Town and Country Housing (202407720)

Background

1. The resident is a tenant of the landlord and lives in a bungalow. The resident is registered disabled, and her partner has restricted mobility. The resident’s partner also has COPD and asthma. In August 2022, the resident reported repair issues with her wet room floor and in December 2022 she reported damp and mould in her kitchen cupboards. The resident also reported repair issues with her chimney in August 2023 and also leaking guttering in January 2024. The damp and mould in the kitchen cupboard, guttering and slippery wet room floor repairs remain outstanding.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of repairs to:
   1. The wet room.
   2. Chimney and guttering.
   3. The kitchen and the resident’s request for her kitchen to be replaced.
3. The landlord’s handling of the complaint.

Our decision (determination)

4. There was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the repairs.
5. There was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the complaint.

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

Summary of reasons

6. There were unreasonable delays in the landlord removing the chimney and replacing the wet room floor. Also, some of the repair issues are still unresolved including the leaking guttering, damp and mould in the kitchen and the slippery wet room floor.
7. There was a delay in the landlord providing its response at stage 1 of its complaints process and it failed to acknowledge the delay.

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.

Recommendations

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

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.

Repairs to the wet room.

8. In August 2022, the resident reported issues with the flooring in her wet room. The landlord’s contractor inspected the floor and confirmed it needed to be removed and re-laid with new latex. The landlord did not complete the work promptly, and the resident raised a complaint in February 2023 about the outstanding repairs. Further delays occurred because the landlord required a specialist contractor to carry out the work. It would have been reasonable for the landlord to have identified the need for a specialist contractor sooner than it did.
9. The landlord replaced the wet room floor in October 2023, more than 1 year after the issue was first reported. This delay was unreasonable. Shortly after the replacement, the resident reported that the new flooring was slippery. The landlord agreed to arrange for its contractor to investigate the issue. Later in October 2023, the contractor removed the wet room floor again and re-laid it to ensure the correct positioning with the drain. It also repaired the toilet and door in the wet room. The landlord acted appropriately by arranging these additional works. However, there is no evidence that the contractor carried out any measures to reduce slipperiness, and the resident has told us the floor remains slippery.
10. In November 2023, the resident reported further issues with the wet room floor and said a leak from the wet room had entered her hallway, damaging the carpet. The landlord responded to the report in early December 2023 and identified the leak was from a pipe connected to the shower. It repaired the leak shortly after. In January 2024, the resident raised concerns that the wet room floor remained damp and areas of the flooring were lifting. In its stage 2 complaint response, the landlord confirmed it would ask the specialist contractor to inspect the flooring and carry out repairs. It also acknowledged it had concerns about the contractor but explained the contractor was best placed to complete the repair as it was under warranty. The contractor attended in October 2024 and resealed parts of the wet room floor.
11. The landlord offered the resident £200 compensation in its stage 2 complaint response for the replacement of the damaged hallway carpet or, alternatively, to arrange for the carpet to be professionally cleaned. This was reasonable, particularly as the leak happened shortly after the wet room floor was replaced. However, the landlord failed to offer the resident any compensation for the distress and inconvenience related to the delays in carrying out the works to the wet room floor.
12. The resident has told us that the pull cord on the extractor fan in the wet room is broken, and she has reported this to the landlord. This occurred since the complaint exhausted the landlord’s complaint procedure. We have no power to investigate complaints which the landlord has not had the chance to put right first. There is no evidence the issue with the broken pull cord on the extractor fan exhausted the landlord’s complaints process. Therefore, we have no power to investigate this. However, we recommend the landlord carries out the necessary repairs to fix the pull cord on the extractor fan.
13. The resident told us that the wet room floor is still very slippery when wet and stated she fell because of this. We acknowledge this has been a very difficult time for the resident and her partner. However, it would be fairer, more reasonable, and more effective for the resident to make a personal injury claim for any injury caused through the courts or the landlord’s liability insurance. 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.
14. However, as the resident previously informed the landlord about the slippery wet room floor as part of her complaint and the issue is still unresolved. We order the landlord to carry out an inspection of the wet room floor and identify any further works to resolve the issue with the slippery floor. Following the inspection, the landlord should create a schedule of works with timescales and provide us and the resident with a copy.

Repairs to the Chimney and guttering.

15. In August 2023, the resident reported repair issues with her chimney, and in January 2024 she reported that the guttering at the front of the property was leaking. The landlord failed to respond to both repair issues in line with the timescales referenced in its repairs policy. The landlord’s policy states it will respond to a non-urgent repair within 28 days.
16. The landlord booked an appointment in November 2023 to remove the chimney, around 3 months after the issue was reported. However, the contractor did not remove the chimney during the agreed appointment. In its stage 2 complaint response, the landlord acknowledged this error and confirmed it had asked the contractor to remove both chimneys. It also confirmed it would arrange for the guttering to be repaired at the same time.
17. There was a further delay in the landlord removing the chimneys as agreed and it did not complete the chimney removal until the end of August 2024. It also failed to carry out the repairs to resolve the leaking guttering which was unreasonable. The resident has told us the guttering repairs still remain outstanding. Therefore, we order the landlord to complete the repairs to resolve the leaking guttering.

Repairs to the kitchen and the resident’s request for her kitchen to be replaced.

18. In December 2022, the resident reported damp and mould in her kitchen cupboards. The landlord records show its contractor had previously carried out a mould wash and painted the wall behind the kitchen unit to address the issue. However, the resident continued to report damp and mould in the cupboards. In April 2023, the contractor inspected the kitchen cupboards and noted no visible signs of mould. The contractor stated it was aware of a mould issue in the neighbouring property and suggested the smell might have originated there. It could not investigate further due to access issues, which was outside the landlord’s control. However, it would have been appropriate for the landlord to try and gain access at a later date to inspect the issue.
19. The resident continued to report a damp and mould smell in her kitchen. The landlord responded by carrying out further mould treatment behind the kitchen cupboards and repainting the affected area. It is positive that the landlord took steps to try to address the issue. However, the repeated mould treatments and painting did not resolve the problem. The resident has told us the damp and mould issue remains unresolved and suggested the cause may be the outside wall or window.
20. The resident also raised concerns that the damp and mould was growing on her plates, pots and pans and impacting her and her partner’s health and stated her partner had asthma and COPD. We acknowledge this has been a very difficult time for the resident and her partner. However, as referenced above it would be fairer, more reasonable, and more effective for the resident to make a personal injury claim for any injury caused through the courts or the landlord’s liability insurance. Therefore, we’ve not investigated this further.
21. Due to the ongoing damp and mould issue in the kitchen and the resident’s concerns about the condition of the kitchen, as part of her complaint she requested for the kitchen to be replaced. In response to the resident’s request, the landlord explained in it stage 2 complaint response that its surveyor previously inspected the condition of the kitchen in June 2023 and confirmed it did not currently require replacing. It also explained that the resident’s kitchen was replaced in 2013 and said normally it should be at least 20 years old to be considered for replacement. The landlord acted appropriately in this instance, as the landlord would only be expected to consider replacing a kitchen if an inspection indicated this and if it had deteriorated to the extent that repairs would be ineffective and uneconomic.
22. As the resident has confirmed that the damp and mould issue in the kitchen is still unresolved. We order the landlord to carry out a damp and mould inspection of the kitchen to identify any further works it can complete to manage the damp and mould and associated smell. Following the inspection, the landlord should create a schedule of works with timescales and provide us and the resident with a copy.
23. Overall, there was a considerable delay in the landlord removing the chimney and replacing the wet room floor. Also, there are still repair issues which are still unresolved including the leaking guttering, damp and mould in the kitchen and the slippery wet room floor. The landlord acknowledged some of these errors but failed to offer the resident any compensation to recognise the impact of these errors and only offered the resident compensation to replace her damaged carpet. It would be appropriate for the landlord to pay the resident £500 compensation to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused. The amount of compensation awarded complies with the Ombudsman’s approach to compensation set out in our remedies guidance published on our website. The remedies guidance suggests awards of £100 to £600 where there has been a failure by the landlord, which adversely affected the resident, but there may be no permanent impact.

24. The landlord’s complaints process has 2 stages. The timeframes in the landlord’s complaints policy are the same as the timescales referenced in the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code) which sets out our expectations of landlords’ complaints processes. The Code states a stage 1 response must be sent within 10 working days from the complaint being logged, and a stage 2 response within 20 working days.
25. The Code also states landlords must ensure that efforts to resolve a resident’s concerns do not obstruct access to the complaints procedure or result in any unreasonable delay. It also explains that it is not appropriate for a landlord to have extra named complaint stages.
26. The resident submitted her initial complaint to the landlord on 19 February 2023. Following this, the landlord informally closed the resident’s complaint during a telephone call with the resident. The landlord reopened the resident’s complaint on 24 October 2023 and confirmed it would formally address her concerns and provide a stage 1 complaint response. The landlord failed to comply with the Code and issue the resident with a stage 1 complaint response when she raised her initial complaint in February 2023, which delayed the complaint process. The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response on 3 November 2023.
27. On 2 January 2024, the resident escalated her complaint to stage 2 of the landlord’s complaints process. The landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response on 18 January 2024. The landlord’s response was on time and sent within the 20-working day timescale referenced in the Code and the landlord’s complaints policy.
28. The landlord did not acknowledge its delay in providing a stage 1 complaint response to the resident’s initial complaint. It would be appropriate for the landlord to pay the resident £100 compensation to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by this. The compensation awarded is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance referenced above.

Learning

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

29. The landlord’s records were detailed enough for us to investigate the landlord’s overall handling of the complaint.

Communication

30. There was very limited communication and updates from the landlord to the resident after she reported all the repair issues.