Vivid Housing Limited (202336039)

Background

1. The resident holds a joint assured tenancy with the landlord in a 3-bed end terraced house, which started in December 2017. The resident added a decking area to the rear of the property. From the start of 2023 the resident started raising issues of damp and mould throughout the property.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s:
   1. Reports of damp and mould.
   2. Repair requests.
   3. Associated complaint.

Our decision (determination)

3. We have found that:
   1. There was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s report of damp and mould.
   2. There was no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s repair requests.
   3. There was reasonable redress in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s associated complaint.

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

Summary of reasons

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s report of damp and mould.

4. The landlord’s handling of this issue was not in line with its published damp and mould (D&M) policy and its delay in resolving this issue had a significant impact on the resident and her family.
5. The landlord appropriately acknowledged this, apologised and offered a proportionate level of compensation to recognise the level of detriment experienced by the resident and her family.
6. However, as a proportionate amount of the compensation was not offered until 8 months after the conclusion of its complaint process, we are unable to make a finding of reasonable redress and find service failure.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s repair requests.

7. The landlord’s response to the resident’s repair requests were in line with its repair standard and no maladministration found.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s associated complaint.

8. The landlord’s complaint handling could have been improved. However, the landlord has recognised the impact on the resident and its offer of an apology and compensation was a proportionate way to put things right.

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.

Recommendations

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

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

9. The resident told us she was expecting a payment for increased energy costs for the period she had no insulation in her property. However, we have not been provided with any evidence to suggest that this formed part of this complaint. As we are unable to investigate matters which have not completed a landlord’s internal complaint process, we are unable to investigate the landlord’s handling of any such request.

What we did investigate

10. The landlord records indicate that the resident raised the issue with damp and mould (D&M) on 28 February 2023.
11. The landlord has a D&M policy. It says when a resident reports D&M it will:
    1. Check if there is already a D&M record on its internal system. If there is an open or closed case it will arrange a call back from a D&M specialist. If there is no record it will create a D&M record on its internal system.
    2. Triage the extent of the problem by using the resident’s account, D&M questionnaire and photos provided. If vulnerabilities are identified these will be clearly marked on the system. Triage will be completed within 24 hours of the case being raised.
    3. Raise repairs identified during the triage and pass the case to the D&M team.
    4. Arrange a visit from the D&M team within 2 weeks of the report, in all cases.
    5. Monitor progress and maintain contact with the resident every 6 weeks to check on the condition.
12. While the D&M policy states that the risk level can’t be defined until the D&M specialist has attended, it adds that if the situation appears highest or high risk (based on extent and vulnerabilities as described to it), it will mobilise the specialist visit within 2 working days.
13. The landlord’s evidence shows it raised a D&M survey on 9 March 2023, and this was completed on 28 March 2023. This was 4 weeks after the resident raised the issue, therefore beyond the 2 weeks it commits to completing this, for all cases.
14. Since the resident told the landlord about her medical vulnerability and provided photographs of damp throughout the house, the landlord ought to have considered prioritising the inspection in line with its policy. The landlord has not provided any evidence that it did this and this was a failure.
15. When the D&M survey was completed on 28 March 2023, it confirmed there was mould in all rooms. It concluded that the damp upstairs was caused by an ingress from the roof and lack of insulation. And the damp downstairs was due to the decking bridging through and “all old insulation has fallen and is bridging dpc (damp proof course) level causing damp on inside of kitchen and living room”.
16. The landlord assessed that the issue presented a category 2 hazard and identified that the following work was required to resolve the issues:
    1. Mould wash and stain block areas in 3 bedrooms and living room.
    2. Insulation required in gaps between joists and gable ends in loft.
    3. Roofer required to “lift first two rows of tiles and check felt and lapping tray condition as walls testing wet high level in bedrooms” at rear of property.
    4. 2 brick layers were required to “clear cavity all round side and rear of property as old insulation has slumped and needs pulling out. Create gap in decking to stop breaching and repoint near and side. May need to come back and seal brickwork to stop water”.
17. For a category 2 hazard the landlord’s D&M policy states it will:
    1. Complete a mould wash within 2 working days.
    2. Complete root cause remedial work within 1 week.
    3. Complete other remedial work within 28 days (with some exclusions – such as occasions where parts need to be manufactured or the repair is less vital).
18. The landlord arranged a mould wash to be completed on 29 March 2023, in line with its policy. However, this was changed on the resident’s request, due to other commitments.
19. The evidence provided shows that the scope of the work required to resolve the issue of D&M changed throughout the repair process. It took multiple repair visits, the erection of scaffolding and significant co–ordination and planning.
20. While the roofing work was completed in November 2023, other works continued until February 2024. On 9 February 2024, when the landlord completed its post work inspection it identified there was outstanding work, which was completed on 23 May 2024. 
21. Overall, the remedial work required to resolve the D&M took significantly longer than the timescales the landlord commits to in its D&M policy, and this was a failure. The landlord has not provided any evidence that there were any exceptional circumstances which prevented it from adhering to its timescales.
22. The delay in the completion of these repairs caused considerable disruption and inconvenience to the resident and her family and the resident spent significant time and trouble chasing the landlord to arrange these repairs over an extended period. The landlord acknowledged its failings in its handling of this matter, in its complaint responses, and offered an apology and compensation as redress.
23. When a landlord admits failings, our role is to consider whether it resolved the resident’s issue satisfactorily in the circumstances and offered appropriate redress. In considering this, we assess whether the landlord’s actions were in line with our dispute resolution principles: to be fair, put things right and learn from outcomes.
24. At the end of the complaint’s procedure, the landlord offered a total of £650 in compensation for its handling of the D&M issue. Our remedies guidance, available to view online, suggests awards of compensation between £600 to £1,000 for instances of failure which had a significant impact on the resident. The compensation offered was at the lower end of that range and did not go far enough to put things right to reflect the impact on the resident and her family, given their vulnerabilities and significant effort.
25. This was recognised by the landlord when it reviewed its compensation offer in July 2024. The landlord increased its offer of compensation, in relation to the D&M issue, by a further £400, bringing the total offered to £1,050. While this was welcome, it appears this was prompted by our investigation. As such, as it occurred after the landlord had exhausted its internal complaints process, we are unable to find the landlord offered reasonable redress to resolve this issue. 

26. On 18 August 2023, whilst making her complaint, the resident raised the following repair issues:
    1. That the rubber seal on her door, installed on 31 May 2023, needed to be replaced.
    2. That new smoke alarms had been placed on top of old smoke alarms.
    3. That a fence repair, completed on 15 August 2023, had used concrete posts to support the fence rather than replacing the wooden posts.
27. The landlord has provided evidence to show that in response to these issues it:
    1. Raised a request for the door contractor to contact the resident for this repair. This was completed on 8 September 2023. The landlord offered £30 compensation for the inconvenience of the recall of the contractor being required.
    2. Raised a request for the smoke alarms to be inspected and replaced. This was completed on 30 August 2023.
    3. Arranged a repairs supervisor to inspect the fence repair. This was completed on 25 August 2023, with the repair supervisor being satisfied with the repair.
28. The landlord’s ‘repairs standard’ states that it will complete all non-emergency repairs within 28 days. Therefore, the repair for the door seal and smoke alarm were completed in line with its repair standard and there has been no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of these issues.
29. The landlord’s response in relation to the resident’s concerns with the fencing repair was positive and demonstrated its effort to reassure the resident.

30. Our Complaint Handling Code (the Code), applicable at the time, sets out when and how a landlord should respond to complaints. The Code required landlords to acknowledge a stage 1 complaint within 5 working days and issue a response within 10 working days of acknowledging the complaint. The Code required landlords to issue a stage 2 response within 20 working days of an escalation request. The landlord’s published complaints policy complies with the terms of the Code in respect of timescales.
31. The Code said that if extensions were required at either stage 1 or stage 2 that “exceptionally, landlords may provide an explanation to the resident containing a clear timeframe for when the response will be received. This should not exceed a further 10 days without good reason”.
32. The landlord acknowledged both the resident’s stage 1 and stage 2 complaint in one working day, in line with the Code.
33. The landlord issued its stage 1 response within 14 working days and its stage 2 response within 23 working days. These were not in line with the Code, and the landlord has not provided any evidence that it agreed either of the short extensions with the resident. However, the delays were not considered excessive or likely to have caused significant additional detriment.
34. The landlord recognised its complaint handling failures. It used it stage 2 response to offer an apology and compensation as redress. And on review of the complaint, it also increased its offer of compensation.

Learning

35. Since this complaint, the landlord has carried out a self assessment against the recommendations made in our 2021 Spotlight report on damp and mould. It indicated in that assessment that it had amended its damp and mould procedure in February 2024 and committed to providing additional training in 2024 to ensure its damp and mould specialists gained formal qualifications.

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

36. We did not identify any concerns with the landlord’s record keeping in this case.

Communication

37. It was positive that, throughout the complaints process, the landlord identified its own communication issues, to prevent similar issues in future. It committed to improving its communication with residents in relation to outstanding repairs. It advised that since January 2024 it had a robust development plan in place and was developing new technological solutions, to address these communication issues. It also identified communication issues with its trade staff and issued additional training for this.