Torus62 Limited (202425138)

Decision
Case ID	202425138
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	Torus62 Limited
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Shared Ownership
Date	24 February 2026

Background

1. The resident contacted the landlord in 2023 about a drain repair. He experienced blocked drains and sewage back flow in his bath and sink. He also said he experienced mould in his bathroom following a flood. He complained about the landlord’s response to these issues.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s response to:
   1. Mould in the bathroom.
   2. Drainage issues.
   3. Complaint handling.

Our decision (determination)

3. We have found:
   1. The resident’s complaint about mould in the bathroom is outside our jurisdiction.
   2. Maladministration in the landlord’s response to drainage issues.
   3. No maladministration in the landlord’s complaint handling.

We have made an order for the landlord to put things right.

Summary of reasons

The response to drainage issues

4. The landlord acted reasonably and in line with its repairs and maintenance policy in responding to reports in November 2023 and April to May 2024. It delayed responding between 17 August 2023 and 6 November 2023. While it referred to delays in its stage 2 complaint response it failed to offer a remedy for this.

Complaint handling

5. The landlord responded to the resident’s complaint in line with its complaint policy.

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 £150 to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by the delays in its response to the resident’s reports of drainage issues. This must be paid directly to the resident by the due date. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date.	No later than 24 March 2026

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
16 November 2023	The resident complained about ongoing issues with drains, including sewage coming up through his bath daily.
28 November 2023	The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response and said: the first contractor it sent was unable to resolve the issue the second contractor found 1 pump running, and resolved the issue on 21 November 2023 after it cleared the pump of wet wipes and debris it would send residents a leaflet about flushing wet wipes down the toilets
22 May 2024	The landlord initially logged a new complaint after the resident called to report reoccurring issues with drains. As it was the same issue it decided to treat the report as an escalation of the complaint.
28 May 2024	The landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response and said: it acknowledged there was a delay in it resolving the drainage issue in November 2023 it had received multiple reports of drainage issues over the past 12 months which needed a specialist drainage contractor which led to a delay a specialist drainage contractor attended on 25 May 2024 and unblocked the drains it agreed to send other residents’ information on what caused drain blockages it had spoken to its customer hub to ensure it sends drainage works directly to a specialist to avoid delays in future it partially upheld the complaint due to recurring blockages but noted residents caused these by flushing items down the toilet
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident asked us to investigate the landlord’s response to mould and reports of drainage issues and asked for resolution of these. The landlord told us that it resolved the drainage issues prior to our investigation, and the resident has not disputed this or told us the mould is still present.

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	The landlord’s response to mould in the bathroom
Finding	Outside jurisdiction

6. The resident complained about the landlord’s response to reports of mould in the bathroom in his referral to us. This complaint did not exhaust its complaint procedure, and we cannot investigate complaints a landlord has not had the chance to put right first. The complaint about bathroom mould is outside our jurisdiction and has not been investigated.

Complaint	The landlord’s response to drainage issues
Finding	Maladministration

7. Under the resident’s lease the landlord was responsible for tanks, drainage, water equipment, and machinery. Therefore, it was required to respond to reports of drainage issues to decide if it was responsible for them.
8. The landlord attended on 27 and 30 July 2023 in response to the resident’s report of a drainage repair on 25 July 2023. While its response time was appropriate and in line with the 20-calendar day target stated in its repairs and maintenance policy, it is unclear what work it completed. This is a record keeping failure. Without this information we cannot be satisfied it acted reasonably or if it fulfilled its repair obligations.
9. The landlord’s contractor visited the resident’s property on 16 August 2023 and completed repairs following a report of sewage presence that day. This was in line with its repairs policy. The resident reported a drain blockage the next day but it did not raise a job until 6 November 2023, 81 calendar days later. This was not appropriate as it was not in line with its 20 calendar day policy timescale. It completed this job on 10 November 2023.
10. There was a gap between November 2023 and April 2024 in the resident’s reports of drain issues. We have found the landlord completed a:
    1. Repair on 23 April 2024 after the resident reported a blockage the day before.
    2. Job on 25 May 2024 to reinstate the pumps after he reported blocked drains 4 days earlier.
11. These actions were appropriate and in line with its repairs policy. It attended the resident’s property again on 23 July 2024 to complete a full pump service and pump chamber clean. This was reasonable as its contractor recommended this on 25 May 2024 and it completed this within 60 days of the report. This was appropriate as it was in line with the policy timeframe for programmed repairs.
12. The resident told the landlord that it had resolved the drainage issue by the end of May 2024. It acted reasonably in November 2023 and April to May 2024 to address the drain blockages. It also explained that it was not responsible for the internal pipework in the resident’s property or the cause of the blockages (wet wipes). However, it was still responsible for the drainage and water equipment including pumps under the resident’s lease.
13. There was a delay in the landlord’s response between 17 August 2023 and 6 November 2023. When we have found failures, we expect landlords to act in line with our dispute resolution principles; be fair, put things right, and to learn from outcomes. The landlord acknowledged delays in its stage 2 response. It also showed it learnt from the complaint when it said it had contacted its customer hub to reduce delays in instructing specialists. However, it failed to offer redress in line with its compensation policy for the delays.
14. We have therefore awarded the resident £150 compensation. This is in line with our remedies guidance where we have found a failure that adversely affected a resident. This sum recognises the likely distress and inconvenience caused to the resident by the landlord’s delays in completing the repairs. As there are no outstanding repairs, we have not made any other orders.

Complaint	The landlord’s complaint handling
Finding	No maladministration

15. The landlord’s complaint policy at the time of the complaint complies with the definition of a complaint in our Complaint Handling Code (April 2022). The timescales in the landlord’s complaint procedure complied with the Code.
16. It took the landlord 8 working days to respond to the resident’s complaint on 28 November 2023, against a target of 10 working days.
17. It was reasonable of the landlord to treat the resident’s further report on 20 May 2024 as an escalation as it related to the same issue. It also meant there was no delay in the resident’s ability to refer his complaint to us for investigation. It took the landlord 5 working days to issue its stage 2 complaint response on 28 May 2024, against a target of 20 working days.
18. While it acknowledged there was a delay in its response to the resident’s reports it offered no remedy however we have assessed this in the substantive issue. For this reason we have found no maladministration for complaint handling. We note the landlord’s complaint policy at the time and its current policy allows residents 28 days to escalate complaints. This requirement may place some resident’s at a disadvantage and so we have considered this in the learning section below.

Learning

19. The landlord failed to offer redress for the delays it noted during the complaint process. It ought to have considered compensation in line with its compensation policy. Our learning from severe maladministration report (January 2026) contains learning on compensation policies, pages 7 to 11. The landlord’s 28 day escalation time limit may place some residents at a disadvantage and so should be considered too.

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

20. The landlord did not provide a copy of what work it completed in July 2023. We expect landlords to maintain a robust record of contacts and repairs. This is because clear, accurate, and easily accessible records provide an audit trail and enhance the landlords’ ability to identify and respond to problems when they arise. The failure to create and record information accurately can result in landlords not taking appropriate and timely action, missing opportunities to identify that actions were wrong or inadequate, and contributing to inadequate communication and redress.

Communication

21. The landlord’s communication was good overall; it explained its repair responsibilities to the resident.