Southwark Council (202421746)

Background

1. The resident complained in April 2024 about damp and mould in her home. The landlord issued its final response in May 2024 and confirmed it had completed the required works. The resident remains dissatisfied with the landlord’s handling of her reports of damp and mould. She is seeking compensation, reimbursement for damaged belongings, and a move to alternative accommodation.

What the complaint is about

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

Our decision (determination)

3. There was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould.

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

Reasons

4. The landlord’s repairs policy states it will respond to emergency repairs within 24 hours and non-urgent repairs within 20 working days. Unsafe electrics fall within the emergency repairs category.
5. The landlord’s complaints policy states that it will not normally consider a complaint that is made more than 12 months after the individual first became aware of the issue they want to complain about.
6. The resident complained of damp and mould on 5 April 2024. There is no evidence she had reported this issue in the preceding 12 months. The landlord attempted to contact her on 8 April 2024 to arrange an inspection, which was an appropriate and timely response. On 9 April 2024, the resident reported a leak from the property above, although it is unclear how the landlord responded. She contacted the landlord again on 13 April 2024 to advise that the leak had affected the electrics. The landlord attended the same day, made the electrics safe, and completed follow-on works by 18 April 2024, in line with its repairs policy.
7. Following the resident’s report of damp and mould, the landlord attended and completed an inspection on 15 May 2024. This was 27 working days after the resident had raised the issue and was 7 working days beyond the landlord’s repair timescale. It was also a shortcoming that the landlord did not appear to carry out any risk assessment when it received the report or attempt to determine the seriousness of the issue so it could appropriately prioritise the repair. We have ordered it to pay the resident £50 for its failure to respond within timescales. The landlord has since implemented a new policy and commits to attending to reports of damp and mould within 10 working days. We have therefore made no further orders regarding this.
8. At the inspection in May 2024, the landlord identified that damp and mould was present in the property. It noted that the extractor fans in the kitchen and bathroom needed to be replaced and a mould wash was required in several rooms. The extractor fans were replaced the following day, and the landlord completed the necessary mould wash 4 days after the inspection. This was within its repair timescales and was a swift response to the issues identified. It showed the landlord was taking a proactive approach.
9. The resident escalated her complaint to stage 2 of the complaints process after the inspection was completed. She was frustrated that damp and mould had been identified in the property. She felt that this indicated that the landlord had been negligent, as she said she had previously reported damp and mould in 2017 and was told there was none present at that time.
10. The landlord responded to the stage 2 complaint and advised that as the resident had not reported damp and mould in the 12 months leading up to the complaint in April 2024, it was unable to look into investigate her concerns relating to earlier events. While we recognise that this may have been disappointing for the resident, the landlord’s response was in line with its complaints policy.
11. The landlord advised that it had not received any reports of damp and mould from the resident since 2017. It later found a report from 2018. However, due to the long period between these reports and the complaint being raised, it was unable to confirm if the issue had been there all along or was a recent issue. This was reasonable. The landlord operates a reactive repairs policy meaning it can only respond to reports it is aware of. The tenancy handbook also states that any repairs should be reported as soon as possible. We have found that the landlord responded appropriately to the resident’s reports of damp and mould.
12. We cannot investigate complaint issues that have not completed the landlord’s complaint process, as the landlord must have the opportunity to respond. The resident’s complaint did not include concerns about damage to personal belongings caused by damp and mould. Therefore, we have not considered this issue.
13. In her stage 1 complaint, the resident raised concerns about being overcrowded. This did not form part of her stage 2 escalation and therefore did not exhaust the landlord’s complaints process. We have therefore been unable to consider this in our investigation. We would encourage the landlord to actively explore solutions such as management moves and mutual exchanges and to ensure the resident is registered with the relevant housing authority. Should the resident be dissatisfied with how the landlord has handled her request for a transfer, she would need to contact the landlord to raise a separate complaint, if she 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.

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.