PSOW Individual Decisions

Ms B complained about how Newport City Homes (‘the Housing Association’) had dealt with complaints she had made about anti-social behaviour from an upstairs neighbour. The Ombudsman decided that whilst the Housing Association had taken some actions, the issues persisted, and Ms B was unaware of the longer term plan of the Housing Association to mitigate the impact on her. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Housing Association’s agreement, that within 2 weeks it would issue Ms B a Stage 2 complaint response, addressing the agreed points.

Miss A complained that Newport City Homes had failed to undertake repairs and address damp and mould issues, which she had first reported in July 2024. Miss A further complained that she had experienced difficulties in contacting the Housing Association. The Ombudsman found that although the Housing Association had undertaken some repairs to the bathroom and the living room ceiling, these were not completed. Miss A had been left without electricity for 4 days. She had experienced difficulties communicating with the Housing Association. Miss A was given conflicting information about whether works had been completed, whether the remaining works were her responsibility, and she had not received a response to her complaint. Miss A was inconvenienced by the Housing Association’s actions and the failure to complete works in a timely manner. This caused frustration for Miss A and affected her, and her daughter’s health. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Association’s agreement to, within 4 weeks, meet with Miss A to inspect the property, identify a list of outstanding issues and provide a schedule and timeline of the planned works. It further agreed to provide Miss A with a written apology for the delays in carrying out repairs and a response to her complaint, also within 4 weeks.

Miss A complained that Newport City Homes (“the Housing Association”) failed to address issues including vermin, damp and heating at her home, which had been ongoing since September 2023. Windows would not lock and repairs to pipework, undertaken following flooding at the property, were not completed properly. Miss A was given conflicting information about who was responsible for pest control. The Ombudsman found that, although the Housing Association had responded to Miss A’s complaints, it had not investigated or addressed all of her concerns. Where shortcomings were acknowledged, no apology had been given and the actions identified were not carried out. This caused unnecessary delays and frustration for Miss A and affected her health. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Housing Association’s agreement to, within one month, provide Miss A with a written apology for its failure to adequately investigate and respond to all her concerns, for the failings identified in its complaint response and for the delay in carrying out the actions identified. The Housing Association also agreed to within one month, provide Miss A with a further complaint response, addressing all matters together with a schedule of when any outstanding investigations and/or works will be undertake.

Miss M complained that Newport City Homes had failed to respond to the service failure complaint she had submitted in August2024. The Ombudsman found that there had been a failure by the Association to respond to Miss M’s complaint and this had caused inconvenience and frustration for Miss M. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Association’s agreement to provide Miss M with a written apology and an explanation for the failure. To pay her £50 redress for her time and trouble having to contact the Ombudsman and to provide her with a complaint response within 10 working days.

Mrs A complained that the Housing Association (“HA”) carried out some repairs, but that the work was not up to standard. She set out the issues she has had with the contractors not sticking to the agreed appointment times. In order to resolve Mrs A’s concerns the HA confirmed it will liaise with Mrs A to agree the outstanding works in the property and it will ensure that for future works, the date and time for the works to be carried out are those that have been mutually arranged. The Ombudsman considered that the action the HA said it will take is reasonable and considered the matter to be settled on this basis.

Ms Y was a tenant of Newport City Homes, a social housing landlord (“the Association”), and complained to the Ombudsman about whether the Association took appropriate actions in relation to a complaint she made to it about anti-social behaviour (“ASB”) by one of her neighbour’s children. She also raised concerns about the Association’s handling of her complaint. The Ombudsman found that the Association responded appropriately to Ms Y’s complaints about ASB; there were regular meetings and liaison with relevant third parties. The Association and third-party involvement appeared to have led to a reduction in reported ASB incidents. This aspect of the complaint was not upheld. The Ombudsman found that the complaints policy in place at the time of Ms Y’s complaint lacked detail. It encouraged early informal resolution of a complaint but implied that all complaints would receive a written response. The Association has since changed the policy to make the position clearer. The Ombudsman did not uphold the complaint but suggested it would have been helpful for the Association to have confirmed agreed actions in writing to Ms Y.

Mrs H complained that she has not received a satisfactory outcome from Newport City Homes following a complaint raised to it in February2023. The Ombudsman found that the Association informed Mrs H of its outcome over the telephone but failed to issue a written response in line with its complaint process. This caused additional frustration to Mrs H. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation and sought the Association’s agreement to issue a written response detailing its complaint outcome within two weeks.

Mrs D complained to the Ombudsman that Newport City Homes had not resolved several maintenance issues in respect of her property, leaving her house in a state of disrepair. The Ombudsman found that following Mrs D raising her complaint with the Body, which was escalated to Stage 2 in June 2022, the Body did not provide a written response until November 2022. The Body upheld the complaint, apologised for the service and listed each maintenance issue individually so that each could be resolved. The repairs have not been completed. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Body’s agreement to offer Mrs D a financial redress of £400 in recognition of the delay in completing her repairs and for her time and trouble in pursuing a complaint, complete an electrical rewiring of the property as a priority, ensure the heating system fitted in December 2022 is free of leaks, complete all outstanding works as identified in Body’s complaint response of 16 November 2022 and liaise with Mrs D to resolve concerns in respect of further damage from works already undertaken, within 30 working days commencing from the date of Mrs D’s agreement for the works to be completed.

Ms L complained that Newport City Homes (“the Association”)failed to resolve her concerns regarding a boundary around the front of her property which is located on a busy road. She further complained that the speed of the vehicles travelling on that road left her in fear of an accident, and that she has no protection if this were to happen. The Ombudsman was concerned that Ms L’s complaint was not yet resolved, and contact was made with the Association to discuss the matter. As an alternative to an investigation, the Association agreed that within 30working days of the Ombudsman’s decision, it would write to Ms L to outline two different options that are available to her in respect of the boundary, which would be of no cost to Ms L. The Association also agreed that it would keep Ms L updated in respect of the likely timescales and action this as quickly as possible.