PSOW Individual Decisions

Miss A complained to Valleys to Coast Housing about knives, nails, weights and waste buried in the grass in her garden, which she said caused rat infestations and an unsafe environment for her younger children. The Ombudsman found that the Association had not properly addressed this issue. The Ombudsman considered that this caused Miss A frustration due to herself and her children being unable to use the garden and decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman gained the Association’s agreement to, within 4 weeks, issue a letter to Miss A which sets out the chronology of actions it has taken to address her concerns and rectify the problems with her garden, provide copies of any relevant survey/inspection reports, set out a schedule of proposed works to be undertaken, set out the estimated time the works will take and the proposed commencement date, and set out what is required of Miss A in respect of contact and access to the garden.

Mrs A complained because she was unhappy that Valleys to Coast Housing had failed to action repairs to her property, including adjustment to her staircase and external rendering. The Ombudsman noted that in respect of the external rendering works, Mrs A had an ongoing open complaint with the Housing Association. In respect of works to the staircase the Housing Association had previously informed Mrs A that works could be done. However, this position changed, with the Housing Association providing its reasons for the works no longer being undertaken. The Ombudsman decided that the Housing Association had not apologised to Mrs A for previously advising her that works to the staircase could be completed. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Housing Association’s agreement to provide Mrs A with an apology for providing misinformation and to provide an update in respect of her complaint about rendering works within 2 weeks.

Mr A complained about the action taken by Valleys To Coast Housing (“the Housing Association”) to address his concerns about the heating system in his property. Mr A said that this had led to the household being in fuel poverty. The Ombudsman found that, whilst the Housing Association had taken some action to address Mr A’s concerns, it had not resolved the complaint or provided Mr A with a full response in a timely manner. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Housing Association’s agreement to, within 4 weeks, provide Mr A with a formal response to his complaint, including a summary of the actions taken to date and planned actions with timescales for completion. It also agreed to provide him with information about available support for fuel poverty and how he can access it.

Mr B complained that repairs had not been done to his roof, having raised the issue to Valleys to Coast Housing (“the Housing Association”). In addition to this he complained that he had not received a satisfactory response to his complaints. The Ombudsman found that Mr B had raised numerous service requests to the Housing Association and that there were avoidable delays in dealing with his request. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation on the basis that within 1 month of issuing the decision letter the Housing Association will: a) Apologise for the delays and lack of correspondence about repairs. b) Make repairs to stop the leak. c) Make a payment of £300 financial redress for the avoidable delays, lack of communication and inconvenience caused.

Ms A complained that she reported repairs to Valleys to Coast Housing Association, but they were not completed. She said she requested updates, but the Housing Association did not respond. Ms A complained that she submitted a formal complaint, but did not receive a response from the Housing Association. The Ombudsman decided that there was a delay in the Housing Association completing the repairs to Ms A’s property and responding to her formal complaint. The Ombudsman contacted the Housing Association, which agreed to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Housing Association’s agreement to issue an apology to Ms A for the delay in completing the repairs and response to the formal complaint, and to complete the outstanding repairs to the property.

Mr T complained that Valleys to Coast Housing had not dealt with a blockage, resulting in the downstairs of Mr T’s property flooding.The Ombudsman found that Mr T had raised his concerns, and while the Housing Association attempted to deal with the issue, the problem was not resolved, resulting in Mr T reporting the flooding again, causing frustration to Mr T. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Association’s agreement to apologise to Mr T and explain what happened. The Association also agreed to ensure the work is completed by the end of September 2024 and offer Mr T £50 financial redress for the time and trouble taken to approach the Ombudsman.

Miss X complained that Valleys To Coast Housing failed to respond to her complaint, about drainage issues in her garden, which she made to it in March 2024. The Ombudsman found that whilst the Association had taken steps to investigate the concerns, it had failed to respond to the complaint in line with its complaints process. The Ombudsman said this caused uncertainty, frustration, and inconvenience to Miss X. She decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Association agreement to provide an apology and explanation for the delay and issue its complaint response within two weeks.

Mr X complained that Valleys To Coast Housing failed to respond to his complaint regarding a leak coming from a neighbouring flat, which is causing mould and damp in his property. The Ombudsman decided that there had been delays and oversights with the response which caused frustration and uncertainty to Mr X. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Association’s agreement to issue its response (within 3 weeks), which should outline the actions taken to date, the planned actions to remedy the leak, and an apology and explanation for the delay.

Mr A complained that service charges collected by Valleys to Coast Housing were not spent for the purpose they were collected, and that planned works had not been carried out to the communal areas of his home. The Ombudsman found that despite being engaged in correspondence with Valleys to Coast Housing for some time regarding service charges Mr A had not been directed to the Residential Property Tribunal Wales and was instead advised to make a complaint to this office. Some of the correspondence sent to Mr A was also inaccurate, including an occasion where Mr A was informed his service charge was increasing when it was actually decreasing. Valleys to Coast Housing agreed to apologise to Mr A for not directing him to the Residential Property Tribunal Wales and for the error in the correspondence sent to him regarding his service charge. It also agreed to offer Mr A a payment of £150 in recognition of the time and trouble to which he had been put.

Miss B complained that Valleys To Coast Housing failed to provide a response to her complaint about housing repairs, which she made to it in September 2023. The Ombudsman found that whilst the Association had logged a complaint, it had not issued a complaint response and was not intending to until all housing repairs had been completed. The Ombudsman said that this caused frustration and uncertainty to Miss B. She decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Association’s agreement to write to Miss B with an apology for the delay in issuing a complaint response, offer £75 redress in recognition of Miss B’s time and trouble in raising her complaint with the Ombudsman and to issue a complaint response within 2 weeks.

Mrs T complained that Valleys to Coast Housing did not respond to her concern about a missing rent payment. The Ombudsman found that the Association had failed to respond to Mrs T’s complaint about a missing rent payment. She said this caused frustration and uncertainty to Mrs T. She decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Association’s agreement to write to Mrs T with an apology for the identified failure and to issue a further complaint response within 2 weeks.

Mr M complained that Valleys To Coast Housing failed to undertake the necessary repairs to his property and had not responded or responded to his complaint which he made to it in November 2023. The Ombudsman found that whilst the Association had logged Mr M’s complaint and had taken some action, it had failed to issue a complaint response. She said that this caused frustration and uncertainty to Mr M. She decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Association’s agreement to write to Mr M with an apology for the delay in responding to his complaint, offer to pay £50 redress to Mr M for his time and trouble in making his complaint to the Ombudsman and to issue a complaint response within 2 weeks.

Ms G complained about outstanding repairs and the quality of repairs undertaken by Valleys To Coast Housing. Ms G also said her dining room table has been damaged. The Ombudsman found that the Association had incorrectly closed Ms G’s previous complaint. She said this caused frustration to Ms G. She decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Association’s agreement to write to Ms G with an apology for closing her complaint in error, offer to pay £75 redress and to issue a complaint response in relation to all outstanding matters within 4 weeks.

Ms D complained that Valleys To Coast Housing failed tp provide a response to her complaints about its failure to undertake repair work to her property. The Ombudsman found that the Housing Association had delayed issuing a response to 2 of Ms D’s complaints and there had been a delay in undertaking the necessary roof repairs. She said that this caused frustration and uncertainty to Ms D. She decided to settle the compliant without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Housing Association’s agreement to write to Ms D with an apology and explanation for the failures identified and to issue a complaint response within 2 weeks.

Ms L complained that despite raising concerns with Valleys to Coast Housing, she was left with a poor standard of communication and outstanding repairs to her property. The Ombudsman concluded that the Association failed to action repairs in a timely manner and failed to keep Ms L updated. She said that this caused delays and frustration to Ms L. As an alternative to an investigation, the Ombudsman sought and gained the Associations agreement to apologies to Ms L, pay her a time and trouble payment of £50, and provide her with a timeframe for the repairs within 30 working days of the Ombudsman decision letters.

Mrs X complained that the Association left her garden in an unsafe and unusable state for her children to play in, following the attendance of contractors at her home. The Ombudsman decided that there had been a delay in the Association’s complaint response, which led Mrs X to contact the Ombudsman. She decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Association’s agreement to issue its complaint response and apologise for the delay. It also agreed to pay Mrs X redress of £100 in recognition of time and trouble.

Miss X complained about outstanding repair works at her home, and a lack of response to her complaint made several months ago. The Ombudsman decided that the Association had overlooked the complaint response, which caused delays and frustration for Miss X. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Association’s agreement to issue its response within 3 weeks, apologise to Miss Xe for the delay, and make a time and trouble redress payment to Miss X of £150.

Ms T complained that Valleys to Coast Housing had failed to resolve her complaint about reports of anti-social behaviour, housing repairs and the lack of cleaning and maintenance of the communal areas. The Ombudsman decided that the Housing Association had failed to provide a complaint response to Ms T. She said that this caused frustration and uncertainty to Ms T. She decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Housing Association’s agreement to apologise to Ms T, provide an explanation for the failure to provide a complaint response, and to issue a complaint response within 2 weeks.

Miss X complained that the Association failed to advise her of their complaint’s procedure changing, and declined a review request of their decision. The Ombudsman was concerned that Miss X was inconvenienced by the organisation’s actions and therefor contacted the Association. The Association confirmed that a change in their complaints procedure on 22 March2022 resulted in complainants no longer having a review request available to them. As an alternative to an investigation, the Association agreed that due to Miss X’s complaint being dated prior to the changes, the Association would issue Miss X with an apology for not informing her by 16 May 2022, and to have her complaint reviewed by another officer by 6 June 2022. The Ombudsman accepted this as a resolution to Miss X’s complaint.

Ms A complained, on behalf of her mother, Mrs B, that Valleys to Coast Housing (“the Housing Association”) failed to take appropriate action to deal with a leaking roof at Mrs B’s home. Ms A was unhappy with the remedial patching works undertaken and said that the roof needed to be replaced in its entirety. Ms A was unhappy with the Housing Association’s response to her complaints. The Ombudsman contacted the Housing Association as he was concerned that although minor repair works to the roof and internal decoration had been undertaken, these had failed to adequately address the issue and the roof was continuing to leak and causing further damage. The actions taken by the Housing Association to address the concerns had not been explained to Ms A or Mrs B and no update had been provided to Mrs B about the status of the repairs works. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Housing Association’s agreement to undertake the replacement of the roof and rainwater goods (including soffits, fascia and guttering) at the property. It agreed that the property would be treated as a priority in recognition of the ongoing issues experienced by Mrs B. The Housing Association agreed to, within 20 working days, provide Mrs B with a letter confirming the agreement to replace the roof and rainwater goods and a letter detailing the actions it had taken to address the concerns raised by, and on behalf of, Mrs B. The Ombudsman considered this to represent an appropriate resolution to the complaint.

Mr X complained about Valleys To Coast Housing’s (“the Body’s”) decision to rerun a bidding process (“the second bidding process”). He also complained that it failed to undertake a third bidding process because significant information about the second bidding process was omitted from the body of an email. Finally, he complained about delays in communication. The Ombudsman found that the decision to rerun the bidding process was based on legal advice and there was insufficient evidence of maladministration in the second bidding process. However, he was concerned that no supporting evidence of learning had been provided in relation to the accepted communication shortcomings and that if significant information had been included in the body of the relevant email, this could have prevented the situation from arising. He decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Body’s agreement to provide further supporting evidence of learning in relation to the communication delays and review its processes to ensure the inclusion of important dates and significant information in the body of email correspondence.

Mr X complained that Valleys To Coast Housing (“the Association”) had failed to complete the schedule of work required as part of an improvement notice that was issued by his local authority’s Environmental Health department, intended to resolve problems associated with damp at his house. The Association agreed to write to Mr X, within 20 working days to set out the reasons for any delays, what work it had completed, what remained outstanding and when that work would be completed. They also agreed to review any claims for property damage caused by the damp. Finally, they agreed to undertake an inspection with Mr X once the work was completed, to ensure that all outstanding issues were resolved. The Ombudsman considered this to represent an appropriate settlement.