PSOW Individual Decisions

Mr A complained that Rhondda Housing Association Ltd (“the Housing Association”) had allowed his neighbour to install a fence along the boundary of their shared driveway. He said that the fence was impacting his ability to park on his drive. The Ombudsman decided that before granting permission for the fence, the Housing Association should have considered the impact this might have on Mr A accessing his driveway. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Housing Association’s agreement, that within 6 weeks, it would arrange a date for a surveyor and a housing officer to visit Mr A’s property to re-evaluate the situation.

Mr & Mrs A complained about delays to repair requests that they made to the Rhondda Housing Association Ltd (“the Association”) from July 2022 onwards. The Ombudsman decided that the Association had failed to communicate with Mr & Mrs A on a number of occasions, and particularly between September 2022 – September 2023. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Association’s agreement to within 28 days, provide Mr & Mrs A with a written apology for the failures in communication, as well as share the experience within the organisation as a learning and improvement point to prevent similar occurrences, and provide Mr & Mrs A with a brief explanation on any action taken as a result.

Mr X complained that Rhondda Housing Association Ltd (“the Association”) had written to him following a complaint that it had received and had made accusations about him that he said he was innocent of. He said that he had done nothing to breach his tenancy agreement. Mr X also complained that the Association had not responded to his letters of complaint. The Ombudsman was concerned about the delays Mr X had experienced in receiving a complaint response and that he had been inconvenienced by the lack of action by the Association. The Association advised the Ombudsman that the outcome of Mr X’s case would be dependent on a court hearing relating to an incident involving Mr X and his neighbour, which was due to take place in August 2021. Accordingly, the Ombudsman could not consider matters that were part of court proceedings. In relation to the complaint handling issue, the Ombudsman sought and gained the Association’s agreement to: · Provide Mr X with a formal complaint response within 2 weeks of the Court Hearing, due to take place in August 2021. · Provide Mr X with information on the formal complaints process, including the proposed action outlined above, within2 weeks of the date of the Ombudsman’s letter.