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Case ref:201306105
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Date:December 2014
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Body:Bridgewater Housing Association Ltd
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Sector:Housing Associations
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Outcome:Upheld, action taken by body to remedy, recommendations
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Subject:improvements and renovation
Summary
Mr C was unhappy about the time the association took to rewire his property and the time it then took to make the disruption payment he was entitled to. He said the delay caused considerable disruption and that the association had failed to communicate with him during this period.
We found that the project as a whole was delayed and that there were specific delays in dealing with properties like Mr C's where a building warrant was required. As a result, the rewire of all such properties was moved to the end of the project. The association said that Mr C would have been told of the revised date for work to begin in his property, but they were unable to provide us with any evidence to support that. They acknowledged that the project had taken longer than planned, that there had been a delay in making the disruption payment and that the information Mr C received was confusing and that they had not communicated well with him. We, therefore, upheld Mr C's complaints.
During our investigation the association reconsidered Mr C's complaint and offered to pay him an additional disruption payment for the inconvenience he was caused.
Recommendations
We recommended that the association:
- consider the failings we identified and prepare a strategy on how best to communicate with tenants on any future projects; and
- apologise to Mr C for the failings we identified.