Onward Homes Limited (202337253)

Background

1. The resident complained in April 2023 the landlord had failed to address the cause of the damp and mould in the property. She said despite operatives attending on multiple occasions to repair the bathroom extractor fan it was not working properly. Also, there was a leak to the bedroom window causing mould.

What the complaint is about

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

Our decision (determination)

3. We have found:
   1. Maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould arising from window and bathroom repairs.
   2. Reasonable redress in the landlord’s handling of the complaint.

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

Summary of reasons

4. The landlord acknowledged the delays in completing window and bathroom repair to resolve the damp and mould and awarded compensation for this. However, the landlord has not completed the pointing repairs it identified and this demonstrated a lack of ownership of the possible cause of the mould.
5. The landlord recognised it had not escalated the resident’s complaint in line with its complaints procedure. It awarded compensation and learnt how it could improve its service delivery from the complaint. This provided reasonable redress for the inconvenience caused to the resident.

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.

6. The landlord is responsible for assessing hazards within its properties including damp and mould. The landlord must decide whether any reports of damp and mould create a hazard that requires action.
7. The evidence shows the resident reported on 6 February 2023 the bathroom fan was not working properly and was causing mould. She said previous repairs had not resolved the issue. The landlord’s records show it attended on 28 February 2023 to repair the extractor fan, but its records do not show what work the operative completed at the visit. This is not reasonable as repair records show clearly show the action taken.
8. The landlord’s tenants handbook sets out it will continue to contact the resident and rebook any missed damp and mould appointments. On 7 March 2023, the resident made a further report about the extractor fan. The landlord’s complaint response said it rescheduled repair appointments until it agreed an appointment for 27 April 2023. When it could not access the property, it rearranged the appointment for 18 May 2023.
9. The resident confirmed the engineer attended on 18 May 2023 and he did not identify any problems with the extractor fan. She also said, if further problems arose, she would make contact. It was reasonable for the landlord to conclude the repair was successful as the resident did not report further issues with the extractor fan for 7 months in January 2024.
10. The landlord did not act in line with its responsive repairs policy as it took around 3 months before it responded to the resident’s report. In its stage 2 complaint response, it agreed to inspect the property, and this identified the extractor fan needed to be overhauled
11. The landlord told us it overhauled the extractor fan on 12 March 2025 and identified it was not working properly. This was because steam had collected in the ducting and insultation blocked the condensation trap. The delay in diagnosing and fixing the issue was an unreasonable delay.
12. The resident reported in April 2023 a leak through the bedroom window due to a defective seal. In its stage 1 complaint response the landlord explained its contractor had inspected the window and determined the cause of the leak was due to defective pointing. Around 2 March 2026, the landlord assessed the front of the property needed repointing. Between these periods, there is no evidence the landlord took action to carry out pointing repairs to the property. This is not reasonable as the presence of mould in properties can represent a potential hazard and it committed to monitoring repairs to completion.
13. The resident asked the landlord to communicate with her by email. The landlord did not always follow this request and contacted the resident by phone or text message to arrange appointments. This approach contributed to the unsuccessful repair appointments. It was reasonable for the landlord to acknowledge it needed to improve its communication with residents as this helps to improve the resident and tenant relationship.
14. The landlord awarded £275 in compensation for delay, poor communication and inconvenience. Diagnosing damp and mould can be complex as may require multiple investigations. While we cannot establish the underlying cause of the damp and mould, it is apparent the mould remains unresolved which shows the issue persisted over time.
15. In this case the landlord identified the need for pointing repairs in April 2023 and this remains outstanding. Our compensation policy sets out amounts up to £600 can be paid when the landlord’s compensation award does not reflect the seriousness of its failings. Given the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident by this significant delay, we have awarded an additional £225 compensation.

16. The landlord’s complaint procedure sets out it will respond to stage 1 complaints within 10 working days. The landlord did so when it responded to the resident’s stage 1 complaint.
17. The landlord followed our Complaint Handling Code when it agreed to monitor the actions set out in its stage 1 complaints response until completion. However, the resident contacted the landlord in January 2024 advising the repairs remained unresolved. It took nearly 3 months before the landlord acknowledged the resident was trying to make a complaint. This delay was not reasonable as landlords should acknowledge residents request to escalate complaints within 5 working days. The delay caused frustration to the resident. The landlord acknowledged the failing and confirmed it had learnt from the resident’s experiences.
18. The resident raised new issues about a kitchen leak and a problem with the bath panel which had not formed part of her original complaint. The landlord did not address the issues directly. However, in its stage 2 complaint response it set out it would carry out an inspection of the property to satisfy itself of any repairs required to the property. We would have expected the landlord to be clear about whether the issues related to the kitchen and bath would be addressed as part of its stage 2 complaint response or as a new complaint. However, after the complaint process ended, it provided the resident a schedule of repairs it intended to complete.
19. The landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response within 6 days of acknowledging the complaint. This met the 20working day timescale set out in its complaints procedure.
20. The landlord acknowledged delays in its complaint handling and awarded £100 compensation. Our compensation guidance allows for compensation awards of up to £100 when the landlord’s complaint handling failing had an adversely effect on the resident and the landlord identified learning through the complaint process. We consider the landlord’s compensation award of £100 to be fair and reasonable in the circumstances of the case.

Learning

21. The landlord identified how it could improve its services for residents, if it has not already done so, it may consider reviewing how it could implement improvement to:
    1. Its record keeping so its responsive repairs and contractors record the outcome of all visits.
    2. Handling of missed appointments by its contractors.
    3. Where possible use residents preferred method of communication