A2Dominion Housing Group Limited (202229072)
REPORT
COMPLAINT 202229072
A2Dominion Housing Group Limited
30 September 2024
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
- This complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould.
- This investigation has also considered the landlord’s:
- Record keeping.
- Handling of the associated complaint.
Background
- The property is a 2-bed first floor flat. At the time of the complaint, the resident was an assured tenant who lived in the property with his partner and their 2 children. Their daughter has asthma and ADHD, and is awaiting diagnosis for suspected autism. The resident’s partner has brought this complaint as a representative. For ease of reference, any actions taken by the representative will be referred to as the actions of ‘the resident’ throughout this report.
- On 10 January 2023, the resident made a complaint about the landlord’s handling of damp and mould in the property. He said there had been continuous damp and mould for 4 years, and that while many surveyors had attended, the issues were never resolved.
- The landlord issued a stage 1 complaint response on 4 April 2023. It said it accepted that its service standards fell short, and that it had raised a series of works to tackle the damp and mould. Those included a mould wash, investigation of the bin store roof to eliminate any potential water ingress, installing a bathroom extractor fan, replacing the kitchen extractor fan, and cleaning or overhauling the trickle vents. It said those works would take place on 16 May 2023. It offered £325 compensation for delays in repairs and £50 for delays in responding to the complaint.
- The resident escalated his complaint on the same day. The landlord issued a stage 2 response on 25 May 2023. It said it had carried out all of the relevant works save for the extractor fans, and that the damp wall was caused by an issue with the bin store roof. It increased the compensation offer to £350 for its handling of damp and mould, and £75 for its complaint handling.
- The resident was dissatisfied with the landlord’s response, so referred his complaint to the Ombudsman. He said the local authority’s environmental health team had deemed the property unfit for occupation, and that he did not believe the works the landlord carried out would resolve the issues.
Assessment and findings
Policies and procedures
- Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 places a statutory obligation on the landlord to keep the structure and exterior of the property in repair. The landlord is required to carry out repairs within a reasonable timeframe. The tenancy agreement says the landlord is also responsible for maintaining the internal walls, floors and ceilings, and the plasterwork.
- The landlord’s repairs policies say it will complete repairs in the following timeframes:
- Emergency repairs will be completed within 24 hours.
- Standard repairs will be completed within 20 working days.
- Planned repairs will be completed within 90 days.
- Under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, the landlord must ensure the dwelling is fit for human habitation throughout the tenancy. The landlord must also ensure that the homes it provides meet the Decent Homes Standard. Section 5 of the Decent Homes Standard says the landlord should ensure that its properties are free of category 1 hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). Damp and mould is listed as a potential category 1 hazard.
- The landlord has a 2-stage complaints process. Under the policy, stage 1 responses must be issued within 10 working days, and stage 2 responses must be issued within 20 working days of an escalation request. This matches the timescales in the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code.
Scope of the investigation
- Paragraph 42(a) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme says the Ombudsman may not investigate complaints which have not completed the landlord’s internal complaints process. The resident told the Ombudsman that the issues with damp and mould persisted after the landlord’s stage 2 response. While the Ombudsman can consider events up to the stage 2 response, any events after that would not have completed the landlord’s internal complaints process. As such, the Ombudsman cannot consider events after the stage 2 response as part of this investigation, save for providing context. For the same reason, the Ombudsman cannot consider the resident’s complaint that the property is unsuitable for his family’s needs.
- It is not within the Ombudsman’s remit to make a formal finding as to whether or not the property was fit for human habitation, as such a finding can only be made by the courts. The Ombudsman also cannot award damages in the way a court can when a property is found to be unfit for human habitation or in a state of disrepair. The Ombudsman can, however, award compensation for any distress or inconvenience the resident experienced as a result of the way the landlord handled the reports.
- The resident has referred to the effect the leak and subsequent damage had on his child’s health. The Ombudsman is unable to draw conclusions on the causation of, or liability for, damage to health and wellbeing. Personal injury claims must, ultimately, be determined by the courts, as the courts can consider medical evidence and make legally binding findings in this regard. However, the Ombudsman will consider any general distress and inconvenience the situation caused the resident.
Assessment – damp and mould
- The resident said there had been issues with damp and mould in the property for a number of years, but the landlord was doing nothing to resolve it. He said the damp and mould was affecting his children’s health, and that his daughter had to increase her treatment for asthma as a result. He said he had to throw out various belongings which had been damaged by mould, and does not believe that the works carried out by the landlord would resolve the damp and mould.
- The landlord has provided no repair logs which cover the period prior to the resident’s complaint. Instead, it provided repair logs for the period after the complaint. The only evidence it has provided of events prior to the complaint is a copy of an inspection report from November 2021, and another from May 2022. The resident has been able to provide various records which appear to originate from the landlord’s repairs portal, but these are incomplete and do not paint a full picture of what happened in this case. The landlord’s poor record keeping has therefore significantly hampered the Ombudsman’s investigation into this complaint.
- The repair records provided by the resident show he reported issues with damp and mould on the following occasions:
- In August 2017, he reported damp in 2 bedrooms. He said he had tried washing the mould and painting, but it kept coming through. He asked the landlord to provide dehumidifiers to help dry the walls out.
- In February 2018 and September 2018, he reported black mould on the bedroom ceilings and walls.
- On 4 November 2019, he reported the mould was in all bedrooms and the living room.
- On October and November 2020, he reported that the mould was in every room. He said he had tried washing the mould, but it had not worked.
- In February 2021, he reported cracks in the wall around the window, and that the wall was very damp. In November 2021, he reported damp in the internal and external walls via his MP.
- When a resident reports damp and mould, the landlord is required to carry out an inspection within a reasonable time. What steps the landlord is then required to take would depend on the cause of the damp and mould. In this case, the available repair records show the landlord recorded each of the reports above. In 2017, it carried out 3 mould washes, and recorded that it needed to inspect the flat roof of the bin store which was next to an external bedroom wall. It has provided no evidence of carrying out that inspection, or of carrying out any inspections until February 2021, 3.5 years after the resident started reporting damp and mould in the property. This was a serious and significant delay, for which no explanation has been provided. The landlord’s actions were not in line with either its repair obligations or standard industry practice, and demonstrate that it did not take the reports seriously.
- Following the resident’s further reports in February 2021, the landlord arranged for an operative to attend the property. The landlord has not provided any survey reports, or any evidence of an investigation into the underlying causes of damp and mould. Following that visit, the landlord raised a works order to replace the silicone around the living room and bedroom windows. The landlord has provided no evidence of carrying out any works following the visit, and the Ombudsman has seen evidence of the resident having to chase the landlord for repairs a month later. As such, the landlord’s already significant failings were compounded by its inaction.
- After the resident’s MP contacted the landlord in November 2021, the landlord booked another inspection of the property. The operative identified the same problems with the window sealant, and also recommended that the landlord install a positive input ventilation system. The report does not include any evidence that the operative carried out an adequate investigation into the underlying cause of the damp and mould.
- The landlord sealed the windows on 5 January 2022. Its operative reported that the damp issues in the property were not related to the windows. The landlord then booked another survey. This was a reasonable step, but it waited 2 months before attempting to book the survey, which then did not take place until May 2022. This was an unreasonable and unexplained delay.
- While an operative inspected the property on 3 May 2022, there is no evidence of any damp meter readings being taken, or of any investigation into the underlying causes of the damp and mould. The records say the operative simply told the resident to wait until the autumn and then report the mould again. On receipt of that report, the Ombudsman would have expected the landlord to either raise queries with the operative who carried out the inspection, or to arrange a more detailed inspection to identify the source of the damp and mould. Instead, the landlord closed the repair as ‘no works required’ and took no further action until the resident made a complaint in January 2023. This was unreasonable and inappropriate.
- When the resident raised a complaint on 10 January 2023, he told the landlord that there was mould in every room of the property apart from the dining room. He said it was on the walls and ceilings, and had spread to the furniture, as well as his children’s clothes and shoes. The landlord raised a repair for a mould wash and survey, which it marked as complete on 16 January 2023. It has provided no evidence of carrying out any works, and on 17 January 2023, the resident contacted the landlord to say the operatives had attended but did not carry out any works.
- The landlord then carried out an inspection on 26 January 2023. The report did not include any indications of the likely cause of the damp and mould. The operative recommended that the silicone around a basin and bath be replaced. Around the time of his complaint, the resident contacted the local authority’s environmental health team. They carried out an informal HHSRS assessment on 31 January 2023 and identified the following issues:
- Significant penetrating damp causing mould growth on the external wall of the children’s bedroom.
- The location of the damp was related to the bin store roof, which was in disrepair.
- There was also mould growth on the external walls of the living room and second bedroom.
- There was a high category 2 damp and mould hazard in the children’s bedroom, and a low category 2 damp and mould hazard in the living room and second bedroom.
- The Ombudsman has not seen any evidence that the resident or environmental health team passed those findings to the landlord at that stage. However, the landlord carried out another inspection on 9 February 2023. The surveyor at that inspection took damp readings and identified excessively high damp readings in the wall of the children’s bedroom. They said the adjoining bin store roof was in poor condition and leaking, and that this was potentially the cause of the damp, combined with poor ventilation. The surveyor recommended further investigation, along with a mould wash, installation of extractor fans, and repairs to the bin store roof.
- Based on the evidence provided, this was the first time the landlord carried out a damp survey to identify the underlying cause of the damp, rather than a general inspection. This was more than 5 years from the date of the first report, which was a serious failing. It then did not raise the relevant works until 23 March 2023, more than a month after the survey. It has provided no explanation for this delay, so the Ombudsman can only conclude it was both avoidable and unreasonable.
- The landlord arranged an inspection on 20 April 2023. The report said that none of the works recommended in the previous inspection report had been carried out. The landlord then attended the property on multiple days between 16 and 22 May 2023, when it carried out all of the recommended works save for the extractor fans. This was 3 months after the survey and so unreasonably delayed.
- The Ombudsman notes that the resident disputes the works were sufficient to resolve the damp and mould, and that the landlord’s damp and mould team have recently confirmed that there was an issue with the cladding on the building which was causing ongoing damp and mould. None of the operatives or surveyors who inspected the property, either on behalf of the landlord or the local authority’s environmental health team, identified cladding as an alternative cause of the damp and mould prior to the landlord’s stage 2 response.
- As such, while the works in May 2023 were unreasonably delayed, the landlord was entitled to rely on the opinion of the surveyor who carried out a full damp and mould survey when assessing what works were needed. If the resident is dissatisfied with how the landlord handled the damp and mould after the stage 2 response, when issues with the cladding became apparent, he would need to make a further complaint to the landlord about those events before the Ombudsman could consider them.
- The Ombudsman’s Spotlight Report on damp and mould sets out what the Ombudsman expects from landlords where damp and mould are concerned. It says landlords should take a zero-tolerance approach to damp and mould, carry out proactive intervention, communicate effectively with residents, and, where significant works may be required, it should consider whether the resident should be moved from the property at an early stage. The landlord has provided no evidence to show it took any of those steps. Instead, the evidence provided shows the landlord ignored reports of damp and mould for a number of years. It then failed to properly investigate the cause of the damp and mould for more than a year, and it was only after the resident’s complaint in January 2023 that it took steps to properly investigate and resolve the underlying issue.
- Landlords are expected to be sympathetic and understanding of residents’ needs. They are also expected to be proactive when responding to concerns, especially in respect of housing safety. The evidence provided shows a lack of care and attention in the landlord’s treatment of the resident, and its inadequate records do not demonstrate that it took repeated reports of damp and mould seriously. This was despite it being aware that there was a child in the property who had asthma, and the resident reporting that the mould was harming his daughter’s health. It was also aware that the resident had to repeatedly clean mould off the walls, but did not take the reports seriously until after the complaint.
- The landlord has acknowledged in its complaint response that its handling of damp and mould was inappropriate in this case. However, the compensation offered during the complaints process does not adequately address the detriment the landlord’s inaction caused the resident. The landlord’s handling of reports of damp and mould at the property was so poor it warrants a finding of severe maladministration.
- The Ombudsman has found both maladministration and severe maladministration in a number of complaints related to the landlord’s handling or damp and mould, leading to a wider order being made in accordance with paragraph 54(f) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme on 30 October 2023. As a result of that wider order, the landlord is in the process of implementing a number of changes in the way it handles reports of damp and mould, and in its record keeping. As the landlord is in the process of implementing those changes, the Ombudsman will not duplicate the orders made in recent determinations. We will, however, assess what further steps the landlord needs to take to put things right.
- The resident told the Ombudsman and the landlord that the property was not habitable, and that his family should be moved to a new property. It is not within the Ombudsman’s remit to order a landlord to permanently rehouse a resident. However, the Ombudsman would expect a landlord to assess whether or not a property is fit for habitation when there are reports of persistent damp and mould, and to consider whether or not it needs to move the residents to alternative accommodation on either a temporary or permanent basis. It has not shown that it did so.
- The local authority has confirmed that, as at the date of its inspection in January 2023, the property was not habitable. It is unclear from the evidence provided whether or not the property is now habitable and, if so, when it became habitable. As such, the landlord must contact the local authority to request a formal HHSRS assessment of the property, and let the resident know what rehousing options, if any, it can offer. It must also write to the resident to confirm its current understanding of the cause of the damp and mould, and its action plan for resolving it.
- The resident told the landlord and the Ombudsman that he had to throw away a number of belongings as a result of the damp and mould. An insurer would be best placed to assess the cause of the damage and the value of the damaged items, as well as whether or not the landlord was responsible for the damage. The Ombudsman would only expect a landlord to consider compensation for the losses if its insurer would not cover the claim, for example if the cause of the damage was not covered under the policy. As the resident has not yet made such a claim, it would not be appropriate to order any additional compensation at this stage. However, as the Ombudsman has seen no evidence of the landlord providing the resident with details of its insurance team, an order to do so has been made below.
- Finally, the Ombudsman considers that the landlord should pay the resident compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused by its poor handling of the reports of damp and mould. In this case, the resident had reported damp and mould to the landlord on multiple occasions for almost 6 years by the date of the stage 2 response. Throughout that time, he had to live in a property with damp and mould in multiple rooms, including his children’s bedroom. He has reported having to continually clean mould off of the walls, as well as his concern about the effect the mould had on his daughter’s health. While the Ombudsman does not order compensation for damage to health, this Service notes that living in a property you believe is damaging your child’s health would inevitably cause significant distress.
- Taking into account all the circumstances of the case, the Ombudsman considers that the landlord should pay the resident £5,500 compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused by its poor handling of damp and mould in the property. This is calculated at a rate of £1,000 per year the issues were unresolved, up to the stage 2 complaint response. This is in line with the Ombudsman’s published remedies guidance for serious failings which have a significant impact on a resident.
Assessment – record keeping
- The landlord is a member of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme. Paragraphs 10 and 11 of the Scheme require landlords to provide copies of any information the Ombudsman considers relevant to the complaint, and to do so within a reasonable timescale and an accessible format. The Ombudsman asked the landlord on 31 May 2024 to provide a copy of the resident’s damp and mould reports, all internal correspondence regarding the damp and mould, records of its investigations into the reports, repair logs, and details of any works carried out.
- In response, the landlord has provided the Ombudsman with extremely limited records related to the repairs, and almost the entirety of the information offered related to events after the resident’s complaint. The only evidence the landlord has provided of action prior to the complaint is 2 survey reports (1 from November 2021 and the other from May 2022). The Ombudsman gave the landlord a final opportunity to provide its full repair records for the relevant timeframe on 13 August 2024, and told the landlord that if it did not provide the records by 20 August 2024, it would conclude its investigation on the assumption that the landlord holds no repairs records. The landlord did not respond.
- It is unclear whether the landlord’s records are stored in such an inaccessible way that it cannot locate them, or it has chosen not to provide them. However, given that the resident was able to produce multiple repair records which appear to be from the landlord’s repairs system and date back to 2017, it is apparent that those records exist. In failing to provide those records when requested, the landlord has failed to meet its membership obligations under the Scheme.
- The landlord’s poor record keeping has hampered the Ombudsman’s investigation into this complaint, and resulted in the resident having to take the time and trouble to track down records of reports and the landlord’s actions. The Ombudsman therefore finds maladministration with regard to the landlord’s record keeping.
- A lack of appropriate record keeping has been a persistent theme in a number of complaints about the landlord that the Ombudsman has determined. The Ombudsman notes that, following the order under paragraph 54(f) of the Scheme (as set out above), the landlord has identified a number of changes it will be making to its record keeping processes. As the landlord has either introduced or is in the process of introducing those changes, the Ombudsman will not make any further orders for reviews of record keeping processes. However, the Ombudsman considers the landlord should pay the resident a further £100 for his time and trouble in having to locate records the landlord should have provided in line with its membership obligations.
Complaint handling
- The resident raised a complaint on 10 January 2023. Under the landlord’s complaints policy and the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code, the landlord should have issued a stage 1 response within 10 working days. Instead, it issued its response nearly 3 months later. This was an unreasonable delay, which delayed the resident being able to bring his complaint to the Ombudsman.
- In its complaint response, the landlord offered the resident £75 compensation for the delay in its complaint response. This is in line with the Ombudsman’s published remedies guidance for service failures which do not significantly affect the overall outcome for the resident. As such, the Ombudsman considers that the landlord has made an offer of redress which resolves its poor complaint handling satisfactorily.
Determination
- In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there has been severe maladministration with regard to the landlord’s handling of reports of damp and mould.
- In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there has been maladministration with regard to the landlord’s record keeping.
- In accordance with paragraph 53(b) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has offered the resident redress for its complaint handling failings prior to the investigation which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the failings satisfactorily.
Orders
- Within 4 weeks of the date of this report, the landlord is ordered to:
- Issue a written apology to the resident for the failings identified in this report. The apology must be issued by the landlord’s Chief Executive.
- Pay the resident £5,600 compensation (inclusive of the compensation offered as part of the complaints process). This is broken down as follows:
- £5,500 for the distress and inconvenience caused by its poor handling of damp and mould.
- £100 for the resident’s time and trouble in rectifying the landlord’s poor record keeping.
- Contact the local authority’s environmental health team to request a formal HHSRS assessment of the property.
- Write to the resident to confirm the following:
- Its current understanding of the cause(s) of the damp and mould in the property.
- What action it intends to take to resolve the damp and mould, and when it intends to take that action.
- Whether, subject to receiving the outcome of an HHSRS inspection from the local authority, it considers the property is fit for habitation in the meantime. It must also provide an explanation for how it reached its conclusion and set out what rehousing options, if any, are available as a result of the damp and mould.
- If it does not consider that it needs to take any further action to resolve the damp and mould or to decant the resident, it must set out its reasoning.
- Details of how to make a claim on its insurance for any belongings damaged as a result of its poor handling of reports of damp and mould.
- The landlord is to provide the Ombudsman with evidence of compliance with the above orders within 4 weeks of the date of this report.
Recommendations
- If it has not already done so, the landlord should pay the resident the £75 compensation it awarded through its complaints process for the failings in its complaint handling. The Ombudsman’s determination of reasonable redress for complaint handling is dependent on this payment being made.
- The landlord should write to this Service within 4 weeks of the date of this report to set out its intentions with regard to the above recommendation.