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Notting Hill Genesis (202402941)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202402941

Notting Hill Genesis

9 October 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. The resident’s reports of damp and mould and the associated repairs.
    2. The resident’s complaint.

Background

  1. The resident has an assured tenancy with the landlord for a 3-bedroom property, where he lives with his wife and daughter. His wife supported him throughout the complaint. We have referred to both as “the resident” throughout this report.
  2. The resident reported damp and mould in his daughter’s bedroom on 8 January 2024. The landlord attempted to treat the mould, but the resident refused the work as private contractors he had paid believed there was an external issue causing the mould.
  3. The resident complained on 7 June 2024 about the damp and mould at the property. He wanted the landlord to assess and complete work to the exterior of the property. The landlord provided its stage 1 response on 28 June.  It said it would obtain details of the work its contractor would carry out, including timescales and notify the resident by 5 July 2024.
  4. The resident escalated his complaint on 29 October 2024. He said the landlord had not communicated with him following its stage 1 response. He was concerned the damp and mould would return due to the time of year. He said his daughter’s bedroom was affected, and she had asthma. He asked the landlord to confirm what it was doing about the external work.
  5. On 4 February 2025, the Ombudsman asked the landlord to provide its stage 2 complaint response, as it had not replied to the resident. It did so on 12 February. It apologised for its delayed complaint response, failure to complete repairs and for not communicating with the resident. It agreed to confirm the schedule of work in the next 10 working days and said it would update the resident every two weeks. It offered total compensation of £800. £100 of this was for its complaint handling.
  6. On 29 July, the landlord told the Ombudsman it had inspected and found no water ingress or issues with the brickwork but should install properly sized radiators in the property.
  7. The resident told the Ombudsman on 3 October 2025 that the landlord had not kept him updated as it had promised to. He said that, despite further inspections taking place, the landlord had not confirmed what work would take place or carried out any work. He wanted the issue resolved and further compensation. He said he was worried about the impact on his daughter’s health.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. The Ombudsman is unable to assess the cause of, or liability for, impacts on health and wellbeing. The resident may be able to make a personal injury claim if he considers that the family’s health has been affected by the landlord’s actions or inaction. This is a legal process, and the resident may seek legal advice if he wants to pursue this option. This issue is more effectively resolved and remedied through the courts. It will not be considered in this report.

The resident’s reports of damp and mould, and the associated repairs

  1. The landlord’s damp and mould policy confirms it operates a “zero tolerance approach to its presence.” It prioritises all damp and mould reports as urgent and gives consideration to vulnerabilities in managing any work. It will contact the resident in 5 working days and inspect in 10 working days. Following initial inspection, it will:
    1. Complete minor remedial work in 20 working days, or
    2. Arrange a specialist to complete a full inspection in 10 working days. Following this, it will complete a full report in 3 working days and discuss any proposed major remedial works with the resident, including timescales.
  2. The resident complained on 7 June 2024 about the ongoing damp and mould, which only occurred in his daughter’s bedroom. In resolution, he wanted the landlord to inspect the exterior of the property, which he felt was the root cause of the damp and mould. The landlord agreed to provide a schedule of works for the exterior of the property in its stage 1 response of 28 June. It said it would provide this by 5 July.
  3. There is no evidence of the landlord communicating with the resident following this. This was not in accordance with its damp and mould policy as it had not confirmed with the resident the details of, or a timescale for, any work. This led to his complaint escalation on 29 October 2024, where he chased a response and asked for any work to resolve the damp and mould to start immediately. He said he was worried about the impact on his daughter, who had asthma.
  4. There is no evidence that the landlord considered the health of the resident’s daughter at this point as its damp and mould policy suggests. It did not provide its stage 2 response until 12 February 2025. However, it appropriately recognised its failings in this response. It apologised for its lack of communication and inaction on any repairs and the impact this caused to the family. It said this was due to it closing the repairs in error, which it did in February and July 2024 and at the start of February 2025.
  5. The landlord offered compensation of £750 in its stage 2 response. This was in line with its compensation policy for a high-impact service failure over a prolonged period. It recognised the stress and inconvenience caused to the family. It also included the cost of redecorating, which it confirmed it does not usually offer. It used its discretion to offer this, which was appropriate given the impact of its inaction. The overall award was in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance.
  6. The landlord confirmed it would take several appropriate steps to resolve the issue and communicate with the resident. This included:
    1. Progressing with and prioritising the repairs. It confirmed it would share the schedule of works with the resident within 10 working days. It agreed to monitor the works to ensure no further delays.
    2. It provided the resident with contact details for its housing officer and housing operations manager. It agreed that the housing officer would update him every two weeks.
  7. The resident has told us the landlord has subsequently inspected but not confirmed what further work it will do. Overall, there is no evidence that the landlord completed these steps. There is evidence of the resident chasing this with the landlord, without reply on 27 March 2025.
  8. In summary, the landlord was delayed in arranging or completing work to manage the root cause of damp and mould at the resident’s property. It recognised this in its final complaint response and apologised, offering proportional compensation. It promised to communicate about the repairs and regularly keep in touch. However, there is no evidence that it followed this through, leaving the matter only partly resolved.

Complaint handling

  1. The landlord’s complaints policy confirms it will respond to complaint escalations within 20 working days. It will agree any extensions to this with the resident.
  2. The landlord did not respond to the resident’s escalation of 29 November 2024 until 12 February 2025, which also required the Ombudsman’s intervention. Its response exceeded the timescale in its complaints policy by 30 working days. There is no evidence that the landlord agreed to an extension with the resident.
  3. In its stage 2 response, the landlord recognised its complaint response was delayed. It apologised for this and that the resident needed to approach the Ombudsman to get a response. It offered £100, which was in line with its compensation policy when it had not met service standards. These were reasonable remedies for its delay.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was service failure in respect of the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould and the associated repairs.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 53.b of the Scheme, the landlord has offered redress to the resident prior to investigation, which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, satisfactorily resolves the concerns about its complaint handling.

Orders and recommendations

  1. In light of the landlord’s failure to take the steps it agreed in its stage 2 complaint response, the landlord must pay the resident £250 within 4 weeks of this report.
  2. Within 6 weeks of this report the landlord must show evidence of a recent inspection by a suitably qualified person of the resident’s home. The inspection must either confirm there are no remaining damp and mould problems, or identify what works are currently needed to resolve any such problems. If further works are required, the landlord must also provide its estimate of the timescale in which these works will be completed.
  3. Evidence of compliance with these orders must be provided by their respective deadlines.