London & Quadrant Housing Trust — case 202417196

Decision Case ID 202417196 Decision type Investigation Landlord London & Quadrant Housing Trust Landlord type Housing Association Occupancy Assured Tenancy Date 22 January 2026 Background The resident lives with his partner and 2 children. After several repeat attendances throughout 2023 to repair the electric heating and hot water system, the landlord replaced the heating system in January 2024. He continued to have problems with the heating and hot water and complained when it broke down again and the landlord had not been able to fix it for 3 weeks.

What the complaint is about The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s: Reports of repairs to the heating and hot water. Complaint. Our decision (determination) We have found: Maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s repairs to the heating and hot water. No maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint. We have made orders for the landlord to put things right. Summary of reasons Reports of repairs to heating and hot water problems The landlord failed to consider the wider issues in the complaint.

Its complaint actions failed to resolve the substantive issue. It recognised some failings, apologised and made an offer of redress, but it was not proportionate to the failure or level of detriment to the resident. Handling of the resident’s complaint The landlord adhered to its complaint handling policy. Putting things right Where we find service failure, maladministration or severe maladministration we can make orders for the landlord to put things right. We have the discretion to make recommendations in all other cases within our jurisdiction.

Orders Landlords must comply with our orders in the manner and timescales we specify. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of compliance with our orders by the due date set. Order What the landlord must do Due date 1 Apology order The landlord must apologise in writing to the resident for the failures identified in this report. The landlord must ensure: The apology is specific to the failures identified in this decision, meaningful and empathetic. It has due regard to our apologies guidance.

No later than 27 February 2026 2 Complete the works The landlord must take all steps to ensure the ‘off peak’ facility is restored on the resident’s heating and hot water system and are completed no later than the due date. If the landlord cannot complete the works in this time, it must explain to us, by the due date: Why it cannot complete the works by the due date and provide evidence to support its reasons. It must provide a revised timescale of when it will start and finish the works; or The steps it has taken to complete the works and provide us with documentary evidence of its attempts to ensure the works were completed by the due date.

It must provide a revised timescale if it is able to or explain why it cannot. No later than 27 February 2026 3 Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £500 to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by its failures in its handling of the residents heating and hot water repairs. This must be paid directly to the resident by the due date. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date. It can deduct any payments already made. No later than 27 February 2026 Our investigation The complaint procedure Date What happened 4 July 2024 The resident complained to the landlord.

He said he had raised multiple jobs for the same repair issues that it had not resolved. He reported having to use his off-peak tank because he had no hot water. This had broken down 1 month prior. The problems with the hot water and immersion had been ongoing for over three months. He said he had to boil kettles to get hot water and had 2 children living in the property. He said he had taken days off work for appointments, many of which had been missed. When contractors did arrive, they could not resolve the issue and repeated information he already knew.

He said the hot water problems had worsened with the change of heating system. He had experienced ongoing problems for over a year. 5 July 2024 The landlord sent its stage 1 complaint response. It apologised for the length of time taken to repair his hot water. It confirmed his first report of no hot water was on 18 June 2024. It acknowledged that its repair to reset the element on 21 June 2024 only lasted 3 days. Its attendance on 2 July 2024, had referred the job to a contractor for 2 new elements.

It confirmed with its planners that they were going to raise this and notify the resident once complete. It apologised for the delay in actioning this. 11 July 2024 The resident escalated his complaint because he was still without hot water and the landlord was yet to inform him of what it intended to do. 16 July 2024 The resident responded. He said he had not had a call from a contractor that day. He expressed his frustration that he was home the day before but was working today, with advance notice he would have rearranged.

He confirmed he wanted to escalate his complaint as he did not expect the appointment to resolve it. 23 July 2024 The landlord sent its stage 2 complaint response. It repeated its earlier response listing repair events. It noted its attendance on 16 July 2024 had resulted in a quote for works which was awaiting approval. It had assigned a task for its repairs contact to keep him updated. It apologised for its communication failings for the appointment on 16 July 2024. It offered compensation of £40 for the delay in repairing and communication lapse comprising: £10 for time and effort £10 for the repair delay £20 for inconvenience Referral to the Ombudsman The resident was unhappy with the landlord’s response and asked us to investigate.

He said he had been without hot water for months, he wanted the problem fully investigated, and a long-term resolution. What we found and why The circumstances of this complaint are well known by the parties involved, so it is not necessary to detail everything that’s happened or comment on all the information we’ve reviewed. We’ve only included the key information that forms the basis of our decision of whether the landlord is responsible for maladministration. Complaint Repairs to heating and hot water problems.

Finding Maladministration The landlord’s repairs log showed historic issues with the resident’s heating and hot water system over several years. In the 6 months between June and December 2023, its repairs log shows it raised 11 repair orders for the heating and hot water. It attended each report showing it complied with its repairing obligations. However, given the number of attendances it failed to provide a long‑term solution. This likely caused inconvenience to the resident in repeatedly reporting faults and providing access.

On 30 October 2023, the landlord replaced the electric heating system. This was appropriate and showed it had recognised a systemic issue that was no longer economic to repair. Its records show it completed the work on 3 January 2024. Despite replacing the heating system, the landlord raised multiple jobs between January and June 2024 for heating and hot water. In his complaint on 4 July 2024, the resident said he had not had hot water for 3 weeks. He reported considerable inconvenience boiling kettles for hot water, missed contractor appointments, and taking time off work.

He complained he had experienced these issues repeatedly for a year without resolution and believed the replacement system had worsened the hot water problems. The landlord responded the following day. Its complaints policy says it aims to resolve complaints immediately where possible. While it may be able to resolve some complaints immediately, its quick response does not demonstrate if fully investigated the complaint or consider any detriment. The Complaint Handling Code (the Code) states that landlords must address all issues raised in a complaint.

The landlord’s response only considered repair events from the previous month. While it was appropriate to prioritise the immediate fault, it should also have investigated the historic issues he reported. Without doing so, it could not adequately assess if there were wider issues or the full impact on him in order to put things right. The landlord’s response on 15 July 2024 acknowledged delays in resolving the hot water issue. It said it attended on 2 July 2024 and referred work for replacement elements to its contractor.

Its planners said they would raise the order and then contact the resident. Given he had been without hot water for a month, it was unclear why the landlord had not raised the job within the 2 weeks since identifying the issue. The landlord’s final response on 23 July 2024, 8 days later, said the job was still awaiting approval. Given the resident and his family had been without hot water since 18 June 2024, this delay was unreasonable. The landlord’s compensation policy allows it to award compensation when its failures cause a loss of amenities beyond its agreed response times.

This includes issues with heating and hot water. Despite acknowledging a loss of hot water and delays in resolving it, it did not consider offering any financial redress at stage 1, as its policy allowed. The Code requires any remedy to set out what will happen and by when. The landlord’s final response said approval for the job would arrive “in due course” and that it had allocated a third‑party representative to provide updates. Its response was vague, did not demonstrate the level of urgency needed for a reoccurring fault, and provided no indication when it expected to resolve the problem.

In its final response, the landlord acknowledged some failures and offered the resident £40 compensation. Our remedies guidance states that any remedy must reflect the extent of the failures and the level of detriment caused to the resident. The landlord’s offer of £40 compensation was not proportionate to the level of failure or the impact on the resident. He had no hot water for 2 months and, at the time of its response, this remained unresolved. It had not considered the historic heating and hot water element of his complaint.

Subsequently, its offer was not reflective of the cumulative impact this had on him and his family. Following its final response there was no evidence that the landlord kept the resident updated as it committed to. It completed the work on 7 August 2024, leaving him without hot water for a further 16 days. Within 1 month, on 9 September 2024, he reported being without hot water again. It took a further 6 months for it to resolve the problem, however it has not reinstated the use of the ‘off peak’ facility likely making it unnecessarily costly.

Our remedies guidance states a remedy should return the resident to the position they would have been in had the failures not occurred. The landlord did not find a lasting solution for a significant period after its final response. This delay caused the resident further detriment. Because the system’s full function has not been restored, it has not returned him to the position he would have been in without the failures. While it has recognised some failings its efforts to put things right have fallen short.

We have therefore made a failure finding. Complaint The handling of the complaint Finding No maladministration The Code requires landlords to acknowledge complaints within 5 working days and to respond to stage 1 and stage 2 complaints within 10 and 20 working days. The landlord’s complaint policy meets these requirements. The landlord acknowledged and responded to the resident’s complaint in a combined response within 1 day of receipt on 5 July 2024. An acknowledgment usually defines the complaint and explains the process in advance of the response.

Although its combined response did not offer this sequence of events it was compliant with the Code. The landlord acknowledged the resident’s escalation request within 1 day of receipt on 16 July 2024, which met its 5 working day response time. The landlord sent its final response on 23 July 2024, which met its 20-working day response time. Learning The landlord should ensure complaints about long‑standing issues receive investigation beyond the immediate repair. This would help it understand the full impact on residents, whether there are wider issues, and offer proportionate remedies at an early stage.

Knowledge information management (record keeping) There were no record keeping issues identified in our investigation Communication Where a landlord relies on third parties to carry out its repairs process, it should ensure that it is monitoring communication and that residents are kept informed.