ForHousing Limited (202340780)
REPORT
COMPLAINT 202340780
ForHousing Limited
27 September 2024
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
- The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould and the associated remedial repairs.
- The landlord’s complaint handling has also been investigated.
Background
- The resident and her partner have an assured tenancy with the landlord for a 3-bedroom, 2-storey house. They live with their 2 children, who are both under the age of 10, and the resident’s adult daughter. Throughout the complaints process, the resident’s uncle also lived with them. The landlord has confirmed it has a number of vulnerabilities recorded for the resident’s adult daughter. This relates to her physical and mental health.
- The resident reported damp and mould in 2022, however, the issue was not resolved. A number of damp surveys were raised by the landlord for 19 April and 11 May 2022, but it was unable to access the property. The landlord attended the property on 25 May and advised the resident on how to heat and ventilate her home. It also issued her with a leaflet on preventing damp and condensation. It completed a damp survey at the same time and found the following:
- It found mould growth in the bathroom and recommended replacing the floorboards due to the risk of rot. It also recommended checking for leaks in the drainage and overflow pipes. It later added on 10 June 2022 that mould cleaner and stain block needed to be applied to the ceiling and a trickle vent fitted to the window. The landlord’s records confirm this work was completed by 4 July 2023.
- It found mould growth in the dining room, which the resident’s adult daughter was using as a bedroom. It also found there were cold areas in the room where mould was growing. It recommended, “hacking off walls to full height, applying tanking to the wall and floor joint, thermaboard and skim.”
- The landlord completed a further damp survey at the property on 21 March 2023. As a result, it recommended a new extractor fan be fitted in the kitchen, “mould paint” to be painted to “affected areas” and silicone to be renewed “around window frames.” On 8 September 2023, the resident chased outstanding works. She said her daughter had “numerous health issues” and had “developed a cough.” She said the recent surveyor told her “severe damp could “cause asthmatic symptoms.” The landlord said it could only find the report of 21 March 2023 and nothing prior. It completed a further damp survey and on 26 September 2023, it re-raised all previous works first recommended on 25 May 2022 and 21 March 2023 plus an asbestos survey.
- The resident raised a complaint on 11 September 2023. The landlord provided the resident with its stage 1 complaint response on 6 October. It confirmed the following:
- It stated it was delayed in completing recommended works in the bathroom as it had closed the job in error. It had not started other work in the dining room due to a “high volume of damp repairs” resulting in “major delays in work occurring.” It confirmed it had reraised all repairs and the requirement to plaster and would complete all this work together.
- It apologised for the delay in completing the work and for miscommunication. It offered compensation of £250 for the service failure. To improve its service, it advised the resident it would complete additional training with its internal contractor staff members.
- The resident escalated her complaint on 9 October 2023. The landlord provided the resident with its stage 2 complaint response on 6 November. It confirmed the following:
- It reiterated its findings from its stage 1 complaint response. It said since then on 23 October 2023 and 1 November 2023 it had completed work in the dining room. This included plastering, painting affected areas with mould paint, and applying silicone to windows. It also installed an extractor fan in the kitchen. The resident confirmed she was happy with the works but asked for a full damp inspection as she was “concerned with the current state of the property.” She believed this was causing “major health concerns” for her and her children. The landlord had arranged a damp inspection, but a visual inspection only was completed. It agreed with the resident an inspection with a damp reading machine should take place and would arrange this with the resident.
- It apologised for the delays in completing the works to the dining room and offered a further £250 compensation. This took its total compensation offer to £500. It confirmed it would continue to monitor and check future repairs that may arise from the further damp inspection and “hoped this would reassure” the resident.
- Following completion of the landlord’s internal complaints procedure, it agreed to complete a more extensive damp survey. However, it is uncertain if it completed this. The Ombudsman accepted the resident’s complaint for investigation on 10 July 2024. She said she was unhappy with incomplete works and the standard of completed works at her property. She was also concerned with the landlord’s complaint handling and compensation. She believed her adult daughter’s health had worsened by exposure to mould. She has provided evidence of tests by external providers which reports to show the detriment to her daughter’s health. The landlord has confirmed to the Ombudsman all repairs that formed part of the complaint are complete.
Assessment and findings
- The resident said that the health of her family members has suffered because of how the landlord handled her reports. While we do not dispute the resident’s comments, the Ombudsman is unable to conclude the causation of, or liability for, impacts on health and wellbeing. The resident may be able to make a personal injury claim against the landlord if she considers that her health has been affected by its actions or inaction. This is a legal process, and the resident may wish to seek independent legal advice if she wants to pursue this option. However, we have considered the general distress and inconvenience that the resident experienced due to how the landlord handled the situation involving her property.
- Following completion of the landlord’s complaint process the resident raised a number of further issues with the landlord from January 2024 onwards. This included the cleanliness and a dryer being broken at the property following a repair in 2024 and her belief there was aspergillus in the air in the property. She asked for a permanent move to another property. These issues are being investigated by the landlord in a separate complaint. There is no evidence of the resident raising these issues prior to the completion of the landlord’s internal complaints procedure. As this is a separate issue from the complaint raised with the Ombudsman, it has not been considered as part of this investigation. The landlord needs to be provided with the opportunity to investigate and provide its final complaint response to this aspect.
The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould and the associated remedial repairs.
- The landlord’s Repairs and Maintenance Policy confirms it “responds to the needs of and offers choice to tenants, with the objective of completing repairs and improvements right first time.” It aims to complete all repairs in one visit “right first time.” If a repair cannot be completed on the first visit it will arrange the follow-up appointment before the operative leaves the property.
- The landlord’s Damp and Mould Policy states it adopts a “zero tolerance approach to damp and mould.” It will inspect and address all reported cases of damp. It also accepts “full responsibility for resolving the underlying issues as realistically possible, considering the property involved.” A health and vulnerability assessment for the household will also be completed as part of the damp and mould inspection. It will update the resident on the progress of the damp inspection and associated works. It will complete “damp repairs” within 40 working days following inspection. It will discuss any delays with the resident.
- The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) is a risk-based evaluation tool to help local authorities identify and protect against potential risks and hazards to health and safety from any deficiencies identified in dwellings. A landlord is obliged, in accordance with the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, to ensure that a property is fit for human habitation and free from category 1 hazards. Landlords should also ensure that their staff, whether in-house or contractors, can identify and report early signs of damp and mould.
- The landlord raised the completion of a damp survey on 19 April 2022, it is uncertain if this was as a result of a report from the resident. The landlord made appropriate attempts to complete the survey on 19 April and 11 May but was unable to access the property on each occasion. However, it is unclear if the landlord informed the resident of its intention to complete the survey and communicated with her about the appointments. In the resident’s stage 1 complaint, she said she reported damp and mould in June 2022. However, the evidence shows the landlord raised a further damp and mould survey on 25 May 2022. It completed the survey on 1 June 2022 finding mould growth in the bathroom and in the dining room, which the resident’s daughter was using as a bedroom. It recommended work for each room, which is assessed further below.
- In the bathroom the landlord’s surveyor recommended rotting floorboards should be replaced, mould cleaner and stain block be applied to the ceiling and to check for a leak in the overflow or drainage pipes. In the dining room, the walls should be hacked to full height. Then it should apply tanking to the wall and floor joints, thermaboards and skim the walls. It would raise both jobs in an appropriate timescale, raising the dining room work on 6 June 2022 and the bathroom work on 10 June 2022. Both jobs were cancelled on an unknown date by the contractor as it was “unable to contact the resident to plan in.” It is uncertain of the attempts made by the contractor. However, there is no evidence of the landlord, or the contractor making attempts to contact the resident or manage further organisation of the repairs.
- The landlord would do nothing further about the bathroom work until 14 October 2022, over 4 months after it had recommended the work needed completing. The landlord’s records show it completed the work on 30 January 2023. The recommended work therefore took over 6 months to complete. All of the above was not in keeping with its “zero tolerance approach” to damp and mould. It did not complete the work within 40 working days in accordance with its policy. However, this was initially stalled by its inability to access the property. There is no evidence of it communicating with the resident to update her on when it would complete the work, as its policy suggests. This left the resident uncertain about when it would resolve the issue and left her to manage the effects of the damp and mould in her property.
- The landlord completed a further damp survey at the resident’s insistence on 6 February 2023. It completed this on 10 February 2023 finding the dining room had “mould down to the skirting board level” and the silicone around the window needed replacing. It did not refer to the recommendation of 1 June 2022 that work was required to the walls in the dining room. This work was still outstanding at this point, over 8 months after initially being raised. Its survey also identified that a new extractor fan and mould paint to affected areas in the kitchen were required.
- The landlord attempted to complete the kitchen repairs on 31 May 2023, but its records show the resident “refused the work” as she “was not aware of the appointment.” The landlord would state in its stage 1 complaint response it could find no evidence of its contractor informing the resident of the 31 May appointment. This was an appropriate acknowledgement of the issue but highlighted the issue in its contractor managing outstanding repairs. Its stage 1 complaint response did recognise this. It is unclear if this also applied to its attempts to complete surveys in April and May 2022. The landlord appropriately confirmed it would complete additional training with its contractor.
- On 8 September 2023, the resident raised with the landlord the outstanding dining room repairs initially raised on 1 June 2022. At this point, those repairs were outstanding for 14 months. The landlord stated internally it “could not find this report” of the recommended work to the dining room. This is of concern and suggests a failure in the landlord’s record keeping and ability to access relevant records. The resident would also raise the issue in her complaint on 11 September 2023. As a result of the complaint, it completed a further survey and re-raised the outstanding repairs to the kitchen and dining room on 26 September 2023. The landlord’s stage 1 complaint response on 6 October 2023 apologised for the “inconvenience caused” by the delayed dining room repairs. It said this was due to a “high volume of damp repairs.” This was an ineffective response, as if this was the cause the landlord should have updated the resident and there would be available evidence of it managing the repair. There is no evidence of either of these things. As such it failed to appropriately manage the repair throughout the period.
- The landlord completed the repairs to the dining room and kitchen on 1 November 2023. This was 26 working days from it raising the repairs again on 26 September, which was within its 40 working day timescale. However, the repairs to the kitchen took over 8 months to complete from 10 February 2023. The repairs to the dining room took nearly 17 months to complete from it initially being recommended on 6 June 2022. This was a wholly inappropriate timescale for completion causing significant distress and inconvenience in particular to the president’s daughter. Her daughter was using the dining room as a bedroom and the landlord would later find out she had significant health issues.
- From 6 June 2022 and 31 October 2023, the landlord took no action to complete mould washes or any alternatives to manage the mould at the property. The landlord should have taken appropriate steps to avoid or minimise damp and mould which are potential health hazards in line with the HHSRS. Landlords should be aware of their obligations under HHSRS and are expected to carry out additional monitoring of a property where potential hazards are identified. The landlord left the resident to manage the damp and mould at her property herself over a prolonged period. This caused her distress and inconvenience and made her feel it was not serious in supporting her with the issue on a day-to-day basis. As previously stated, this was not in line with the landlords’ “zero tolerance” approach to damp and mould and was a failure in taking the issue seriously.
- Following completion of its complaints procedure the landlord attempted to arrange a further damp inspection of the property. This was in response to the resident’s concerns that on 1 November 2023, it attempted a “visual survey”. It agreed to complete a further survey with a “damp meter.” Its stage 2 response confirmed it would “monitor and check” for future repairs as a part of this pending survey. The resident chased the further survey on 7 November and evidence shows the landlord arranged an appointment for 9 November. It is unclear if this appointment took place. In correspondence with the Ombudsman on 19 September 2024, the resident stated the damp and mould at the property is putting her daughter “at risk”. The Ombudsman acknowledges there is an ongoing complaint on the matter and a lack of clarity as to whether the landlord completed a further damp survey after its stage 2 complaint response. As such a further independent investigation will be ordered for the landlord to complete and raise any recommended repairs or further work, as necessary.
- The first evidence of the resident reporting her daughter’s health issues was on 8 September 2023. She would continue to provide information to the landlord from this point. In correspondence with the Ombudsman, the landlord stated it only became aware of this as part of its stage 1 complaint investigation. The landlord did start to take action for the outstanding work on 26 September. It is unclear if this was due to the reported health issues, the resident’s complaint, or both. The landlord requested the work be completed within its 40 working day timescale on 26 September. However, it could have arranged for this to be completed sooner, given the reported impact on the daughter’s health and the repairs being required in her bedroom.
- The landlord’s policy says it will complete a “health and vulnerability assessment” as part of its damp and mould assessment. The Ombudsman can find no evidence of this being completed as part of the damp and mould assessments completed on 1 June 2022, 6 February 2023, and 11 September 2023. Not only was this a failure to abide by its policy but indication it was not considerate of the wellbeing of the resident or her family. In correspondence with the Ombudsman on 30 July 2024, the landlord acknowledged the resident’s daughter’s health issues. The Ombudsman can see no further evidence of a risk assessment having been completed up to this point. A risk assessment is crucial in informing the landlord’s decision-making at the outset. It also enables it to monitor a case as it progresses so it can identify proportionate actions that take into account factors such as household vulnerability. The landlord will be ordered to complete a risk assessment for the resident and her family at the property. It must then take any further appropriate action, as necessary.
- The landlord offered compensation of £250 in its stage 1 complaint response. This was for delays in completing repairs and for its “service failures.” This was in accordance with its Compensation Policy. In her complaint escalation of 9 October 2023, the resident said she was unhappy with the compensation offered. The landlord offered a further £250 in its stage 2 complaint response taking its total offering to £500. It said this for delays in completing damp works in the dining room. The Ombudsman finds the total compensation to be insufficient. This is due to the total detriment caused to the resident and also for the following reasons:
- The landlord completed damp surveys appropriately but failed to complete the recommended repairs within the timescales in its policy. Repairs to the dining room took over 17 months, the kitchen took over 8 months and the bathroom over 4 months. It completed no mould washes in these periods and the resident, and her family were left to live with mould and related detriment throughout. The resident would later say she was worried throughout about the implication on her and her family’s health throughout. It did not take its obligations under HHSRS seriously nor did it employ a “zero tolerance approach” or take “full responsibility” for the repairs.
- There is no evidence of the landlord communicating with the resident that it kept her updated as its policy suggested. This left her confused about whether it was completing the work and when this would be.
- There is no evidence of the landlord considering the health or well-being of the family between June 2022 and November 2023. It should have completed health and vulnerability assessments, but there is no evidence of it doing so. It was prompted to do so when the resident specified her daughter’s health issues but still did not take this opportunity.
- There were issues with the landlord’s management of the repairs including its relationship with its contractor. Although it recognised this in the stage 1 complaint response, it should have recognised this much sooner and acted on the issue. Furthermore, there were issues with its record keeping. It created uncertainty for the resident when it said it could find no information about the pending repairs to the dining room.
- It failed to evidence it had followed through on its agreement to complete a further damp inspection after its internal complaint procedure ended.
- In summary the landlord failed to act in accordance with its Damp and Mould Policy for managing the damp and mould at the resident’s property. Appropriate action was taken to arrange damp surveys. It was delayed in taking action and communicating with the resident for the repairs in the bathroom for 4 months, the kitchen for 8 months, and the dining room for 17 months. The resident’s serious reports about the health implications caused to her family were not taken seriously by the landlord and it did not use these to expedite any work or alter its approach. It failed to take action from its policy to assess the health and well-being of the family which had it completed, would have supported focus on the family’s wellbeing. The failings above were exacerbated by the landlord’s insufficient communication and failure to consider the full impact of the damp and mould on the resident day to day. The resident was required on many occasions to chase the outcome himself while managing the damp and mould.
- The landlord in accordance with the occupancy agreement is required to keep in good repair the structure and exterior of the property. It failed to do so over a prolonged period which caused distress, inconvenience, and deterioration in the landlord/tenant relationship. In all the circumstances of the case, a determination of severe maladministration has been identified.
- The Ombudsman has considered that the resident’s enjoyment of both bedrooms and kitchen have been curtailed for a significant period and as such, has ordered the landlord to pay compensation based on 10% of the rent for each of the rooms that were affected, for the period during which the resident was unable to use these rooms to their full purpose. This was 16 weeks for the bathroom (£10.24 per week – £166.72), 32 weeks for the kitchen (£10.24 per week – £333.44) and 74 weeks for the dining room (£10.24 per week – £771.08). The resident’s rent is £104.24 per week. The total compensation equals £1271.24 for the resident’s loss of enjoyment for each room. This is also as the landlord failed “promptly and effectively” to complete repairs. This figure is not intended to act as a formal reimbursement of the resident’s rent for these periods, but rather it is considered reasonable and proportionate redress for the periods in question. The amount awarded includes the £500 already offered by the landlord. It failed to fully consider the time and trouble, anxiety, stress, and uncertainty it caused to the resident through its poor handling of the repairs to the property. Its offer of compensation was not proportionate to the failings identified by this investigation. Further orders will be made for the landlord to consider the failings identified in this report.
Complaint handling.
- The landlord’s Complaints Policy aims to “resolve complaints as quickly as possible by being fair, putting things right and learning from complaint outcomes.” It confirms it “welcomes complaints and actively encourages the customer to express their dissatisfaction.” The landlord will consider which complaints can be responded to “as early as possible” and “those that require further investigation.” It will consider factors such as “the complexity of the complaint and whether the customer is “vulnerable or at risk.” The landlord operates two-stage complaints process as follows:
- It will acknowledge stage 1 complaints within 5 working days of receiving the complaint. It will provide its complaint response within 10 working days of acknowledging the complaint. It can extend this timescale by a further 10 working days and will inform the resident of the expected timescale. The landlord will incorporate additional complaints raised during its investigation into its reply. However, if the issues are unrelated or would delay the process, it will log a new complaint.
- It will acknowledge stage 2 complaints within 5 working days of receiving the escalation. It will provide its final response within 20 working days of acknowledging the escalation. It can extend the timescale by a further 20 working days and will explain the “good reason” for this, to the resident.
- The resident raised her complaint on 11 September 2023. There is no evidence of the landlord acknowledging the complaint. This was not in accordance with its policy and left the resident uncertain if it was taking her concerns seriously. The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response to the resident on 6 October 2023. This took the equivalent of 19 working days and exceeded the timescale in its policy by 9 working days. There is no evidence the landlord communicated with the resident to explain it would be delayed. As such it left the resident uncertain about its management of her complaint and failed to manage her expectations. The landlord did not recognise or address its failure to acknowledge the complaint or the delay in responding in both its stage 1 and 2 complaint responses.
- The resident escalated her complaint on 9 October and 13 October 2023. There was an error with its record keeping which meant it did not raise the complaint until 17 October. It did acknowledge the complaint on the same day. This meant it took 6 working days to acknowledge, exceeding the timescale in its policy by 1 working day. In the acknowledgement, it said it would reply in 20 working days (in accordance with its policy), by 6 November. It did reply on 6 November and the timescale was in line with its policy. Its response failed to acknowledge the slight delay in acknowledging the complaint.
- On 7 November 2023, the resident asked the landlord to escalate her complaint to “stage 3.” There is no evidence of the landlord responding to this point to explain its complaints process and advise her of what further options she had. In this regard, it failed to manage the resident’s expectations and its failure to respond left the resident uncertain on whether it was investigating at “stage 3.”
- A landlord’s complaint process enables them to identify trends and issues so it can take preventative action and learn from this. The landlord failed to adhere to its own Complaints Policy in failing to acknowledge the resident’s initial complaint, its response time, and its communication with the resident. A determination of service failure has therefore been made. To reflect the resident’s distress and inconvenience due to the landlord’s failures, £100 compensation has been ordered. This is in line with the Ombudsman’s guidance in relation to cases where service failure has occurred with minimal impact to the resident throughout that period.
Determination
- In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was severe maladministration in respect of the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould and the associated remedial repairs.
- In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was service failure in respect of the landlord’s complaint handling.
Orders
- The landlord shall carry out the following orders and must provide evidence of compliance within 4 weeks of the date of this report:
- A senior member of staff from the landlord is to provide a written apology to the resident for the impact of the failings identified in this report.
- Pay the resident a total of £1371.24 compensation. Any additional compensation is to be paid directly to the resident and not offset against any arrears. The compensation comprises of:
- £1271.24 for the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident by the landlord’s ineffective response to reports of damp and mould at the resident’s property.
- £100 for the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident by the landlord’s inefficient complaint handling.
- The amounts above include the £500 already awarded to the resident by the landlord during its internal complaint procedure for the above issues.
- In accordance with paragraph 54(g) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme the landlord must carry out a review of why the failings identified by this investigation occurred and provide a report back to the Ombudsman and the resident on this. This should include:
- Its lack of consideration of the impact the situation had on the resident.
- Why it failed to follow or was delayed in following the advice of the mould specialist and surveyors, and its related decision-making processes.
- Its lack of transparency with the resident in communicating the results of the action it was taking, the outcome of surveys and management of her expectations.
- The landlord will be ordered to complete a full inspection of the damp and mould at the property by an independent surveyor. As part of this consideration should be given to the resident’s concerns about the air quality in the property. It must provide the resident and the Ombudsman with the outcome of this inspection. It must also take appropriate action as a result of the findings of the inspection.
- The landlord must complete a risk assessment for the resident and her family, taking any further action as appropriate. It must also investigate whether further appropriate support is required for the family.
Recommendations
- The landlord should review the Ombudsman’s Spotlight report on damp and mould, considering the completion of a self-assessment against the report.
- The landlord should review the September 2023 government guidance – ‘understanding and addressing the health risks of damp and mould in the home’ to help it address its approach to damp and mould.