More than £3,000 in compensation has been paid out following a series of housing complaints made to Wokingham Borough Council, a freedom of information (FOI) request obtained by the BBC Local Democracy Reporting Service can reveal.
The council paid £3,219 to complainants between April 2021 and April 2022, nearly twice the £1,711 paid out in the previous year.
Nine of the 24 compensation amounts paid were for residents going multiple days without heating and hot water, totalling £525.
The longest period a complainant went without heating and hot water was 21 days, for which they received £105.
The data indicates £5 per day was issued to those who did not have use of these utilities.
Local authorities have a “right to repair” scheme in place for tenants, however only qualifying repairs are covered by the measure.
A loss of heating or hot water is covered by the scheme which, according to Citizens Advice, requires a response time of three days between May 1 and October 31 and one day between October 31 and May 1.
The largest single compensation amount paid was £800 to a resident who complained about damage to their floor after a contractor visited.
A further £400 was paid to compensate a different tenant to cover the cost of new carpets.
Other reasons for the pay outs include; a contractor clearing out and boarding up the wrong garage (£100), delays to roofing repairs (£75), a tenant losing income following cancelled appointments (£226) and a tenant who had to use a launderette due to a delay in repairing their washing machine (£59).
For the previous year, the highest compensation payout was £370 for a faulty heating system which resulted in heating and hot water issues, as well as high energy bills.
In total there were 19 compensation payments made after complaints during this time, eight of which were due to a resident not having any heating and hot water.
The longest period a complainant went without these utilities in the financial year ending April 2021 was 28 days, for which the resident received a payout of £36.
A council spokesperson said: “We prioritise repairs when tenants are without hot water or heat and aim to have it fixed within 24 hours. When this is not possible, we will do a temporary fix for heat by offering portable heaters and looking for alternatives for hot water.
“When it takes longer to complete a repair, we may offer a goodwill payment in addition to covering any running costs the tenant will incur due to the problem.
“One case involving a loss of hot water took 21 days to resolve. The delay was initially caused by a misdiagnosis at the first callout, which resulted in parts being ordered that were not necessary, and a revisit to diagnose again and repair the issue.
“This falls far below the standards we set ourselves and we have learned from this mistake. We have put a process in place to ensure it doesn’t happen again and have apologised to the tenant.”
