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A housing association has been ordered by an ombudsman to pay the maximum amount of compensation after a vulnerable tenant was left without heating and hot water.

The tenant’s support worker made the complaint to Borders-based Waverley Housing after he was left without heating and hot water over a weekend in October when he was recovering from an operation and looking after his son.

The landlord recommended that he use a public swimming pool or stay with friends or family, as well as providing him two temporary heaters.

The support worker complained that Waverley didn’t provide “adequate and appropriate assistance” during this time.

The association had failed to properly appreciate the adverse effects the problem had on him and his son

In a ruling, the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) upheld the complaint recommending it pay the maximum amount of compensation to “Mr A” available under the association’s guidelines – a figure of £100.

The SPSO also recommended the landlord issued an apology for the failings and suggested it reviews how it communicated with the tenant to learn from its mistakes.

Its judgment said: “Given the time of year, Mr A’s state of health and the fact that he had his son in his care, we considered Mr A’s situation to be an emergency.

“We found that the association had failed to properly appreciate the adverse effects the problem had on him and his son and had not taken all reasonable action to help him, and the recommendations we made reflect this.”