Sovereign Network Group (202531211)

Background

1. The resident complained to the landlord about damp and mould in her home which affected her hallway, kitchen and lounge. She said the issue was ongoing since 2017 and she was unhappy the landlord did not fix it. She was also unhappy it did not log a complaint when she raised concerns previously.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s:
   1. Reports of damp and mould.
   2. Complaint.

Our decision (determination)

3. We found:
   1. Maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould.
   2. Service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint.

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

Summary of reasons

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould

4. The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould was poor. It acknowledged this and offered compensation but it was not proportionate to its failings.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint

5. The landlord did not log a complaint when the resident initially raised her concerns. It did not send its stage 2 response in line with its policy timescales.

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.

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.

What we did not investigate

6. The resident said the repair delays, and the condition of the property, impacted her health. It would be fairer, more reasonable and more effective for the resident to make a personal injury claim for any injury caused. The courts are best placed to deal with this type of dispute as they will have the benefit of independent medical advice to decide on the cause of any injury and how long it will last. We’ve not investigated this further. We can decide if a landlord should pay compensation for distress and inconvenience.
7. The resident said the damp and mould has been ongoing since 2017 and she made several complaints to the landlord. These complaints were not brought to us and we have not investigated them. Under our Scheme, we normally expect residents to bring a complaint to us within 12 months of the landlord’s final response. This investigation focuses on the complaint the resident made in May 2025 for which she received a final complaint response in July 2025.
8. As part of her complaint, the resident made a Subject Access Request (SAR) to the landlord for information. If she is unhappy with its response, she can contact the Information Commissioners Office (ICO). We did not consider this part of her complaint because the issue falls within the jurisdiction of another regulator.
9. The resident has concerns about the work the landlord completed, in particular the damp proof course the landlord said it applied. The landlord arranged a post completion inspection for 23 March 2026. If she is unhappy with the work, she can make a new complaint and escalate it if she is not satisfied. If she remains unhappy with the landlord’s final response, she can ask us to investigate further.

What we did investigate

10. On 21 June 2023, the resident reported ongoing damp and mould in her home to the landlord and said she first raised the issue in 2020. In line with its damp and mould policy, the landlord inspected the property on 5 July 2023. The landlord’s repair records do not confirm the outcome of the inspection or details of any follow-on work. The landlord did not provide us a copy of its inspection report and said it had no information about it on its system.
11. The landlord’s contractor completed another inspection on 25 August 2023. The landlord did not provide us a copy of the full report. Its repair records show the inspection found rising damp in the hallway and lounge. Its contractor recommended the damp was treated by a professional company with correct chemicals and certification and said tanking work would not cure the problem. The landlord’s repairs policy says it aims to complete follow-on work, where it needs to employ a specialist contractor, within 6 months. However, its records do not show it raised or completed any work until the resident contacted it a year later.
12. The resident contacted the landlord on 29 August 2024 about the ongoing damp and mould and explained her hallway and lounge were most affected. She said both her and her son were asthmatic and she was concerned about the impact on their health. She was unhappy it did not update her following its inspections or complete work to resolve the issue. She asked it for a timeline of next steps.
13. After contact from the resident, the landlord attended on 9 September 2024. It said it completed a damp and mould wash and sent recommendations to its surveyor. The resident told us the landlord did not complete a damp and mould wash on this date. The landlord has not sent us a copy of its report. Due to a lack of evidence, we could not confirm the outcome of its attendance on 9 September 2024.
14. On 24 September 2024, the landlord raised work to complete tanking along the hallway. It is unclear why the landlord raised tanking work when its previous inspection said this would not solve theproblem.It raised this repair as major response work with a 1-year target completion date. Its repairs policy says it will agree specific completion targets for major work and will communicate and agree these with residents, but there is no evidence it did.
15. Between September and November 2024, the resident contacted the landlord for updates. It told her it raised work, which was waiting authorisation. Its records show it arranged another inspection for 27 November 2024 which seems was re-arranged. It told us it could not find any details about this.
16. The resident contacted the landlord again in March 2025 and it told her the work was still awaiting authorisation. In its stage 1 response, the landlord explained its internal issues for the delay authorising the work and said it re-raised it in February 2025, but there is no record of this on its repair records.
17. The landlord re-raised the hallway tanking work on 2 April 2025. Its contractor contacted the resident over 2 months after on 20 June 2025 to arrange an appointment for the work. In its stage 2 response, the landlord confirmed its contractor would attend on 22 July 2025. It has not provided its report or details of this visit, which seems was re-arranged for 18 August 2025. It said it was unable to find the job.
18. Following its stage 2 response and its visit in August 2025, the landlord raised further work in October 2025. This was to replace a broken gully, apply external masonry paint, painting in the kitchen and living room, and install new skirting in the living room. In November 2025, it raised this work again with the outstanding tanking work for the hallway. It completed all work in January 2026.
19. The landlord’s handling of the resident’s damp and mould reports was poor. After a break in reports in 2022, she reported damp and mould in June 2023, but it did not resolve the issue until January 2026. It failed to act with urgency when it found rising damp in August 2023 and did not take any action for a year. It has not explained its reason for this delay. Its damp and mould policy says it would complete repairs identified as quickly as possible, keep the resident informed and share its reports. It did not do this.
20. The landlord did not update the resident following its inspections. Its delay and poor communication caused her time and trouble pursuing updates, complaining and bringing her complaint to us. In its stage 2 response, it apologised for its lack of communication. It said its surveyor would keep her updated throughout the process. However, she contacted it again in November 2025, because it did not update her following its last inspection, and again in January 2026 for information on the planned work. Its lack of communication about the planned work caused the resident time and trouble submitting a SAR to the landlord.
21. The landlord’s record keeping was poor. It could not locate details of its inspections, and its repair records were not complete. Its internal records refer to it missing several emails from the resident. When the resident contacted the landlord in June 2023, it said it could not find any previous damp and mould reports. It repeated this in its complaint response and said the earliest report was June 2023. However, the resident’s SAR documents show she reported damp and mould to the landlord in 2017, 2020, 2021 and 2022.
22. In view of the landlord’s repair delays, poor records and communication, we found maladministration. In its stage 2 response it acknowledged its failings and apologised. Its complaints policy in use at the time said complaints must be made within 6 months of the issue arising. It went back to 2023 as part of its investigation, which was positive and offered £550 compensation. However,its offer is not proportionate to the failings we identified. In line with our remedies guidance we have ordered the landlord to pay the resident an additional £150 for the distress and inconvenience its repair delays, record keeping and communication caused the resident.

23. The landlord’s complaints policy said it would respond at stage 1 within 10 working days, and at stage 2 within 20 working days of an escalation request. It could agree an extension of 10 working days at both stages. This was in line with our complaint handling code in use at the time (2022).
24. The landlord sent its stage 1 complaint response in line with its complaints policy timescale. However, it failed to log a complaint earlier when the resident emailed it on 29 August and 28 October 2024. This caused her time and trouble calling the landlord and complaining in May 2025. By failing to log a complaint sooner, it missed an opportunity to resolve her complaint at an earlier stage.
25. The landlord sent its stage 2 response 24 working days after the resident’s escalation request, which was not compliant with its policy. The 4 working day delay was unlikely to have any adverse impact or detriment to the resident, but it failed to acknowledge this in its complaint response.
26. Due to the above failings, we found service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint. In line with our remedies guidance, we have ordered the landlord to pay the resident £100 compensation for the time and trouble its delays caused the resident.

Learning

27. The landlord should learn from this case in respect of its management of damp and mould. It should review the best practise highlighted in the Housing Ombudsman’s Spotlight report on damp and mould.

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

28. The landlord should ensure its repair records are accurate and complete.
29. The landlord did not provide a copy of its full inspection report from 25 August 2023 and 9 September 2024. It should ensure it responds fully to our evidence requests and be aware of its membership obligations and the Scheme.
30. The landlord was unable to locate details of inspections from July 2023, November 2024 and August 2025. We expect landlords to have a full record of its inspections showing what issues were found and what follow on work was completed.
31. The landlord should review and incorporate the best practise highlighted in the Housing Ombudsman’s Spotlight report on knowledge and information.

Communication

32. The landlord’s communication was poor. It should consider how it can improve its communication with residents for repair and inspection updates. It should also consider how it communicates with contractors to ensure it is aware of when it attended and the work completed.