’s complaint and when it did receive the complaint via this Service, there is no evidence it acknowledged receipt of the resident’s complaint.
Further, the landlord did not provide the resident with its stage 1 complaint response for 2 months. When it did, it failed to answer part of the resident’s complaint about the condition of the resident’s new home. The Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code states landlord’s shall address all points raised in the complaint. It also clearly sets out an expectation for landlord’s to respond to complaints within 10 working days. Where it is unable to do so, exceptionally, a landlord may provide an explanation to the resident containing a clear timeframe for when a response will be received that should not exceed a further 10 days without good reason. Given the landlord failed to follow the Complaint Handling Code and delayed in providing the resident with its stage 1 complaint by 2 months, its inactions were inappropriate.
The resident contacted the landlord on 2 June 2023 to express her dissatisfaction with the landlord’s complaint response. She said the response contained many lies and she felt she had been “stitched up”. However, there is no record the landlord set out its understanding of the issues outstanding and the outcome the resident was seeking as per the Complaint Handling Code and this was inappropriate.
The landlord sent the resident its stage 2 complaint response on 30 June 2023. It itemised the outstanding work and concluded that it had remained engaged with the resident to move the issues forward. However, the landlord’s complaint response referred to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman rather than the Housing Ombudsman. The landlord realised its error later when the complaint reached this Service and has assured the Ombudsman this error has been rectified for future complaint responses. The landlord did not address the issue with the condition of the resident’s new tenancy and whether it had assessed the property against its ‘lettable standard’. The landlord responded to the stage 2 complaint within 20 working days and in compliance with the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code.
In conclusion, the landlord delayed in registering and responding to the resident’s stage 1 complaint. It did not acknowledge her complaint or keep her informed of its delays and this was inappropriate. Neither did the landlord fully respond to all of the raised complaint issues. The landlord did escalate the resident’s stage 2 complaint promptly and provided its response within target. However, it referred to the wrong Ombudsman within its stage 2 complaint response and this was inappropriate. The landlord’s cumulative failures with its complaint handling amount to maladministration. The landlord should therefore put things right for the resident and pay compensation of £200 that reflects the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident.

Determination

In accordance with Paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the complaint about the condition of the property when it was let to the resident.
In accordance with Paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was severe maladministration in the landlord’s handling of repairs to the toilet and shower at the property.
In accordance with Paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s complaint handling

Orders and recommendations

Orders

Within 4 weeks of this report, the landlord’s chief executive officer should apologise in writing to the resident and provide this Service with a copy of the letter.
Within 4 weeks of this report, the landlord is ordered to pay compensation of £2700 in relation to its handling of the following failures:
1. £500 the landlord’s handling of the condition of the property when it was let to the resident.
2. £2000 the landlord’s handling of the various repairs at the property.
3. £200 the landlord’s complaint handling.
In accordance with paragraph 54(g) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord should conduct a review of the key failures highlighted in this report. Within 10 weeks, it should present this review to its senior leadership team and provide the Ombudsman a report summarising its identified improvements. The review should include whether the landlord’s void policy and procedure reflects the Ombudsman’s guidance (such as our May 2023 Ombudsman’s Knowledge and Information Spotlight report). The landlord should provide evidence of its report on its learning and details of how this has been communicated to staff.
The landlord should reply to this Service with evidence of compliance with these orders within the timescales set out above.