London Borough of Lambeth (202336114)

Decision
Case ID	202336114
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	London Borough of Lambeth
Landlord type	Local Authority / ALMO or TMO
Occupancy	Secure Tenancy
Date	25 November 2025

Background

The resident has lived in the property, a 2-bedroom flat, since 1985.

What the complaint is about

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s:
1. Requests for repairs.
2. Associated complaint.

Our decision (determination)

There was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s requests for repairs.
The landlord has offered reasonable redress for its complaint handling.

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

Summary of reasons

The landlord did not complete repairs in line with its policy.
There were minor failings in the landlord’s handling of the complaint, but it has provided appropriate remedy for these.

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.

Order	What the landlord must do	Due date
1	Apology order The landlord must apologise in writing to the resident for the failures identified in this report. The landlord must ensure the apology is meaningful, empathetic and has due regard to our apologies guidance.	No later than 23 December 2025
2	Compensation order The landlord must provide evidence that it has paid directly to the resident £400 to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by its failures handling repairs.	No later than 23 December 2025
3	Completing the works The landlord must take all steps to ensure it rectifies the excess foam in the bay window frame (if it has not done so already). If it is unable to do so, it must explain why and provide supporting evidence of its attempts to start work. It must provide a revised timescale of when it will start and finish work or explain why it is unable to do so.	No later than 23 December 2025

Recommendations

Our recommendations are not binding, and a landlord may decide not to follow them.

Our recommendations
We recommend the landlord tells the resident how he can claim for damaged personal belongings through its insurance policy. If it has not done so already.

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
26 and 27 July 2023	The resident reported a broken sash bay window. He told the landlord there was mould all over the property that he believed was coming from outside. He asked for a survey and said the issue was affecting his ceiling. The landlord attended the following day and fixed the window. The contractor noted they reinstalled it because it had previously been sealed shut with silicone.
18 September 2023	The resident complained the landlord had not remedied damp and mould and asked for it to do so. He said it was affecting his physical and mental health. He said the contractor had filled the gaps around the window frames with expanding foam instead of plaster during the previous repair.
27 October 2023	The landlord issued a stage 1 response. It had identified outstanding repairs on 19 October 2023 and would liaise with the surveyor and update the resident of any planned work. It apologised for the delay replying.
21 November 2023	The resident escalated his complaint and asked when the landlord would address the damp and mould. He said it had done nothing since he complained. He said he was diabetic and had previously had a stroke.
28 December 2023	The landlord issued a stage 2 response. It said it would attend on 4 January 2024 to assess the work and agree a timescale to remedy damp and mould and resolve the excess expanding foam issue.
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident says the issue has been very stressful, was making him anxious, and was affecting his sleep. He said he was partially blind in one eye. He wanted the landlord to carry out repairs and compensate for damaged furniture and distress. He said the landlord did not respond to his complaints on time.

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.

Complaint	The landlord’s handling of the resident’s requests for repairs
Finding	Maladministration

The landlord’s repair policy says it should attend emergency repairs within 24 hours. It defines an emergency as an issue that could cause serious health and safety problems or severe damage if not fixed or made safe. It is positive the landlord made the broken window safe within this time frame.
The landlord needed to carry out further work for a more permanent fix, as well as addressing the report of mould. We would expect it to do so within its routine repair timeframe of 28 days. However, before this period expired the resident reported damp and mould again on 6 August 2023. He also reported missing putty and gaps around the window frame. The landlord carried out a mould wash on 22 August 2023, within its repair time frame. However, the contractor said someone should survey the damp.
The landlord repaired the gaps around the windows on 24 August 2023. While this was one day outside the period it aimed to carry out the repair, the overall timeframe was not unreasonable. Records show the landlord filled gaps with expanding foam to prevent drafts. This was not unreasonable. Expanding foam is widely used to fill large gaps and it helps with insulation. However, the resident was unhappy with this solution. The landlord has accepted there was an excess of expanding foam (evidenced in photographs the landlord has provided). We understand the resident’s view that this looked unsightly and prevented him from redecorating. It is positive the landlord agreed to rectify this issue.
There is no record of the survey of 19 October 2024, but it took place more than 28 days after the contractor asked for it. This was a failure in service. Following the survey, the landlord raised work to install thermal boarding and repair PVC pipework to remedy the damp and mould. Its stage 1 response also highlighted that the window repair (to fix the expanding foam) was also outstanding at that time
The landlord did not acknowledge its repair delays in its stage 1 response. Therefore, it missed an opportunity to put things right in line with our dispute resolution principles. Nor did it tell the resident when it aimed to complete the outstanding repairs. While it told him it would notify him of any planned work, there is no evidence this was progressed until the resident escalated his complaint.
While the landlord’s stage 2 response told the resident it would assess both outstanding repairs on 4 January 2024, it did not acknowledge that it had failed to address them in line with its policy target of 28 days. At that point, it was almost 3 months since the landlord identified damp and mould repairs and almost 4 months since the resident complained about the excess expanding foam.
The landlord’s compensation policy says it should consider awarding compensation when service failures, such as unjustifiable delays and failures to follow policies, have had an adverse effect on a complainant. There is no evidence the landlord considered awarding compensation as part of its stage 2 response. This is despite the resident’s vulnerabilities and his reports that issues were affecting his physical and mental health. Therefore, the landlord missed another opportunity to put things right.
We have not seen evidence of any further work to remedy damp and mould until 4 March 2024, despite the resident chasing the issue several times. Records suggests the landlord needed to carry out further work after this, but there is no evidence of another appointment until 30 April 2024. The resident was understandably unhappy with this. It was 7 months from when the landlord identified the work and, again, outside the 28–day target timeframe.
It is unclear when the landlord completed the damp and mould repairs. While it told us this happened in May 2024, evidence shows further appointments in June and August 2024, albeit with no record of what work took place. However, the landlord told us that the only outstanding repair at June 2025, was to remove the excess expanding foam. The resident has confirmed the landlord did complete the damp and mould repairs, although he could not tell us when. While the landlord raised a repair to remedy the excess expanding foam on 10 June 2025, it told us this was still outstanding on 13 November 2025.
The landlord has not acknowledged the significant delays remedying the damp and mould. Nor has it acknowledged that repairs to remedy the excess foam remain outstanding more than 2 years after the resident complained about this. These issues have affected the resident’s enjoyment of the property. He has also spent considerable time and trouble progressing the issues over a prolonged and unnecessary period. This was particularly challenging given his vulnerabilities.
The resident has also complained the issues affected his mental and physical health. We are not medical experts so cannot assess whether something caused an impact to health. The resident could seek independent advice about this or consider a claim through the landlord’s liability insurance or the courts. While we cannot determine impact on health, we have considered the impact of any failings by the landlord. This includes any distress and inconvenience caused.
We order the landlord to apologise and pay the resident £400 compensation. This is in line with our remedies guidance for when there has been maladministration that had an adverse effect on the resident and the landlord has failed to acknowledge its failings and made no attempt to put things right. The resident’s vulnerabilities were an aggravating factor in this case. We also order the landlord to start any outstanding work, if it has not done so already.
While the resident told us he has given the landlord evidence of damaged personal belongings, we have not seen that he complained about this at either stage of the complaint process. He told us he has since given the landlord evidence of the damage. We cannot consider the landlord’s handling of issues that it has not been able to address at both stages of the complaint process. That being said, the landlord’s compensation policy says it has insurance for claims of damages to personal belongings. We therefore recommend the landlord signposts the resident to how he can make a claim, if it has not done so already.

Complaint	The landlord’s handling of the associated complaint
Finding	Reasonable redress

While the landlord has provided a copy of its complaint policy as of 1 April 2024, it has not provided a copy of the policy that was in place at the time of this complaint. Therefore, we have assessed its complaint handling against our Complaint Handling Code (the Code) at that time.
The landlord acknowledged the stage 1 complaint in 5 working days, in line with the Code. It told the resident to expect a response by 23 October 2023, 20 working days later. This was appropriate. While the Code said stage 1 responses should be issued within 10 working days, it also said landlords can extend this period by a further 10 working days.
Although the landlord issued the response 4 working days outside of this timeframe, we have not seen that this caused any detriment to the resident. Nor that he spent further time and trouble progressing the issue during this short time. Therefore, while this was a failure in service, the landlord’s apology offered appropriate remedy and reasonable redress.
The stage 2 response was issued within 25 working days, in line with the Code. Therefore, we find the landlord provided reasonable redress for its minor failing handling the resident’s complaint.

Learning

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

There were sufficient records for us to assess the complaints. However, they did not always show when work was completed or why appointments were rescheduled.

Communication

We have not seen that the landlord regularly updated the resident on the status of repairs. Our spotlight report on ‘Repairing Trust’ explains that landlords can avoid failures when they:
1. Let residents know what to expect regarding repairs and provide a clear schedule for repair visits.
2. Gather feedback from residents and conduct inspections to ensure the work is satisfactory.