Saffron Housing Trust Limited — case 202319181

REPORT COMPLAINT 202319181 Saffron Housing Trust Limited 24 March 2025 Our approach The Housing Ombudsman’s approach to investigating and determining complaints is to decide what is fair in all the circumstances of the case. This is set out in the Housing Act 1996 and the Housing Ombudsman Scheme (the Scheme). The Ombudsman considers the evidence and looks to see if there has been any ‘maladministration’, for example whether the landlord has failed to keep to the law, followed proper procedure, followed good practice or behaved in a reasonable and competent manner.

Both the resident and the landlord have submitted information to the Ombudsman and this has been carefully considered. Their accounts of what has happened are summarised below. This report is not an exhaustive description of all the events that have occurred in relation to this case, but an outline of the key issues as a background to the investigation’s findings. The complaint The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of fence repairs at the resident’s property. Background The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord’s since 2016.

She lives at the property, a 1-bed bungalow, with her husband. The resident raised a repair for the fence in her garden on 7 April 2022. A repairs appointment booked in for 27 May 2022 was cancelled by the landlord due to staff shortages. The landlord inspected the repair on 8 June 2022. It cancelled a further appointment on 9 November 2022 due to staff shortages. On 25 January 2023 the landlord attended, however, the repair did not take place due to the scale of the works. On 11 August 2023 the landlord cancelled another appointment for the repair in 4 days’ time.

It said the resident needed to remove the shrubs behind the fence before it could complete the repair. It signposted her to the local council to help with removing the shrubs. The resident complained to the landlord on the same day. She said she was unhappy with the length of time she had waited for the repair to be completed. The landlord replied at stage 1 of its internal complaints process on 23 August 2023. It said it had been unable to complete the repair to the fence due to the brambles.

The landlord did not uphold the resident’s complaint. On 8 September 2023 the resident escalated her complaint. She was unhappy with a repairs appointment offered to her in a months’ time. The landlord replied at stage 2 of its complaints process on 22 September 2023. It said the resident was responsible for ensuring the landlord had access to the areas that required repairs. It did not uphold the resident’s complaint. The repair was completed by the landlord on 15 April 2024.

Assessment and findings Paragraph 53.c. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme states that, “the Ombudsman may determine the investigation of a complaint immediately if satisfied that the member has made an offer of redress following the Ombudsman’s intervention which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily.” The Ombudsman’s Intervention This service contacted the landlord on 6 March 2025 and provided it with a summary of the Ombudsman’s understanding of the events.

This included the Ombudsman’s provisional comments as to what the landlord could do to resolve the resident’s complaint. The landlord’s offer of redress On 13 March 2025 the landlord provided this Service with evidence that it had acted on the Ombudsman’s provisional comments and paid the resident a further £300 compensation. The resident has informed the Ombudsman that she is content with this as a resolution to her complaint. The Ombudsman is therefore satisfied, following the intervention of this service, that the landlord has now taken actions to remedy the matters raised which resolve the complaint satisfactorily.

Determination In accordance with paragraph 53.c. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress, following the Ombudsman’s intervention which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily.