Charnwood Borough Council (19 005 130)

Category : Housing > Allocations

Decision : Not upheld

Decision date : 07 Apr 2020

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: Ms X complains about the condition a property she moved into as it was not clean and not all rubbish had been removed. She also complains she was without a gas supply for three days. The Council did return and carry out further cleaning and to remove items but this was minimal and did not make the property uninhabitable. The gas supply was not connected on the day Ms X moved in because she did not phone to arrange connection in normal working hours.

The complaint

  1. Ms X complains about the condition of a property she moved into. She says the Council failed to ensure it was clean and all rubbish removed. She also complains she was left without a gas supply meaning she had no heat or hot water for several days.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
  2. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

  1. As part of the investigation, I have:
    • considered the complaint and the documents provided by the complainant;
    • made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided;
    • discussed the issues with the complainant;
    • sent my draft decision to both the Council and the complainant and invited their comments.

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What I found

  1. The Council offered Ms X interim accommodation on 21 January 2019. Ms X told the Council she would need help to move her possessions to the new address. The Council told Ms X how to apply for financial assistance with removal costs and assisted her to complete a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) application on 24 January.
  2. The Council told Ms X she needed to provide further information in connection with her DHP application. It arranged appointments to assist her and says she failed to attend. As the Council has a DHP application without sufficient supporting information, it contacted the removal company that had provided a quote.
  3. The Council says Ms X objected to it contacting the removal company and told it she no longer wanted to proceed with that removal company. Ms X provided quotes from different removal companies and said she did not want the Council to contact any of these companies about her DHP applications. She subsequently gave consent for the Council to contact her preferred company.
  4. The Council says Ms X told it she wanted to move on Friday 8 February and confirmed she had arranged a move for 10 am that day. On 7 February Ms X signed her tenancy agreement and collected the keys.
  5. The Council says that it had met with Ms X on 6 February at its offices. It says its Tenancy Support Officer advised the gas was capped off and explained the steps Ms X would need to take to enable to gas to be reconnected when she moved in. It says she was given a document confirming this information.
  6. Ms X moved into the property on 8 February. She contacted the Council’s gas contractor at 19:23 to ask for the gas to be connected. The contractor was unable to provide the service out of normal working hours. It did however, deliver some heaters for Ms X to use until the gas supply could be connected. The contractors visited on Monday 11 February and connected the supply.
  7. On 9 February, Ms X submitted a complaint by email to the Council. She complained about the lack of gas supply and so she did not have any heating or hot water. She also complained rubbish had been left in the garden and sheds. She said her son had fallen and hurt himself because of the rubbish in the garden.
  8. The Council did not formally respond to this complaint until 17 April. However, the Council raised an urgent order on 11 February, the first working day after receiving the complaint, for a contractor to attend the property to undertake a further clean and removal of items from the garden.
  9. The contractor said it had been unable to reach Ms X by phone to make an appointment to carry out the works. An alternative phone number was provided to the contractor on 15 February and was able to attend on 22 February. The contractor carried out some cleaning. It also cleared items from the garden and from a further shed associated with the property.
  10. An officer visited Ms X at the property on 1 April. The officer identified the following works:
    • Refix worktop over washer following leak
    • Plumber to check loose bath taps
    • Clean behind radiators
    • Remove old bench from the garden
    • Repair the intercom
  11. The works identified above were completed mainly completed by 8 April with the contractor visiting on 9 April to repair the intercom.
  12. The Council’s complaint response dated 17 April says the gas contractor is unable to carry out reconnections on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. It said the property had been cleared in January 2019 as part of the reletting process. It apologised for the cleaning not being up to standard and noted that further cleaning had taken place. It also said Ms X could make a personal injury claim if her son was hurt.
  13. Ms X was not satisfied with the response and the complaint was escalated. The Council sent further responses on 16 and 23 May. In its letter dated 23 May, the Council acknowledges the earlier letter did not provide an adequate response to all parts of her complaint. This Council apologised for providing incorrect contact information about how to make a personal injury claim and gave the correct contact information.
  14. The Council clarified that the gas contractor does not check and turn on gas out of hours and Ms X telephoned out of hours. It also said it had photographs to show the shed had been cleared before she moved in. The Council apologised for putting incorrect dates in its responses and for the delay in responding. The letter covered other issues that are not part of the complaint I am investigating.

Analysis

  1. Ms X complains about the state of the property she moved into and the lack of a gas supply.
  2. Regarding the gas supply, I am satisfied Ms X was given information explaining the gas was capped off and what she needed to do to ensure it could be reconnected. However, Ms X did not phone until 19:23 on Friday evening and so it was not possible for this to happen until Monday.
  3. I understand Ms X’s frustration and distress that she was left without gas until Monday. I also acknowledge she was not satisfied with the temporary solution of the heaters that were provided as they were expensive to use and ineffective.
  4. It is clear to me the Council’s response to Ms X’s complaints about this are unclear and misleading. However, I have not seen any evidence to show Ms X was told before she moved that the gas could not be reconnected at any time on a Friday. The reason the reconnection did not take place was due to Ms X not making the request during normal working hours but waiting until 7 23 pm. I have sympathy with Ms X for being without central heating and hot water over the weekend but I have not seen evidence to suggest this was because of fault by the Council.
  5. I have seen evidence to show the Council inspected the property before letting it to Ms X. The photographs provided show the property was cleared of items but was in need of some re-decoration in parts. The photographs included areas that look like a shed and show it cleared.
  6. The information provided by the Council shows it did revisit to carry out further cleaning inside the property and that it also cleared items from the garden and a second shed. The works carried out were minor in nature and the property cannot be considered to have been in an uninhabitable condition when it was let.
  7. The Council’s responses to Ms X’s complaints have been delayed, misleading and inaccurate. Due to Ms X’s mental health and learning difficulties this is particularly frustrating for her. The Council has apologised for these errors and for the delay in responding to her complaint. I consider this to be a suitable remedy for the fault and I am not persuaded any further remedy is required.

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Final decision

  1. I will now complete my investigation as there is no evidence of fault causing Ms X a significant injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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