Rtb repairs

HampshireH

Clarke2021 said:

There’s a lot of judgement and abuse regarding people taking up on the offer to buy. I am not buying a home to earn money merely as a lucky opportunity to get on the housing ladder. Yes it is unlucky that not everyone has that opportunity but don’t feel I should be judged for taking up an offer that exists. My complaint about the council is the whole process has took nearly two years. Over seven months  and having to lose one mortgage offer and apply again after six months and an extension and now interest rates have increased.  I knew the process which is supposed to take weeks not years so obviously there have been repairs building up. Very judgemental to assume I want things fixing to save me money when I buy.  The repair complaint is the fact my rent is not going towards a mortgage so I am still technically a tenant yet paying for repairs losing me tenant rights for two years due to no fault of my own.  Also lost tenant rewards two years running due to delays. judge  all you will they are available to all tenants regardless to 
wether people are bitter about receiving a tennant reward (have to agree I don’t understand it)

As above there is a timescale for RTB and it isn't 2 years 

Have you gone through the formal complaint procedure? Exhausted it and taken it to ombudsman?

I recommend you do the above and in that order if no resolution as a result of your complaint. Do it in writing 

canaldumidi

So there are 2 quite separate issues. Don't confuse them.

1) the RTB timescales. The 2 year delay may be either

a) due to you (incomplete form blah blah etc)in which case you check, find what you've done wrong, and put t rght,or

b) due to them, in which case you escalate the issue appropriately as advised above.

2) the repairs. It's clear that once the RTB process starts, only emergency repairs are dealt with. Gut reaction based on limited information is that these are not emergencies, but if you believe they are, then you'll need to escalate the matter and convince the appropriate people of your case. You may need 3rd party evidence.

Arguably, if 1) b) above is the case, you might be able to argue that their error means the RTB process has stopped, or failed, and they should therefore be doing all repairs. But if that's the case you really need to be aserting that you are no longer going to buy.

warby68

The 2 years referenced also unfortunately coincides with 2 years of Covid 19 where many departments have fallen well behind their service standards and are in some form of disarray with huge backlogs. A large proportion of staff WFH has been blamed by some and to be fair, its easy to see why the more involved processes have not been well coordinated.

Your opening post does make it seem like you're more bothered about the repairs than the delay so we don't really know what's behind the excessive timeframe. I'd forget the repairs (not saying whether fair or not but if your file gets pulled each time you complain and then goes back to the bottom it won't help) and place laser focus on progressing your purchase. Do not be fobbed off. I'd say after 2 years you are entitled to be the one of the phone every day even with Covid problems.

If that's what you have been doing, time for the formal complaint process.

Possibly even a case for MP involvement if you are getting the brush off and no satisfactory explanation.