The Riverside Group Limited (202409660)

Background

1. The resident lives in a 2-bed house with her partner and son. She said her and her son have health vulnerabilities. The resident reported damp and mould to the landlord in October 2023. The repairs the landlord raised suggest it thought the roof was the cause of the damp and mould. Both the landlord and the resident believed its repairs resolved the damp and mould in February 2024. However, the resident said the damp and mould returned and they are unable to use her son’s bedroom.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
   1. Damp and mould repairs.
   2. The resident’s complaint.

Our decision (determination)

3. We found:
   1. Maladministration in the landlord’s handling of damp and mould repairs.
   2. Maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint.

We have made orders for the landlord to put things right.

Summary of reasons

The landlord’s handling of damp and mould repairs

4. After a damp and mould inspection at the resident’s property the landlord delayed raising and completing the damp and mould repairs. Internal repairs were raised when the resident complained. The landlord failed to compensate the resident for these failures. The resident said £1,650 worth of damage was caused by the landlord from damp and mould and repair work. The landlord paid her £1,000 for her damaged items. However, it failed to compensate for its delay in handling the damp and mould repairs and the distress and inconvenience this caused the resident.

The landlord’s complaint handling

5. The landlord responded at stage 2 within 3 days and said it would keep the resident’s complaint open until it agreed an amount of compensation with the resident. The resident did not agree to an extension and the landlord delayed its final response by around one month.

Putting things right

Where we find service failure, maladministration or severe maladministration we can make orders for the landlord to put things right. We have the discretion to make recommendations in all other cases within our jurisdiction.

Orders

Landlords must comply with our orders in the manner and timescales we specify. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of compliance with our orders by the due date set.

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

What we found and why

The circumstances of this complaint are well known by the parties involved, so it is not necessary to detail everything that’s happened or comment on all the information we’ve reviewed. We’ve only included the key information that forms the basis of our decision of whether the landlord is responsible for maladministration.

What we did not investigate

6. The resident complained of damp and mould since 2019. However, we have not seen evidence of a formal complaint exhausting the landlord’s complaints process until February 2024. In the interest of fairness our investigation will focus on events from October 2023 to June 2024 and issues addressed in the complaints process.
7. The resident said the damp and mould had a detrimental impact on her son’s health and wellbeing. The courts are the most effective place for disputes about personal injury and illness. This is because independent medical experts can give evidence. While we can consider the overall impact of the situation on the resident, we cannot decide causation or liability for personal injury like a court can. If the resident wishes to pursue a personal injury claim she may wish to seek independent legal advice.

What we did investigate

8. The landlord did a damp and mould inspection in October 2023. The landlord said there was damp and wet rising in the dining room and a bedroom. It raised a repair to clear the gutters on 20 November 2023 and marked the job as complete on 14 December 2023.
9. The landlord raised roof repairs on 15 December 2023 and marked this job as complete on 23 January 2024. The landlord’s repairs policy says it will complete routine repairs within 28 days. It completed both the gutter and roof repairs within the policy time, but the landlord delayed raising both repairs following the inspection.
10. The landlord failed to raise a mould wash for a bedroom, bathroom, and the dining room. It raised these repairs after the resident complained. In February 2024, the landlord completed internal damp proof repairs and replastering to the living room, dining room and a bedroom. The landlord decanted the resident whilst the works took place. From the inspection to the internal damp repairs there was a delay of around 3 months compared to the time in the repair policy. The resident was living with damp and mould during this time, and the delay will have caused her distress and inconvenience.
11. The landlord’s compensation policy says it can pay up to £250 for low impact, £250- £700 for medium and above £700 for high impact of distress and inconvenience on a resident.
12. The landlord apologised in its stage 1 response, but it did not offer compensation. The landlord delayed raising and completing repairs. The resident was living in a property with damp and mould, and this will have caused her distress and inconvenience. The landlord missed an opportunity to try to put things right with an offer of compensation.
13. The resident said when the landlord completed repairs it damaged her TV, kettle and toaster and internal decorations. She asked the landlord to pay £1,650 to replace these items, plus additional compensation for time and trouble.
14. The landlord’s compensation policy says if a claim for property damage is below £2,000 it will deal with it as part of the complaint and not by its insurer. The landlord followed its policy and addressed the resident’s damaged property claim in its complaint process.
15. In its final response the landlord offered the resident £1,000 compensation and to redecorate the affected rooms. It failed to compensate for the delayed repairs and the distress and inconvenience it caused.
16. The landlord’s damp and mould policy says when redecoration is needed after damp and mould repairs it can offer to paint internally or give vouchers to buy paint. The landlord’s offer to repaint internally was reasonable. In July 2024 the resident told the landlord she redecorated the property herself.
17. When a failure is identified our role is to consider whether the redress offered by the landlord put things right and resolved the resident’s complaint satisfactorily in the circumstances. We consider whether its offer of redress was in line with our dispute resolution principles: be fair, put things right, and learn from outcomes. As well as our own guidance on remedies.
18. In summary, the landlord delayed raising damp and mould repairs at the resident’s property following its inspection. It paid the resident £1,000 for her damaged belongings and offered to redecorate internally but the resident chose to do this herself. The landlord failed to compensate for the repair delays and the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of the damp and mould in its complaint responses.
19. We have ordered the landlord to pay £600 compensation to the resident for the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of the damp and mould repairs at her property. This is inline with our remedies guidance for maladministration when the landlord acknowledged failings and made some attempt to put things right but failed to address the detriment to the resident. It is also within the landlord’s compensation policy for a medium impact on a resident.

20. The landlord replied to the resident at stage 1 of its complaints process within 9 working days. This was within its 10-day policy time at stage 1.
21. The landlord’s policy says it will respond to a complaint within 10 days at stage 2 of its process. It sent a response at stage 2 within 3 working days. However, it said it would keep the complaint open until it agreed a compensation amount with the resident. It was reasonable of the landlord to resolve the compensation for damaged belongings within the complaint in line with its compensation policy. However, the landlord delayed its final response by over a month. This was unreasonable as it delayed the outcome for the resident
22. We have ordered the landlord to pay the resident £100 compensation for this failure. This is in line with our remedies guidance for a failure by a landlord that has adversely affected the resident.

Learning

Communication and record-keeping

23. Our spotlight report on repairs and maintenance explains failures can be avoided when landlords provide a clear schedule for repair visits.
24. In this case, the records do not show if the landlord regularly updated the resident on the status of repairs. The resident’s dissatisfaction may have been avoided if the landlord’s repairs and maintenance team followed our spotlight report recommendations.