Summary: there was fault in the way the Council responded to Mrs X’s complaints about the managing agents responsible for organising repairs in her temporary accommodation. The Council is responsible for the actions of the managing agents because they were acting on its behalf. The delays in getting repairs done caused Mrs X and her family distress and inconvenience and put her to avoidable time and trouble.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained that the Council failed to ensure the managing agents of her temporary accommodation arranged timely repairs to fix recurring faults with the heating and hot water system, and to replace a defective cooker and fridge freezer. As a result, Mrs X and her family were left for long periods with no or inadequate heating, and no hot water, often during the winter months. They also lacked adequate facilities to prepare meals. This had an adverse impact on Mrs X and her family who are vulnerable with multiple disabilities.
2. Mrs X also complained that the Council did not respond adequately to her complaints about the conduct of some of the managing agent’s employees. In particular she says the employees gave the Council incorrect information, blocked her calls and did not respond to her messages.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons to do so. A complaint is late when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. Where an individual, organisation or private company is providing services on behalf of a council, we can investigate complaints about the actions of these providers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 25(7), as amended)
5. 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)
    
6. If we are satisfied with an organisation’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

7. I have spoken to Mrs X and considered all the information she provided. I considered the Council’s reply to my enquiries, supporting evidence from its records and evidence provided by the managing agents.
8. We received Mrs X’s complaint on 7 September 2022. The Council sent its final response to her complaint on 19 January 2022. By the time she contacted us, Mrs X raised some further repair issues, for example, a further loss of heating and hot water in late July 2022.
9. Applying the 12 month rule would have limited our investigation to what happened since September 2021. And we do not usually accept a complaint for investigation if it has not been considered at the final stage of the Council’s complaints procedure.
10. However, after speaking to Mrs X and considering her family’s circumstances and vulnerability, I decided to exercise discretion to investigate the way the Council handled her complaints about defects and disrepair in the property from 17 May 2021, when she moved in, until 7 September 2022, when we received her complaint.
11. I gave Mrs X and the Council an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

The relevant law

12. If a council is satisfied an applicant is homeless, eligible for assistance, and has a priority need the council has a duty to secure that accommodation is available for their occupation (unless it refers the application to another housing authority). This is known as the main housing duty. (Housing Act 1996, section 193 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 15.39)
13. The law says councils must ensure all accommodation provided to homeless applicants is suitable for the needs of the applicant and members of his or her household. This duty applies to interim accommodation and accommodation provided under the main housing duty. (Housing Act 1996, section 206 and (from 3 April 2018) Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.2)

Mrs X’s circumstances

14. The Council owes Mrs X the main housing duty because she and her family are eligible for assistance, homeless and in priority need.
15. Mrs X moved to this temporary accommodation on 17 May 2021. It is located in another London borough because it was not safe for Mrs X to remain in Kingston-upon-Thames, or neighbouring south London boroughs, due to a risk of violence.
16. Mrs X lives in the property with her mother, her husband and their five children. It is a four bedroom house owned by a private landlord. The Council leased the property from Company A, the owner’s managing agents.
17. When Mrs X first moved to the property in May 2021, she had just been discharged from hospital after being treated for a collapsed lung. She also has other long term medical conditions which affect her mental health. One of her children has special educational needs and an Education, Health and Care Plan. and attends a specialist school in the local area.
18. Mrs X told me the property is suitable for her family in terms of its location and the number of bedrooms. But she had to report several issues with disrepair and defects since moving into the property. She is unhappy with the way the managing agents and the Council investigated her complaints and treated her.

The Council’s arrangements with Company A

19. The Council does not have a contractual agreement with Company A which sets out the terms, conditions and standards for service delivery. It says it tried to negotiate a framework agreement with providers of temporary accommodation, including Company A, but they failed to engage in the process. So it has spot purchased properties from Company A to use as temporary accommodation for homeless households without an agreed contract or lease setting out terms and conditions for service delivery.
20. In December 2022 the Council had 26 homeless households in temporary accommodation managed by Company A. 17 of these households had raised concerns with the Council since July 2020 about repairs.

Repairs and other defects in Mrs X’s property

21. I have set out the key events below. This is not a complete record of all the communications between Mrs X, Company A and the Council between May 2021 and September 2022. Mrs X reported several defects and repair issues over an extended period and I have selected the main issues.
22. Mrs X contacted Company A when she first moved into the property on 17 May 2021 to report:
• there was no heating or hot water;
• the cooker was broken;
• the fridge was not working properly;
• the emergency out of hours contact number was switched off or not working;
• she was vulnerable because she had just been discharged from hospital and had a lung condition.
23. Mrs X contacted Officer B in the Council’s accommodation team on the same day to report these issues. She said the hot water and heating had not been turned on when she moved in. Company A had sent a contractor who managed to get some, but not all, the radiators working. She and her family had to wear coats inside the house to keep warm. She had made it clear to Company A that she needed the heating and hot water to be working due to her medical condition and recent hospital discharge.
24. On 18 May Mrs X informed Officer B that a gas contractor had attended to repair the system but the heating had stopped working again soon after he left. There was still no hot water. She said the fridge door had now fallen off. She said she thought Company A had blocked her number because she could not get through when she called them and had to use her husband’s phone.
25. On 19 May Mrs X told Officer B that her husband had managed to get the hot water working. Company A told Officer B that the gas contractor had fixed the heating and hot water on the same day. Mrs X reported a faulty hob and a defective kitchen tap.
26. On 5 June Company A contacted Mrs X to say a replacement oven had been ordered. The employee apologised for not contacting Mrs X sooner.
27. In mid-June 2021 Mrs X reported to Company A that the electricity tripped every time she used the cooker due to faulty electrics. She asked for this to be investigated urgently. She also reported a problem with a leak from a sink upstairs and the need to remove rubbish left by the former occupiers.
28. In mid-June 2021 Mrs X told Officer B that Company A had sent a contractor who was not registered with Gas Safe to fix a leak to the gas supply. She complained that an employee at Company A had put the phone down on her and refused to respond to her messages.
29. Officer B asked Mrs X for a list of outstanding repairs. She gave the following details:
• The oven was faulty and the electrics tripped every time she used it;
• Rubbish, including large items of furniture and household appliances, had been left by the former tenants in the garden and had not yet been removed;
• A leaking sink;
• The bathroom window was broken and would not close;
• Kitchen cupboards were broken and need to be repaired;
• There were holes in the roof.
30. On 23 June 2021 Mrs X informed Officer B no repairs had been done. She said the employee at Company A was not reading or responding to her messages. Officer B agreed to contact Company A to chase this up. Mrs X contacted Officer B again in early July to say there had been no progress.
31. Officer B spoke to Mrs X on 6 July after contacting Company A. Mrs X confirmed the oven had been replaced. The rubbish removal was still outstanding and there were defects with the kitchen floor covering.
32. In early November 2021 Mrs X contacted Officer B to report new issues: holes in the kitchen floor, a leaking toilet and a wasps nest. She said Company A was not responding to her messages. Officer B agreed to contact Company A.
33. In late November Mrs X reported to Officer B there was no hot water. Officer B contacted Company A and gave them 24 hours to respond. The following day Officer B contacted Mrs X to tell her an engineer had to order a replacement part for the boiler and would attend that day. Mrs X later confirmed the engineer had fitted a new part and the hot water was working again. But the heating had then stopped working.
34. Mrs X also told Officer B that a named employee of Company A was using different names when he called her. She claimed he was also blocking her messages. Mrs X said she was logging each incident and would report it to the police.
35. A different employee from Company A took over responsibility for Mrs X’s repairs in December 2021. He inspected the property on 14 December and delivered portable fan heaters. By then Mrs X and her family had been without heating for two weeks. On 17 December Mrs X informed Officer B that the central heating had not been repaired but she now had fan heaters.
36. On 13 January 2022 two officers from the Council’s allocations team visited Mrs X to inspect the property and check the outstanding repairs. They did not attend with a representative from Company A but sent a copy of their notes and photographs. They found:
• Generally the property was in good condition;
• The boiler was working but the radiators should be power flushed because they were not generating enough heat – a gas contractor was due to attend on 18 January to provide a quotation for this work;
• Fan heaters were being used in every room and this adequately heated the property;
• There was a leak from the toilet pan;
• There were holes in the kitchen lino – this damage occurred when the old fridge freezer was removed – and it needed to be replaced;
37. They also noted the following issues had been resolved:
• The oven had been replaced;
• The rubbish and items left by former tenants had been removed;
• The leaking sink had been fixed;
• The broken toilet seat had been replaced;
• No current issues with the kitchen cupboards;
• A loose ceiling light had been fixed;
• There were no issues with the roof.
38. On 22 March Mrs X reported an electrical fault with the oven. According to the Council, this was fixed within six days.
39. On 12 July 2022 a company instructed by the Council completed a statutory review of the suitability of the accommodation on its behalf. It accepted there had been several issues with repairs, and delays in getting repairs done, but it did not consider there were any hazards which made the accommodation unsuitable for Mrs X and her family. The letter explained Mrs X’s right of appeal to the County Court if she wished to challenge the review decision. Mrs X did not appeal.
40. On 28 July 2022 Mrs X reported the loss of heating and hot water. A contractor from the gas company attended and repaired the system two days later.
41. In response to my enquiries, Company A provided a statement that it had completed the following repairs by 22 August 2022:
• Replastered two bedroom walls (according to the Council’s statement, this work had been outstanding since 30 March 2022);
• Replaced the kitchen flooring;
• Replaced the defective kitchen cabinets;
42. After she complained to us, Mrs X reported a further problem with the oven on 30 October 2022. A technician attended on 2 December 2022. He found the oven was a basic model which was working correctly but it only had a grill function. He recommended it should be replaced with a fan oven. Company A said this was in hand. Further issues with the central heating system were resolved in October 2022.
43. Mrs X told me a new hot water cylinder was installed in October 2022 which resolved problems with the hot water supply. The Council says a power flush of the heating system had been completed on 22 January 2022.

Mrs X’s complaints to the Council

44. Mrs X complained to the Council in mid-July 2021 about various repairs and Company A’s failure to communicate with her. She said she had to wait more than a month for the broken oven to be replaced and several weeks for a replacement fridge freezer. She said Company A did not reply to her complaint and one employee failed to respond to her messages. She described the impact on her and other family members who were vulnerable due to their medical conditions and disabilities.
45. A manager in the Allocations team replied at Stage One of the complaints procedure in late July. She said Company A had provided a valid gas certificate for the boiler and the oven installation. Officer B had liaised with Company A several times when Mrs X reported the lack of heating and hot water in May 2021. She said the Council had no control over Company A and the way they communicated with residents. But she asked Mrs X to provide more details about the complaint she had made to Company A so she could contact them and ask about their failure to respond. She also said the Allocations team would work with Company A to resolve health and safety concerns and would refer matters to the local Council’s Environmental Health service if necessary.
46. On 2 August Mrs X asked for her complaint to be escalated to Stage Two. She raised her concerns about disrepair in the temporary accommodation and another matter which is not relevant to this complaint.
47. In early September 2021 a senior manager replied and upheld the complaint. He said the Council had accepted Company A’s assurance that the property was ready for occupation in May 2021. But it had not checked it was free of disrepair when she moved in. He apologised to Mrs X for this failing. He also said the Council was working on a new agreement to procure accommodation from housing providers to obtain assurances that their properties were free from hazards and they had sufficient resources to deal with repairs. He did not offer a financial remedy. He explained she could contact us if she was not satisfied with his final response.
48. Mrs X did not complain to us then. Instead she made a further complaint to the Council in early December 2021. This was registered as a new Stage One complaint. In this complaint Mrs X said she had experienced emotional abuse, gaslighting and negligence from the Council’s agents, Company A. She said this had adversely affected her physical and mental health. She said Company A failed to carry out repairs and one of its employees had blocked her number. She said this employee was rude and unprofessional. She also accused Company A of lying to her. She said these issues had led her to conclude that the property was unsuitable and asked if she should request a review. She said she understood that Company A managed repairs at the property but the Council was ultimately responsible for the welfare of families placed in temporary accommodation.
49. A senior manager wrote to Mrs X on 14 December to request specific information about the incidents of emotional abuse. He explained that her request for a review of the suitability of the accommodation would be considered under the separate statutory review procedure rather than the complaint procedure. He passed it on for a review.
50. On 23 December the senior manager replied to Mrs X’s complaint. He said the Council was liaising with Company A to arrange for contractors to attend to power flush the central heating system. He understood that only two radiators were not generating sufficient heat. He said the Council could not arrange the work itself because this would invalidate the owner’s service agreement with the gas company.
51. On the same day Mrs X asked for her complaint to be considered at Stage Two. She disputed the statement that only two radiators were not working properly. She said this was based on misinformation from Company A. She asked the Council to arrange for officers to inspect the property and check the radiators. She emphasised the distress caused because the Council did not accept her account of events and preferred Company A’s statements. She also said the Council had not addressed her concerns about the conduct of Company A's employees who had blocked her phone, failed to respond to her complaint and given the Council inaccurate information.
52. On 14 January 2022 the senior manager wrote to Company A to remind them he was still waiting for its response to his enquiry from mid-December. He needed this to respond to Mrs X’s complaint about the conduct of staff. He also asked for an update on action to deal with the outstanding repairs.
53. On 19 January the Head of Housing replied to Mrs X’s Stage Two complaint. She apologised that officers had not visited the property until 13 January 2022 to establish the facts. Officers had accepted Company A’s statement that only two radiators were defective. However the recent visit had confirmed only one radiator was heating up properly. She said the Council had raised these concerns with Company A but received no response. She said the delay in arranging for a gas contractor to power flush the system was significant and she apologised for this. She had escalated this matter to Company A’s senior management. She said the Stage One complaint had not addressed Mrs X’s complaint about the conduct of Company A’s employees, and whether they were deliberately engaging in behaviour intended to cause her distress and harm, because Company A had not responded to the senior manager’s enquiries. She had now raised this with the senior management.
54. She concluded by saying that she partially upheld Mrs X’s complaint. She offered £200 compensation. She had escalated her concerns about Company A’s failure to respond to Mrs X’s allegations about the conduct of its employees to its senior management.
55. Mrs X then complained to us in September 2022. In response to my enquiries, the Council confirmed that Company A’s senior management had never responded to its request for comments on Mrs X’s allegations about the conduct of its employee.
56. The Council says it has considered other options for getting repairs done. It asked the contractor who provides the repairs service for the Council’s own housing stock if it would be willing to do repairs at Mrs X’s property. It refused because the property is not in the borough and it is not part of the Council’s stock. It also asked Company A to provide the owner’s contact details with a view to making a direct approach to them. Company A refused to give the Council this information on the grounds it would breach data protection requirements. The Council also made enquiries to Company A about negotiating a longer lease of the property in return for funding some repairs. Nothing came of this.

My analysis

57. Mrs X and members of her family are vulnerable due to their combined health issues. We would expect an occupier of temporary accommodation to report the need for repairs to the managing agent in the first instance. Inevitably, the need for repairs will arise in any property from time to time. But when there is an unsatisfactory response from the managing agent, or delays in getting repairs completed, we expect the Council to intervene to resolve matters.
58. Mrs X experienced recurring issues with breakdowns of the heating and hot water system and inadequate heating. She was put to the time and trouble of chasing up Company A to complete outstanding repairs and reporting her concerns to the Council. She was also left without heating or hot water for weeks at a time. This caused her and her family significant distress and discomfort.
59. The Council is ultimately responsible for any acts, or omissions, by Company A because it managed the temporary accommodation on behalf of the Council. This extends to the conduct of staff employed by Company A when they are dealing with homeless applicants in the temporary accommodation they manage. The Ombudsman regards providers of temporary accommodation as the Council’s agents. For this reason, I do not agree with the view expressed in the July 2021 reply to Mrs X’s complaint that the Council had no control over the way Company A’s staff communicated with residents. I accept the Council does not directly employ these staff but it is responsible for the way its agents behave.
60. Without a framework agreement setting out clear service standards and timescales for completing repairs, the Council could not properly hold Company A to account for its performance in managing properties and carrying out repairs. The Council has 26 homeless households in properties managed by Company A. There should be a contractual arrangement in place to ensure these properties are managed to the required standard and to set clear expectations and timescales around service delivery and repairs. The lack of a written agreement is fault.
61. The Council could not properly investigate and respond to Mrs X’s complaint about the conduct of Company A’s staff because Company A simply did not respond to its enquiries. As a result, this part of Mrs X’s complaint was never resolved. Despite escalating this to Company A’s senior management, no response was forthcoming. That is unacceptable and is fault. A written agreement with Company A would have set out the arrangements for complaint-handling and sharing information to enable the Council to investigate and respond to complaints from occupiers about Company A’s actions.
62. The Council was too slow to arrange for officers from its Allocations team to inspect the property. That was fault. Mrs X reported concerns from May 2021 when she first moved into the property. She continued to report issues on a regular basis but officers did not visit until January 2022. The property is located in a different London borough some distance away from Kingston. But in view of Mrs X’s frequent reports of defects and disrepair, the Council should have arranged for officers to visit much sooner. In its Stage Two response to her second complaint in January 2022, the Council accepted it should have done so.
63. Most of the repairs Mrs X reported before September 2022 have now been completed. But there are still outstanding concerns about the capacity of the radiators to adequately heat the house and the need to upgrade the oven. The long term use of fan heaters to heat the property is likely to be expensive and inefficient.
64. The Council offered Mrs X £200 compensation in January 2022. Since then there have been further delays in getting repairs done. So I do not consider £200 is a fair remedy for the injustice caused by these faults. The Council has now agreed to provide the alternative remedy below.

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Agreed action

65. Within one month of my final decision, the Council will:
• Apologise to Mrs X;
• Pay her £750 to recognise the impact of the recurring loss of heating and hot water, the delays in getting repairs done and in replacing essential household appliances;
• Arrange a joint inspection of the property with a senior representative from Company A to establish which repairs are still outstanding and agree a timeframe for completion. The agreed outcomes should be recorded and a senior Council officer should monitor progress and obtain evidence that the works have been satisfactorily completed. This should include photographs of the completed works and the officer should contact Mrs X to check she is satisfied.
66. Within three months of my final decision the Council should:
• Reopen discussions with Company A about a framework agreement to set out clear expectations around service standards, repairs policy and timescales, customer service and arrangements for complaint-handling and information-sharing;
• Devise a procedure with Company A for investigating complaints about the conduct of its staff. The Council should make clear that it is ultimately responsible for investigating complaints about the conduct of Company A’s staff when they are acting as its agents and delivering a service to homeless households in temporary accommodation.

The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

67. I have completed the investigation and found the Council was at fault and this caused injustice to Mrs X. The Council has accepted my findings and agreed to provide the remedy I recommended.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman