London & Quadrant Housing Trust (202410679)

Decision
Case ID	202410679
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	London & Quadrant Housing Trust
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Shared Ownership
Date	5 December 2025

Background

1. The resident reported damp and mould in his property, which he believed was caused by issues with the guttering, for which the landlord was responsible. He later complained about how the landlord handled the repair and the delays that occurred.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
   1. Repairs to guttering and the resulting damp and mould.
   2. The complaint.

Our decision (determination)

3. We found:
   1. Service failure in the landlord’s handling of repairs to guttering and the resulting damp and mould.
   2. Service failure in the landlord’s complaint handling.

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

Summary of reasons

Repairs

4. The landlord did not complete the repairs effectively and failed to deliver on its promises to resolve the issue. It also did not communicate clearly with the resident or provide a full explanation for the delays.

Complaint handling

5. The landlord responded to the complaint outside its published timescales. It did not explain the reason for the delay and made no attempt to provide a remedy to the resident for its poor service.

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	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £350 made up as follows: £250 for its failures in handling the repair. £100 for its poor complaint handling.   This must be paid directly to the resident by the due date. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date. This is in addition to the £320 the landlord has already offered the resident in its final response.	No later than 20 January 2026
2	Inspection order The landlord must contact the resident to arrange an inspection of the damp and mould as it said it would do in its final complaint response. It must take all reasonable steps to ensure the inspection is completed by the due date. The inspection must be completed by someone suitably qualified to complete an inspection of the type needed. 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: Inspects the internal damp and mould of the property (or, given the time that has passed, considers any historic problems) and produces a written report. The survey report must set out: Whether the landlord is responsible to repair or resolve the issue together with reasons where it is not responsible. Specifically, it must make clear if the internal damage is or is not likely to be related to the overarching gutter repairs. A full scope of works to achieve a lasting and effective repair to the issue (if the landlord is responsible). The likely timescales to commence and complete the work.	No later than 17 February 2026

 

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
7 May 2024	The resident complained about how the landlord handled repairs to his guttering and damp and mould in his property. He said he reported the issue more than two months ago and that, following an inspection in March 2024, a contractor advised that immediate repairs were required. He stated the landlord had not completed the repair because scaffolding was needed and had not yet been approved. He said the lack of action had resulted in damp and mould in his property and in the flat below. The resident wanted repairs completed to the guttering, external walls, and internal walls.
9 May 2024	The landlord said in its complaint response that a quote for scaffolding had been submitted for approval and once this was received, it would update the resident.
24 May 2024	The resident escalated the complaint. He said the landlord had taken no further action since its initial response. He reported calling the landlord once or twice a week for three months to report the problem and facilitate access. He said he was told that scaffolding had been approved and repairs arranged, but these did not go ahead because an operative failed to arrange access with a neighbour, despite the resident providing contact details. The resident said the landlord later told him the repairs would not be completed until a Section 20 consultation was finished. He stated the issue was causing increasing damage and had taken hours of his time to try to resolve.
23 August 2024	In its stage 2 complaint response, the landlord said the guttering had been partly cleared but scaffolding was required to complete the work. It explained that the scaffolding needed approval from the Section 20 referral team. The landlord stated that once approval was confirmed, it would complete the repairs and address the damp and mould. It acknowledged the Section 20 process was complex but said it would treat the matter as a priority. The landlord apologised and offered the resident £320 compensation.
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident brought his complaint to us because he remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s final response. He disagreed with the landlord’s account of events and said it had still not taken any action. He believed the landlord changed its approach to the repair after he made a complaint. The resident told us the landlord completed a partial gutter repair in May 2025, but he has not received confirmation of what work was done, nor an inspection or repairs to address the damp and mould in his property.

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	Repairs to guttering, damp and mould
Finding	Service failure

What we did not investigate

6. The resident told us that he has concerns that the delay in the repair to the guttering, may have resulted in long term damage to the exterior walls and structural integrity of the property.
7. The Ombudsman can only consider complaints which have affected a resident in the occupation of their property. As the resident’s concern here centres on potential future issues which have not yet come to pass we cannot investigate them. If they do arise the resident will have the opportunity at the appropriate time to complain about them to the landlord.

What we did investigate

8. The resident’s complaints in May 2024 focused on the landlord’s response to his reports of overflowing guttering, originally reported in February 2024. He said water was running down the external brick walls of his property, causing damp and mould damage to the internal walls. He also reported that the resident of the flat below was experiencing the same issue. He stated the landlord had made no effort to contact him, despite a contractor advising that immediate repairs were required following an inspection. The resident wanted the landlord to repair the gutters, external walls, and repaint the internal damage.
9. In response to the complaint, the landlord said a partial gutter repair had been completed in March 2024, but scaffolding was required to finish the work. It stated it would obtain a quote and update the resident once received. In its final response in August 2024, the landlord said it had received the quote but needed approval from the Section 20 referral team to confirm the necessary permissions to complete the repair. It explained it was treating the matter as a priority, apologised to the resident, and offered £320 compensation.
10. The evidence confirms the landlord took a range of actions to investigate and resolve the guttering prior to and during the complaint, but that it had done so only intermittently and unsuccessfully, and its communication with the resident about why the repairs were delayed was poor. It was appropriate, therefore, for it to apologise for what he had experienced, and explain how it intended to resolve the issue.
11. However, there were several issues in the resident’s complaints which the landlord did not address or respond to. These included:
    1. The landlord initially told the resident that the repairs were booked and the scaffolding approved, but later said it required approval from the Section 20 referral team. There is no evidence of it explaining why Section 20 approval was needed, or what the timescale the process would involve.
    2. The resident told us the landlord did not repair the guttering until May 2025, which was 15 months after it was first reported. Nothing in the evidence explains why such a lengthy period was needed, or shows updates by the landlord to the resident.
    3. The landlord told the resident in its final complaint response that it would address damp in the property after completing the guttering repair. That was good practice in a situation where internal damage was potentially caused by a landlord’s inaction. However, the resident told us this has not happened. We have not seen evidence that the landlord discussed the damp and mould issue with the resident after that point, which supports his explanation that the landlord did not take the promised action.
12. Overall, the landlord did not manage the repair effectively. While it took some appropriate actions, it took an unreasonable amount of time to do so, and it did not fully explain the reasons for the delays. It did not consider the issues discussed above when providing a remedy and did not do what it promised regarding the damp and mould, which remains outstanding. Its communication with the resident was intermittent and unclear, including after the complaint response. This resulted in inconvenience and frustration for the resident.

Complaint	Complaint handling
Finding	Service failure

13. The landlord has a 2 stage complaint process. It aims to acknowledge complaints within 5 working days. It says a resident should then receive a formal response to stage one complaints in 10 working days and stage 2 complaints within 20 working days of it being escalated, unless an extension is required. The landlord’s policy complies with the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code).
14. The landlord acknowledged and responded to the stage 1 complaint within 3 working days, in line with its stated timescales. However, it acknowledged the stage 2 complaint 55 days late and responded 65 days after escalation. This was only after the Ombudsman intervened when the resident told us the landlord had not acknowledged his complaint.
15. The landlord’s actions did not comply with the Code or its policy around compensation for complaint handling failings. It did not offer the resident an explanation or any kind of remedy for the delay, which caused the resident further inconvenience and frustration with the landlord’s overall handling of the matter.

Learning

Knowledge information management (record keeping) and communication

16. The landlord’s communication with the resident was poor. The resident contacted the Ombudsman to progress his complaint when the landlord did not respond to his enquiries. He told us the lack of communication continued after the complaint response.