Summary: Miss B complained the Council did not take enforcement action against her landlord. Miss B said her landlord did not fix her boiler and she and her family were left without adequate heating and hot water. We did not find fault with the Council.

The complaint

1. Miss B complained the Council did not take enforcement action against her landlord. Miss B said her landlord did not fix her boiler, deal with a mice infestation, provide working smoke alarms or get rid of mould in the property. She said her family were left without adequate heating and hot water.

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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. 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

4. I considered:
• Miss B’s complaint and the information she provided;
• documents supplied by the Council;
• relevant legislation and guidelines; and
• the Council’s policies and procedures.
5. Miss B and the Council had the opportunity to comment on a draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Legislation and guidance

6. Private tenants may complain to their council about a failure by the landlord to keep the property in good repair. Councils have powers under the Housing Act 2004, Part 1 to take enforcement action against private landlords where the property is in a condition that may result in a harmful outcome for the occupant.
7. Councils have enforcement actions it can take. These include serving an improvement notice. An enforcement notice requires the person on whom it is served to carry out work to remove or reduce the hazard. An improvement notice will not require the landlord to undertake the work sooner than 28 days from when the notice is served. (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Housing Health and Safety Rating System, 2006)
8. Councils and landlords are encouraged to work together to keep properties in good repair, and enforcement is a last resort. (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Housing Health and Safety Rating System, 2006)

What happened

9. This chronology includes key events and does not cover everything that happened.
10. Miss B and her five children moved into a private rented property in September 2019. Miss B and her eldest child could not use the stairs because of health problems. Her eldest child used the dining room as a bedroom and Miss B slept in the living room with three of her other children. One daughter used a bedroom on the first floor.
11. On 8 January 2020, Miss B’s Member of Parliament (MP) contacted the Council. Her MP said the boiler in her property was not working and her landlord was not responding to Miss B. A heating engineer had attended the property and recommended the boiler needed a new valve and a service. The Council contacted Miss B.
12. The Council spoke to Miss B’s landlord on 10 January. He provided a gas safety certificate dated and September 2019, and electric appliance test certificates dated April 2019. These certificates confirmed the boiler passed its safety test.
13. Miss B arranged for an engineer to look at the boiler on 10 January. He found corrosion to the boiler, decided it was a risk and turned it off.
14. The landlord arranged for an engineer to inspect the boiler on 14 January. The engineer fixed the boiler and reported it was safe. Later that day, Miss B told the Council her heating was not working.
15. The Council visited Miss B with a gas engineer on 17 January to inspect the property. The engineer found a fault with a thermostat which he repaired. He checked the boiler, heating and hot water and confirmed these were in working order.
16. The engineer noticed two children were sleeping in a room with a gas fire. He advised the gas fire would need to be removed or disabled if people slept in this room. The Council recorded there were two smoke alarms in the property, it did not test these as children were sleeping, but Miss B confirmed they worked. The Council did not record seeing any mould.
17. The Council contacted its housing team and asked it to help Miss B with an application for rehousing. It referred the family to Children’s Services with Miss B’s consent. The Council also gave Miss B information about disabled facilities grants should she want to apply for a stairlift to be installed.
18. The landlord arranged for an engineer to cap the gas fire on 21 January. However, Miss B arranged for a gas company to cap the gas to the fire on 18 January.
19. Miss B arranged for a gas company to look at her boiler on 27 March. It advised corrosion to the boiler was causing fumes to leak and it needed to be replaced. It disconnected the boiler and shut off the gas supply. The landlord gave Miss B electric heaters as a temporary measure until he could source a new boiler. He told her the immersion heater would provide hot water. Miss B says she could not use the immersion heater because she could not access the switch on the first floor of the property to turn it on. Miss B reported the matter to the Council. She said she had no heating or hot water, the ground floor of the property was damp and there was mould.
20. On 2 April, the Council spoke to Miss B’s landlord. He said he had a new boiler but because of COVID-19 and the vulnerability of the tenants, the property needed to be empty while it was fitted. He advised the family would need to move out of the property for two days. He said a deep clean would be undertaken before the tenants returned. The Council contacted Miss B. She said the family needed to isolate for twelve weeks and no one could enter the property because of the risk of COVID-19.
21. The landlord delivered more electric heaters on 3 April and a water heater on 4 April.
22. On 6 April Miss B reported a water leak. The landlord’s property agent arranged for the leak to be fixed the same day. The person who fixed the leak also checked the immersion heater was operational and turned on.
23. Miss B arranged for a gas work inspection to be undertaken on 10 June. The inspector found the gas meter was damaged. The inspector corrected the defect during the visit. He confirmed the boiler was unsafe and Miss B should not use it. He removed and capped the gas supply to the boiler.
24. Miss B asked the Council on 30 June why it had not forced the landlord to fix her boiler. The Council told her to say when she would allow an engineer to access her property. Miss B said an engineer could attend the property, but she did not want to leave while the boiler was installed. The property agent said an engineer would not carry out the work unless the property was empty for two days because of concerns about the tenant’s welfare, in particular COVID-19. It told Miss B water and electricity in the property would have to be turned off while the work was carried out.
25. Miss B contacted the Council on 16 July about a mice infestation. The property agent advised the Council it had received a complaint about rubbish being left outside Miss B’s property which had attracted rats and it had asked her to remove it. Miss B had an assisted bin collection. She said sometimes the Council missed her bin collection and each time it did this, she reported it. The property agent confirmed it had found no evidence of mice in the property. Miss B also complained there was mould in the property. The Council gave Miss B advice about how she could address this herself.
26. On 17 July, the Council emailed the landlord and told him it was not reasonable to expect Miss B and her family to leave the property while the boiler was being replaced. The Council told the landlord it would consider issuing an improvement notice if the work was not done.
27. The landlord arranged for a new immersion to be fitted on 17 July and a new boiler to be installed on 27 and 28 July. On 3 August he arranged for the ceiling where the leak had been to be decorated.
28. Miss B and her family moved out of the property in September 2020.

Analysis

29. The Council inspected Miss B’s property in January 2020. The problem with her boiler was resolved during the inspection. The Council noted there were smoke alarms in the property and found no signs of mould.
30. Miss B reported a problem with her boiler in April 2020. Miss B and her family had to self-isolate for twelve weeks and she would not allow access to her property. The landlord provided electric and water heaters.
31. In July 2020, Miss B said an engineer could access the property to fit a new boiler. When the landlord’s property agent said it was not happy to install the boiler while the family were in the property, the Council intervened and said it was not reasonable to expect her and her family to leave the property while the work was being done. It advised her landlord it would consider issuing an improvement notice if he did not install the replacement boiler. Miss B’s landlord installed the boiler and therefore the Council did not need to take enforcement action.
32. Between January and July 2020, the Council and Miss B’s landlord worked together to address the problem with Miss B’s heating and hot water. Each time Miss B raised an issue the Council and her landlord responded promptly to resolve the matter. There was no need for the Council to take enforcement action.

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Final decision

33. I have completed my investigation and do not uphold Miss B’s complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman