Impasse with Housing Association.

gwynlas

As well as copying in your local couuncillor you can also include your local MP writing by snail mail reporting the whole saga

Ask them for their procedure requesting a dis repair claim as this will cost them more money on top of that they have already wasted by nuumerous tradeie visits,

elsien

from the welcome pack:

We have a dedicated team to help you with your complaint. Full information on how to make a complaint is on our website.

You can contact the Housing Ombudsman at any point within your complaint for general advice and assistance. Should you want the Ombudsman to accept your complaint for a full investigation, you will need to exhaust our complaints process first. You can find out more information about the Ombudsman here:

www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/

have you downloaded the copy of their complaints procedure because it is quite comprehensive?

martindow

Have you involved your local councilor yet OP? They can often be very helpful as they are likely to know exactly who to contact at the local authority. As an individual it can be much harder to find the right person who has the power to resolve the situation.

Jude57

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81871517#Comment_81871517

This isn't a Council property, though, so unless there's some environmental health issue or failure to meet local licensing conditions, it's hard to see what a local Councillor could do to move things along with a private housing association. There's no harm in contacting them, of course, and I'm usually the first one to suggest involving local elected representatives but I can't see how they could help in this case.

Given how long this issue has gone on, I'd be emailing the Chief Executive with a succinct report of what has happened to date, with dates and names where known:

catriona.simons@guinness.org.uk

It's unlikely that she'll personally swing into action but she's (or her PA has) got the power to ensure it lands on the right person's desk. If that generates no action, I'd be emailing her every Monday to report that the matter still isn't resolved.

And OP, a housing association isn't going to try to evict a responsible, paying tenant for reporting an uncompleted repair. A Judge would likely see any such attempt as unlawful and it's a Judge who orders the eviction, not the landlord. So get your carpets and curtains and make your home comfortable. If you DO decide to move out, the carpets and curtains won't benefit the new tenant, they'll be removed and disposed of in case of, ahem, tiny residents hiding in there. My housing association would charge me for the removal, too, though not all do, apparently. I wouldn't give up such a secure tenancy over this but I'm not the one having to deal with it.

SpikeyKitten

Thank you. That's very helpful.

Can I just clarify. I wasn't saying that I've not yet installed curtains and carpets lest it should benefit the next tenant. I'm not a spiteful person. It's just I don't want to buy them twice.

gwynlas

The local councillor does have a role to play as many local councils have negociated for housing associations to manage prrevious council housing on their behalf. Most housing association stock is considered to be social housing and therefor cheaper than private rentals in general circumstances.

Local councillors have an interest in all rental property conditions in their borough whether social or private

Myci85

Would you really consider giving up a secure tenancy over this? I expect the extra money you'd pay for a private rental would more than cover the cost of paying privately for a plumber to sort the issue. And whilst that might be against the terms of your tenancy, if you can document the amount of times you have reported this issue and the HA failed to sort it, I can't see you'd get into too much trouble for paying for a fix yourself.

GibbsRule_No3.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81872244#Comment_81872244

Would they know if it was fixed privately, if it is not too expensive for the OP to get it fixed?

SpikeyKitten

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81872244#Comment_81872244

You make it sound like it's trivial. Perhaps it is. It's sometimes hard to see things clearly until you talk to other people about it

You're right though. It would be daft to give it up. It's not about the money so much, well, apart from the money I've lost through not working dealing with it. I wish I'd just got a plumber in myself at the beginning. I used to do similar in private rentals all the time rather than risk the landlord putting up the rent to cover expenses, or coming in when I'm not there etc, typical private stuff. I'm new to housing associations, and apart from this they've been brilliant. I'm just not used to the labyrinthine bureaucracy. It reminds me of Central Services from the movie Brazil 😁

Perhaps you're right and it'd be fine to get it sorted myself. Perhaps that's the result they want? I'm just annoyed that I'm being forced into breaking the rules and thus now always being paranoid if they come round on other business etc. I'm thankful for the place and thus don't want to jeopardise it. Perhaps that's the game - force me into breaking a rule so that they have a strike against me should they need to use it as leverage in the future. Now I really am being paranoid ;)

user1977

If they can't be bothered fixing it, why on earth do you think they would be bothered doing the far more involved and expensive job of evicting you because you fixed it? (especially as they'd almost certainly be unsuccessful, assuming you challenged them - courts don't like people being evicted for trivial reasons).