London & Quadrant Housing Trust (202423504)

Decision
Case ID	202423504
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	London & Quadrant Housing Trust
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Assured Tenancy
Date	5 March 2026

Background

Between November 2022 and April 2023 the landlord raised repairs at the resident’s property relating to the bathroom window and extractor fan, loft insulation and a radiator. In April 2023 the resident reported damp and mould in the bathroom to the landlord. In May 2023 the landlord repaired the bathroom fan and carried out an inspection. In August 2023 the landlord raised repairs to the bath sealant, guttering, loft insulation and a mould wash. On 16 October 2023 the resident raised a complaint to the landlord about on-going damp and mould issues in the bathroom, outstanding repairs, and concerns about the heating system.

What the complaint is about

The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of damp and mould and repairs.
We have also considered the landlord’s handling of the complaint.

Our decision (determination)

We found the landlord responsible for:
1. Maladministration in its handling of damp and mould and repairs.
2. Service failure in its handling of the complaint.

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

Summary of reasons

The landlord’s handling of damp and mould and repairs.

The landlord raised a number of repairs to address damp and mould and disrepair in the property, and the issues raised in the complaint have since been resolved. However, there were several occasions when the landlord failed to carry out an inspection or repairs within its stated timescales, including for damp and mould. The landlord did not acknowledge these failings within its complaints procedure or provide redress for the resident.

The landlord’s handling of the complaint.

The landlord sent its stage 1 complaint response 14 days late of its stated target. The landlord did not acknowledge this service failure within the complaint process.

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 02 April 2026
	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £200 made up as follows: · £150 to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of damp and mould and repairs. · £50 to recognise the time and trouble caused by its handling of the complaint. 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 02 April 2026

Order

What the landlord must do

Due date

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

02 April 2026

Compensation order

The landlord must pay the resident £200 made up as follows:

· £150 to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of damp and mould and repairs.

· £50 to recognise the time and trouble caused by its handling of the complaint.

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

02 April 2026

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
16 October 2023	The resident complained to the landlord about damp and mould issues in the bathroom and the landlord’s handling of several repairs including: Outstanding loft insulation works. Outstanding gutter works. Inefficient heating system.
17 October 2023	The landlord sent its stage 1 complaint acknowledgement and said it would send its response in 10 working days.
20 November 2023	The landlord sent its stage 1 complaint response. It updated the resident on the outstanding repairs.
21 November 2023	The resident asked the landlord to escalate her complaint to stage 2. She was not satisfied with the landlord’s response to the outstanding repairs in the bathroom. The resident disputed that the landlord had completed the gutter repairs. She did not want her radiators flushed but replaced, and her heating thermostat fixed, so that she could heat the home efficiently.
19 December 2023	The landlord sent its stage 2 complaint response. It stated the resident had not reported heating issues since April 2023. It offered to flush the heating system to see if that resolved the issue.
Referral to the Ombudsman	On 17 September 2024 the resident referred her complaint to us. She told us that she wanted the landlord to complete the repairs needed to resolve the mould in the bathroom. She also wanted the landlord to improve the efficiency of the heating in the 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	The landlord’s handling of damp and mould and repairs.
Finding	Maladministration

On 23 November 2022 the landlord raised a repair to check and renew the loft insulation where needed. In March 2023 the landlord’s records stated that its contractor was having difficulty accessing the property to complete this repair.
In April 2023 the landlord repaired a leak to the hallway radiator within 3 days. It also raised a repair to the bathroom fan which was completed 19 days later. The landlord’s repair policy at the time stated that it would aim to complete routine repairs in an average of 20 calendar days. These repairs were completed within the landlord’s stated timescales.
On 15 May 2023 job notes from a repair visit indicated that damp was an issue at the property. The landlord inspected the property on 25 May 2023. The landlord raised and completed a repair to carry out a mould treatment between July and August 2023.
The landlord’s damp and mould policy at the time stated that a property should be inspected within 20 working days of damp and mould being reported, and any remedial work raised within a further 10 working days. It is clear from the evidence that the landlord did not keep to the timescales in its policy when arranging a mould wash.
On 8 August 2023 the landlord raised a repair to reseal the bath. The landlord’s records indicate that the resident was not available for the first appointment but it completed the repair a month later.
On 24 August 2023 the resident reported damp and mould around the bathroom window. On 10 October 2023 the landlord completed an inspection and raised a repair to the gutters. This inspection was outside of the timescales in the landlord’s policy.
On 16 October 2023 the resident made a complaint to the landlord about damp and mould in the bathroom and the following repairs:
1. the landlord had replaced sealant but she had expected grouting to be replaced
2. condensation was dripping above the windowsill
3. the bathroom walls had been treated for mould but were now peeling
4. the radiator was rusty
5. the bath boards were rotten
6. the resident had not been told when her bathroom would be replaced
7. she had been waiting for loft insulation to be replaced
8. the gutters needed replacing
9. the bathroom fan was going to the loft instead of outside
10. the resident was concerned about inefficient heating and mould issues.
On 20 November 2023 the landlord sent its stage 1 complaint response and said:
1. it had raised a repair to replace the bath boards
2. the bathroom was not due for replacement until approximately 2038
3. it had cleared the gutters on 11 October 2023
4. the landlord’s contractor had inspected on 8 November 2023 and recommended a power flush of the system
5. the landlord had arranged for the contractor to move the resident’s belongings to the boarded area and top up the insulation to 250mm where needed
6. the landlord told the resident it would reinspect the bathroom for damp and mould on 30 November 2023.
The resident escalated her complaint to stage 2 the next day. She did not believe that the gutters had been cleared. She said that the landlord had not addressed the anti-mould paint in the bathroom that was peeling. The resident was not satisfied with the flushing of the heating system as a resolution. She also reported an issue with the heating thermostat.
On 4 December 2023 the landlord raised a repair to regrout the bathroom but it was unable to make contact with the resident. On the same day the landlord raised a repair to inspect the gutters. This was completed on 30 January 2024 which was outside of its stated timescale for routine repairs. It is unclear why the landlord was able to arrange appointments with the resident to complete some repairs and not others.
On 19 December 2023 the landlord sent its stage 2 complaint response. It said that it would not change radiators if it was not required. The landlord’s contractor would flush the system and carry out any other repairs required at that time, to see if that resolved the issue. This was a reasonable plan of action by the landlord.
The landlord’s stage 2 response focussed on the issue of the heating system. A number of repairs were still in progress at the time of the stage 2 complaint response. It would have been good practice for the landlord to have provided an update on the outstanding repairs in its response.
The resident had been waiting for a year for loft insulation to be increased if needed. However, the landlord’s contractor stated it had been unable to carry out the insulation work until the resident had moved her belongings, but the resident had been told by a contractor that it did not need to be empty. The landlord admitted miscommunication about these works in its stage 1 complaint response. It arranged for the contractor to move the resident’s belongings so that it could complete the work.
On 23 January 2024 the landlord raised another job to reseal and regrout areas of the bathroom. This was marked as complete on 5 March 2024 but it is not clear why the landlord did not complete this within its stated timescale for routine repairs. In February 2024 the landlord raised a repair to fully repaint the bathroom, but it was unable to make contact with the resident to book in this work.
The resident contacted us on 17 September 2024 for help in resolving the outstanding repairs, damp and mould. An inspection by the landlord in October 2024 indicated that the outstanding issues were mould around the bathroom window and bath sealant that needed replacing. To remedy this the landlord arranged a mould treatment and a gutter clean.
Following this inspection the resident raised another complaint, which is not the subject of this investigation. However, the landlord continued to arrange a number of repairs to address the issues raised by the resident, including replacing the original thermostat with a digital version. The resident has told us that since these repairs and a mould wash there have been no further issues. The landlord recently raised a repair to install an electric heater in the wc to further improve condensation.
Where there are admitted failings by a landlord, we will consider whether the redress offered by the landlord put things right and resolved the resident’s complaint satisfactorily in the circumstances. In considering this we take into account whether the landlord’s offer of redress was in line with the Ombudsman’s dispute resolution principles of: be fair (follow fair processes and recognise what went wrong), put things right, and learn from outcomes.
In this case, the landlord admitted miscommunication in its handling of the loft insulation repair. However, we have also found that the landlord did not carry out an inspection for damp and mould, and some repairs, within its stated timescales. The landlord did not identify these failings as part of the complaint process and therefore offered no compensation to the resident for her likely distress and inconvenience caused by these delays and the impact of the miscommunication around the loft insulation. It has since, however, carried out a number of repairs at the property to address the damp and mould and heating inefficiencies.
We find that there has been maladministration in the landlord’s handling of damp and mould and repairs. We have made an order for the landlord to pay compensation to the resident of £150. This amount is within the range of awards set out in our remedies guidance where the landlord has failed to acknowledge all of its failings or to fully address the detriment caused to the resident.

Complaint	The landlord’s handling of the complaint.
Finding	Service failure

The landlord’s complaint policy at the time of the complaint complied with the definition of a complaint in the Complaint Handling Code (the Code). The timescales in the landlord’s complaint procedure refers to those in the Code.
The landlord sent its stage 1 complaint response 14 days outside of its stated target. The landlord did not acknowledge this delay within its complaint process.
The landlord’s compensation policy says that it may offer compensation where it has failed to respond to a complaint within agreed response times or if it has not complied with the Code.
We have ordered the landlord to pay the resident £50 in recognition of the impact of its delay in handling her complaint at stage 1 of the complaint procedure. This amount is within the range of awards set out in our remedies guidance for a minor failing by the landlord in the service it provided and where it did not appropriately acknowledge this or put it right.

Learning

The landlord did not adequately identify failings as part of the complaint process. This meant that it failed to identify or apply any learning as a result of its communication with the resident.

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

The landlord kept a log of repairs raised at the property. However, the job notes were not always clear enough to establish whether the repair had actually been completed (and when) or if it had been closed down for another reason. For example, one of the repairs was raised on 18 August 2023 but the notes stated it was completed a month earlier. If records and job notes are not clearly understood by staff it will be difficult to maintain clear communication with the resident and between departments and contractors about those works. This was evident when the resident was waiting for loft insulation works but the reason for the delay to those works was not clearly communicated.

Communication

The landlord’s complaint responses set out what the complaint was about. However, it did not clearly communicate what it had done or was doing about all of the points raised.