The chief executive of Six Town Housing has been told to apologise to a Manchester resident whose complaints about noise nuisance were ignored by staff.
To compound the situation, the Housing Ombudsman found that internal documents contained inappropriate comments, including officers saying that they “could not be bothered to add the resident’s calls to the system”.
Finding the organisation in severe maladministration over its handling of the woman’s reports of anti-social behaviour (ASB), the ombudsman ordered Six Town Housing to pay the resident £1,100 compensation.
The ombudsman also found maladministration for how the landlord handled the complaint.
According to the ombudsman, the resident’s complaints about noise nuisance were ignored – or not acted on effectively – for nearly two years.
As the ombudsman noted, “irrespective of officer’s views about her reports, the landlord should have treated her with respect and clearly communicated its position”.
However, the investigation found evidence that the landlord chose not to respond to the resident and closed cases without contacting her.
Six Town Housing staff also failed to take into consideration the detrimental impact on the resident of consistently failing to respond over a prolonged period.
Nor did the organisation manage the resident’s expectations, by not clearly explaining to her which reports were considered to constitute anti-social behaviour (ASB) and which ones were not.
In one month alone, the resident filled out 16 diary sheets, but landlord records do not show these were ever reviewed.
When, later, the resident said she could not complete the diary forms due to worsening mental health, there is no evidence the landlord considered reasonable adjustments to help her.
Richard Blakeway, the housing ombudsman, said there was a “clear and repeated evidence of a lack of professionalism” in the landlord’s response to the resident’s requests for help.
“These failings were over a prolonged period and meant the landlord failed to follow its own ASB policy and procedure,” he added.
“The result was significant distress for its resident over a long period of time. This led the resident to understandably feel victimised by her landlord.
“The sector needs to respond to noise nuisance far more effectively. It is a significant driver of complaints after disrepair.”
Blakeway went on to say: “This case also reflects once more the continued problems that landlords are having with their recording keeping, and the detrimental impact this can have on residents.”
In addition to apologising to the resident and paying compensation, Six Town Housing was also told to review the resident’s current ASB concerns, and implement a clear action plan to address them.
Must do better
Furthermore, the ombudsman has given the landlord six weeks to provide clear guidance to its staff about the importance of objective record keeping and using professional language.
Six Town Housing says it has “revised and refreshed” its complaint handling policy, placed more onus on good record keeping, and offered the resident involved in this case extra tenancy support.
In its learning statement to the ombudsman, Six Town Housing said: “This complaint regarding the handling of anti-social behaviour was taken through our board governance arrangements for oversight.
“It has led to a review of our processes at Six Town Housing, and we’re deeply sorry on this occasion our approach did not deliver the quality of service we would expect, and that our internal processes didn’t highlight the issue sooner within the organisation.
“We are committed to learning from our mistakes, and in ensuring that errors do not reoccur.
“As such, we have completed a full review and ensured that systems and our staff are providing the best support, and positive outcomes to our customers.”
Read next: Cultivating a positive complaint handling culture
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