Westward Housing Group Limited (202403276)

Background

1. The resident reported damp and mould in her porch on 22 November 2023. The landlord inspected this on 1 December 2023, it identified that the porch needed insulating. On 26 January 2024, the resident raised a compensation claim with the landlord, stating that she had reported the damp and mould issues for many years. Although the landlord later completed works to address the issue, the resident remained dissatisfied with how the landlord handled the matter.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of damp and mould.

Our decision (determination)

3. The landlord has offered the resident reasonable redress for its handling of damp and mould.

We have not made orders for the landlord to put things right.

Reasons

What we did not investigate

4. Our scheme rules state we may not investigate complaints which were not referred to the landlord as a complaint within a reasonable time, which is normally 12 months. The resident has stated they were aware of the damp and mould in the porch from around 2017. They raised a formal complaint on 29 May 2024. However, there is no evidence they raised a complaint promptly and in any event within 12 months of when they became aware of the issue. We have not seen evidence they were prevented from raising a complaint sooner. For that reason, we will not investigate events prior to May 2023, which is 12 months preceding her complaint.

What we did investigate

Reports of damp and mould

5. When the resident first contacted the landlord to report damp and mould, the landlord arranged an inspection for 1 December 2023. This was the first inspection following the report and took place as planned. While the landlord’s repairs policy does not set a timeframe for inspections, this was done within 10 working days, which was reasonable.
6. The inspection report dated 1 December 2023 set out the required works. It said the contractor needed to install internal insulation in the porch using plasterboard fixed to battens. The wall then required skimming and new skirting boards. The report also noted that the wall heater needed to be removed and later refitted. Once all works were complete, the porch was to be repainted.
7. The landlord’s repairs policy defines planned maintenance as work that requires site visits, obtaining quotes, and forward planning. These works have a target timescale of 90 days. The landlord classified the works to the porch as planned maintenance. This was reasonable given the scale and nature of the works identified during the inspection and the fact the landlord had to order ‘specialist materials’.
8. The landlord asked its repairs department to provide a quote for the works on 12 December 2023. This is almost two weeks after the initial inspection report identified the works needed, so the landlord should have requested the quote sooner to avoid unnecessary delays. It accepted the quote and raised a repair order on 19 December 2023.
9. The landlord next contacted the resident on 8 February 2024 to arrange an appointment for the insulation works. While the landlord had contact with the resident about a separate repair matter during this period, there is no evidence it updated her about the insulation works. It is unclear why the landlord delayed making contact. While some delays over the festive period would be expected, the length of time between approving the quote and contacting the resident was not reasonable. The landlord scheduled the remedial works to take place between 4 and 8 March 2024.
10. During this period, the resident wrote to the landlord on 26 January 2024 to request compensation for the damp and mould in her porch. The landlord considered the request under its compensation policy, which allows for it to investigate and respond to requests for compensation outside of its complaints process. The landlord responded on 9 February 2024 and offered the resident £50 compensation for the time taken to resolve the damp and mould. It later increased this to £75.
11. The landlord completed the porch insulation works on 8 March 2024, as planned. It advised the resident to make contact once the plaster had dried so it could return and complete decoration. The landlord recorded contact from the resident about this on 19 March 2024. The landlord then returned on 27 March 2024 and completed the redecoration works in the porch. This was within the 28 days its repairs policy allows for routine/non-urgent repairs, which was reasonable.
12. The insulation works to the porch were logged on 19 December 2023 with a target completion time of 90 days, while the decorative works were logged later, on 9 February 2024, with a 28‑day target. As the two jobs were interdependent, it would have been appropriate to raise them together on the same day with a 90‑day target. This would have set a reasonable overall completion target of 18 March 2024 for the full scope of works. As the final works were completed on 27 March 2024, this represents a delay of nine days, which is understandable given the scope and complexity of the works.
13. The resident raised a formal complaint on 29 May 2024 because she felt the £75 offered under the landlord’s compensation policy did not adequately reflect the costs she had incurred since 2017. She asked the landlord to compensate her for redecoration costs, increased energy bills, and the inconvenience of having to move out of the property during various mould treatment works. She also said the landlord should have insulated the porch when the damp and mould first arose to prevent ongoing issues.
14. In its stage 1 response dated 6 June 2024, the landlord said the £75 offered was a discretionary payment. It summarised the repairs completed in March 2024 and accepted that both jobs exceeded its target timescales. The landlord then offered an extra £20 for each job in recognition of this. This increased the total compensation to £115.
15. The resident escalated her complaint on 7 June 2024. She said that the damp and mould works had taken seven years to be offered and completed. She also said that some of the interim works carried out during that period may have been potentially dangerous, and confirmed that she did not accept the compensation offered in the landlord’s stage 1 complaint response.
16. In its stage 2 complaint response dated 4 July 2024, the landlord explained that the resident’s porch was originally built as a ‘storm porch’ which was separated from the property by an external door. It said that later alterations, prior to its ownership, had changed the porch’s design and made it an internal part of the property. This had made it more susceptible to damp and mould. The landlord listed the works it had since completed and confirmed that it had also given the resident advice on helping prevent mould growth. It accepted that it could have offered insulation sooner and had considered this as part of its final compensation offer.
17. The landlord explained that it could not pay the redecoration costs claimed, as decoration is the resident’s responsibility under the tenancy agreement. It also said the resident did not need to vacate the property, as it had not asked her to move out and the materials used for its mould treatments did not require this. The landlord also addressed heating costs. It said an EPC assessment took place in June 2022 and did not refer to the porch as an area for improvement. It added that the resident could apply to carry out her own improvements and included a link for this. Finally, the landlord offered a further £25 to recognise the number of times the resident had contacted it about the porch. This brought the total compensation offered to £140.
18. Although the damp and mould issues at the property had been ongoing for a number of years, the scope of this investigation is limited to the period from when the resident first reported damp in November 2023. On that basis, the failings identified relate to the landlord’s delay in requesting a quote for the works and in completing them once they were raised. In this context, the landlord’s responses regarding redecoration costs, heating costs and the need to vacate the property were reasonable and in line with its policies. We also do not have evidence to support the wider issues raised by the resident, such as having to live outside the home and increased energy bills, to the damp and mould issues within the porch.
19. The landlord’s compensation policy says it does not usually consider issues that occurred more than 12 months earlier. It allows discretionary compensation awards of up to £100 for ‘high impact’ cases. These include serious or repeated service failures. In this case, the landlord offered £140. This exceeds the limit set out in its policy. The amount also aligns with our compensation guidance for instances where a landlord’s failings adversely affected a resident with no permanent impact. This is a reasonable reflection of the failings over the period we have investigated.
20. It is of concern that the landlord’s compensation policy suggested only ‘£50-£100’ for ‘high impact’ cases where there has been a ‘serious failure in service standards’. We note that the landlord has since revised its policy. However, its policy still lists a maximum discretionary compensation award of only £200. We have recommended that the landlord reviews this with reference to our recently published compensation guidance.
21. Overall, the landlord responded appropriately to the resident’s report of damp and mould made in November 2023. It identified and completed remedial works, albeit outside of its policy timeframe. While the delays amounted to service failure, these had limited impact on the resident or overall outcome. The landlord later acknowledged the issues, explained its actions, and offered £140 compensation. This amount exceeds its policy guidance and was in line with our compensation guidance where a resident is adversely affected by a landlord’s failings with no permanent impact. We therefore consider the landlord’s offer of compensation reasonable and recommend it pays the resident the £140 offered in its complaint responses, if it has not already done so.

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.

Recommendations

Our recommendations are not binding, and a landlord may decide not to follow them.