London & Quadrant Housing Trust (202510183)

Background

1. At the time of the complaint the resident had been a tenant of the landlord for over 10 years. The property has now been transferred to a different landlord. The resident reported issues with damp and mould in the past and in or around May 2025 says she emailed the landlord with reports that she had damp and mould “spreading inside and outside my property.”

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports about damp and mould at the property.

Our decision (determination)

3. After considering the evidence, we have found the complaint is outside of our jurisdiction to investigate.

Summary of reasons

4. The resident said she complained to the landlord about damp and mould at the property on 12 May 2025. She followed this up on 18 May 2025 and on 2 further occasions in June 2025. In correspondence to the landlord dated 12 June 2025, she said she intended to inform the court about what she considered to be its lack of response to her reports of damp and mould and to her complaints. She said damp and mould were affecting her health and damaging her belongings. The information we have about the court proceedings that day is that the court laid down directions for a hearing to be relisted.
5. Around this time the resident also took her complaint about damp and mould to us. It seems clear, therefore, that the issue about damp and mould the resident said she would raise with the court was the same issue the resident raised with us. We were aware, from a call with the resident, on 20 August 2025, that the landlord had taken her to court because of rent arrears. However, we were not aware, at this time, that she had or intended to defend the proceedings on the basis of damp and mould being at the property.
6. The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response on 17 June 2025. In that response, it addressed the issues raised, provided an explanation for the delay in responding, and apologised. It offered £120 in compensation for the distress caused by the delays.
7. On 14 July 2025, the resident escalated her complaint. She said she remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s explanation for not responding to her report made in May 2025 and other communications from landlord staff. The landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response on 1 August 2025. It offered a further £30 in compensation to recognise shortcomings in its communication.
8. The resident told us she wanted the issues to be resolved and £1,000 in compensation.
9. On 22 January 2026 the resident told us that she had raised a defence at court to rent arrears possession proceedings, citing the landlord’s failure to address damp and mould. She said a court-appointed joint expert was at the property on that date taking photographs. A copy of the defence has not been provided.
10. However, the available evidence shows that the court had granted a possession order to the landlord on 15 May 2025.It appears the resident sought to stop an eviction from the property and the court gave her the opportunity to file a defence and counterclaim by 23 October 2025.
11. From what the resident has told us and what she told the landlord in her complaint, it is clear the resident raised the issues of damp and mould at court. This was either in June 2025, at the time of her complaint, or more recently when defending eviction proceedings. She has confirmed she did so on the basis of her allegations about the landlord’s failure to attend to damp and mould at the property.
12. The resident has told us that her complaint is not just about damp and mould and that she had also raised issues about the landlord’s communication that she would like us to consider. However, the complaint raised with us about the landlord’s communication is part of the context around its response to her damp and mould reports.
13. As the resident had the opportunity to raise the subject matters of the complaint as part of legal proceedings and legal proceedings have been issued at court, we will not investigate this complaint.