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Homes Plus Limited (202340264)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202340264

Homes Plus Limited

31 July 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:
    1. Roof repairs and associated damp and mould.
    2. The complaint.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord, a housing association, and occupies a 2-bedroom house with her daughter, who is disabled. The resident’s tenancy commenced in October 2022. A representative supported the resident during the repairs and complaints process. We have referred to both as “the resident” in this report.
  2. In October and November 2022, the resident reported roof leaks during heavy rain, causing mould. On 24 November 2022, she repeated these concerns, said she used a dehumidifier and extra heating, and requested reimbursement for higher utility costs. The landlord carried out repairs in February and May 2023.
  3. On 20 December 2023, the resident complained that damp and mould had persisted since moving in and the May 2023 repairs were ineffective. She opposed the landlord’s plan to install insulated plasterboard in a bedroom due to likely disruption given and wanted the roof properly repaired instead.
  4. On 19 January 2024, the landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response. It said roof works, including new tiles and vents, were completed in February and May 2023. It noted the resident had refused the proposed plasterboard works, including when it attempted to carry out the work in January 2024. It did not uphold the complaint, saying the cause of the damp and mould was identified but the resident had refused the proposed works.
  5. The resident escalated the complaint on 4 April 2024, saying the landlord failed to fix the roof, offered an inadequate solution, ignored her requests to cancel plasterboard works, and had not considered her circumstances or compensated her financial loss.
  6. On 7 June 2024, the landlord issued its stage 2 response, upholding the complaint. It acknowledged the unresolved, prolonged issues and failure to consider the household’s vulnerabilities. It agreed it would undertake a full roof replacement and offered £4,470 compensation: £1,600 for delays, £1,000 for not considering personal circumstances, £1,370 for dehumidifier electricity, £300 for not following its damp and mould process, £150 for poor communication, and £50 for complaint handling failures.
  7. In the resident’s original complaint to the Service, she remained unhappy with how the landlord handled the roof repairs. The resident has since explained she is happy with the resolution offered in the landlord’s final response. The roof was replaced in August 2024.

Assessment and findings

Investigation scope

  1. The resident stated that the damp and mould affected the household’s health, including causing pneumonia. The Ombudsman is unable to assess the cause of, or liability for, impacts on health and wellbeing. The resident may be able to make a personal injury claim if she considers that her health has been affected by the landlord’s actions or inaction. This is a legal process, and the resident may wish to seek legal advice if she wishes to pursue this option. Because this issue is more effectively resolved and remedied through the courts it will not be considered in this report.

The landlord’s handling of roof repairs and associated damp and mould

  1. The evidence seen for this investigation shows a range of failings in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports. These included significant delays from October 2022 to May 2023, not addressing the resident’s concerns about insulated ceiling boards, not considering the family’s vulnerabilities in its planning – despite having vulnerability markers for them on its records, and not responding to her request to be reimbursed for her increased utility bills.
  2. In its final response to the complaint, the landlord accepted these failings, apologised, agreed to do a full roof replacement, agreed that reimbursement of additional utility costs was in accordance with its policy, and offered compensation of over £3,000.
  3. The roof replacement was completed in August 2024, and the landlord advised it received no further reports of damp and mould from the resident. After the resident provided further information about her additional utility costs, the landlord increased its compensation for this from £1,370 to £1,500. Making its total compensation £4,600 which was paid in October 2024.
  4. The Ombudsman’s role is to assess whether the complaint was resolved satisfactorily and appropriate redress was offered, in line with the Ombudsman’s Dispute Resolution Principles: be fair, put things right, and learn from outcomes.
  5. In this case, the compensation offered by the landlord was in line with our remedies guidance which suggests awards from £1,000 where there was a failure over a lengthy period that significantly adversely affected the resident. Further, the landlord’s other remedies including an apology, reimbursement of additional utility costs and agreeing to replace the roof were reasonable and proportionate steps, in line with the Ombudsman’s Dispute Resolution Principles.
  6. The frustration and distress the resident explained to the landlord the repairs and complaint were causing her family was entirely understandable. Nonetheless, the landlord’s final response to her complaint provided appropriate remedies for its multiple failings.

The landlord’s handling of the complaint

  1. The resident complained to the landlord on 20 December 2023. It issued a stage 1 response on 19 January 2024, nearly a month later and outside its 10‑working‑day target, without apology or remedy.
  2. After the resident escalated the complaint on 4 April 2024, the landlord issued its final stage 2 response on 7 June 2024, beyond the 20‑working‑day target. It requested an extension on 8 May 2024 and appropriately managed expectations, advising when it would issue the final response which it complied with.
  3. Although both landlord’s formal responses exceeded its policy timescales, the final response included an apology and £50 compensation, which reasonably remedied the complaint handling delays.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53.b. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord offered redress to the resident prior to investigation which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, satisfactorily resolves the complaints about the landlord’s handling of:
    1. Roof repairs and associated damp and mould.
    2. The complaint.