Decision Report 201300104

Summary

Mr C complained to us that after his father died, the housing association unreasonably pressurised him to clear the house and hand back the keys in an unacceptable timescale. When the association investigated Mr C's complaint, they found that their staff had not dealt with the matter in accordance with their policy, which said that when a tenant died and there was no-one else with a right to take on the tenancy, they would allow the relatives one week after the funeral to clear the property, or two weeks in total from the date of the tenant's death, whichever was more appropriate. The association apologised to him and took action to address the failings of their staff. Mr C was dissatisfied with the association's investigation of the matter and outcome, as no financial redress had been offered, which he said he had discussed with the association's director.

We found from our investigation that the association had conducted a thorough investigation, and that the outcome was appropriate. However, we upheld the complaint as there had been an error by the association staff who had asked about the return of the keys far too early, in fact on the day Mr C's father had died. Mr C had eventually been given ten days to clear the house, and although he complained that he had asked for longer, there was no evidence that this was the case. There had been discussion about financial redress which had been considered, but although Mr C had complained to the association that he had not had time to remove some items, he had not made a claim.