Newlon Housing Trust (202409972)

Background

1. The resident has experienced ongoing damp issues in his property. He complained that the landlord did not resolve the damp and mould promptly and missed an appointment.

What the complaint is about

2. The landlord’s handling of reports of damp and mould.
3. We have also considered the landlord’s complaint handling.

Our decision (determination)

4. We found reasonable redress in the landlord’s handling of damp and mould.
5. We found service failure in the landlord’s handling of the complaint.

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

Summary of reasons

6. The landlord apologised for its failures in handling the reports of damp and mould. It took action to resolve the issue, completed works and offered sufficient compensation.
7. The landlord failed to respond to the resident’s complaint in line with timescales set out in the Complaint Handling Code. It did not acknowledge this failure or offer any redress.

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.

8. This investigation focuses on the concerns raised in the resident’s formal complaint. We have reviewed the period from November 2023 to the end of the complaints process in March 2024. This is to ensure the landlord had a fair opportunity to investigate and respond to the concerns raised through its complaints process. The resident may wish to pursue any current issues directly with the landlord as a new formal complaint.
9. In his communication with the landlord, the resident referenced how this situation impacted his health. It is beyond our remit to draw conclusions on the cause of, or liability for, impacts on health and wellbeing. This is more appropriate to be dealt with through the courts as a personal injury claim. Nonetheless, we have considered the general distress and inconvenience the situation may have caused the resident. 
10. The landlord’s damp and mould policy at the time said that it would gather detailed information about any reported issues immediately. It would then decide if a surveyor’s inspection was needed and, if so, arrange the inspection within 2 to 5 working days.
11. The resident reported damp in his property on 15 November 2023. On 24 November 2023, the landlord asked him for further details, including photos of the damp for its surveyor to review. The resident sent the photos on 25 November 2023, and the landlord booked a surveyor’s visit for 6 December 2023. Although this appointment was slightly outside the timescales set out in its policy, its initial response was appropriate. It acted promptly, showed that it took the matter seriously, and took steps to investigate.
12. The landlord did not attend the appointment on 6 December 2023. It was appropriate for it to apologise in its stage 1 response, confirm the surveyor had inspected the property on 12 February 2024, and state that it would schedule the works. However, it did not fully explain the reason for the delay.
13. By this point, 3 months had passed since the resident first reported the issue, and the works remained outstanding. This delay was outside the timescales set out in its damp and mould policy. While it awarded £25 for the missed appointment, this offer did not align with its compensation policy, which says that it should award over £250 for a failure to complete repairs within policy timescales. As such, it missed an opportunity to fully put things right.
14. By 19 March 2024, the landlord had completed works to address damp and mould. In the bathroom, it investigated and fixed a leak, treated mould, applied stain block, and redecorated the ceiling. In the lounge, bedroom, and hallway, it treated mould, applied anti-fungal and anti-mould paint, cleared and refitted trickle vents, and redecorated walls. These were appropriate steps to address the damp in the property and lined up with the inspection findings.
15. In its stage 2 response, the landlord appropriately apologised for not fully explaining the reason for the missed appointment. It confirmed that the repairs were now complete and increased its compensation offer to £450 to reflect the delay, inconvenience, and impact on the resident.
16. The landlord’s final compensation offer was consistent with its compensation policy and our remedies guidance for cases where there were failings that had an adverse impact on the resident. In this case, its missed appointment and its subsequent actions led to delays of a few months in completing repairs. This likely left the resident uncertain on how the landlord intended to resolve his household conditions and meant he had to chase progress. The compensation award, together with the apology and actions taken to resolve the issue, were appropriate. On this basis, we find that the landlord provided reasonable redress in its handling of the damp and mould reports.

17. The landlord operates a 2-stage complaint policy. The timeframes in its policy mirror that of our Complaint Handling Code (the Code) which sets out our expectations of a landlord’s complaint handling practices. The Code states the landlord must acknowledge complaints at both stages within 5 working days, send stage 1 complaint responses within 10 working days, and stage 2 complaint responses within 20 working days.
18. The resident raised his complaint on 21 January 2024, and the landlord responded at stage 1 on 20 February 2024, 21 working days later. He escalated his complaint on the same day, and it responded at stage 2 on 28 March 2024, 27 working days later. It did not meet its policy or the Code timescales at either stage. It also failed to address the delays in its responses or offer any redress.
19. We order that the landlord must pay the resident £50 compensation. This is in line with our remedies guidance for circumstances where there was a failure by a landlord in the service it provided, and it did not acknowledge this or put it right.

Learning

Reports of damp and mould

20. In this case, the landlord missed an appointment which led to delays. It could introduce an alerts process to ensure missed appointments are quickly rearranged.

Complaint handling

21. The landlord missed complaint response timescales at both stages and did not acknowledge or offer redress. It could reflect on this and consider any learning and staff training needs.

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

22. The landlord maintained good records of the efforts it took to resolve the damp and mould in the property.

Communication

23. The resident raised concerns about what actions the landlord was taking in response to his reports of damp and mould. The landlord could reflect on these and consider any learning and staff training needs to ensure repairs are progressed within its repairs policy timescales and regular updates are offered to residents in the meantime.