London & Quadrant Housing Trust (202442471)

Background

1. The resident lives in a 1st floor 2-bedroom flat. The landlord recorded in April 2022 the resident’s child has a chest and lung condition which required the resident to be able to heat in the property adequately. The resident reported problems with the boiler and wet room to the landlord from March 2024 onwards.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of repairs at the resident’s property.
3. We have also considered the landlord’s complaint handling.

Our decision (determination)

4. We have found that:
   1. There was severe maladministration in the landlord’s handling of repairs at the resident’s property.
   2. There was no maladministration in the landlord’s complaint handling.

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

Summary of reasons

The landlord’s handling of repairs at the resident’s property

5. The landlord did not carry out repairs to the property in line with its policy timescales. The landlord accepted it should have acted more promptly and offered compensation during its complaints process which was proportionate to its failings. However, there were further delays to carry out the repairs which the landlord committed to in its final complaint responses which caused additional distress and inconvenience to the resident.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint

6. The landlord responded to the resident’s complaint in line with its complaint policy and in accordance with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code).

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.

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. During March 2024 the resident reported leaks coming from her wet room shower and boiler. The landlord’s repairs policy states it will respond to reports of leaks in the property within one day. On both occasions the landlord attended and repaired the leaks within one day, which was within its policy timescale.
8. The landlord inspected the resident’s wet room on 11 March 2024. It recorded the pipes were corroded, the waste pipe was blocked, the shower tray was too small, and the room was full of damp and mould. It added that the sealant around the shower doors had come off causing leaks.
9. The landlord aims to carry out routine repairs within 20 working days and 90 days for complex repairs. The landlord took no action to address the issues with the pipes, the shower tray or the shower doors.
10. Landlords need to make sure their homes are safe, warm, and free from hazards. When a resident reports a risk such as damp and mould, the landlord should quickly inspect the property to check for hazards. They must determine if the home is safe and fit to live in. Ignoring hazards can lead to serious consequences for everyone involved.
11. The landlord’s damp and mould policy states it will assess damp and mould reports within 20 days. Any remedial damp and mould works identified should be raised within 10 days of the assessment. The landlord also has a vulnerable resident policy which states it can adjust its service standards where delays would put them at risk because of their condition.
12. Although the landlord was aware the resident’s child had a health condition, it did not take any action to treat the damp and mould.
13. The landlord raised a repair on 19 April 2024 for the blockages in the wet room. It said the waste pipe needed to be tested for asbestos, but it had to access the neighbour’s property to do so.
14. On 10 November 2024 the resident reported there was another leak in the wet room. The landlord’s staff attended and stopped the leak the following day.
15. The resident complained to the landlord on 18 November 2024. She said the ongoing problems with leaks in the wet room caused damp and mould and damage to her property. She said she was concerned as she had health conditions which meant she was not able to constantly clean the affected areas, and her daughter had health conditions.
16. The resident also told the landlord on 18 November 2024 the boiler was leaking. The landlord’s heating contractor attended on 19 November 2024 and said the boiler needed a new part. The contractor arranged to attend again on 28 November 2024.
17. The landlord emailed the resident’s neighbour on 22 November 2024 to arrange access to inspect the waste pipe. The landlord has not recorded if the neighbour replied, but it did not gain access nor did it contact them again to follow up its request. At this point the landlord had been aware of the need to access the waste pipe for several months, yet it was not proactive in its attempts to do so. The landlord’s failure to take action to repair the waste pipe was unreasonable and caused a significant delay for the resident.
18. On 27 November 2024 the landlord sent its stage 1 complaint response to the resident. The landlord said it would investigate the issues with the boiler and the wet room. It said it would contact her and her neighbour to gain access to the waste pipe, then it would arrange follow on works including sending its contractor to inspect the damp and mould in the property. The landlord also provided details on how to claim against its insurance for any damage caused by the leaks.
19. The landlord apologised and offered £540 compensation to the resident for the distress and inconvenience caused by its failure to provide the service it should have since repairs had been raised.
20. The resident escalated her complaint on 27 November 2024 as she was not happy with the landlord’s response.
21. The landlord’s heating contractor attended on 28 November 2024 and left portable heaters with the resident while it waited for a part to repair the boiler.
22. On 2 December 2024 the landlord’s contractor completed a damp and mould inspection. This inspection was 9 months after damp and mould had been identified in the property and was far outside of the landlord’s policy timescale. This was a significant and unreasonable delay. The contractor cleaned the affected areas and installed a humidity sensor in the bathroom to monitor the moisture levels. They told the landlord the bathroom extractor fan was not working, and the leaking boiler pipe was contributing to excess moisture.
23. The boiler was repaired by the landlord’s heating contractor on 3 December 2024. Although the issue with the boiler repair took around 2 weeks to repair, this was reasonable considering a part was needed to complete the repair. The landlord also tried to mitigate the impact on the resident by providing heaters while the matter was ongoing.
24. The landlord arranged to replace the wet room shower doors on 2 January 2025, but it did not attend as scheduled. The landlord also recorded it tried install the extractor fan on 9 January 2025 but had no access to do so.
25. The resident emailed the landlord on 20 January 2025 and said there was still mould in the property as the issues with the wet room had yet to be resolved. The landlord replied that it would replace the wet room shower doors and it had not yet been given access to her neighbour’s property to check the waste pipe. It added that it would contact its damp and mould contractor regarding the mould in the property. The landlord tried to gain access to the neighbour’s property on 20 January 2025, but the neighbour was only able to give access for a short time, so no repairs were completed.
26. The landlord sent its stage 2 complaint response on 21 January 2025. It said it was trying to gain access to the neighbour’s property to carry out repairs to the waste pipe. It apologised and offered £20 for the missed appointment on 2 January 2025 and said it was waiting on parts to complete the repairs to the wet room. The landlord did not provide a timescale for when the outstanding repairs would be completed.
27. The resident told us the landlord’s contractor inspected the damp and mould in the wet room around February 2025. The landlord has not provided any evidence of this inspection, and no action has been taken to treat the damp and mould.
28. The landlord’s records show that between March and May 2025 it installed new shower doors and an extractor fan in the wet room, and it repaired the faulty waste pipe after gaining access to the neighbour’s property. However, the resident has since reported that the shower doors do not close properly, and the shower did not drain, causing leaks. In December 2025 the landlord’s contractors attended and said the drains were still blocked and further repairs were needed. The resident has told us those repairs remain outstanding, and there is still damp and mould in the property.
29. In summary, the evidence shows although the landlord addressed the resident’s reports of problems with the boiler there were substantial delays by the landlord to carry out wet room repairs which caused of damp and mould in the property. The landlord’s stage 1 complaint response recognised it had not taken sufficient action to address issues the resident raised, but the stage 2 response did not provide details of when the repairs would be completed, and damp and mould has remained in the property. The landlord offered £560 overall compensation for the distress and inconvenience the lack of action caused the resident.
30. Where there are admitted failings by a landlord, our role is to consider whether the redress offered by the landlord put things right and resolved the resident’s complaint satisfactorily in the circumstances.
31. There is clear evidence of repeated visits to the property to investigate the reported issues, but repairs were completed far outside of the landlord’s policy timescales. When considering the landlord’s compensation offer against the criteria set out in our remedies guidance, its overall offer of £560 may have been proportionate to its failings when it was offered. However, for the matter to be fully resolved it would also have required the landlord to take action to fully repair the leaks, and address the damp and mould caused as a result of the landlord’s failure to fix it in a reasonable timeframe.
32. The evidence shows the landlord took several months following its complaint responses to carry out repairs to the waste pipe and the shower doors, and it is aware that repairs remain outstanding. The landlord was also put on notice of damp and mould in the property in 2024, and that there was a child with a health condition that could be affected by this, yet it has failed to address the problem as per the conditions in its policy.
33. The evidence demonstrates a number of significant failures by the landlord which have had a serious detrimental impact on a household with vulnerabilities. This leads to a determination of severe maladministration in the landlord’s handling of repairs at the resident’s property. The landlord is ordered to pay £1,200 compensation to the resident for the distress and inconvenience caused by its failings. This amount is calculated in line with our remedies guidance. In addition, the landlord is ordered to complete the outstanding works at the property within a timely manner and take action to assess and treat the damp and mould at the property.

34. The landlord operates a 2 stage complaints process. The landlord’s complaints policy states it should acknowledge complaints within 5 working days at stage 1 and send a full response to the matters raised within 10 working days of the acknowledgement. If the complaint is escalated to stage 2 the landlord should acknowledge the complaint within 5 working days, and it should send a full response within 20 working days. At either stage the landlord can decide to extend its response timeframe by 10 or 20 working days, but it must contact the resident to explain why and confirm the extension timeframe in writing.
35. The resident complained to the landlord on 18 November 2024. The landlord acknowledged the complaint the following day.
36. The landlord sent its stage 1 complaint response to the resident on 27 November 2024. This was within its complaint’s policy timescale.
37. The resident escalated her complaint on 27 November 2024. This was acknowledged by the landlord the following day.
38. The landlord emailed the resident on 24 December 2024 and said it was still investigating her complaint, so it would reply within 20 working days. This extension was in line with its complaint policy.
39. On 21 January 2025 the landlord sent its stage 2 response to the resident. The response was sent within the timescales permitted by the landlord’s complaint policy.
40. The landlord followed its complaint policy process, and there was no maladministration in its handling of the resident’s complaint.

Learning

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

41. The landlord’s records were sufficient for us to investigate the matters raised in the resident’s complaint.

Communication

42. The evidence shows the landlord did not always provide the resident with updates on repairs. The landlord should look for opportunities to draw learning from this complaint to inform improved customer service going forward.