G15 landlord compensates young family left with unsafe windows for 16 months

A second contractor also found safety concerns and doubted whether a repair would fix the issue but NHG failed to act again.

The resident was forced to contact the contractor directly over a month later, only to be told that they were still awaiting payment from the landlord.

In a report, the ombudsman said that the windows could not be properly closed and locked and that there were large gaps around them. Missing screws could not be replaced and there was nothing to screw them to. 

The safety concern came from the weight of the window and the danger that it could fall and cause injury. The first contractor wrote: “To be clear, if the top hinge comes away from the frame altogether, the window will fall.”

In a release, the ombudsman explained: “Once the landlord had authorised payment it should have provided the resident with regular updates about when the contractor would action the repairs, and ensure the window was safe in the meantime. However, the landlord failed to do so.

“When another month passed, the resident made a formal complaint. However, in the landlord’s response it did not acknowledge the safety aspect of the complaint and therefore the complaint was escalated to stage two.”

When the resident raised her safety concerns, NHG did arrange for the window to be boarded up that day but this was six months after the initial reporting of the unsafe window.

Nine months after the condition of the window was first reported, the contractor attempted to fix it but was unable to. It would take another seven months for the windows to be replaced.

Consequently, the ombudsman ordered the landlord to pay the resident £1,400 in compensation and carry out a focused review on the steps and timescales required where there is a potential health and safety risk involving windows.

Richard Blakeway, the housing ombudsman, said: “A mother had to go to extraordinary lengths to get the landlord to listen to their valid concerns about the safety of the windows for her children. It is wholly unreasonable for the appropriate action to take this length of time.

“Throughout this period, the landlord did not take sufficient action based on the information being provided by its contractors. Nor was the resident kept up to date with the repair or informed about the potential need for more extensive works. The landlord also showed a lack of empathy for the resident’s concerns.

“Faults with windows is a potential emerging issue in our casework and can be the cause of considerable distress and inconvenience for residents. There are lessons from this case for other landlords.”

In addition, the ombudsman found maladministration for the landlord’s complaint-handling due to not responding to all of the concerns in its stage one response or outlining how it would resolve the issue. The landlord also failed to offer appropriate compensation.

In its learning from the case, NHG said it changed its emergency repair policy, updated resident welcome packs to empower them to voice concerns and update management reporting to allow for better repairs identification.

The landlord added: “We are very sorry for the unacceptable length of time it took us to replace the resident’s windows and the serious inconvenience it caused her and her family. 

“Our standards fell way below what we demand and as such we fully accept the findings of the housing ombudsman with regards to how we handled this repair.”