Can I challenge them on this? Housing association

[PrawnDippers]

Does anyone know or have experience of challenging a housing association over a decision that you don't agree with?

I share a communal front door with a second property. The door was originally damaged several years ago by the police (related to another tenant who is no longer in the property). Since then it's had a large crack in it. This was deemed by the HA at the time to be superficial and that the door didn't need to be replaced. It's since been damaged again recently (in another unrelated incident) and now the lock won't click closed when the door is pulled shut. Instead it has to be slammed shut to get it to lock. It's very temperamental and has been accidentally left open several times, having appeared to be shut on first inspection.

The HA repairs team have been out to it, four times now. Each time they have done small or temporary repairs but it hasn't made any real difference. The door is still very hard to close and takes a lot of effort. I don't feel that it's safe or secure. I have asked them to replace the door altogether (fwiw I believe that it's the original door from when the building was converted to housing in the 1990s - so it isn't new). The HA have said no because it's "too expensive" and it's not scheduled for replacement for at least another 3 years. Is there anyway I can challenge them on this decision?

Is the door a fire door? I expect that it would be. You might do better pointing that out to them. A damaged fire door won’t stop fire and protect the communal entrance.

There's two internal fire doors (one on each of the separate properties). So I don't think it is a fire door unfortunately.

HAs don't want to spend money - I worked for one - make a complaint that there is a health and safety issue with the door, it is not fit for purpose, insecure and you fear for your personal safety. Phased replacement is not relevant, the door has failed, it needs replacement now. Get your local councillor on the case and copy them into the complaint.

I’ve been through similar and have taken my complaint to the ombudsman. It depends on the HA policy. Most will repair rather than replace. As long as the door closes and is secure they’ll keep doing this until it’s no longer economic to do so. The ombudsman won’t overturn their decision to do so. If the policy says that’s what they will do.