The Housing Ombudsman has found severe maladministration by One Housing Group in its record keeping following the its failure to conduct some repairs, a lack of clear service charge information, and mishandling of resident complaints.
A statement from the HO – which specialises in handling housing association issues – says the failure in record keeping had a detrimental impact on the landlord’s repair and complaint handling operations. In turn this had significant consequences, causing unnecessary distress and inconvenience to a resident.
The Ombudsman found that the resident, a tenant with two young children, had to continually chase the landlord to fix repairs to the walls, which took around 14 months to be corrected despite the landlord eventually admitting their mistakes. Delays were found in fixing windows, taking about 15 months to address the issue, causing a total delay of over two years.
The resident had a hard time contacting the landlord for help, which was stressful and inconvenient, especially given the family’s worries about health, safety, and drafts.
Given the landlord’s inaction, the resident eventually arranged her own short-term housing. The resident, her daughter, and baby were sleeping at a bed and breakfast due to dust, odours, and chemicals.
The HO also found maladministration in the landlord’s complaint handling process. The landlord unfairly closed the resident’s initial complaint and failed to provide a complete response at the first stage. Although the landlord offered compensation for these failures, it overlooked several important concerns raised by the resident in subsequent escalation requests.
The stage two response inadequately addressed these issues, indicating a lack of attention to addressing the resident’s specific requests.
The landlord was ordered by the Ombudsman to inspect the property for mould and inadequate repairs and take action accordingly, pay the resident £3,375 in compensation and issue a letter of apology to the resident.
The Ombudsman also ordered a review of the case including its processes for recording surveyor’s inspections; repairs record keeping with emphasis on potential safety issues; and its tendency towards informal complaint handling to ensure that its formal complaints procedure to be in line with the Complaint Handling Code.
The landlord now says it has introduced improvements such as including a new transparent record-keeping procedure and enhancing peer review processes.
Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, says: “With millions relying on social housing for safe and secure housing, it is vital that landlords provide timely and adequate responses to disrepair concerns, demonstrating a commitment to their residents’ safety, comfort, and quality of life.
“The delays identified in relation to repairs to the walls and windows were avoidable, with the resident having to wait for more two years for some repairs to be completed.
“The landlord’s response was undermined by severely inadequate records, despite some of the issues relating to safety, and this case underscores the importance of landlord’s taking into account all the lessons we have shared in our Knowledge and Information management spotlight report.
“The landlord’s inaction had very human consequences, which ultimately led the resident to arrange her own short-term housing, with her daughter and newborn having to stay at a bed and breakfast. It is important for other landlord’s to review this case to ensure lessons are applied across the sector.”
Last week Landlord Today reported that the Housing Ombudsman ordered Yorkshire Housing to pay £3,780 after it found three findings of severe maladministration for how it handled reports of a leak, damp and mould, complaint handling, and considering the resident’s welfare.
And in January we reported that the Housing Ombudsman found severe maladministration in four cases involving Croydon council,’s social housing urging it to use these problems as an opportunity to deliver better services.
