Chesterfield Borough Council (202227489)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202227489

Chesterfield Borough Council

8 January 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 response to the resident’s reports of damp and mould.

Background

  1. The resident lives with his wife and 3 children in the property, a 3 bedroom house. The tenancy agreement is in the resident’s wife’s name. She has a secure tenancy, and the resident was recorded as a sub-tenant in September 2020. 
  2. On 14 March 2022 the resident reported damp and mould. On 11 April 2022, he complained to the landlord that he had raised concerns about 4 weeks before but had had no response. He said he was going to get legal advice as the mould was affecting his family’s health.
  3. An inspection was carried out on 26 April 2022, but the landlord’s records make no mention of what was found. They simply say that jobs were created following the visit.
  4. On 17 May 2022, the resident asked for his complaint to be escalated to stage 2 because he had had no response. He also said he had not been provided with the outcome of the inspection.
  5. The landlord issued a stage 2 response on 27 May 2022, when it detailed the chronology of the complaint and inspection. It apologised for the oversight in its complaint handling and noted that a further visit had taken place on 23 May 2022. It detailed the inspection’s findings including commentary on moisture and humidity readings, extractor fans, the roof space, remedial works to drains, and air vents. It concluded that there was no evidence of defects or damp. However, to ensure it had not missed anything and to hopefully reaffirm its conclusion from the inspections, it would arrange a full independent survey. The results of this survey would be shared and any identified defects rectified.
  6. The survey was carried out on 1 June 2022 and recommended some works to address the damp. Over the next few months, some of that work was carried out.
  7. On 27 June 2023 the landlord wrote to the resident noting he had asked for a final response to his complaint. It listed 11 points of repair that had been completed in the property, and noted that the survey had also recommended that cavity wall insulation be upgraded and brickwork to all the external elevations and chimney be raked out and repointed. It explained that this had taken longer than expected as a specialist contractor was needed but the work would now be complete by the end of August 2023. It said it had already paid him £500 compensation and an agreement had been made with his representative that it would pay him £20 a week until the repairs were complete.
  8. The resident has confirmed that the cavity wall insulation and brickwork was addressed by August 2023, and the landlord also installed a new kitchen due to the damp. This was completed in January 2024.
  9. On 16 April 2024 a settlement was reached by the landlord paying the resident £3,700 in settlement of his claim relating to a number of issues, which factored in that it had not paid the £20 a week compensation it had earlier promised.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. This investigation has focused on the resident’s concerns regarding damp and mould. He said the main areas of damp were on the wall in a child’s bedroom, in the bathroom and kitchen, and although steps have been taken to address it, it has recently returned. Consideration has been given to the action the landlord took following it being reported, not only to treat and remove damp and mould, but to establish the source, and whether it went far enough to find the cause and treat it.
  2. The investigation has not included the more recent report of damp, as the landlord was only made aware of it on 14 November 2024 and must be given the opportunity to address it in the first instance. The Ombudsman hopes the landlord has since taken action in that regard. However, in the event the resident wishes to make a new complaint about the landlord’s handling of this recent report, he would need to exhaust its internal complaints procedure before referring a new complaint to this Service about having further damp issues (reflected at paragraph 42.a of the Scheme).

Landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of damp and mould

  1. Under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, the landlord had a responsibility to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the property. This Service’s Spotlight on Damp and Mould report, it’s not lifestyle (October 2021) says landlords should adopt a zero-tolerance approach to damp and mould interventions and should ensure that responses to reports of damp and mould are timely and reflect the urgency of the issue. It states that landlords would benefit from a consolidated and comprehensive policy in relation to damp and mould. Despite this guidance being produced more than 3 years ago, the landlord has said it is only now in the process of producing a Damp, Mould & Condensation Policy.
  2. The only information provided by the landlord in relation to guidance to residents about damp and mould is the tenant handbook, which amongst other things, says damp and mould patches on walls, furniture or clothing is likely to be caused by condensation. It suggests obtaining mould cleaning products from supermarkets and DIY stores to address that. The landlord does have a Repairs policy which says priority repairs will be completed within 15 working days of being reported but it is clear the repairs were not completed within this timescale in this case. Overall, the landlord’s lack of guidance and failure to address the issues urgently shows why it is important it acts promptly to ensure it puts a Damp, Mould and Condensation policy in place.
  3. The property had had issues with damp in the past. However, it was on 14 March 2022 that the landlord recorded the resident reporting a concern. The resident had to chase the landlord a month later, having heard nothing further, and while it did arrange for someone to inspect the property, it still took until 26 April 2022 for that to happen. Having waited a month and a half for someone to attend, the landlord’s records are not detailed, and only say that after the visit jobs were created.
  4. The evidence shows that, apart from having a bathroom fan fitted on 16 May 2022, no further action was taken and the resident had to chase the landlord again and escalate his concerns as he had not had an update, on 17 May 2022. This appears to have prompted the landlord to take action, as it arranged for the brickwork in the chimney/loft to be assessed, removed kickboards and spoke with the resident about ventilation. However, it should not have taken the resident chasing things up and is a further example of the landlord failing to address matters promptly. This caused increasing frustration to the resident and exacerbated an already stressful situation for him and his family.
  5. Following a further visit on 23 May 2022 the landlord concluded there was no evidence of defects or damp. However, it agreed to arrange an independent survey, which took place on 1 June 2022. This did find some issues and made various recommendations for treatments, repairs and improvements throughout the property to address damp and mould.
  6. The landlord’s initial assessment that there was no issue with damp was therefore incorrect, and while arranging a survey was a sensible approach, it was 2 and a half months after the initial report, which means there was an unacceptable delay identifying the repairs needed. The landlord did then arrange for work to be done between June and August 2022, and it has provided a list of works carried out, dated 20 April 2023, although it is not clear when each aspect of the work was completed.
  7. However, it is apparent that, while some of the repairs were completed by June 2023 when it responded to the complaint, the pointing and cavity wall work remained outstanding and was not completed until August 2023. In addition, as there was still an issue with damp in the kitchen, the landlord said it would replace the kitchen and areas affected by damp would be assessed and repaired as required before and during the renewal. The kitchen was replaced in December 2023.
  8. It therefore took the landlord over 18 months to address and finalise all the work needed to resolve the damp, and over that time the resident had to chase it in order for progress to be made. This indicates the repairs were not being actively monitored by the landlord as they should have been.
  9. By arranging a survey and for the recommended repairs to be carried out, the Ombudsman is satisfied the landlord did go far enough to explore the cause of the damp. However, the issue lies with the length of time it took to do that, and that it had to be chased as it was not dealt with as a priority. Further, no evidence has been provided to indicate that the landlord assessed whether it would be appropriate to decant the resident while works were carried out.                                                                                                                    
  10. To recognise the length of time the repairs took and the inconvenience caused to the resident and family, it was appropriate for the landlord to make an offer of compensation. The resident settled a claim in full and final settlement with the landlord, by accepting a payment of £3,700 in April 2024, having already accepted an earlier payment of £500. This incorporated other issues, as well as the problem with damp and mould.
  11. It is good to see that the landlord carried out repairs to address the substantive issue, and paid financial redress. The role of the Ombudsman is now to consider whether the steps taken sufficiently remedied the complaint. There were delays in the landlord’s actions, but it did take steps to put things right, in line with the Ombudsman’s dispute resolution principles.
  12. The Ombudsman recognises this has been a stressful time for the resident and his family and that the landlord did not respond promptly to the reports and had to be chased for action to be taken. Balancing the time things took and the inconvenience to the resident with the repairs being carried out, the amount offered by the landlord exceeds any award of compensation this Service would make in accordance with our Remedies guidance for findings of maladministration. As a result, the Ombudsman finds that the landlord has made an offer which was reasonable and proportionate to resolve the complaint.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53.b of the Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress prior to investigation which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould.

Recommendations

  1. The landlord is recommended to:
    1. Pay the resident the £3,700 compensation already offered in April 2024 (if it has not already), in addition to the £500 already paid, as this recognised genuine elements of service failure and the reasonable redress finding is made on that basis.
    2. Review this Service’s Spotlight on Damp and Mould report, it’s not lifestyle (October 2021) and develop its Damp, Mould & Condensation policy in line with that.