PSOW Individual Decisions

Ms X complained that Tai Calon Community Housing failed to repair the subsiding steps outside her property. The Ombudsman found that Ms X had complained to the Association, however, it had not received a copy of her complaint due a technical issue with its online complaint form and it was unable to recover the details. She said this caused uncertainty and frustration for Ms X. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Association’s agreement to, within 1 week, offer an apology and explanation of the technical issue that led to the complaint not being received and, within 3 weeks, issue its complaint response.

Mr A, a leaseholder of a flat within the building owned by Tai Calon (‘the HA’), said that he had been reporting a leak around his property for 3 years. He said that the HA had sent out numerous plumbers and engineers, but the leak had not been resolved. Mr A said there was severe water damage in several rooms in his property, and he described water pouring downstairs in the communal area of the building. The Ombudsman confirmed with Mr A that the leak had now been resolved. However, Mr A’s case and a previous complaint investigated by the Ombudsman case had identified administrative shortcomings around the reporting of disrepairs. The HA agreed to carry out the following actions to resolve Mr A’s complaint: a) Apologise to Mr A for the time taken to resolve the repair issues. b) Offer Mr A a financial redress payment of £250 in recognition of the difficulties Mr A had encountered while dealing with the HA about the matter, and lack of repair documentation which caused delays in repair work being carried out. c) Arrange a visit by the HA’s Property Services Manager and a member of its Customer Service Team to discuss any further concerns Mr A may have. d) The HA agreed to provide evidence of: (i) its Digital Strategy, which includes a plan to integrate leaseholders into its housing management system, with the timescale of when this will be implemented (ii) a review of its record keeping processes, alongside the Ombudsman’s Good Records Management Matters statutory guidance, as agreed on a previous Ombudsman case.

We commenced an investigation of Mrs A’s complaint against Tai Calon Community Housing Association to determine whether the Housing Association had taken: – All relevant steps to respond to Mrs A’s reports of disrepair between 2019 and 2024 – All appropriate steps to address a recommendation by a Social Services Department to re-house Mrs A following an assessment in approximately 2019/2020 – Account of all relevant factors when it decided to withdraw the pre-allocation offer of housing made in 2024. In response to the investigation, the Housing Association accepted that some of its actions may have fallen short of expected standards. It put forward a number of proposals to address Mrs A’s concerns. The Ombudsman determined that the actions the Housing Association had agreed to take were proportionate to reach a voluntary settlement of Mrs A’s complaint and would deliver an appropriate outcome. On this basis, the investigation was closed. The Housing Association agreed to: – Apologise to Mrs A for the time taken to resolve her housing situation and for the shortcomings in the application of its complaints procedure including a financial redress payment of £1,000 – Guarantee that Mrs A would be offered the next suitable property for her needs – Waive recharge fees for unauthorised alterations to Mrs A’s property – Consult on and publish final versions of its policies relating to adaptions, vulnerable persons and allocations – Review its record-keeping processes and, where areas of improvement are identified, to actions these.

Miss A complained about disrepair problems she had at her property and Tai Calon’s (“the HA”) communication with her over the years, especially given the impact it has had on the family’s physical/mental health. She also expressed dissatisfaction that the HA was not keeping her updated about progress with the insurance claim that she had made against the HA’s insurers. The HA agreed, by way of settlement, to update Miss A on the progress of her insurance claim. It also agreed to apologise again in writing for the identified failings in her case and to set out the lessons learnt and the changes to be taken forward to prevent similar failings happening again.

Mrs C submitted a complaint on behalf of Mr D about Tai Calon Community Housing (“Tai Calon”). Mrs C said that Mr D’s front external door was not fit for purpose and had a gap in the frame, despite Tai Calon attempting a repair. She said that as a result of the gap, Mr D had to put blankets over the door to try to deal with the draught and water ingress. Finally, she said that Mr D was an elderly gentleman, who was in poor health. The Ombudsman found that Tai Calon’s Repairs Policy included an undertaking to tailor its repairs service to those tenants who were vulnerable and who need additional support. She considered that Mr D was a vulnerable tenant and that Tai Calon should be taking appropriate steps to resolve the issue at the earliest opportunity. The Ombudsman did not consider it acceptable to leave Mr D for a further 6 months before a permanent solution was implemented, as Tai Talon had advised would be the timeframe for a new door to be fitted. The Ombudsman sought and gained Tai Calon’s agreement to, within 5 working days, undertake a temporary repair to stop the draught and water ingress. Within 10 working days, to provide a financial redress payment of £250 to Mr D for the additional energy costs encountered. Within 8 weeks, to provide a replacement external front door for Mr D’s property to permanently address the draught and water ingress problem.

Ms K complained that Tai Calon Community Housing failed to offer her accommodation after she was placed on emergency banding and it did not acknowledge her housing requirements for 12 months. The Ombudsman found that the Association received Ms K’s complaint in January 2023 but failed to inform Ms K that it was being dealt with informally. It also failed to explain how to escalate the complaint should she be dissatisfied with its outcome. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. She sought and gained the Association’s agreement to log a formal complaint and issue an immediate acknowledgement letter with apologies and to issue a formal complaint response within 4 weeks.