Bristol City Council (202415249)

Background

1. The resident lives in a 1-bedroom concrete bungalow. The landlord’s records show that she has long-term illness, and disability.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s request for cavity wall insulation and reports of associated damp.
3. We have also investigated the landlord’s complaint handling.

Our decision (determination)

4. We have found that:
   1. There was service failure in the landlord’s response to the resident’s request for cavity wall insulation and associated damp.
   2. There was maladministration in the landlord’s complaint handling.

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

Summary of reasons

Insulation

5. The landlord took 4 months to attend following the residents reports of damp and mould. However, it has since tested the internal walls twice and found them to be dry. It has stated that the property does not have cavity walls and provided evidence that it fitted external wall insulation in 2016.

Complaint handling

6. The landlord failed to provide a response to the resident’s complaint until she chased it and then sought legal advice. It also did not complete the remedies it offered 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.

7. The landlord’s damp and mould policy says that it has a zero-tolerance approach to tackling damp and mould and that it will respond quickly to reports of damp and mould.
8. There is evidence that the resident reported the damp and mould on 20 April 2023. The landlord took 4 months to attend the property to inspect the issue. It could not access the property and then took a further 2 months to return to try and inspect again. It cancelled the job after this because it still could not gain access. These lengthy and unacceptable delays were not in line with its policy and caused the resident distress and inconvenience. It also cost her time and trouble raising a complaint and seeking legal advice.
9. After the resident’s solicitor contacted the landlord, it attended the property to take moisture readings, which was an appropriate action to take. The readings taken did not show that there was a damp issue within the property although humidity levels were reportedly high. The landlord offered to replace the extractor fan in the bathroom and fit extra loft insulation. However, the resident has advised us that it has not installed any extra loft insulation.
10. The landlord told the resident that the property does not have cavity walls and therefore it cannot install cavity wall insulation. It has also provided evidence that it fitted external wall insulation in the form of a 25-year guarantee certificate dated 27 June 2016. It said that it also offered to drill a hole through the wall and pass a camera through also to demonstrate that there is no cavity. This is something that the resident has told us she would like done. It is unclear why it did not complete this action. We have therefore included this in the orders we have made.
11. The landlord completed a further investigation report regarding repairs on 3 September 2024. This concluded that an external wall insulation system is in place. The moisture readings all indicated that the property was dry and the insulation was intact and functioning correctly. The resident has advised us that she has since commissioned a heat surveillance survey which shows that her property is 4 degrees lower in temperature on the outside than other properties in the locality However, this could be due to a number of reasons.

12. The Housing Ombudsman’s complaint handling code (the Code) says that landlords must respond to stage 1 complaints within 10 working days.
13. In this case we have seen no evidence that the landlord initially responded to the resident’s complaint of 6 May 2023. This cost her time and trouble because she chased a response on 6 July 2023 and then approached a solicitor for help. Following this the landlord provided a stage 1 complaint response but this was 217 working days after the resident first complained. This unacceptable and significant delay and failure to follow the Code caused the resident distress and inconvenience and undermined her faith in the complaints process.
14. The Code also says that landlords must follow remedies through to completion.
15. In this case the landlord offered to install extra loft insulation and offered compensation to the resident. However, she has advised us that it has not completed either of these remedies. She reports that this has further undermined her faith in the complaints process.

Learning

16. The landlord should ensure that it has robust systems in place to make sure that it logs and responds to all complaints within the timescales stipulated in the Code.

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

17. The landlord should make sure that it keeps all records accurately with corresponding dates.