HOS finds severe maladministration for landlord regarding flooring complaints

Article summary

The Housing Ombudsman Service (HOS) has found severe maladministration for Aster Group after it left a wheelchair-bound resident with inadequate flooring at the start of the tenancy and did not manage the complaint properly. The HOS has said that the landlord failed to fulfil its obligations under the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010) and the resident, as a result of the landlord's failure to manage the complaint, was forced to live out of boxes and use a storage facility for five months for her possessions. The HOS stated that the landlord responded by suggesting that the problems arose when the resident moved in, whereas evidence given to the HOS suggested that the landlord was aware of the issues before the resident moved in but did not take adequate steps to remedy it due to lack of record keeping. Further, the landlord issued an invalid notice under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988), due to which the resident bore significant...