The Housing Ombudsman has published a severe maladministration finding for PA Housing, due to repeated failings in dealing with a leak coming into a resident’s bedroom from the property above causing her to sleep in her living room for more than 18 months.
The Ombudsman’s investigation found:
- severe maladministration by PA in respect of its response to the resident’s reports regarding the leak into her property and
- maladministration in respect of PA’s complaint handling.
The Ombudsman ordered PA to:
- pay total compensation of £2,830
- apologise for its treatment of the resident
- update the resident on a range of matters related to the case and
- complete a review of its overall management of this case, identifying any lessons learned and completing an action plan regarding how it can improve its service to residents.
Housing Ombudsman Richard Blakeway said: “Throughout this complaint there were multiple instances where the landlord’s lack of communication caused distress to the resident. Even where it did provide timeframes for works, these were often not met and no communications given to the resident with an explanation or updated timeframe for works”.