A2Dominion Housing Group Limited (202423628)

Decision
Case ID	202423628
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	A2Dominion Housing Group Limited
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Assured Tenancy
Date	28 November 2025

Background

1. The resident complained about the landlord’s response to their reports of damp and mould in the property and its lack of communication about it. They asked us to investigate as they were not satisfied with the landlord’s response. The resident and their children, who live in the property, have mental health diagnoses.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
   1. Repairs at the property to address the damp and mould.
   2. The complaint.

Our decision (determination)

3. We have found there was:
   1. Maladministration in the landlord’s handling of repairs at the property to address damp and mould.
   2. Service failure in the landlord’s handling of the complaint.

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

Summary of reasons

Repairs at the property to address damp and mould

4. The landlord did not provide clear and transparent communication with the resident about the damp in the property and repairs needed. It caused confusion about inspections and did not provide an inspection report when it was available or the associated plans to repair the property. It did not consider if the resident required any reasonable adjustments, despite their request, or if it needed to provide a point of contact to better communicate with them about the repairs.

The complaint

5. The landlord did not respond to the resident’s request to escalate the complaint to stage 2. It acknowledged this in its complaint response and offered compensation. However, it did not set out learnings and how it would prevent it happening again in the future.

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 07 January 2026
2	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £650 made up as follows: £400 for the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of repairs needed in the property to address damp and mould. £250 that it offered in its complaint response for the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of the complaint. This must be paid directly to the resident and the landlord must provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date. It may deduct from the total figure any payments it has already paid.	No later than 07 January 2026
3	Reasonable adjustments The landlord must contact the resident to ensure it has understood and responded to their request for reasonable adjustments in line with its Customer Conduct Management policy. It must set out the outcome of this in writing to the us and the resident.	No later than 07 January 2026
4	Starting the works The landlord must take all steps to ensure the repairs are started no later than the due date.   If the landlord cannot start the works in this time, it must explain to us, by the due date: why it cannot start the works by the due date and provide evidence to support its reasons. It must provide a revised timescale of when it will start and finish the works; or the steps it has taken to start the works and provide us with documentary evidence of its attempts to ensure the works were started by the due date. It must provide a revised timescale if it is able to or explain why it cannot. whether it is still suitable that alternative accommodation is necessary and made available to the resident.   It must take into consideration and apply any reasonable adjustments agreed with the resident when it considers repair works.	No later than 07 January 2026
5	Learning order The landlord must write to the resident and set out what it has learnt from the failures identified in this report and what actions it will take to prevent the same failures from happening again in the future.	No later than 07 January 2026

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
2019 to 2022	There had been a history of reports of damp and repairs at the property.
20 March 2023	A contractor inspected the property.
14 April 2023	The contractor explained it needed to inspect the bathroom cupboard and kitchen roof for any damage that may have contributed to damp and cold in the property. It said an extractor fan was needed in the bathroom, and it needed to clear a vent in 1 of the bedrooms.
12 May 2023	The resident complained that they were due to receive a callback on 10 May 2023 about a schedule of repairs to remedy the damp in the property. They said the landlord had communicated with them poorly about this.
17 May 2023	The landlord acknowledged the resident’s complaint.
23 May 2023	The landlord provided its stage 1 response. It said it had tried to contact the resident and set out what repairs were needed to reduce damp in the property. It said it would complete repairs by 14 July 2023, acknowledged it missed the resident’s request for a callback, and recognised the need for better communication internally, with contractors and residents.
16 June 2023	The resident escalated the complaint. They wanted compensation and requested an action plan before they would agree to repair appointments.
19 June 2023	The landlord discussed the escalation request with the resident. It confirmed there were no repairs pending and agreed there was a lack of updates about previous repairs. It offered £225 for the distress and inconvenience caused. The resident agreed to withdraw the complaint.
1 July 2023	The resident requested their complaint was escalated to stage 2 as they had received repair appointments via text message.
13 March 2024	The resident chased the landlord for a stage 2 response.
14 May 2024	The landlord acknowledged the resident’s escalation request.
24 June 2024	The landlord provided its stage 2 response and set out the repairs it needed to complete. It said as repair appointments were not agreed it would pursue a court injunction to allow it to repair the property. It said it delayed its response to the complaint and offered £250 compensation for this delay.
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident explained they were unhappy with the landlord’s poor communication about the property repairs. They said they did not trust the operatives, requested a copy of the original inspection report, and schedule of repairs. They said due to their mental health they struggle with people in their home and require reasonable adjustments, which the landlord had not considered.

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	Repairs at the property to address the damp and mould
Finding	Maladministration

What we have not considered

6. There are reports of a leak, damp in the property and the landlord’s attempt to remedy it, dating back to at least 2019. It is not possible for us to conduct a thorough investigation of events dating back that far. We will only consider complaints which have been raised within a reasonable time of the events occurring. Therefore, this investigation will only consider events dating back 12 months before the resident’s complaint.

What we have considered

7. After the landlord surveyed the property in March 2023, it set out that it needed to inspect it again to understand what caused the damp and cold. The resident requested a callback about this in April 2023 and May 2023 as they wanted to further understand the repairs needed. The landlord tried to call the resident on 2 occasions. It texted them that it was arranging repairs and it did not require a further property inspection as it had said.
8. It was appropriate the landlord attempted to call the resident back. However, it’s unclear if it provided the resident a named contact in line with its Service Standards and it had not clarified what the resident’s queries were to answer them. It had also confused matters by incorrectly saying that it needed to inspect the property again. This was inappropriate and not in line with its Service Standards.
9. The landlord scheduled a repair for 1 June 2023. The resident asked that it provided an action plan so they could understand the extent of the repairs before agreeing to a date. The landlord called to discuss options, but no agreement was reached as the resident wanted to understand the extent of the repairs first. They asked to cancel the appointment. The landlord outlined the general work needed, confirmed roofers would attend on 1 June 2023, and invited the resident to confirm dates they were available for the remaining repairs. In July 2023, the resident continued to request a schedule of repairs.
10. Our Spotlight report on Knowledge and Information Management (KIM) sets out that landlords should have clear communication with residents and should be transparent about repairs and inspection findings to build trust. It was appropriate to provide a general outline of repairs and invite the resident to confirm when they were available, as they are obliged under the tenancy agreement to provide access for repairs.
11. However, the landlord had not shared an action plan or the inspection report for further context of the repairs or found out what the resident’s queries were and answered them prior to setting a repair date. It also had not sent a range of dates and times before agreeing an appointment. Had it been clear and transparent from the outset, it may have appropriately kept in line with the Service Standards, the times set out in its repair policy and its damp, mould and condensation to complete repairs within 20 working days.
12. In December 2023 the landlord explained to the resident it needed to inspect the property before it could set a schedule of repairs. It offered to attend the property with a surveyor to discuss the resident’s concerns and work out a schedule of repairs together. The landlord explained in January 2024 that it may consider an injunction to allow access to inspect the property and complete repairs. It was appropriate for the landlord to consider alternative ways to answer the resident’s concerns and consider ways it could arrange the repairs to the property.
13. There is no evidence the landlord attempted to address the repairs between July 2023 and December 2023. Part of the delay was attributed to the resident’s concerns about the transparency of the inspection, their request to gain a detailed understanding of repairs required, and assurances to schedule the repairs before appointments were booked. The delay to continue to address repairs needed to reduce the damp fell short of its damp, mould and condensation policy to start remedies within 90 working days.
14. The resident agreed to meet with the landlord in February 2024 if they were provided a schedule. They asked for the March 2023 inspection report at that time and requested it again the next month. The landlord said the earlier inspection was out of date and no longer accessible, but that it did not need to inspect the property again. It said it wanted the resident to meet the contractor to agree dates for the repairs. It was unreasonable that the landlord was not clear from the outset of the purpose for the visit and provided unclear communication that it did, and did not, need to inspect the property.
15. There is no evidence the landlord had provided a single point of contact for the resident about the repairs, and it had not discussed reasonable adjustments with the resident to help them engage with repairs needed at the property. This was inappropriate and not in line with its Service Standards and Customer Conduct Management policy which says it would provide a single point of contact and make reasonable adjustments.
16. In the landlord’s complaint responses, it explained that it had tried to book in a repair appointment with the resident to address the damp in the property and keep them updated. It offered £225 for its lack of communication and the inconvenience caused. It said it needed to complete repairs and would continue to consider a court injunction.
17. Whilst the landlord took some steps to put things right, it did not recognise all the failures we have found, as set out under the Summary of Reasons of this report. This was not in line with our Dispute Resolution Principles, which require landlords to be fair, put things right, and learn from outcomes.
18. We have made orders to put things right for the resident which includes compensation in line with our Remedies Guidance and the landlord’s compensation policy for the distress and inconvenience caused by the confusion of the landlord’s communications about repairs, its lack of transparency about inspections, and lack of consideration of its Service Standards and reasonable adjustments in attempt to arrange repairs at the property. The resident set out to us the impact this had on their mental health and the stress it had caused them and their children.
19. Since the complaint response, there is no evidence the repairs have been agreed to. The resident explained the landlord is considering temporarily moving them and their children whilst it completes repairs. However, the resident does not understand how that could practically take place without impacting the mental health of those in the household.

Complaint	The handling of the complaint
Finding	Service failure

20. The Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code) sets out when and how a landlord should respond to complaints. The relevant Code in this case is the 2022 edition.
21. The landlord has a 2-stage complaint process. It aims to acknowledge stage 1 complaints within 5 working days. The resident should receive a stage 1 response within 10 working days. At stage 2, the resident should receive a formal response within 20 working days. The landlord acknowledged and answered the stage 1 complaint in time. This was appropriate and in line with the timeframes set out in its policy and the Code.
22. After the resident escalated the complaint to stage 2 the landlord spoke with the resident and reconsidered its response at stage 1. It sent a revised stage 1 response on 19 June 2023. The resident continued to escalate the complaint on 1 July 2023. They chased the landlord for a response, and it provided a stage 2 response 11 months late. This was inappropriate and not in line with the timescales set out within its policy and the Code.
23. In the landlord’s complaint response, it apologised it had delayed providing a stage 2 response. It offered £250 to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused. This offer was reasonable and in line with our Remedies guidance. However, it did not recognise any learnings from this. This was not in line with our Dispute Resolution Principles, and this has been set out under the Summary of Reasons section of this report.

Learning

Communication

24. The landlord did not communicate effectively and transparently with the resident. It provided incorrect information about its intentions to arrange a visit to the property and did not keep them updated in its attempts to repair the property.