Source · SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman)

Bridgewater Housing Association Ltd

SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman) Upheld Reference 201306105 Sector Local Government Category improvements and renovation Decided 01 December 2014

Full decision

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.

Related reading

View Decision Report 201306105 as a PDF (12.53 KB) Updated: March 13, 2018

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Other decisions involving Bridgewater Housing Association Ltd

Reference Date Summary Outcome
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201602606 01 Feb 2017 When Ms C moved to a new property, she suffered from anti-social behaviour and felt that this was related to … Not Upheld
201400303 01 Dec 2014 Mr C said that the housing association had not given him accurate information about whether he was liable to pay … Not Upheld
201400587 01 Dec 2014 Mr C complained that, although he was awarded backdated housing benefit, the housing association did not refund the overpayment until … Upheld
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