Cottsway Housing Association Limited — case 202119656

REPORT COMPLAINT 202119656 Cottsway Housing Association Limited 17 December 2021 Our approach What we can and cannot consider is called the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction and is governed by the Housing Ombudsman Scheme. The Ombudsman must determine whether a complaint comes within their jurisdiction. The Ombudsman seeks to resolve disputes wherever possible but cannot investigate complaints that fall outside of this. In deciding whether a complaint falls within their jurisdiction, the Ombudsman will carefully consider all the evidence provided by the parties and the circumstances of the case.

The complaint The complaint is about: The condition of the property when it was let. The landlords handling of the resident’s request for compensation for items damaged in a flood. The number of reported repair issues following the installation of a new heating system in 2011. Determination (jurisdictional decision) When a complaint is brought to the Ombudsman, we must consider all the circumstances of the case as there are sometimes reasons why a complaint will not be investigated.

After carefully considering all the evidence, I have determined that the complaint, as set out above, is not within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. Summary of events On 24 November 2021, this service received a referral letter from the resident’s MP. The referral included a copy of the landlord’s final response to the complaint and a brief letter from the resident to the MP. The final response letter issued on 18 October 2021, addressed the following issues: The condition of the property when it was let in 2005.

It said due to the time passed, it no longer held information material relating to this. Flood causing damage to personal possessions. It explained its records only went back as far as 2008 and had no record of a flood, so was unable to comment on this. It apologised for the repair issues experienced by the resident following the installation of the new heating system in 2011 and offered compensation. Reasons Paragraph 39 (e) of the Scheme states that: The Ombudsman will not investigate complaints which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion: were not brought to the attention of the member as a formal complaint within a reasonable period which would normally be within 6 months of the matters arising; The Housing Ombudsman Scheme sets out that we expect residents to bring a complaint to their landlord within six months of a housing issue’s occurrence.

It is important that complaints are brought as quickly as possible. This is because it becomes difficult to assess a housing issue after a long period of time has passed as people’s accounts of what happened become less reliable and records may not be accessible. In this case, the landlord explained that it no longer had relevant records as the events occurred more than ten years ago. From the information available to this service, the resident escalated their complaint to stage two of the landlord’s complaints process in October 2021.

The complaint concerned issues which occurred more than ten years ago. Therefore, this is not a complaint which the Ombudsman can consider.