Summary: Miss X complains about the Council’s failure to fix a problem with her heating and hot water at her temporary accommodation. The Ombudsman finds fault with the Council for failing to properly manage the repairs. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a financial payment.

The complaint

1. Miss X moved into temporary accommodation in January 2020. She complains about the Council’s failure to fix a problem with her heating and hot water at her temporary accommodation. Miss X says she has had to live away from her children as they could not stay in the property due to risks to their health.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. 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

5. I spoke with Miss X and considered the information she provided.
6. I made enquiries with the Council and considered the information it provided.
7. I sent a draft decision to Miss X and the Council and considered their comments.

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What I found

Contract for the provision of private sector licensing services

8. This agreement sets out the Council’s role with regards to managing repairs. It notes the property agent is responsible for repairing issues in accordance with the timescales specified within the contract. Schedule 12 sets out the different timescales for disrepair.
9. For the total loss of heating and hot water between 31 October and 1 May, the maximum timescale set out within the agreement is 24 hours from the point of the matter being reported to the agent. If it cannot be fixed within the timescale, then temporary heating must be provided.

What happened

10. Miss X lives in temporary accommodation owned by a private landlord. Miss X has four children who lives with her. The Council has a contract with the property agents, but not with the landlord.
11. On 20 January 2020, Miss X reported a broken boiler to the property agents. She reported no heating and no hot water. Miss X said she had to send her children to live with a family member because of the lack of heating and hot water.
12. Three days later, Miss X contacted the Council as the property agent had not carried out repairs to the boiler. On the same day, the Council used a spare key to enter Miss X’s property to complete an inspection as Miss X was not home.
13. The Council said it could do this as the disrepair was considered a category one hazard. The Council said there was a problem with the boiler, but its records did not show what follow up action would be taken, and when. The property agent tried to deliver temporary heaters but were unable to. There is no evidence further attempts were made.
14. The landlord said he had arranged for an engineer to attend on 20 January, but Miss X was not home when the engineer arrived. Over the next three days, the landlord tried to arrange for an engineer to attend the property, but all attempts were unsuccessful. There is no evidence the property agent or landlord considered using the spare key to entry the property to complete the repairs.
15. On 28 January, Miss X contacted the Council again as she was still without heating and hot water. The Council said an engineer appointed by the landlord visited the property that day, but Miss X was not home when he arrived. Again, there is no evidence the property agent or landlord considered entering the property with the spare key.
16. On 1 February, an engineer attended the property but was not able to repair the boiler. On 3 February, Miss X received temporary heaters. The Council continued to maintain contact with the property agent to get updates on the situation. The Council had arranged for Miss X to provide access for the engineer for 7 February. However, Miss X cancelled the appointment before the engineer attended. The Council asked Miss X, by email, to provide further dates she would be available to allow access, but Miss X did not reply. As the Council received no reply, it called Miss X on 10 February. Miss X explained she had not seen the Council’s previous email.
17. On 12 February, the Council wrote to all parties to request an update. The landlord told the Council an engineer was at the property making repairs. The landlord said the engineer could not test the boiler because there was no electricity.
18. The Council asked Miss X to add credit to her meter so that the boiler could be tested. Miss X confirmed she had done this. On 14 February, the Council visited the property with the property agent. The landlord’s engineer could not attend so no further checks could be completed. The Council noted there was still an error message displayed on the boiler.
19. On 17 February, the Council contacted all parties to request availability to allow the engineer to complete the repair. Miss X replied on 18 February asking for the engineer to attend that night. The property agent could not make the arrangement due to the late notice. The Council suggested to the property agent that it should appoint an engineer if the problem remained unresolved.
20. The Council served a notice on the landlord on 21 February. The notice gave the landlord seven days to resolve matters.
21. On 27 February, the landlord told the Council that the boilers could not be repaired and had to be replaced.
22. On the 2 March, the Council offered Miss X alternative accommodation. The Council said this property was suitable for Miss X.

Analysis

23. The contract between the Council and the property agent clearly sets out the maximum timescale for the total loss of heating and hot water is 24 hours. Miss X first reported the issue to the property agent on 20 February.
24. The contract also sets out that it is the responsibility of the property agent to complete repairs. Therefore, the Council’s responsibility is one of ensuring the property agent is adhering to the terms of the contract.
25. The evidence shows the Council was first notified of the issue on 23 January. The Council acted appropriately by completing an inspection of the property. The evidence shows that despite Miss X not being home, the Council was able to enter the property with a spare key to complete the inspection. The Council confirmed there was an issue with the boiler.
26. Between 24 January and 27 January, the evidence suggests several attempts were made by the landlord/ property agent to get an engineer to attend the property. However, these attempts were not successful because Miss X was not at home.
27. Nevertheless, the Council accepts the property agent could have used the spare key to enter the property to make the repairs as it was an emergency. The Council accepts it should have told Miss X that it planned to enter the property with a spare key to complete the work.
28. The Council did take a more active role in trying to resolve the problem in February. The evidence shows the Council maintained contact with both Miss X and the property agent and assisted with moving the situation forward. This was appropriate. The Council also served the landlord with a notice near the end of February. This showed the Council had considered the situation and decided it was necessary for it to take more formal action.
29. Nevertheless, the evidence shows there were still problems with resolving the issue throughout February. While this appeared to be due to the lack of access to the property because of Miss X’s unavailability, the Council and the property agent could have entered the property with the spare key to complete the repairs.
30. I find fault with the Council. This is because the Council failed to properly manage the repair by the property agent, despite being aware there was an issue with Miss X’s heating and hot water. This Council accepts this and recognises that several opportunities were missed in January and February to arrange for work to be completed and to ensure temporary heating was provided earlier than 3 February.
31. The fault identified has caused Miss X distress and inconvenience. Miss X has explained she had to send her children to live with a family member because of the lack of heating and hot water. This meant Miss X has not been able to live with her children for around a month. Further, Miss X has had to live in a property with no heating for around two weeks and with no hot water for just over a month.
32. The Council has offered Miss X a payment of £300 to recognise the injustice caused by the delays and for the inconvenience of not having heating until temporary heating was delivered. However, the Council has not appeared to have considered the impact on Miss X from having to live away from her children and of the inconvenience of not having hot water for over a month.

Agreed action

33. To remedy the injustice caused by the fault identified, the Council has agreed to complete the following:

• Write to Miss X and apologise for the fault identified and for the injustice caused.
• Pay Miss X £500 to in recognition of the injustice caused by the fault identified.

34. The Council may offset the amount against Miss X’s rent arrears.
35. The Council should complete the above remedy within four weeks of the final decision.

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Final decision

36. I find fault with the Council for failing to properly manage the repair by the property agent. The Council has agreed to my recommendations. Therefore, I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman