Hyde Housing Association Limited (202320375)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202320375

Hyde Housing Association Limited

11 June 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

  1. This complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
    1. Reports of damp and mould in the resident’s property.
    2. Reports of a leak in a communal cupboard.
    3. The associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident holds an assured tenancy. The property is a 1-bedroom ground floor flat.
  2. The resident has mobility issues and suffers from arthritis.
  3. The resident stated that the landlord was first made aware of damp and mould in her property on 16 March 2022. The resident provided evidence that she chased the landlord about repairing this on multiple occasions. The landlord sent an operative to inspect this and perform remedial work on 12 December 2022. The resident then reported a leak coming from a first-floor cupboard on 27 March 2023. When reporting this, the resident reiterated to the landlord that she was suffering from mould in her property. The landlord attended on 28 March 2023 and found the cause of the upstairs leak to be a second floor burst water main which was rectified.
  4. The resident contacted the landlord on 19 May 2023 to raise a complaint. She said she was in hospital due to coughing up black phlegm and troubles breathing. She believed this had been caused by the landlord’s failure to deal with the mould in the property. She was also unhappy that when dealing with the upstairs leak, the landlord had given her details to contractors, as the issue was in a communal space the landlord was responsible for. The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response on 26 May 2023. It upheld the resident’s complaint, offering £350 compensation. This consisted of £100 for the delays completing the repairs, £100 for customer effort and £150 for the distress and inconvenience of the situation. The landlord also provided dates for the outstanding works to be completed and a named contact who would be overseeing the work.
  5. The landlord’s contractors visited the resident’s property to complete works on 22 June 2023. The resident then escalated her complaint to stage 2 of the complaint process on 4 July 2023. She was unhappy with the outcome of works where she said a workman refused to take out the backboard of the kitchen units to check for mould. She was also unhappy that a workman who attended the property to look at the extractor fans determined that it was a ventilation system rather than a fan. She said that the upstairs leak had left patches on her wall which she was not in a physical condition to repair.
  6. The landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response on 21 July 2023. It increased its total compensation to £500. It increased compensation for the delay in repairs to £150 and offered an additional £100 for patience throughout the complaints procedure. It confirmed most of the works had now been completed and provided a date for the final works to be done. It also said that if the resident provided a quote for repainting the walls, it would honour this.
  7. The resident wrote to the Ombudsman on 18 August 2023, asking for us to consider her complaint. She said that the landlord failed to remove the mould until 11 July 2023, meaning she had to suffer with the effect of this for 15 months. She was also unhappy with the landlord’s handling of the upstairs leak and its refusal to redecorate her walls following this. To resolve her complaint, she said she would like the landlord to fulfil its offer of redecoration alongside an increased offer of compensation.

Assessment and findings

The scope of this investigation

  1. The resident has said that the damp and mould has had a negative effect on her health. It is beyond the remit of the Ombudsman to decide on whether there was a direct link between the landlord’s actions and the resident’s ill health. The resident may wish to seek independent advice on making a personal injury claim if she considers that her health has been affected by any action or failure by the landlord. While the Ombudsman cannot consider the effect on health, consideration has been given to any general distress and inconvenience which the resident experienced as a result of any service failure by the landlord.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould

  1. The landlord’s repairs policy has 2 timescales for dealing with repairs. The first is emergency repairs which it says it will attend to within 4 hours and make safe within 24 hours. The policy says that it will attend non-urgent repairs within 20 working days and arrange for the soonest available time slot convenient.
  2. It is not clear from the information available when the landlord was first notified of the damp and mould in the resident’s property. Correspondence that the resident has provided to the Ombudsman suggests that the landlord was first notified of the issue around March 2022. She then also chased this up in April 2022, May 2022, July 2022 and August 2022.
  3. The first appointment evidenced by the resident took place in December 2022, over 9 months after the landlord was put on notice about the issue. This was significantly outside of the timescales specified in the landlord’s policy. At this first appointment, it appears that parts were required and ordered by the operative. However, no follow-up appointment was completed, leaving the issue unresolved. During this time, the resident chased the landlord for updates on several occasions, resulting in distress and inconvenience for the resident.
  4. The landlord eventually rectified the damp and mould in July 2023. This was around 16 months after the landlord had first been made aware of the matter. The time taken to complete this represented a significant failure in service from the landlord, especially when considering the effects living in a property with damp and mould can have. The landlord should have managed the works correctly and completed these in a reasonable timeframe. The landlord’s handling of this matter represented maladministration.
  5. The landlord offered the resident a total of £400 compensation for the delays in completing the repairs, the distress and inconvenience of these delays and the effort the resident had to go to in order for the issue to get resolved.
  6. Considering the length of this delay, the landlord’s offer of compensation was not a reasonable offer of redress. The landlord’s response times were significantly outside of the timescales specified in its policy and the resident was forced to chase the landlord on a number of occasions to obtain assurance on completion of works. The landlord should pay the resident £600 compensation for its failure to handle the reports of damp and mould fairly or reasonably. This is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance for failures which have adversely affected the resident.

The landlord’s handling of reports of a leak in a communal cupboard

  1. The landlord’s repair policy lists ‘Internal decorations…Making good decoration following a repair, to affected elevations only’, as its repair responsibility. It also lists ‘cracks or damage to wall plaster (only minor damage)’ as a repair that it will undertake.
  2. The resident reported the leak coming from a communal cupboard on 27 March 2023. The landlord followed this up on the following day as per its repair timelines for emergency repairs. Whilst it is not clear exactly when the landlord completed any follow-on works from this, it is apparent that this was done within the 20-day timescale outlined in its policy.
  3. When dealing with the repair however, the landlord failed to manage this correctly. The landlord utilised the resident to manage the works and to arrange access with contractors, despite her not having the key to access the cupboard area where the leak was. This repair was the responsibility of the landlord, and it should have been pro-active in working with contractors to resolve this. Its failure to properly do so and to give the resident’s contact details to contractors undoubtedly caused distress and inconvenience for the resident.
  4. The leak also caused water damage to the resident’s ceiling and walls. The landlord under its repairs policy should have taken action to repair this. It did discuss this with the resident originally offering paint packs. However, due to the resident’s condition at the time she was unable to perform this work by herself.
  5. The landlord asked the resident in its stage 2 complaint response ‘to get a quote for the works to be carried out independently’ and that it ‘would be happy to give the go ahead and reimburse you for the cost, if the quote was reasonable’. The resident has sent the landlord this quote but it has failed to respond to this or progress the works itself. Considering the damage was the result of a leak from an area of the building that was its responsibility, and given what its repair obligations are in the repair policy, the landlord should have completed these repairs.
  6. The landlord therefore needs to complete the outstanding works. This can be done either by paying the resident an amount that she has had quoted for work, or by arranging to complete this itself. The landlord should liaise with the resident regarding this and agree to whichever option she chooses.
  7. The landlord’s handling of the reports of a leak in a communal cupboard represented maladministration. It failed to properly manage the repair by requiring the resident to liaise with contractors and it also failed to perform the necessary follow up work to repair any damage to the resident’s walls and ceiling.
  8. For this failing, the landlord should pay the resident £500 compensation. This is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance which recommends figures in this range where there was a failure from the landlord which adversely affected the resident.

The landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.

  1. The landlord’s complaint policy has 2 stages. At stage 1 of the complaints process, it says it will provide a written acknowledgement of the complaint within 5 working days. It will then provide its written stage 1 complaint response within 10 working days. At stage 2 of the complaints process, it says it will provide a written response within 20 working days.
  2. At stage 1, the landlord received the complaint on 19 May 2023 and sent its acknowledgement on 22 May 2023. It then provided its stage 1 complaint response on 26 May 2023. These actions were all taken within the timescales set out in the landlord’s complaints policy.
  3. From the evidence provided by the landlord, the stage 2 complaint escalation appears to have been received by the landlord on 4 July 2023. It then provided its stage 2 complaint response on 21 July 2023, 13 working days later. This again was within the timescales set out by the landlord in its complaint process.
  4. In its stage 2 complaint response, the landlord provided the resident with £100 for her patience during the complaint procedure. This appears to have been a gesture of goodwill payment by the landlord since there is no evidence of any service failures in its handling of the complaint.
  5. There was no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the associated complaint. The landlord responded within the timescales specified in its policies and its responses were detailed and fair.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of reports of damp and mould in the resident’s property.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of reports of a leak in a communal cupboard.
  3. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. The landlord should within 4 weeks of the date of this report:
    1. Pay the resident £1,100 compensation, consisting of £600 for its failures in handling her reports of damp and mould, and £500 in relation to its failures handling her reports of a leak in a communal cupboard. This is inclusive of the £400 repairs-related compensation offer in its stage 2 complaint response.
    2. Contact the resident to discuss the completion of repairs to her ceiling and walls following the leak. The landlord should confirm with her if she would rather it complete the works or pay her the amount that an independent contractor quotes for this work. If the resident would like the landlord to perform this work, it should provide her with an appointment for the work within the timescales specified in its repair policy.
    3. Provide a written apology to the resident for the failings identified by the Ombudsman.
  2. The landlord should provide evidence to the Ombudsman that it has completed these orders within 4 weeks of the date of this report.