Southern Housing (202401836)

Decision
Case ID	202401836
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	Southern Housing
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Shared Ownership
Date	13 October 2025

Background

The resident lives in a 2-bedroom ground floor flat.

What the complaint is about

The complaint is about:
1. The landlord’s response to reports of water penetration and damp in the resident’s bedroom.
2. How the landlord responded to the complaint.

Our decision (determination)

We have found that:
1. There was maladministration by the landlord in its response to reports of water penetration and damp in the resident’s bedroom.
2. There was service failure by the landlord in how it responded to the complaint.

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

Summary of reasons

Response to reports of water penetration and damp in the resident’s bedroom.

There was an excessive and unreasonable delay in the landlord carrying out any meaningful action to resolve the water ingress and damp to the resident’s bedroom. The offer of the inspection by the specialist surveyor should also have been considered at a much earlier stage. The landlord’s offer of £185 compensation was significantly below the amount we would expect given the extent of its failures and the signficant unnecessary distress and inconvenience to the resident.

Response to the complaint

The landlord went some way to put right the unreasonable delay in its providing its responses by offering the resident £200 compensation. However, it failed to acknowledge its repeated and inappropriate use of extension to the response deadline and the understandable upset and distress this caused the resident.

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 specific to the failures identified in this decision, meaningful and empathetic. It has due regard to our apologies guidance.	No later than 10 November 2025
2	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £2,700 made up as follows: £1,000 for the unnecessary distress and inconvenience to the resident as a result of the excessive delay in it taking any meaningful action to address the issues reported. £1,000 for the unnecessary distress and inconvenience to the resident due to impact the water ingress and damp and mould had on the use her bedroom. £500 for its acknowledged communication and record keeping failures. £200 for the unnecessary distress and inconvenience to the resident as a result of complaint handling failures. This must be paid directly to the resident by the due date. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date. The landlord may deduct from the total figure any payments it has already paid.	No later than 10 November 2025
3	Learning review order The landlord must carry out a review of its complaint handling in this case and most especially its unreasonable use of repeated extensions to the deadlines for its responses. The landlord must provide the outcomes of its review and what steps it intends to put in place to ensure improvements going forward.	No later than 10 November 2025
4	Inspection order The landlord must contact the resident to arrange an inspection. It must take all reasonable steps to ensure the inspection is completed by the due date. The inspection must be completed by a suitably qualified person. If the landlord cannot gain access to complete the inspection, it must provide us with documentary evidence of its attempts to inspect the property no later than the due date.   What the inspection must achieve The landlord must ensure that the surveyor: establish what works have been completed and what works remain outstanding following the recommendations made in its specialist surveyors report of 31 October 2024. The survey report must set out: Whether the property is fit for human habitation and whether there are any hazards The most likely cause of the water ingress and damp if this remains outstanding. Whether the landlord is responsible to repair or resolve the issue together with reasons where it is not responsible A full scope of works to achieve a lasting and effective resolution to the issue (if the landlord is responsible) The likely timescales to commence and complete the work Whether temporary alternative accommodation is necessary either because of the condition of the property or during the works	No later than 24 November 2025

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
1 November 2023	The resident reported water penetrating her bedroom wall from the under-croft car park that backs on to her bedroom, which she was unable to use. The resident said this was ‘incredibly stressful and upsetting’ and had been affecting her health. The resident asked the landlord to contact her to let her know what the next steps were with regards to investigating the cause and the repairing the damage.
4 March 2024	The resident logged a formal complaint with the landlord asking why 4 months after reporting the water ingress, the source of the leak had still not been identified. The resident said she was still unable to use her bedroom and some of her belongings had been damaged by the damp and mould.
26 March, 11 April, 7 May, and 21 May 2024	The landlord contacted the resident. to extend the deadline for its response. The landlord provided a number of reasons for these continued extensions including staff absence and working with the repairs team to get further details.
8 June and 17 July 2024	The resident emailed us to say she still had not received the landlord’s response.
17 July 2024	We wrote to the landlord asking that it provide its final response by 24 July 2024. the landlord again extended the deadline for its response to 8 August 2024. The landlord again referred to staff absence, in this case unexpected leave due to sickness.
9 August 2024	The landlord issued its stage 1 response. The landlord apologised for the delay in its response, for which it offered the resident £200 compensation. The landlord also apologised for the ‘ongoing difficulties’ the resident was experiencing with regards to the water ingress. The landlord acknowledged the repair had initially been raised to the incorrect team and was not then re-raised for the correct team. The landlord also acknowledged there had been ‘many’ visits to the resident’s property but the issue had not been resolved, numerous call back requests and emails were not responded to and that an unnecessary appointment had been raised with regards to an extractor fan. The landlord offered the resident £155 compensation for these failures.
20 August 2024	The resident escalated her complaint as the issue had not been resolved. The resident said the landlord should take a more professional approach and instruct a specialist damp surveyor, equipped with the necessary knowledge and equipment, to determine where the damp was coming from. Based on the surveyors’ findings the landlord should then produce a full report and specification for rectifying the damp and a full specification for the reinstatement of her bedroom including furniture and fixings.
25 September 2024	The landlord emailed the resident to say that it would need to again extend the deadline for its response. The reason the landlord gave for the delay was the case being complex, having to get information from other departments and involving a number of contractors.
9 October 2024	The landlord issued its final response in which it ‘sincerely’ apologised for the distress the situation had caused and that it understood the resident’s frustration, particularly given the ‘health implications and the emotional toll’ it can take. The landlord said the resident’s dissatisfaction was ‘completely understandable’ and it wanted to assure her it was taking her concerns seriously. The landlord offered the resident an additional £30 compensation. This was made up of £15 for her having to repeatedly chase for updates and not getting clear information and £15 for repeat visits which had failed to identify the cause of the ingress. The landlord also said it would arrange for a specialist surveyor to attend the resident’s property on 31 October 2024 to conduct a ‘thorough investigation to identify the root cause of the damp and mould’ affecting her home. Once the underlying issue had been determined, the landlord said it would put together a ‘comprehensive plan to rectify the problems would be prepared to ensure a long-term solution.’
31 October 2024	The damp and mould survey, referred to in the landlord final response, was carried out.
15 November 2024	The resident referred her complaint to us. In her referral the resident said it had been 2 weeks since the landlord sent their ‘specialist surveyor’. The resident said she was still waiting for their report and the landord’s action plan. The resident said it had now been over 12 months since she reported the water damage and had been without the use of her bedroom all that time due to the damp and mould spreading.

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	How the landlord responded to reports of water penetration and damp in the resident’s bedroom.
Finding	Maladministration

Under the terms of the lease, the resident has responsibility for repairs within the demised property. Repairs in communal areas would be the responsibility of the landlord.
It is not disputed that the resident first reported water penetrating her bedroom wall from the under-croft car park that backed on to her bedroom on 1 November 2023 and that this was not resolved by the time of the landlord’s final response of 9 October 2024
In its complaint response, the landlord acknowledged that during that 11-month period:
1. it failed to respond within its given timeframes
2. the repair was initially raised to incorrect team and was then not reraised to the correct team
3. ‘many’ contractors had attended the resident’s property but the issue was not resolved
4. ‘numerous’ call back promises had been made but no one called and emails not responded to
5. there was an unnecessary appointment in regard to an extractor fan
6. a CCTV camera survey had been recommended to source the leak in the car park. However, no follow up checks were carried out
7. it was unable to provide the resident with details of earlier issues with her property due lack of information on its system and held by its contractor
The landlord apologised to the resident for the above failures and offered her a total of £185 compensation. The landlord also said its specialist surveyor would attend the resident’s property on 31 October 2024 to conduct a ‘thorough investigation to identify the root cause of the damp and mould’ affecting her home. Once the underlying issues had been determined, the landlord said a ‘comprehensive plan’ would be prepared to ensure a long-term solution.
We are not satisfied this provided reasonable redress in this case. This is because:
1. its responses failed to reflect the excessive amount of time the resident had been waiting for the water ingress to be resolved
2. whilst it said, at the point of its stage 2 response, it would arrange for suitably qualified surveyor to inspect the resident’s property, it failed to acknowledge that this should have been carried out at a much earlier point. This was despite multiple requests by the resident, and a request from the resident’s local authority on 22 August 2024, for it to do so
3. despite its assurances that once the underlying issues had been determined, a ‘comprehensive plan’ would be prepared to ensure a long-term solution the resident advised us during a telephone call on 11 September 2025, the issue had still not been fully resolved
4. the £185 compensation offered is significantly below what we would expect to be offered, given the extent of its failures, the residents reported loss of the use of her bedroom and the significant and understandable distress and inconvenience caused to her

Complaint	The handling of the complaint
Finding	Service failure

The Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (‘the Code) sets out when and how a landlord should respond to complaints. The relevant Code in this case is the 2024 edition (April 2024). Our findings are:
1. the landlord had a published complaints policy at the time of the complaint which complied with the terms of the Code in respect of timescales
2. the resident raised her her initial complaint on 4 March 2024. The landlord acknowledged the resident’s complaint on 12 March 2024 having spoken to the resident. However, it did not then provide its stage 1 response until 9 August 2024, over 3 months later
3. the landlord contacted the resident on 26 March, 11 April, 7 May, 21 May 2024 to extend the deadline for its response. This was an unreasonable number of extensions and unreasonably delayed the progression of the resident’s complaint. The Code makes it clear any extension must be no more than 10 working days without good reason, and the reasons must be clearly explained to the resident The landlord’s repeated explanations of staff absence and working with the repairs team also did not provide sufficiently good reason to justify the repeated extensions
4. the resident escalated her complaint on 20 August 2024. The landlord acknowledged the resident’s complaint on 28 August 2024 saying it would provide its stage 2 response by 25 September 2024, in line with the timescales set out in the Code and its complaints policy
5. on 25 September 2024, the landlord emailed the resident to say that it would again need to extend the deadline for its response. In this case the landlord provided a reasonable explanation, referring to the case being complex, having to get information from other departments and involving a number of contractors. The landlord said it would provide its stage 2 response by 9 October 2024, which it did
6. the landlord went some way to putting things right by offering the resident £200 compensation. However, it failed to make any reference to any learning it had taken for the excessive delay in its providing its response. It also made no mention of what steps it would take to ensure similar failures did not happen again despite the reasons for the repeated delays were matters which were under its control