A2Dominion Housing Group Limited (202342333)

Decision
Case ID	202342333
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	A2Dominion Housing Group Limited
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Assured Shorthold Tenancy
Date	19 February 2026

Background

The resident lives at the property which is a ground floor 2-bedroom flat in a converted house. The resident raised concerns about the presence of damp and mould in her property in May 2023, including reports of a loss of thermal efficiency through the front and back doors. The landlord completed rear door works in early October 2024. It decided to undertake external works related to damp and mould in July 2024 and then completed damp and mould works at the property in December 2024.

What the complaint is about

The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of reports of damp and mould.
We have also investigated the landlord’s complaint handling.

Our decision (determination)

There was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of reports of damp and mould.
There was reasonable redress in the landlord’s complaint handling.

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

Summary of reasons

The landlord’s handling of reports of damp and mould

From the first report of damp and mould made to the landlord, it took 19 months for works to be completed. The landlord renewed the wooden back door with a uPVC door 11 months after the issue was raised. The resident said that the landlord had told them that the front door was in an acceptable condition, but we have not seen any evidence of the landlord’s assessment of this door.
The landlord acknowledged failures in relation to the damp and mould works and offered compensation. However, it failed to fully acknowledge all the failures we identified. As such, the compensation it offered for its failings did not reflect the significance of the impact on the resident and all the failures we identified.

The landlord’s complaint handling

The landlord’s acknowledgement of the complaint at stage 1 was outside of the timescales set out in our Complaint Handling Code (‘the Code’) that was in place at the time. It also did not acknowledge timely the resident’s request to escalate the complaint. The landlord did not address all the aspects of the resident’s complaint. In its stage 2 response, it apologised and offered compensation to account for these failings, which was appropriate for the moderate impact this had on 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.

Order	What the landlord must do	Due date
1	Apology order The landlord must apologise in writing to the resident for the failures identified in this report. The landlord must ensure: The apology is specific to the failures identified in this decision, meaningful and empathetic. It has due regard to our apologies guidance.	No later than 19 March 2026
2	Compensation Order The landlord must pay the resident total of £700 compensation to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of the reports of damp and mould, including reports of a loss of thermal efficiency through the front and back doors. This is inclusive of what the landlord offered during its process, and if the landlord has paid £235 already it may wish to deduct it from the total. This must be paid directly to the resident by the due date. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date.	No later than 19 March 2026
3	Inspection Order The landlord must contact the resident to arrange an inspection of the front door. It must take all reasonable steps to ensure the inspection is completed by the due date. The inspection must be completed by someone suitably qualified to complete an inspection of the type needed. If the landlord cannot gain access to complete the inspection, it must provide us with documentary evidence of its attempts to inspect the property no later than the due date. What the inspection must achieve The landlord must ensure that the surveyor: Inspects the condition of the front door to assess its thermal efficiency and produces a written report with photographs. The survey report must set out: Whether the property is fit for human habitation and whether there are any hazards. The most likely cause of the draughts coming into the property. Whether the landlord is responsible to repair or resolve the issue together with reasons where it is not responsible. A full scope of works to achieve a lasting and effective resolution to the issue (if the landlord is responsible). The likely timescales to commence and complete the work (if the landlord is responsible).	No later than 18 April 2026
4	Case Review Order The landlord is to complete a case review of its handling of the damp and mould and any complex repair. The review must be completed by a senior member of its staff and a copy must be provided to us. The review should include the delays, its communication, its record keeping, and its oversight of the repair. The review should also aim to identify improvements in relation to processes and staff training where necessary.	No later than 19 March 2026

Order

What the landlord must do

Due date

Apology order

The landlord must apologise in writing to the resident for the failures identified in this report. The landlord must ensure:

The apology is specific to the failures identified in this decision, meaningful and empathetic.
It has due regard to our apologies guidance.

No later than

19 March 2026

Compensation Order

The landlord must pay the resident total of £700 compensation to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of the reports of damp and mould, including reports of a loss of thermal efficiency through the front and back doors. This is inclusive of what the landlord offered during its process, and if the landlord has paid £235 already it may wish to deduct it from the total.

This must be paid directly to the resident by the due date. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date.

No later than

19 March 2026

Inspection Order

The landlord must contact the resident to arrange an inspection of the front door. It must take all reasonable steps to ensure the inspection is completed by the due date. The inspection must be completed by someone suitably qualified to complete an inspection of the type needed.

If the landlord cannot gain access to complete the inspection, it must provide us with documentary evidence of its attempts to inspect the property no later than the due date.

What the inspection must achieve

The landlord must ensure that the surveyor:

Inspects the condition of the front door to assess its thermal efficiency and produces a written report with photographs.

The survey report must set out:

Whether the property is fit for human habitation and whether there are any hazards.
The most likely cause of the draughts coming into the property.
Whether the landlord is responsible to repair or resolve the issue together with reasons where it is not responsible.
A full scope of works to achieve a lasting and effective resolution to the issue (if the landlord is responsible).
The likely timescales to commence and complete the work (if the landlord is responsible).

No later than

18 April 2026

Case Review Order

The landlord is to complete a case review of its handling of the damp and mould and any complex repair. The review must be completed by a senior member of its staff and a copy must be provided to us. The review should include the delays, its communication, its record keeping, and its oversight of the repair. The review should also aim to identify improvements in relation to processes and staff training where necessary.

No later than

19 March 2026

Recommendations

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

Our recommendations
The landlord should now pay the £100 in compensation for complaint handling that it had already offered in the stage 2 response.

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
7 November 2023	The resident contacted the landlord to raise a formal complaint. She said that a surveyor did visit in June 2023 but that there had been no further actions taken. The resident complained particularly about a lack of communication from the landlord about how it intended to address the damp and mould. The resident also complained about a loss of heat through their front and back doors, and also that their heating costs had increased due to this heat loss.
28 November 2023	The landlord issued its stage 1 response. It said: It had received the resident’s report of damp and mould on 18 May 2023, and that it had appointed a surveyor to visit on 4 July 2023. It was aiming to have job orders raised by 15 December 2023. It offered £235.00 compensation, made up of £110.00 for delays in the works being completed, £75.00 for distress and inconvenience and £50.00 for communication failures.
12 December 2023	The resident requested that the complaint be escalated to stage 2, as the issues with damp and mould and loss of heat/thermal efficiency were still outstanding.
14 February 2024	The landlord issued its final response. It said: It had raised damp and mould works with its contractors, this could only be done after the freeholder for the building had completed external works. It confirmed the compensation offer from stage 1. It apologised for delays in progressing the complaint at both stage 1 and stage 2. It offered a further £100.00 compensation for this bringing the total compensation to £335.
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s final response and brought the complaint to HOS. She complained that she had not been given more detail on what needed to be done to resolve the repairs, and had not been given a timeline on when works would be completed. She also complained that the landlord did not inform them that it had to wait for the freeholder to complete external works until the stage 2 response. She also said she was unhappy with the level of compensation offered.

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.

Complaint	The landlord’s handling of reports of damp and mould.
Finding	Maladministration

The landlord accepted repair responsibility (as set out in the blank template tenancy agreement sent to us) for internal walls, plasterwork and external doors. This tenancy agreement also states that it is the landlord’s responsibility to maintain external walls and the roof, but from February 2024 onwards the landlord’s position was that a separate freeholder for the building was responsible for carrying out the external works. While the landlord did later take on responsibility for the external works, it is not clear from the evidence submitted who actually was responsible for the external repairs required to resolve the issue.
The issue with damp and mould remained outstanding for almost 19 months, while it took almost 11 months for the back door to be renewed. These timeframes are significantly beyond the 20 working days for standard repairs, and 90 calendar days (around 3 months) for planned and packaged works in the repairs policy that applied at the time. The landlord also did not inform the resident of the estimated timescales for the works to be completed as per its damp and mould policy.
The stage 1 response outlined works needed to the brickwork and render, before allowing the walls to dry out and redecorating, and that these works would be raised by 15 December 2023. This response also said that a caseworker from the landlord’s damp and mould team will be allocated to keep the resident updated on this issue. However, there is no evidence of this caseworker updating the resident between November 2023 and February 2024, and the stage 2 response then provided a less detailed update, saying that the works to the property had been appointed to a contractor, but that the freeholder needed to complete external works first.
The landlord has not provided any evidence that it updated the resident on the surveyor’s recommendations following the visit on 4 July 2023, nor that it would raise these works until it provided the stage 1 response on 28 November 2023. It has also not provided evidence of when it found that the freeholder was responsible for external works related to this complaint, nor that it informed the resident of this before the stage 2 response on 14 February 2024.
Repairs can require follow up appointments, parts and quotes. This can also require the involvement of other external stakeholders, as the landlord stated here. However, good customer service requires it to keep in contact and provide updates on the progress of the work, and the reasons for delays. There was no evidence the landlord did so from July 2023 to August 2024. This poor communication continued for several months after the end of the complaints process.
In July 2024 the landlord decided to take responsibility for the external works it had previously said were to be done by the freeholder for the building. This was appropriate given the delays. However, it took further 5 months to complete works to resolve the damp and mould. The landlord has not provided evidence of the reasons for these further delays, beyond a message in December 2024 to say that a delay was caused by the need to investigate possible structural issues. The landlord informed the resident that these works had been completed on 13 December 2024.
The resident specifically said that the second part of her complaint was that she was losing heat from both the front and back doors, but the landlord did not address this in its complaint responses, and missed an opportunity to further investigate and resolve her concerns.

The landlord later confirmed that it did not consider this as part of the complaint. There is evidence that, to aid with resolving the damp and mould, it was recommended that the back door be renewed with a uPVC door, and the resident informed us that this had been completed in October 2024, with considerable delays. There is also no evidence that the landlord assessed the condition of the front door. This was inappropriate given the overall damp and mould issues and the resident’s concerns.

Overall the landlord did not act in line with its policies and obligations. It took 19 months to complete works related to the damp and mould. It did not acknowledge that the resident had raised a related issue with a loss of heat through their front and back doors, and while it did renew the back door, this took 11 months from when the resident raised it. There is no evidence that the landlord assessed the front door. There is also little evidence of the landlord providing meaningful updates on the progress of repairs during the life of the complaint, and for several months afterwards.
The landlord acknowledged the delays and the lack of communication and offered £235 towards its failures. However, it could not demonstrate that it had taken any learning as it did not improve its communication with the resident after stage 2. There were also further delays in completing the works without any explanation. The overall compensation did not go far enough to account for the failings in communication and record keeping we have identified, the time the repairs remained outstanding (including after stage 2) and the distress and inconvenience this caused the resident.

Complaint	The handling of the complaint
Finding	Reasonable redress

The Code in place at the time of the complaint required landlords to issue a stage 1 response within 10 working days of a complaint being logged, and to issue a stage 2 response within 20 working days of a complaint being escalated. The landlord’s complaints policy gave the same timeframes for responding at stage 1 and stage 2, and also gave the landlord 5 working days to first acknowledge the complaint at stage 1.
The resident raised the complaint on 7 November 2023, and the landlord informed the resident that the complaint had been logged on 20 November 2023. This delay was not acknowledged in the stage 1 response. Once the complaint was logged, the stage 1 response was issued within the 10 working day timescale. This was appropriate.
The resident asked the landlord to escalate the complaint to stage 2 on 12 December 2023, but the landlord asked the resident to wait until 15 December 2023, as this was the ‘promise date’ for the landlord to take action to resolve the issues. While the complaints procedure in place at the time does say that the landlord can close a complaint on the basis of a promise to take future actions, it does not say that the landlord can delay accepting a complaint at stage 2 for this reason.
The landlord then did not log the complaint at stage 2 until 24 January 2024. It issued the stage 2 response on 14 February 2024. In total, it took 43 working days from the resident’s escalation request for the stage 2 response to be issued, which is outside of the timescales set out in both the Code and the landlord’s complaints policy.
Neither the stage 1 or stage 2 responses acknowledged that the resident raised the issue with the heat loss through the front and back doors, indeed there is no mention of these issues in these responses. In line with the Code, landlords should respond to all aspects of the complaints to provide early resolutions.
The landlord awarded £100 compensation specifically for its complaint handling, to account both for delays in acknowledging the complaint at both stages. While this offer did not include the lack of response to the point about the doors, and the initial refusal to escalate the complaint to stage 2 for 3 days, it does reflect the inconvenience caused to the resident by the failures we have identified. As such we found it to be an appropriate remedy for these failings.

Learning

We have asked the landlord to complete a learning review. The landlord failed to retain an oversight over its contractors and procedures to ensure that it could meet its repair timescales. In particular when raising repairs, keeping records of surveys, inspections and job notes, and updating residents on the progress of repairs. The landlord needs to know why these failures occurred.

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

The landlord has not provided a number of important documents relating to this complaint, including the resident’s request to escalate the complaint to stage 2, the acknowledgements of the complaint at both stage 1 and stage 2, and evidence of the occupancy agreement the resident has with the landlord, such as the signed tenancy agreement, or a screenshot confirming the type of tenure the resident has. It has also not provided any evidence to clarify how repair responsibilities are shared by the landlord and the freeholder for the building, such as a management agreement.

Communication

Outside of the stage 1 and stage 2 complaint responses, there is no evidence of the landlord keeping the resident updated on the progress of works and reasons for delays during the complaints process. This continued until several months after the complaints procedure was exhausted.