Decision report 201104105

Summary

In the first 14 months of her tenancy, Mrs C experienced six leaks from the flat upstairs. The leaks were repaired by the council within their normal timescales. However, Mrs C thought that they should have done more to prevent recurrence, and that they should redecorate the affected areas. The council decided that it could not have taken any further action to prevent the flooding as events were not linked. They were not, therefore, obliged to redecorate, as this was Mrs C's responsibility. However, they apologised for a delay of around four months in checking the upstairs flat. We upheld the complaints about the delay in gaining access, but as the council had already apologised for this, we made no recommendation.

Mrs C also experienced problems with carpet beetles during this period. At first, she found only a few which she reported to the council but did not pursue. She then found more beetles, linked to an infestation upstairs. The council treated Mrs C's house but had difficulty gaining access to the upstairs flat. They explained that this was unavoidable as they did not have the power to force entry.

Mrs C was also unhappy with the way in which the council dealt with her complaint. The council agreed they had not met deadlines and had not properly explained what stage matters had reached, and apologised for this. We did not uphold the complaint about the infestation as we found the council had acted appropriately, but we did uphold the complaint about complaints handling as we found that their responses were confusing. As the council had taken action to address this problem by nominating a single point of contact for Mrs C, we made no recommendation.