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City of York Council (202447972)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202447972

City of York Council

9 September 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 the resident’s reports of:
    1. Issues with the condition of the property when she moved in.
    2. Outstanding repairs to the property, including the condition of the kitchen, and the related damp and mould
  2. The Ombudsman will also investigate the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint.

Background

  1. The resident lives in the property, owned by the landlord, under a secure tenancy. The property is a 1-bedroom ground floor flat and the resident has lived there since December 2018.
  2. The resident raised a complaint to the landlord on 30 July 2024. She said that there were repairs outstanding and there were problems with the kitchen she believed had been there since she moved in.
  3. The landlord sent its stage 1 response on 30 August 2024, in which it said:
    1. kitchen replacement works were last completed in 2004/5 and were carried out every 30 years
    2. it apologised that repairs were not completed within an acceptable timeframe and clear communication was not provided
    3. its Repairs team would contact her within 10 working days to arrange a visit to the property to inspect for outstanding repairs
    4. once work was completed, it would contact her to confirm she was satisfied with the work
  4. The resident asked the landlord to escalate the complaint on 6 September 2024. It sent its stage 2 response on 11 November 2024, in which it said:
    1. it apologised for its delayed response
    2. its stage 1 response was appropriate, however there had been a delay in it completing agreed actions and the resident had to chase this – it offered £50 compensation to recognise this
    3. its Repairs team would set dates for work within 10 days
  5. The resident contacted us on 26 February 2025 as she remained unhappy with the landlord’s response. She told us repairs remained outstanding and the property had damp and mould. She said she was pregnant and was worried about the effect the conditions might have on her baby.

Assessment and findings

Jurisdiction

  1. What the Ombudsman can and cannot consider is called the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. This is governed by the Scheme. When a complaint is brought to this Service, the Ombudsman must consider all the circumstances of the case, as there are sometimes reasons why a complaint will not be investigated.
  2. According to paragraph 42.c. of the Scheme, the Ombudsman may not consider complaints which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, were not brought to the attention of the member as a formal complaint within a reasonable period which would normally be within 12 months of the matters arising.
  3. The resident has complained about problems with the kitchen, which she said have been present since she moved in. The resident moved into the property in December 2018, and did not complain until July 2024, more than 5 years later. We would have excepted her to raised issues with the property condition at the start of the tenancy within 12 months of moving in, to allow the landlord to investigate matters.
  4. As the resident did not raise a complaint within a reasonable period, her complaint about the condition of the property when she moved in is outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. We will only consider issues with the property reported within 12 months of her raising her complaint.

Scope of the investigation

  1. The resident has raised concerns about her and her family’s health and the impact on this by the issues raised. Whilst this service is an alternative to the courts, we are unable to establish legal liability or whether a landlord’s actions or lack of action have had a detrimental impact on a resident’s health. Nor can we calculate or award damages.
  2. The Ombudsman is therefore unable to consider the personal injury aspect of the resident’s complaint. These matters are likely better suited to consideration by a court or via a personal injury claim. While the Ombudsman cannot consider the effect on health, consideration has been given to any general distress and inconvenience which the resident may have experienced because of any service failure by the landlord.

Repairs

  1. The landlord’s repairs policy sets out the following repairs categories and timescales:
    1. same day repairs – attend within 4 hours
    2. general repairs – it aims to schedule repairs at a time to suit the resident, usually within 20 working days
  2. The landlord does not currently have a damp and mould policy. Its records indicate that it was due to complete a first draft of such a policy by the end of August 2025. An order has been made for the landlord to provide us with an update on its drafting of this policy.
  3. The resident reported damp and mould in her bedroom on 6 November 2023. The landlord raised a job for an inspection. However, its records do not show it completed this and we have not seen a copy of an inspection report. The landlord raised a job on 21 November 2023 to inspect the extractor fans as these were not working correctly. The job shows as completed on 4 December 2023, however it is not clear what action was taken and there is no evidence of a repair or installation of new fans.
  4. On 21 November 2023, the landlord raised a further job to relocate a thermal board in the bathroom and renew radiators in the bedroom and bathroom. It completed some work on 7 February 2024, outside of the policy timescale. However, it did not install the new radiators at this time, which was not appropriate.
  5. The landlord inspected the kitchen on 27 March 2024, after the resident told it that it was in poor condition. It told her that it had renewed the kitchen in 2004, so it was not due for renewal again until 2034. We appreciate the landlord will generally only carry out renewals of kitchens in line with its internal schedules. However, it still needs to maintain the kitchen to a reasonable standard. It has not provided a copy of its inspection report, or evidence that it confirmed the kitchen was in a reasonable condition. So, it has not demonstrated that its actions were reasonable in relation to the condition of the kitchen.
  6. On 16 July 2024, the landlord raised new jobs to refix the bathroom radiator and move the bedroom radiator. It did not complete this work at that time, but the repairs log does not indicate why, which was not appropriate. The resident raised her complaint on 30 July 2024 as she was unhappy that the landlord had started work to the bathroom in February 2024, including the radiator, but was yet to complete it.
  7. On 26 July 2024, the landlord also raised a job to inspect plastering in the living room, which it did on 8 August 2024, and repair a skirting board, which it did on 19 August 2024. In its stage 1 response of 30 August 2024 the landlord said it would contact her within 10 working days with a plan of action for outstanding repairs. We have not seen any evidence it did this, and it did not raise any new jobs within this 10-working day period, which was not appropriate.
  8. On 6 September 2024, the resident asked the landlord to escalate her complaint as she said the kitchen was falling apart. She told it there was no extractor fan and there was an exposed electrical socket under the boiler which had shown signs of leaking. She said plaster was coming away from the wall in the living room and there was mould in the bedroom.
  9. The landlord completed work to the plaster in the living room on 15 October 2024, which was outside its policy timescale. On 23 October 2024 it raised a job to complete a drain survey, which it did the next day, which was reasonable. However, the landlord has not provided a copy of this survey so it is not clear whether repairs were required. The landlord completed works to move and replace radiators on 7 November 2024. This was more than 6 months after it started the work, which represented an unreasonable delay.
  10. The landlord sent its stage 2 response on 11 November 2024, in which it offered £50 compensation for the delay to it completing repairs as promised at stage 1. It said it would set dates for work within 10 days. It installed new extractor fans on 19 November 2024, which was within this 10-day timescale. However, it was a year after it had first inspected these, which was an unreasonable delay.
  11. The landlord’s records show that its contractor conducted an inspection on 7 November 2024, but it did not receive a copy of the report until 11 February 2025. The landlord has given no explanation for this delay, or evidence that it chased the contractor for this, which was not appropriate. The contractor said the property needed essential mould eradication works and ventilation works. They also said that there were defects to the guttering, but that the landlord was already in the process of replacing this. The landlord has confirmed this work took place on 26 November 2024.
  12. The landlord told us that issues with guttering seem to have played a contributing role in damp and mould problems, alongside ventilation issues. Its repairs records show it raised a job to carry out a survey for a positive input ventilation (PIV) unit on 21 March 2025, however we have not seen evidence it completed this.
  13. The landlord raised a further job on 9 April 2025 for work identified during the survey on 7 November 2024. However, it has not stated what the work was or whether it completed it. The landlord has not provided evidence that it has fully resolved the damp and mould issues.
  14. The Ombudsman considers there to have been maladministration by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s reports of outstanding repairs to the property, including the condition of the kitchen, and the related damp and mould.
  15. The landlord repeatedly failed to complete jobs within its repairs policy timescale. This included work that related to the heating and ventilation of the property, despite the resident’s reports of damp and mould. When the resident reported problems with the kitchen, the landlord focused on when it was due for renewal, rather than considering whether any interim repairs were needed. It failed to consider its obligation to complete repairs, even if the kitchen did not need to be fully replaced.
  16. The landlord’s failure to ensure that damp and mould issues have been resolved and carry out repairs to the kitchen have caused the resident unnecessary distress and inconvenience. The resident told us that the landlord cancelled several appointments when she had waited in and she had to chase the landlord regularly for it to complete work. The landlord did recognise some delay in it completing repairs after its stage 1 response. However, it did not acknowledge the full extent of the delays and its failings and did not take appropriate steps to put things right for the resident.
  17. An order has been made for the landlord to pay the resident additional compensation of £600 to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by its failings. This award has been made with the landlord’s remedies guidance in mind and brings the total compensation for this issue to £650.

Complaint handling

  1. Landlords must have an effective complaint process to provide a good service to their residents. An effective complaint process means a landlord can fix problems quickly, learn from its mistakes and build good relationships with residents.
  2. The landlord’s complaints policy says that it will acknowledge a complaint in writing within 5 working days of it being received. It will then aim to send its stage 1 response within 10 working days. At stage 2, it says it will provide a final response within 20 working days.
  3. The resident raised her complaint on 30 July 2024 and we have seen no evidence the landlord acknowledged this request, which its policy says it should do. It sent its stage 1 response a month later, on 30 August 2024, which was not in line with its policy and represented an unreasonable delay. It did not acknowledge this delay in its response, which would have been appropriate.
  4. The resident asked the landlord to escalate the complaint on 6 September 2024. The landlord did not send its stage 2 response until 11 November 2024, more than 2 months later, and we have seen no evidence it provided any update or explanation to the resident during that time. In its response it did apologise for the delayed response, but did not provide any explanation, which would have been reasonable for it to do.
  5. The Ombudsman considers there to have been maladministration by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s complaint. It did not provide her with acknowledgements or updates while investigating the complaint and its responses were not in line with its policy at either stage.
  6. An order has been made for the landlord to pay the resident compensation of £100 to recognise the distress and inconvenient caused by its delayed responses. This award has been made with the landlord’s remedies policy in mind.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 42.c. f the Scheme, the resident’s complaint about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of issues with the condition of the property when she moved in is outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme there was maladministration by the landlord in its handling of:
    1. the resident’s reports of outstanding repairs to the property, including the condition of the kitchen, and the related damp and mould
    2. the resident’s complaint

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of this report the landlord to:
    1. Pay the resident total compensation of £750 broken down as follows:
      1. £650 for the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of repairs
      2. £100 for its complaint handling failures
    2. A senior manager at the landlord to apologise in writing to the resident for the failings identified within this report.
    3. The landlord to provide this Service with an update on its damp and mould policy. If it has a draft available it should provide us with a copy of this. It should also provide us with a timescale for publication of this policy.
    4. Carry out an inspection of the kitchen and provide the resident and this Service with a schedule of repairs, if required, including timescales for completion.
    5. Carry out a damp and mould inspection to identify any outstanding issues and provide the resident and this Service with a schedule of repairs, if required, including timescales for completion.
    6. Provide us with evidence of compliance with the above orders within 28 days of this report.