We commenced an investigation of Mrs A’s complaint against Tai Calon Community Housing Association to determine whether the Housing Association had taken:
– All relevant steps to respond to Mrs A’s reports of disrepair between 2019 and 2024
– All appropriate steps to address a recommendation by a Social Services Department to re-house Mrs A following an assessment in approximately 2019/2020
– Account of all relevant factors when it decided to withdraw the pre-allocation offer of housing made in 2024.
In response to the investigation, the Housing Association accepted that some of its actions may have fallen short of expected standards. It put forward a number of proposals to address Mrs A’s concerns. The Ombudsman determined that the actions the Housing Association had agreed to take were proportionate to reach a voluntary settlement of Mrs A’s complaint and would deliver an appropriate outcome. On this basis, the investigation was closed.
The Housing Association agreed to:
– Apologise to Mrs A for the time taken to resolve her housing situation and for the shortcomings in the application of its complaints procedure including a financial redress payment of £1,000
– Guarantee that Mrs A would be offered the next suitable property for her needs
– Waive recharge fees for unauthorised alterations to Mrs A’s property
– Consult on and publish final versions of its policies relating to adaptions, vulnerable persons and allocations
– Review its record-keeping processes and, where areas of improvement are identified, to actions these.
