Hyde Housing Association Limited (202426785)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202426785

Hyde Housing Association Limited

30 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 a moth infestation in the property.

Background

2. The resident is a shared owner leaseholder of a flat, which she has occupied since July 2015. The flat was part of a new development when the resident moved in.
3. In 2018 and 2019, the resident reported moths in the property, which she believed were entering through the vents. In 2018, the landlord’s managing agent said that either the local authority or pest control would be responsible.
4. On 14 August 2024, the resident raised a complaint about the landlord’s handling of the moth infestation. She said:
   1. the moths were eating the carpets within the estate.
   2. she had wasted money on chemical treatments which had not resolved the problem.
   3. the moths appeared daily due to the wool carpet that the landlord had chosen to install.
   4. the landlord should replace the carpets.
5. The landlord issued its stage 1 response on 30 August 2024, in which it said:
   1. it had not failed in the service it provided and the complaint was not upheld.
   2. there was no record of a moth infestation being reported recently and it no longer had records of the 2018 and 2019 reports.
   3. it was not responsible for replacing the carpets in the resident’s home.
6. The resident escalated her complaint on 1 September 2024. She said:
   1. the onus was on the landlord to resolve as the problem was initiated by the landlord before the resident purchased the property.
   2. she should not have to pay for the problem that the landlord caused.
   3. residents in the block brought the issue to the landlord within the first year of moving in.
   4. there was an estate wide problem and the moths would return until the issue was resolved.
7. The landlord issued its stage 2 response on 10 October 2024, in which it said:
   1. in line with its complaints policy, it was only able to investigate service failures that may have occurred up to 12 months prior to the receipt of the complaint.
   2. it acknowledged that the resident had been contacting it about the moth infestation prior to that period.
   3. it was not responsible for replacing her carpet and it did not deal with moths within its pest control remit.
8. The resident referred her complaint to the Ombudsman on 10 October 2024. She said:
   1. her neighbours had reported the moth infestation to the landlord since 2015 and the moths only became an issue in her flat in 2018.
   2. when she reported the issue, the landlord told her that it did not deal with moths.
   3. the moths had now eaten through her carpets despite spraying them with repellent.
9. On 16 September 2025, the resident told the Ombudsman that the moth issue was ongoing and sprays had been ineffective, which she believed was due to moths entering from other flats in the building. The resident said that, in order to resolve her complaint, the landlord should replace the carpets in her property.

Assessment and findings

10. We acknowledge the resident’s comments that the other residents of the building reported the moth infestation in 2015, during the defects period. It is evident that the resident reported the issue in 2018 and 2019. The Ombudsman encourages residents to raise complaints with their landlords at the time the events happened. We may not consider matters that were not brought to the attention of the landlord as a complaint within a reasonable timescale, usually within 12 months of the issues arising. As such, the scope of our investigation will not consider the resident’s 2018 and 2019 reports about the moth infestation. There is no evidence that the resident made any further reports about moths until her August 2024 complaint. We have therefore considered the landlord’s handling of the issue from the date she made her complaint.
11. The lease states that the leaseholder shall keep the premises in good and substantial repair and condition and will fully carpet all floors of the premises. It states that the landlord shall maintain repair, redecorate and renew the structure and common parts of the building. The lease does not refer specifically to pest control responsibilities.
12. We acknowledge the resident’s comments that if the landlord had laid non-wool carpets, there may not have been a moth infestation. We also recognise the distress caused by the resident due to the moths. However, as a leaseholder, the resident is responsible for the internal parts of the property, including the carpets. There was no obligation on the landlord to replace the carpets, as it is only responsible for the structure and communal areas of the building. There is no evidence of reports of a pest control issue within the communal areas. The landlord’s response was therefore reasonable and we have not identified a failing.

Determination

13. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was no maladministration by the landlord regarding it’s handling of the resident’s reports of a moth infestation in the property.