A2Dominion Housing Group Limited (202431521)

Back to Top

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202431521

A2Dominion Housing Group Limited

30 May 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 complaint is about the landlord’s handling of repairs to the lounge window and patio, as well as its response to reports of damp and mould.

Background and summary of events

  1. The resident has been an assured tenant of the landlord since 2022. The property is a 3-bedroom house. The landlord is aware the resident has limited mobility.
  2. The resident reported that her lounge window leaked whenever it rained on 22 January 2024. She also said she could feel a draught through the window. The landlord inspected the window on 29 January 2024. It identified that it would need to complete several repairs to solve the issue.
  3. Following a report that the resident was unhappy with recent paving works on her patio the landlord inspected the property on 15 March 2024. The resident told it the patio was short of 22 paving slabs. It noted its contractor had laid the patio too high and that it could cause issues if left unresolved.
  4. The resident raised a stage 1 complaint on 11 July 2024. She was unhappy the landlord had not repaired the lounge window or her patio. She also raised concerns about damp and mould in her home.
  5. The landlord apologised to the resident in its stage 1 response on 24 July 2024. It said a break in communication with its contractors had resulted in delays to completing the outstanding repairs. It awarded her £75 compensation for the inconvenience. It assured her it would complete all outstanding repairs by 31 August 2024.
  6. The resident escalated her complaint on the same day as the landlord’s response, 24 July 2024. She was unhappy it had not addressed her lounge window or the missing paving slabs in its response.
  7. The landlord provided its stage 2 response on 26 September 2024. It apologised it did not complete the repairs by 31 August 2024. It assured her it would complete the lounge window repairs and any damp and mould related repairs identified in a recent inspection by 7 November 2024. It also said it would aim to complete the patio repairs by that date, but as those repairs were weather dependent they could be subject to delay. It awarded her £500 compensation. That was broken down as £200 for the length of time it had taken to complete the repairs, £150 for distress and inconvenience and £150 for its poor communication.  
  8. The resident escalated her complaint to this Service on 18 November 2024. She was unhappy the landlord had not completed the outstanding repairs. She wanted it to complete the repairs.
  9. The landlord contacted this Service on 20 May 2025. It said the resident had reported concerns about the quality of the window repairs. It also said repairs to the patio were outstanding. It has scheduled an inspection of the lounge window and patio for 28 May 2025.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. The resident has raised concerns about the impact of damp and mould on her family’s health. The Ombudsman cannot determine liability for damages, including whether a landlord’s action or inaction caused or worsened a health condition. Such matters are best suited to investigation through the courts or by way of a personal injury insurance claim. However, any distress or inconvenience caused by the landlord’s level of service is considered below. 

Handling of repairs and reports of damp and mould

Window repairs

  1. The resident’s tenancy agreement states the landlord will keep the structure and exterior of the property in good repair. Under the landlord’s repairs policy it should complete standard repairs within 20 working days. It says it will complete planned repairs within 90 days.
  2. The landlord acted promptly to inspect the resident’s lounge window within 1 week of her reporting it. It identified that it needed to remove and replace the loose render above the window. It also needed to reseal the window and repair the beading and plastic trim. The landlord should have raised a repair to complete those repairs within 20 working days but there is no evidence it did so. It was not appropriate that the repair remained outstanding. Given the resident reported it in the winter months the impact was greater to her and her family.
  3. The resident told the landlord in her stage 1 complaint that it had not repaired her window after its inspection. It was not appropriate that it failed to include her lounge window in its stage 1 response. It did not show it had considered all the resident’s concerns.
  4. The landlord’s approach at stage 2 was reasonable. It apologised that the lounge window repairs remained outstanding. It assured the resident it would complete the repairs. However, it was not appropriate it completed those on 1 December 2024 almost 1 month after the timeframe set out in its response.

Patio repairs

  1. The landlord did not provide evidence of when the resident first raised issues with the patio so it is unclear how promptly it acted to inspect the patio. When it completed its inspection on 15 March 2024 it identified the patio had been laid too high. That meant surface water remained. It also found the end of a drain had been blocked off. It noted repairs were required to prevent damage to the resident’s home. The resident also reported that the patio was missing 22 paving slabs.
  2. It was appropriate the landlord raised a repair within 20 working days, for 15 April 2024. However, there is no evidence its contractor attended. It raised 2 further appointments for 29 May and 22 July 2024 but again, there is no evidence its contractor attended. It referred to a breakdown in communications with its contractor in its stage 1 response on 27 July 2024. In not keeping records of those appointments, the landlord did not show it was effectively monitoring the situation or its contractor. While it was appropriate that it agreed to complete the outstanding works by 31 August 2024 there is no evidence further repairs were scheduled or completed. That resulted in the resident escalating her complaint.
  3. In the landlord’s stage 2 response it apologised that it had not completed the outstanding repairs. It said a repair had been raised on 19 June 2024 but closed by its contractor. Given that order had been raised over 1 month before its stage 1 response the landlord missed an opportunity to identify that earlier. It assured the resident it would reinstate the area with the missing paving slabs. It would safely finish any exposed drainage pipework and drains. It said it would arrange for a different contractor to complete the works by 7 November 2024. Although it was reasonable that it said the repairs could be subject to delay because they were weather dependent.
  4. It is not recorded on what exact date, but sometime in November 2024 the contractor completed partial repairs to the patio. It recorded it replaced the missing slabs and cleaned the area. It submitted a quotation to the landlord for further repairs to level the gradient but the landlord refused the quotation. It was not appropriate that the landlord did not request the contractor varied the quotation or considered a different contractor. In not taking any further action, it did not show it was taking the resident’s concerns that she and her grandchildren could not safely use the patio seriously.
  5. A landlord internal e-mail from 4 April 2025 shows the resident told it the patio gradient sloped towards her home after the repairs. She said rainwater flowed in the direction of her home and she was still unable to use the patio due to her mobility. Had the landlord monitored the November 2024 repairs effectively it could have acted to resolve that issue sooner.

Damp and mould

  1. The landlord’s damp and mould policy states that it will respond to a report of damp and complete any repairs within a reasonable timeframe. Its policy at the time of the resident’s complaint said it was developing the timescales for how long it should take to respond. For this assessment it is reasonable to assess the landlord against the 20 working day timeframe for routine repairs set out in its repairs policy as that policy was in place at the time of the resident’s complaint.
  2. In the landlord’s stage 1 response it referred to a telephone call with the resident where it discussed the repairs it would complete. It did not provide evidence of that telephone call. As its response included the resident’s request for it to treat the damp and mould it is reasonable to expect that it included damp and mould related repairs in the repairs it assured her it would complete by 31 August 2024.
  3. It was not appropriate that the landlord did not complete any damp and mould related repairs by 31 August 2024. The resident also reported it had spread to a bedroom where her granddaughter slept on 27 August 2024. It was appropriate the landlord arranged a damp and mould inspection the following month on 25 September 2024. Its stage 2 complaint response was sent the following day. It was reasonable that it had not received the outcome of the inspection by that time. It was appropriate it assured the resident it would act on the report’s findings by 7 November 2024.
  4. The landlord failed to complete the damp and mould repairs within the timescale it had set. However, in January and February 2025 it completed several damp and mould related repairs to the resident’s home recommended following the inspection. It completed a mould wash in the lounge, kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms. It installed extractor fans in the kitchen and bathroom. It also ensured the trickle vents in the windows were working correctly.

Summary

  1. Aside from not considering the lounge window at stage 1 had the landlord completed the assurances made in its complaint responses at stage 1 and 2 within the timescales it set out its actions would have been reasonable. The compensation it awarded at both stages was proportionate to its failings at the time. At stage 2 in line with its compensation policy it recognised there had been extensive disruption to the resident.
  2. However, in not completing the repairs within the timeframes set out its stage 2 response the landlord did not show it had learned from its previous failings. That has resulted in the resident telling this Service she had lost confidence that it will honour any assurances it makes. The distress and inconvenience the landlord’s delays in completing repairs caused the resident was increased by its failure to follow up the patio quotation with those repairs still yet to be completed. For those reasons there has been maladministration in the landlord’s handling of repairs and reports of damp and mould.
  3. The landlord is ordered to pay the resident a further £500 compensation to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident by its delays in completing the repairs it agreed to in its stage 2 response. That amount falls within the maladministration banding of this Service’s remedies guidance and recognises further extensive disruption to the resident as per the landlord’s compensation policy. While it is noted it scheduled an inspection of the lounge window and patio for 28 May 2025 we will make an order to ensure that inspection is completed within 4 weeks of the date of this report in the event it was not completed on that date. The landlord should provide a copy of its findings to this Service and it should schedule any repairs it identifies to begin within 4 weeks of the date of that inspection.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of repairs to the lounge window and patio, as well as its response to reports of damp and mould.

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of the date of this report the landlord is ordered to:
    1. Apologise to the resident for the failings identified in this report.
    2. Pay the resident £1,075 in compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident by the failings identified in this report (if it has already paid the £575 awarded at stage 1 and stage 2 it can reduce the figure by that amount).
    3. Complete an inspection of the lounge window and the patio. It should provide this Service and the resident with a copy of its findings. Any repairs should be scheduled to start within 4 weeks of the date of the inspection.