A2Dominion Housing Group Limited (202317739)

Back to Top

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202317739

A2Dominion Housing Group Limited

25 February 2025


Our approach

The Housing Ombudsman’s approach to investigating and determining complaints is to decide what is fair in all the circumstances of the case. This is set out in the Housing Act 1996 and the Housing Ombudsman Scheme (the Scheme). The Ombudsman considers the evidence and looks to see if there has been any ‘maladministration’, for example whether the landlord has failed to keep to the law, followed proper procedure, followed good practice or behaved in a reasonable and competent manner.

Both the resident and the landlord have submitted information to the Ombudsman and this has been carefully considered. Their accounts of what has happened are summarised below. This report is not an exhaustive description of all the events that have occurred in relation to this case, but an outline of the key issues as a background to the investigation’s findings.

The complaint

  1. The resident’s complaint is about the landlord’s handling of her reports of ventilation issues and overheating inside her flat.

Background

  1. The property is a 2-bedroom flat on the third floor of a block. The landlord is a housing association and a leaseholder of the property. The resident holds an assured non-shorthold tenancy and has been living in the flat since September 2011 with her son.
  2. In 2013 high temperatures were recorded in communal areas and internal flats. The landlord has explained to this Service that its technical team investigated at the time and found a defect with the ventilation units located behind the external metal cladding, which caused heat to be trapped behind the cladding and excessive heat within the flats. Although the developer retrospectively installed air conditioning units on each floor in the communal areas, the landlord was aware that the problem had not been resolved. It has explained to this Service that it could not carry out works to the external cladding and fabric of the building without permission from the freeholder.
  3. The earliest records seen by the Ombudsman show that the resident reported an overheating and ventilation issue to the local council in February 2022. She stated that:
    1. She had reported the issue to the landlord but it had not taken action.
    2. While there was an extractor fan in her flat, the interior was still overheating and the temperature would reach 33 degrees Celsius in the summer and 26 degrees Celsius in the winter.
    3. Smells coming into her flat via air vents were making her feel ill and the smells flowing between her flat and her neighbours’ flats were causing conflict between her and the neighbours.
    4. Her son had anxiety about leaving the flat and she was concerned that he was staying for a long time in an unhealthy and overheated environment.
    5. She had asked the landlord to change the ventilation units since summer 2021 but the landlord had not done this.
  4. The local council referred the matter back to the landlord and told the resident it would update her when it had a response. The Ombudsman has not seen a copy of any follow-up response.
  5. The resident wrote to her local MP on 17 March 2022 to say a surveyor had attended and told her the property was ‘not suitable for living in’. She repeated that her son had anxiety that prevented him from leaving the house often and she was concerned that being trapped in the excessive heat all day was affecting his wellbeing. She again asked to be moved as soon as possible.
  6. The local MP wrote to the landlord accordingly. The landlord provided the following response to the MP on 22 March 2022, a copy of which the MP shared with the resident:
    1. The landlord was aware of the longstanding issue with the heating system. There was an issue with the cladding which prevented the air from escaping and the stale air would come back into the property via vents, and this was contributing to overheating in several flats.
    2. Its senior management was working with the local council and the freeholder to resolve this issue.
    3. There was a mutual agreement between the managing agent and the landlord that while the landlord was legally responsible for controls on the heating interface unit, the managing agent was responsible for maintaining the heating system and it had agreed to undertake any services to the controls on behalf of the landlord and cross-charge the cost. This mutual agreement now needed to be formally renewed.
    4. Its senior surveyor had been working with contractors to provide a technical solution and it was also holding discussions with the freeholder to implement a permanent solution.
    5. It was seeking alternative accommodation for the resident with the local council.
  7. In late 2022, the resident contacted the landlord again to repeat she was still experiencing overheating and unpleasant cooking smells in her flat. She stated the extractor fan installed in her airing cupboard had not successfully resolved the smells, which were causing breathing problems and headaches. She shared her belief that the neighbours were deliberately blocking the ventilation vents and asked the landlord to take action against the neighbours.
  8. The resident made a formal complaint on 20 December 2022 to say the landlord had not given her a reply and had not resolved the issue of smells. She further provided a letter from her GP on 4 January 2023 to state the ventilation issues in her flat were having a negative impact on her mental health and she was also concerned about the health of her child.
  9. The landlord issued a stage 1 complaint response on 12 January 2023 summarised as follows:
    1. It had done a technical assessment on the ventilation system in both the resident’s flat and her neighbours’ flat. There was no evidence of the neighbours blocking the vents and it would not take action against the neighbours.
    2. It acknowledged there was a defect in the ducting behind the cladding causing flow restrictions.
    3. It would do a review to see if remedial works could be arranged to resolve the issues. If not, it would increase her priority to move home.
    4. It would aim to provide a further response by 10 February 2023.
  10. The resident requested escalation of her complaint on 12 January 2023.
  11. The landlord issued a stage 2 complaint response on 2 March 2023 summarised as follows:
    1. It repeated that the neighbours did not block the vent and the ventilation issues were caused by a defect in the system.
    2. It would instruct another specialist to conduct another independent survey to investigate what was causing excessive heat at the property and they would be in touch within 14 days.
    3. It confirmed the resident was a band C applicant on its choice-based lettings bidding system and the resident had been actively bidding. It advised her to keep bidding.

Events after the completion of the internal complaints process

  1. The resident sought assistance from this Service on 23 August 2023.
  2. The landlord conducted a thermographic survey at the resident’s flat on 12 October 2023. This survey found a number of issues:
    1. The resident had tried to fit LED down lights in the bathroom and the living room but there were holes in the plasterboard ceiling and hall walls which had not been sealed.
    2. There was a thin layer of soot on the walls and ceilings throughout the flat indicating some fire damage and contamination.
    3. The humidity was high inside the flat.
    4. The extractor fan was working but the fresh air exchange system was still not working efficiently and there was no air displacement.
    5. There was a fresh air vent in one of the bedrooms blocked by a cloth.
    6. The holes in the bathroom and hallway ceiling might affect the performance of the ventilation system causing humid air to enter the flat.
  3. The landlord’s operative and contractor further attended on 15 March 2024 and found that:
    1. The resident installed LED down lights without seeking prior approval. The holes cut in the ceiling and walls had not been sealed which might affect the temperature control inside the flat.
    2. The hot tap in the wash hand basin had been continuously running hot water for apparently ‘many weeks’ which created additional heat through the heating interface unit. The pipework was continuously hot during the inspection.
    3. A tumble dryer in the living room vented into the living room and the condensed water was being released into a small bowl on the floor instead of into the wastewater system. This caused unnecessary heat build-up inside the flat.
    4. A large number of bin bags filled with household waste was stacked against the living room wall which affected ventilation.
    5. There was smoke damage in the hallway potentially caused by an unreported fire and some plaster damage to plasterwork in the kitchen area.
  4. The contractor made a recommendation to the landlord in early April 2024 to change the Mechanical Extract Ventilation (MEV) units to Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR) systems before carrying out other remedial works. It stated it should do this for every flat.
  5. The contractor made appointments to attend the resident’s property on 10 April and 7 June 2024. It is unclear from the records provided what was the nature of these appointments and what works were carried out. The landlord has told this Service as of June 2024 it has found the MEV unit to be ‘working effectively’ inside the resident’s flat.
  6. The landlord has carried out repairs to reseal the holes in the resident’s ceiling in October 2024. It has not replaced the MEV unit inside the resident’s flat. It has stated to this Service it needed to complete the ceiling repairs before it could consider replacing the MEV with a MVHR. It has confirmed to this Service it has not done any other remedial actions since June 2024 nor communicated further with the resident in this regard.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. This investigation will consider the events from February 2022 to October 2024. This is because after the completion of the internal complaints process the landlord has carried out more inspections and works that are directly related to the subject of the complaint.

Relevant policies and guidance

  1. Under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 the landlord has an obligation to keep in good repair the structure and exterior of the property, as well as the installations for space heating. The tenancy agreement also states the landlord has a responsibility to keep in good repair and proper working order any installations it provided for central heating installations.
  2. The landlord is not the freeholder of the building. The Ombudsman understands that the landlord would need to liaise with the freeholder and its managing agent to ensure it could meet its obligations to ensure the property was safe and free from hazards of excess heating. The landlord has explained that there is a mutual agreement in place between itself and the management agent, where the landlord would pay the management agent money to oversee and repair issues to the heating system. The landlord has a duty to review and take reasonable action with regards to this agreement to ensure the property complies with the Decent Homes Standards and is safe for the resident to live in.
  3. The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) includes excess heat as a potential hazard. It explains that high temperatures can cause dehydration, increased cardiovascular strain and trauma, and where temperatures exceed 25 degrees Celsius, mortality increases and there is an increase in strokes.
  4. This guidance states: ‘There should be means for cooling during hot summer weather, either by natural ventilation or by air conditioning. The means should be controllable, properly installed and maintained, and appropriate, having regard to the particular part of the dwelling. There should be adequate controls to the heating system within the dwelling, particularly for district heating systems, enabling the occupier to control temperature.’

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of ventilation and overheating issues

  1. The resident reported overheating in her flat around the summer of 2021. As of February 2022, she had provided detailed information that the temperature inside her flat could be as high as 33 degrees in the summer and 26 degrees in winter. She also described that her son had a mental health condition that may prevent him from leaving the flat for long periods of time.
  2. Overheating to this extent is potentially a significant health and safety hazard under HHSRS. At this point, the Ombudsman would have expected the landlord to carry out a heat test or a thermographic survey to verify what was the temperature inside the flat and how much it was affecting the health of residents. It would also have been appropriate to conduct a safety or risk assessment, taking into account any vulnerabilities of occupiers in the flat. It is particularly concerning that the landlord did not address the resident’s son’s vulnerability in its responses.
  3. It is understandable that the landlord would need time to negotiate with the managing agent, the freeholder and its technical specialists to find a long-term solution, however, the landlord has been aware of the issues since 2013. Records show the landlord only carried out a thermographic survey for the flat in October 2023, 18 months after the resident reported the issue and after the internal complaints process had ended. The time this has taken was unreasonably excessive.
  4. The landlord shared the information about the cladding and system issues causing overheating with the resident and her MP in March 2022. However as of January 2023, after the resident made her complaint, it said it was still ‘reviewing what remedial works could be done’. It was only in October 2023 that it carried out a thermographic survey.
  5. While conducting the thermographic survey in October 2023 and another inspection in March 2024, the landlord found several issues that might be contributing to the overheating and poor ventilation, including unsealed holes cut in the ceiling and walls for LED down lights, a continuously running hot water tap, a blocked vent inside the resident’s property, and household waste. These are issues that were within the resident’s control. However there is no record to show the landlord discussed these findings with the resident. The Ombudsman considers it would have been appropriate for the landlord to try to communicate with the resident and provide advice on managing the ventilation in her flat to prevent these factors from making the overheating worse and causing further detriment to the resident’s health.
  6. The landlord has arranged to reseal the holes in the ceiling in October 2024. Other than this, as it told this Service, there has not been further progress to any remedial works.
  7. In April 2024 the contractors recommended changing MEV to MVHR units. The landlord internally discussed this option but as of February 2025 has not carried this out in the resident’s flat nor discussed it as an option with the resident. It stated to this Service that it needed to complete the ceiling repair works first. The ceiling resealing was completed by October 2024 and the landlord has provided no reasonable explanation as to why there has been no further work.
  8. Given that it remains uncertain over whether there could be any permanent technical solution, It was appropriate that the landlord advised the resident on potential rehousing. It said in March 2022 that it was working with the local council to find alternative accommodation for the resident. There was no further follow-up or update to this commitment until the resident made a formal complaint in December 2022.
  9. In January 2023, the landlord stated in its complaint response that if it could not implement remedial works, it would increase the resident’s priority for re-housing. In March 2023, at stage 2 of the complaints process, it told the resident she was a band C applicant for alternative properties and asked her to keep bidding. There was no follow-up to the earlier suggestion that it could help with increasing her priority if it did not have a technical solution by that time. This would have caused distress and frustration for the resident.
  10. It may have been appropriate for the landlord to offer temporary measures such as electric fans during the summer to help mitigate some of the impact to the resident, however, there was no record to show the landlord considered this.
  11. Due to the reasons set out above, there is severe maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of poor ventilation and overheating. In particular the lack of a risk assessment, protracted delays in implementing a solution, lack of updates and advice on re-housing, and lack of interim measures to mitigate the impact of overheating mean that cumulatively there has been a significant impact on the resident.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the Ombudsman finds severe maladministration in relation to the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of ventilation and overheating issues.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks from the date of this report, the landlord is to pay to the resident £1,000 in recognition of the distress and inconvenience caused by failings in how it handled the resident’s reports of ventilation and overheating issues. The landlord must provide evidence of payment to this Service and the compensation must be paid directly to the resident and not offset against any arrears.
  2. Within 6 weeks from the date of this report, the landlord is to write to the resident as below (with copy to this Service):
    1. Apologise to the resident to acknowledge the failings identified in this report.
    2. Outline its planned strategy for resolution of the defects causing the overheating and ventilation issues with timescales. This must contain an update on the progress it has made so far, proposed temporary mitigation measures such as electric fans, and a confirmation on whether it plans to replace her MEV unit with a MVHR unit. If the landlord does not plan to replace the ventilation unit, it must provide a full and detailed explanation.
    3. Provide advice to the resident on rectifying the factors that were identified in March 2024 as potentially contributing to poor ventilation inside her flat, including the continuously running hot water tap, the household waste and the tumble dryer.
    4. Provide advice to the resident whether it can consider increasing her priority to bid for alternative accommodation, and what other re-housing options there would be for her, if any.

Recommendations

  1. The landlord should write to other residents in the building to share its proposed strategy for fixing the defects to the ventilation system and cladding issues to ensure that all residents receive an update on its plans.