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Birmingham City Council (202427327)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202427327

Birmingham City Council

31 July 2025

 

Our approach

The Housing Ombudsman’s approach to investigating and determining complaints is to decide what is fair in all the circumstances of the case. This is set out in the Housing Act 1996 and the Housing Ombudsman Scheme (the Scheme). The Ombudsman considers the evidence and looks to see if there has been any ‘maladministration’, for example whether the landlord has failed to keep to the law, followed proper procedure, followed good practice or behaved in a reasonable and competent manner.

Both the resident and the landlord have submitted information to the Ombudsman and this has been carefully considered. Their accounts of what has happened are summarised below. This report is not an exhaustive description of all the events that have occurred in relation to this case, but an outline of the key issues as a background to the investigation’s findings.

The complaint

  1. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of:
    1. A leak from the roof.
    2. Damp and mould.
    3. The associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident has a secure tenancy under an agreement dated January 2021 with the landlord, a local authority. He lives in a 3-bedroom terraced house with his partner and 4 children.
  2. According to the landlord’s records, the resident reported a leak from the roof on 2 November 2023. He also reported damp and mould in the property on 13 November 2023. The landlord attended on 14 November 2023 to treat the mould. It also attended on 5 December 2023 to complete repairs to the roof.
  3. The resident reported further leaks from the roof to the landlord on 13 February 2024. The landlord then raised and closed down several appointments to repair the roof.
  4. On 6 March 2024 the resident raised a complaint to the landlord. He said the roof tiles had been moving and falling off since he moved into the property in January 2021. He said the landlord had completed roof repairs twice in the previous 2 years, but the problem remained. He said the house was full of damp and mould with wallpaper peeling off the walls and asked the landlord to replace the entire roof.
  5. The landlord responded at stage 1 of its complaint process on 15 March 2024. It confirmed what repair jobs it had raised and completed since 2 November 2023. It said the complaint was justified as its contractor did not carry out a good repair job and then failed to book an appointment to carry out remedial work. It apologised for that and said a further appointment was booked for 28 March 2024 which should resolve the issues. It also said its contractor had completed mould washes and painting, but suggested the resident reported any remaining damp and mould after it had completed the roof repair work.
  6. The resident expressed dissatisfaction with the landlord’s response later the same day. He said repair jobs would not fix the problem and maintained the whole roof needed replacing. He said each time the landlord completed a repair the problem always came back and damp and mould was in all rooms.
  7. The landlord provided its final complaint response on 24 April 2024. It apologised he was previously given an incorrect appointment date of 28 March 2024. It said all repairs were completed on 16 April 2024 and it apologised for the difficulties and inconvenience.
  8. Since the resident brought his complaint to this Service, the landlord completed a further review into the complaint. It acknowledged the length of time taken to carry out repairs was outside of its timescales and apologised for that. It paid the resident compensation of £1,350 (£1,100 for the delay completing the repair work and £250 for the stress and inconvenience caused).

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. In this case the resident says he has been reporting issues with the roof for several years. However, there are no records to show he raised a formal complaint with the landlord until March 2024. Therefore, the Ombudsman’s investigation will focus on the landlord’s handling of reports of a leak from the roof from March 2023. We cannot consider the previous incidents in assessing the landlord’s handling of the present case as these have become historical and cannot reasonably be investigated at this time. The Ombudsman encourages residents to raise complaints with their landlords at the time the events happen. Any mention of past events in this report would be solely for contextual purposes.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of a leak from the roof

  1. Under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, the landlord must keep in repair the structure and exterior of the property, including the roof, gutter, drains and pipes. The landlord acknowledges this obligation in its repairs policy.
  2. The landlord’s repairs policy states that emergency repairs should be attended to within 2 hours. Urgent repairs should be attended to within 1, 3 or 7 working days depending on the severity of the repair issue. Routine repairs should be completed within 30 days. It also states there are some larger repairs that may need special materials and arrangements to be completed. In these cases, the landlord should advise the resident what timescale to expect. The landlord would therefore be expected to keep the resident regularly updated on the progress of the works, explain any delays and provided expected timescales for when the repair would be completed.
  3. When the resident reported the leak on 2 November 2023 the landlord raised a 7 working day repair job to be completed by 13 November 2023. Its contractor attended the property and carried out an inspection on 13 November 2023. They determined scaffolding was required to replace several slates and clear the gutters. On the same date, the landlord therefore raised a routine repair job with scaffolding to repair the roof to be completed by 7 December 2023.
  4. The roofing contractors attended the property on 5 December 2023 with scaffolding and replaced all broken and missing slates. They also cleared out the gutters.
  5. The resident reported further leaks from the roof on 13 February 2024. The landlord raised a 7 working day repair job to be completed by 22 February 2024. Its contractor attended the property and carried out a further inspection on 20 February 2024. They determined the roofing contractor should return as a recall job for work not completed to a satisfactory standard.
  6. On 22 February 2024 the landlord raised a job for the roofing contractor to return and repair the roof. It had a target date for completion of 27 February 2024, but there is no evidence they attended the property.
  7. On 29 February 2024 the landlord recorded on its repairs system that the roofing contractor had not contacted the resident. It also recorded it needed to chase up the contractor as the roof tiles were defective and there was an ongoing leak. It raised 2 separate repair jobs on this date but subsequently cancelled both.
  8. A contractor attended the property and carried out an inspection on 1 March 2024. They determined scaffolding was required to replace several slates and fix several loose slates. It is unclear why a further inspection was necessary to determine scaffolding was required, when a contractor already attended on 20 February 2024 and determined the roofing contractor needed to redo their previous work.
  9. On 4 March 2024 the landlord raised a routine repair job to be completed by 17 April 2024. Its repairs system shows a note stating the appointment for the job was booked for 28 March 2024.
  10. When the landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response of 15 March 2024 it confirmed a roof repair with scaffolding was scheduled for 28 March 2024. It acknowledged its contractor had not completed work to a reasonable standard and then failed to book remedial repair work. It said it should resolve all issues with the roof at the appointment of 28 March 2024. Although the landlord apologised for the delays, it did not offer any compensation to acknowledge the delays and the inconvenience caused. This is not in line with its own compensation policy or that of this Service.
  11. The resident telephoned the landlord on 28 March 2024 and told it the contractors had failed to attend. It transpired the date given of 28 March 2024 was incorrect and no appointment had been booked for that date. The roof repairs had been booked for 16 April 2024. This demonstrates poor record keeping and communication between the landlord and its contractors.
  12. On 12 April 2024 the landlord raised a job for the roofing contractor to return and repair the roof. It had a target date for completion of 19 April 2024. It subsequently cancelled the job as one was already booked for 16 April 2024 further demonstrating unclear record keeping and communication.
  13. The roofing contractors attended the property on 16 April 2024 and the records show this job was successfully completed.
  14. On 18 April 2024 the landlord raised a further 7 working day repair job to replace missing slates and fix loose slates, to be completed by 29 April 2024. It is unclear why this further job was required if the roofing contractors successfully completed work on 16 April 2024.
  15. In its final complaint response of 24 April 2024 the landlord said the appointment date it gave of 28 March 2024 was incorrect and the repairs were completed on 16 April 2024. It apologised for the difficulties and inconvenience but again did not offer any compensation.
  16. Since the landlord’s final complaint response, its contractor completed further roof repairs on 26 April and 14 May 2024, which suggests the repairs completed on 16 April 2024 were not sufficient. The resident has also told us that the leaking roof issue is still ongoing.
  17. In summary, the landlord and its contractors did not raise and complete the correct jobs to facilitate a permanent and effective repair within appropriate timescales. There was also a lack of communication with the resident about what work would be completed and when. The Ombudsman considers the overall time taken to arrange all necessary work to be unreasonable.
  18. It is the Ombudsman’s view the level of compensation the landlord provided is proportionate redress for the impact on the resident of the failings identified above. It is within the range of awards set out in our remedies guidance for cases such as this where there was a failure by the landlord which had a significant impact on the resident. However, the landlord did not make the offer until after this Service had accepted the resident’s complaint for investigation and we have addressed that in our complaint handling assessment below.
  19. Although the landlord has offered sufficient financial redress to acknowledge its failings and the detriment experienced by the resident, we note the issues with the roof remain ongoing. For the reasons set out above, the Ombudsman considers there was maladministration by the landlord in relation to its handling of the resident’s reports of a leak from the roof.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould

  1. The landlord has a responsibility to ensure a property remains fit for human habitation under s.9A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. Landlords need to make sure their homes are safe, warm, and free from hazards. When a resident reports a risk, the landlord should quickly inspect the property to check for hazards. Damp and mould growth are a potential hazard, and the landlord is required to consider whether any mould problems in its properties amount to a hazard that requires remedy.
  2. The Ombudsman’s Spotlight Report on Damp and Mould (published October 2021) provides recommendations for landlords, including that it should:
    1. Adopt a zero-tolerance approach to damp and mould interventions. Landlords should review its current strategy and consider whether its approach will achieve this.
    2. Ensure it can identify complex cases at an early stage and have a strategy for keeping residents informed and effective resolution.
    3. Ensure that it clearly and regularly communicates with its residents regarding actions taken or otherwise to resolve reports of damp and mould.
    4. Identify where an independent, mutually agreed and suitably qualified surveyor should be used, share the outcomes of all surveys and inspections with residents to help them understand the findings and be clear on next steps. Landlords should then act on accepted survey recommendations in a timely manner.
  3. Following the resident reporting issues on 2 November 2023 the landlord raised a 7 working day repair job. Its contractor attended the property and assessed the damp and mould on 13 November 2023. They determined a further appointment was required to treat the damp and mould. On the same date, the landlord raised a routine appointment for the treatment.
  4. The landlord’s contractor attended on 14 November 2023 and removed the mould with fungicidal remover. They also cleaned down and applied 2 coats of fungicidal emulsion paint to the walls. They reported to the landlord they left the property mould free.
  5. When the resident raised the complaint on 6 March 2024 he said the house was full of damp and mould, and the wallpaper was peeling off. When the landlord provided its stage 1 response of 15 March 2024 it said its contractor previously completed mould washes and painting on 14 November 2023. However, it suggested he should wait to report any further damp and mould issues until after it had completed work to the roof, which is not appropriate.
  6. When the resident asked to escalate his complaint on 15 March 2024, he confirmed the damp and mould had spread to all rooms in the property. The landlord should have taken a zero-tolerance approach based on that report and arranged for a further assessment and work to treat the damp and mould. However, there is no evidence it took any action.
  7. In its final complaint response of 24 April 2024 the landlord did not mention or address any issue relating to damp and mould, which is not appropriate.
  8. In summary, the landlord raised appropriate jobs to deal with the damp and mould following the resident’s initial report on 2 November 2023. However, it then failed to take any action following his subsequent reports in March 2024 of damp and mould throughout the property. It also advised him not to report any further damp and mould issues until it had completed roof repairs and failed to address the issue in its final complaint response.
  9. When the landlord offered compensation in its further complaint review of June 2025 it did not refer to the damp and mould and appeared to provide redress for the delays with roof repairs only. Therefore, we are ordering the landlord to pay the resident £1,000 compensation for the time, trouble, and inconvenience caused by its failures handling reports of damp and mould. This is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance for such failings resulting in maladministration that delayed getting matters resolved.

The associated complaint

  1. Under the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code) landlords must ensure they acknowledge a complaint within 5 working days. They must respond to the complaint within 10 working days of the acknowledgment at stage 1. They must also acknowledge an escalation request within 5 working days and provide a final response within 20 working days of the date of acknowledging the escalation request. The landlord’s complaints policy is compliant with the above requirements of the Code.
  2. When the resident first complained on 6 March 2024, the landlord provided an acknowledgement the next day. It then issued its stage 1 response 7 working days later, which was appropriate and in line with the Code and the landlord’s own policy. However, in its stage 1 complaint response, the landlord failed to consider if compensation was appropriate to acknowledge the delays in dealing with the roof repairs.
  3. The resident expressed dissatisfaction with the landlord’s response on 15 March 2024 and disputed whether the repair jobs would resolve the issue. However, that landlord did not treat this as an escalation request and told him to discuss matters with its contractors, which was inappropriate. It was only when the resident contacted the landlord on 28 March 2024 to report a failed appointment that it escalated the complaint to stage 2 and provided an acknowledgement.
  4. When the landlord issued its final complaint response of 24 April 2024 it was within 20 working days of its acknowledgement. However, it was outside of the timescale to issue a response from the resident’s initial escalation request of 15 March 2024. In addition, it did not deal with all matters, as it did not address the damp and mould problem, and it did not offer compensation for its delays resolving matters.
  5. Landlords must have an effective complaint process to provide a good service to its residents. An effective complaint process means landlords can fix problems quickly, learn from its mistakes and build good relationships with residents. In this case, the landlord delayed acknowledging the escalation request and issuing the stage 2 response for which it offered no redress. The Ombudsman therefore finds service failure for the failures identified in the landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.
  6. Therefore, we are ordering the landlord to pay the resident £100 compensation for the time, trouble, and inconvenience caused by its complaint handling failures. This is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance for such failings resulting in service failure that delayed getting matters resolved.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was maladministration in respect of the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of a leak from the roof.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was maladministration in respect of the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould.
  3. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was service failure in respect of the landlord’s handling of the resident’s associated complaint.

Orders

  1. The landlord must within 28 days of the date of this determination:
    1. Provide the resident with an apology for the failings outlined in this report.
    2. Arrange an independent inspection and assessment of the roof and provide the resident and this Service with its findings and schedule of works.
    3. Arrange an independent inspection and assessment of the damp and mould in the property and provide the resident and this Service with its findings and schedule of works.
    4. Pay the resident total compensation of £2,450 (less any amount the landlord has already paid), which is made up of:
      1. £1,350 as previously offered by the landlord (if it has not already done so) in recognition of the time, trouble, distress, and inconvenience caused by its failures to appropriately handle reports of a leak from the roof.
      2. £1,000 in recognition of the time, trouble, distress, and inconvenience caused by its failures to appropriately handle reports of damp and mould.
      3. £100 for the time, trouble, and inconvenience caused by the landlord’s complaint handling failures.
  2. All payments must be paid directly to the resident and not credited to the rent account unless otherwise agreed by the resident.