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Wolverhampton City Council (202344654)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202344654

Wolverhampton City Council

14 August 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:
    1. reports of damp and mould and the associated remedial repairs
    2. the associated complaint

Background

  1. The resident holds a secure tenancy. The tenancy started in January 2017. The landlord is a local authority. The property is a 3-bedroom first floor flat in a medium rise building. The resident shares the property with her 2 daughters, who are 12 and 5 years old. The landlord does not have any vulnerabilities recorded for the resident.
  2. The resident told us she first raised the issues to the landlord about a leak in October 2022 and raised issues about damp and mould in August 2023.
  3. The resident made a stage 1 complaint on 18 December 2023. She said “…there’s mould over all the windows, there’s a draft. I’ve asked numerous times for them to be resealed. I fear my children are getting worse due to this.”
  4. The landlord issued its stage 1 response on 17 January 2024. It recognised its service failure relating to no action taken on a separate issue of a draughty windowsill and exceeding its 90-day target for replastering the ceiling, relating to damp and mould. It offered an apology and a goodwill gesture of £100.
  5. On 24 January 2024, the resident escalated her complaint, and the landlord provides its stage 2 response on 27 February 2024. It provides details of work already completed and work planned. The landlord offered a further apology and a goodwill gesture of £100.
  6. On 28 February 2024, the resident told us she remained dissatisfied with the landlord after the stage 2 complaint response and the problems were still outstanding.

Assessment and findings

Scope of the investigation

  1. The resident told us there has been multiple repairs over the years which caused ill-health to her eldest daughter.
  2. While we appreciate that the situation would have been distressing, it is beyond the authority or expertise of the Ombudsman to establish legal liability for a resident’s health. This would be a matter for the courts. We can, however, consider any inconvenience or distress that may have been caused by any failures by the landlord.

The landlord’s handling of reports of damp and mould and the associated remedial repairs

  1. The landlord has a responsibility under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), introduced by The Housing Act 2004, to assess hazards and risks. Damp and mould growth are a potential hazard. The landlord must consider whether any damp and mould problems in its properties amount to a hazard that may require a remedy. It is appropriate that the landlord acknowledges damp and mould in its repairs and maintenance policy.
  2. The landlord gave us 2 versions of its repairs and maintenance policy. It said they were covering the period of 2022 – 2027. The version control shows the dates when previous changes happened. But on comparison with a policy the landlord previously gave us, dated 2022-2025, there are differences, and we have considered this.
  3. The landlord supplied its Damp and Mould Management Policy dated June 2024. This policy falls outside the time being looked into by this investigation. But it is appropriate the landlord now has this policy and directly refers to the Ombudsman’s Spotlight Report on damp and mould “It’s not lifestyle.”
  4. The resident told us that she raised the issues of damp and mould in August 2023. The landlord’s repair history show it recorded a job on 1 August 2023 and went to the property on 4 August 2023 in relation to damp and mould but had no access. This was appropriate in line with the landlord’s policy, which says that an inspection will be undertaken within 10 working days.
  5. The landlord recorded a further inspection on 18 August 2023. The landlord logged 9 jobs following this. These included sealing, replastering, and repainting work as well as work on the kitchen and bathroom fans.
  6. The landlord marked 6 of these jobs as completed between 28 September 2023 and 16 November 2023. The landlord recorded 2 as no access or contact and 1 as cancelled with no reason provided.
  7. The resident raised the stage 1 complaint on 18 December 2023. The landlord acknowledged this by email on 2 January 2024.
  8. The landlord’s repair history shows that between 2 January 2024 and 17 January 2024, it recorded an inspection and 16 jobs for works to be carried out. Of these entries:
    1. 1 was closed no answer
    2. 7 were cancelled with no reason recorded
    3. 3 jobs relating to fans were complete on 6 February 2024. This was within the target for routine repairs
    4. 5 jobs were complete on 4 March 2024. This was outside of the target date of 31 January 2024
  9. The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response on 17 January 2024. It detailed the landlord’s records of issues raised and actions taken by the landlord. The response recorded a visit by the Healthy Homes Advisor, and a survey will be carried out by a plastering contractor.
  10. The landlord acknowledges in its complaint response that this exceeded the 90-day target for replastering the ceiling. It also apologises to the resident for the service failure and offered a goodwill gesture. This was reasonable in the circumstances.
  11. After the complaint was escalated on 24 January 2024 the landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response on 27 February 2024.
  12. The landlord’s response states it reviewed the repairs history again. It provided a timetable of work which was complete, it provided reasons where jobs were not complete including “Requires…different trade…in preparation for install…Customer sent both parties away stating could not deal with multiple visits…Postponed as customer needed to move furniture.”
  13. In the landlord’s repairs and maintenance policy at the time it states “Any remedial works will be completed within 20 working days.” From the report on 1 August 2023 to the stage 2 complaint response on 27 February 2024, this is a total of 148 working days. This is longer than the landlord’s policy and this is not reasonable.
  14. The complaint did remain upheld, the landlord apologised for the ongoing delays, recognised the impact on the resident, and offered a goodwill gesture.
  15. The landlord told us it originally offered £100 in the Stage 1 response. In its stage 2 response it offered an additional £150. This is contrary to the complaint responses seen by this Service.
  16. We found reasonable redress in relation to the landlord’s handling of repairs. The landlord apologised and offered goodwill payments to the resident. This was reasonable and fair in the circumstances.
  17. The assessment and findings point towards gaps in landlord’s record keeping. This included cancelled jobs with no reason provided.
  18. A landlord should have systems in place to maintain accurate records of repair reports, responses, investigations, and communications. Good record keeping is vital to evidence the action a landlord has taken, and failure to keep adequate records indicates that the landlord’s processes are not operating effectively.

The associated complaint

  1. The resident raised the stage 1 complaint on 18 December 2023. The landlord acknowledged this by email on 2 January 2024. This is longer than stated in the landlord’s policy.
  2. After the resident escalated the complaint on 24 January 2024 the landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response on 27 February 2024. This is longer than stated in the landlord’s policy.
  3. The landlord’s complaint responses seen by us did not accurately reflect the good will gestures. The landlord told this Service that it offered the resident £100 at stage 1 and £150 at stage 2.But the complaint responses show the landlord offered £100 at both stages. This is unreasonable in the circumstances.
  4. We have found service failure in relation to the landlord’s complaint handling in that it that it failed to apply its own policies and /or procedures. We have ordered the landlord to apologise to the resident.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53.b of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord offered the resident reasonable redress in response to the resident’s complaint about its handling of reports of damp and mould and the associated remedial repairs.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure with regards to the landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks the landlord should:
    1. Apologise to the resident for the failings found in this report.  The apology should detail what steps it will take to prevent these failings from happening again.
  2. The landlord must provide evidence of compliance with this order to the Ombudsman.

Recommendations

  1. It is recommended that the landlord:
    1. pay £250 directly to the resident as offered in its stage 1 and stage 2 complaint response if it has not already done so.
    2. complete a further damp and mould inspection of the property if the resident has made further reports since it issued its stage 2 complaint response. The inspection should include a risk assessment that considers any vulnerabilities within the household. It should update its records to include details of any vulnerabilities within the household.
    3. consider refresher training for staff to ensure that records contain all the relevant information. Further information can be found in the Ombudsman’s Spotlight Report on Knowledge and Information Management (KIM).
    4. consider refresher training for all complaint handling staff to ensure all complaints are handled in accordance with the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code.