Industry News


Ombudsman’s online casebook shares more learning for the sector


R


ecent decisions by theHousing Ombudsman include cases concerning cladding and a shared owner wanting to


sell her property, plus an issue resolved throughmediation and a complaint about repairs and damage to property. The latest batch of decisions includes: A finding ofmaladministration about


L&Q for its handling of a shared owner’s request for information to enable her to complete the sale of her property including information on the building’s cladding. Although the landlord had taken some appropriate steps it failed to provide information that it could reasonably have been expected to provide and, given the resident’s difficult situation, it should have taken her individual circumstances into account whenmaking its decision. TheOmbudsman ordered the landlord to apologise, pay £400 compensation, provide the outstanding information and consider any other actions it could take to assist the resident. The investigation found the landlord did not have a reverse staircasing policy and it was ordered to reconsider its position on reverse staircasing in exceptional circumstances. The landlord has now produced a policy on reverse staircasing;


A case concerning the level of compensation


Peabody offered following a resident’s complaint about its handling of a leak where theOmbudsman used itsmediation process to resolve the dispute. The landlord had acknowledged its shortcomings in delivering the service and offered compensation totalling £2,223.89. The resident was not satisfied with the resolution and wanted the landlord to also cover the full cost of carpet installation at £1,200. Both the landlord and resident agreed to engage in themediation process where they were assisted in reaching an agreement without the need for a formal investigation. The landlord agreed to pay an additional £600 for the cost of the carpet replacement; and In a case about BirminghamCity Council the


Ombudsman found there was nomaladministration for the resident’s reports about repairs or damage to property as the landlord had taken appropriate steps to identify the repairs it was responsible for and arranged works. It had also given the resident a compensation formtomake a financial claim. There was service failure as the landlord’s final response on the complaint was not comprehensive and it had not kept records of its repair actions. In addition to ordering the landlord to pay compensation and update the resident on any


outstanding work, theOmbudsman recommended the landlord review its repairs and complaints record keeping, and its complaint handling in line with good practice and theOmbudsman’s own published ComplaintHandling Code. Richard Blakeway,HousingOmbudsman, said:


“Our online casebook continues to grow providing valuable insight and learning for the sector, in addition to our range of reports highlighting lessons on specific issues for landlords. “Two of the cases included here refer to our


thematic Spotlight reports. One of the three key actions in our Spotlight report on Dealing with cladding complaints was the need to address residents’ individual circumstances and, where appropriate, to exercise discretion as with other complaints. I welcome that, in complying with our order, the landlord in this case has introduced a reverse staircasing policy. “In our Spotlight report on Complaints


about repairs we emphasised the importance of addressing all issues raised in a complaint and the need for clear, accurate and easily accessible record keeping. I would encourage landlords tomake use of all the resources available on our website and benefit fromlessons learned that we share across the sector.”


Gas safety and repairs feature inOmbudsman decisions


Issues ranging fromgas safety, repairs and anti- social behaviour were among a batch of critical decisions against social landlords to be published by theHousingOmbudsman. The decisions are published by the


Ombudsman service on their website, where they provide an ever-expanding resource to promote learning, fairness and accountability in the sector and demonstrate the difference complaints canmake for individual residents and wider benefit. They illustrate the type of outcomes following an


investigation which, as well asmaladministration, includes where nomaladministration was found or where something has gone wrong but the landlord has provided appropriate redress. The online casebook has now expanded to over 500 individual decisions. Included in the latest batch of decisions to be published are: A finding ofmaladministration about Notting


Hill Genesis for its response to a resident’s safety concerns about her boiler. An issue was identified that would have been long-standing but the boiler had passed previous gas safety checks. The landlord had not investigated the discrepancy. Given the


potential seriousness of thematter, theOmbudsman ordered that an independent investigation should be carried out to establish what went wrong and to identify any service improvements to prevent a similar situation happening again. The landlord was also ordered to carry out a case review to verify that its (and its gas contractor’s) policies, procedures and working practices in regard to gas safety are fit for purpose; A case about anti-social behaviour where no


maladministration was found in SovereignHousing Association’s handling of the complaint but did recommend that it reviews its recordsmanagement processes and systems, in addition tomeeting with the resident to discuss any ongoing issues with noise transference; and A case concerning ForHousing’s handling of roof


repairs and the resident’s complaint. The Ombudsman found the landlordmade reasonable redress for the failures in its handling of the roof repairs. It also found service failure for the complaint handling as the landlord did not convey its understanding towards the resident and the distress it caused her in its stage one response. It recommended that the landlord review


8 | HMMOctober/November 2021 | www.housingmmonline.co.uk


its repair procedures and acknowledged learning fromthe complaint to prevent similar failings happening again. Richard Blakeway,HousingOmbudsman, said:


“Our decisions promote fairness and accountability, and demonstrate the difference complaints can make. The group of cases highlighted show how we have sought to prevent issues reoccurring through a range of orders and recommendations. This includes a serious case involving gas safety, where the landlord responded constructively to our ordering an independent review following our investigation. “I would encourage landlords to regularly use


our decisions to help improve services and complaint handling. It also helps residents in understanding the issues we can consider and the decisions wemake.” New decisions are published every two weeks on theOmbudsman’s website and the landlord in each case is identified. They are published threemonths after the decision date. As well as its decisions, theOmbudsman also publishes performance data reports on individual landlords as part of its drive to increase transparency across the social housing sector.


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