Lambeth Council (202311837)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202311837

Lambeth Council

25 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

  1. The complaint is about the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of:
    1. Intermittent heating and hot water due to a faulty boiler.
    2. Asbestos in the property.
    3. No fire or smoke alarm in the property.
    4. Creaky stairs.
    5. Damp and mould in the property.
  2. The report also looks at the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint.

Background

  1. The resident lives in a 3 bed terraced house that is owned and managed by a local authority landlord. The landlord has not provided a signed copy of the secure tenancy agreement to this Service. The landlord records that the resident is vulnerable.
  2. It is not clear if or when the resident raised her concerns with the landlord about its handling of repairs to address intermittent heating and hot water due to a faulty boiler, asbestos in the property, no fire or smoke alarm in the property, creaky stairs, and damp and mould in the property. However the resident contacted this Service about these matters on 3 July 2023.
  3. This Service submitted a stage 1 complaint to the landlord on behalf of the resident on 3 July 2023 about the outstanding repair matters she had raised with us. This Service subsequently sent a complaint chaser letter to the landlord on 29 September 2023 asking it to provide a complaint response to the resident by 6 October 2023.
  4. The landlord sent a stage 2 response to the resident on 23 October 2023. The landlord said:
    1. It had completed a gas service at the property on 4 April 2023 and had repaired all alarms in the property on 29 September 2023 but was waiting for the resident to book an appointment for a boiler repair. It had repaired and contacted the resident about these items within a reasonable timescale and so it did not uphold these aspects of her complaint.
    2. It had arranged for an engineer to complete repairs related to damp and mould on 27 November 2023.
    3. It had repaired cracks on the ceiling on 7 and 19 September 2023 and had returned to complete this work on 20 September 2023 and 12 October 2023.
    4. It had previously removed asbestos from the property when it had been remodelled and the ceiling had been reconstructed. It also said that any remaining asbestos was intact, very low risk, and would meet safety standards in keeping with the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.
    5. It could find no records that the resident had reported creaky stairs and therefore could not comment on the matter. It asked the resident to raise a repair about the matter.
    6. The complaint response was final, and the resident could contact this Service if she remained dissatisfied.
  5. This Service wrote to the resident on 21 May 2024 to acknowledge her request for us to investigate the complaint.

Assessment and findings

Scope of the investigation

  1. The resident has expressed concerns that she had breathing issues due to the presence of asbestos in the property and that her health was affected by mould in the property. It is beyond the remit of this Service to determine whether there was a direct link between the landlord’s actions and the resident’s ill-health. She 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 look into and make a decision about the cause of, or liability for, any impact on health and wellbeing, consideration has been given to the general distress and inconvenience which the situation may have caused the resident.

The landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of intermittent heating and hot water due to a faulty boiler.

  1. The landlord completed a gas safety inspection in July 2022. This Service has not seen a copy of the gas safety certificate but notes that no further heating or hot water repairs were reported to the landlord until 31 August 2022.
  2. To respond to the resident’s reports of heating faults the landlord:
    1. Attended the property on 2 September 2022 to adjust the radiators in response to the resident’s reports that they were faulty. The landlord’s response was in keeping with timescales contained in its repairs manual which says it will respond to heating faults reported between 1 May and 31 October within 3 working days.
    2. Visited the property on 30 September 2022 within 1 working day of the resident’s report of a radiator fault in keeping with its policy. The landlord showed the resident how to use the radiator thermostats.
    3. Attended the property on 11 October 2022 in response to further heating faults the resident reported on 1, 3 and 11 October 2022. The landlord recorded that the heating system was operational, but that the resident appeared not to know how to operate it correctly. The landlord noted that it had explained the radiator settings to the resident again.
    4. Visited the property on 13 October 2023 to show the resident how to use the heating system. It was reasonable for the landlord to have shown the resident how to use the heating system again in recognition of the repeated reports she had made about heating repairs and to reduce the distress the matter had caused her.
    5. Attended the property on 18 November 2022, 3 working days after the resident reported a boiler fault. This was 2 working days later than its 1 working day repairs policy for heating repairs reported between 31 October and 31 May.
    6. Visited the property on 21 November 2022 on the same day the resident reported a fault with the thermostat. The landlord changed the thermostat batteries during the appointment.
    7. Attended the property on 26 September 2023, 3 working days after the resident reported a heating failure to complete a boiler repair. This was in keeping with it repairs policy.
  3. The landlord addressed the heating matter in its stage 2 complaint response in which it said it was waiting for the resident to book a further appointment to inspect the boiler. However the landlord did not provide any further information about its previous handling of the resident’s reports of heating failures. This was a missed opportunity for the landlord to have explained the conclusions it had reached about the condition of the boiler and the reported heating faults. Furthermore providing more detailed information would have more effectively addressed the complaint and managed the resident’s expectations. It is evident that the landlord sought to inform the resident how to use the heating system. It is also evident that it did not find any faults with the boiler beyond the way the system was being used. It responded to the resident’s November 2022 report of concerns about heating 2 working days later than its policy. However, taking all matters into account, this Service finds no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of intermittent heating and hot water issues due to a faulty boiler.

The landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of asbestos in the property.

  1.  This Service requested evidence from the landlord related to the resident’s complaint on 21 May 2024, 19 June 2024, and 2 July 2024. We subsequently granted an extension of time for it to provide the evidence by 22 July 2024. On 12 September 2024 we asked the landlord to provide further information about its handling of asbestos in the property. Specifically we asked it to provide:
    1. A copy of the asbestos assessment reports that it had raised in works orders on 1 November 2019, 10 March 2020 and 14 April 2020.
    2. Information about the reasons the resident was decanted from the property in July 2020 for 10 months and information about any works it completed during this time.
    3. Clarification on whether a disrepair case related to asbestos had progressed to court in May 2021 and information about any outcomes.
    4. Information about the removal and reconstruction of the ceilings in the property, as the landlord referred to in its stage 2 complaint response.
  2. The landlord failed to provide the further evidence requested to this Service. This represents a knowledge and information management failing and has consequently affected the assessment of the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of asbestos in the property.
  3. This Service has not seen any evidence that the resident had raised concerns about asbestos in the property during the 12 months preceding the stage 1 complaint. However, there is evidence of a history of asbestos being found in the property in 2013 and 2019. There is also evidence that the landlord had raised orders for the property to be inspected in 2019 and in 2020. The landlord made a note on its housing database on 6 May 2021 that confirmed that the landlord had decanted the resident from the property in July 2020 while it addressed asbestos repairs.
  4. The landlord addressed its handling of asbestos in the property in its final complaint response of 23 October 2023. The landlord said it would have removed any asbestos that was likely to have been considered concerning when the property ceilings had been reconstructed. It also said that any remaining asbestos met the safety standards in line with the control of asbestos regulations 2012. It was reasonable for the landlord to refer to the regulations around asbestos management and for it to explain that any remaining asbestos was intact and low risk.
  5. It is evident that the landlord had previously assessed the risks associated with asbestos in the property as very low. However there is no evidence that the landlord clearly communicated the outcomes of its assessments of the asbestos in the property such as by providing the resident with a letter in keeping with its asbestos management procedure. This was a missed opportunity for the landlord to reassure the resident that the property was safe given the history of asbestos in the property. Furthermore it caused her time and trouble in pursuing a response via the complaints procedure and this Service. Consequently and taking all matters into account this Service finds service failure in the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of asbestos in the property.
  6. This Service considers that an award of compensation is due in keeping with Service’s remedies guidance. It is evident that there have been communication failures which have had an adverse impact on the resident.. An award of £100 is therefore ordered below as proportionate compensation for the time, trouble, distress, and inconvenience that has been caused to the resident by the landlord’s failure to clearly communicate the outcomes of its response to the resident’s reports of asbestos in the property.

The landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of no smoke or fire alarm in the property.

  1. The landlord’s lettable standard document explains that mains operated smoke alarms will be installed in its properties in compliance with fire safety regulations. There is evidence that the landlord had previously overhauled 3 alarms in the property on an emergency call out in 2013 and it completed an additional heat alarm test in the property in 2016. The landlord also installed and tested 2 smoke detectors and a heat detector in the property in April 2022 thereby evidencing that alarms were present in the property. There is no further evidence that the resident reported any alarm faults to the landlord again prior to this Service referring to the matter in our stage 1 complaint of 3 July 2023.
  2. We have not seen any evidence that the landlord investigated the reports this Service raised about alarms in the property on 3 July 2023. It would have been appropriate and in keeping with its lettable standard for the landlord to have responded to the matter promptly to ensure working alarms were present in the property. The landlord’s failure to provide any information to this Service to assess whether any action it may have taken in response to the complaint represents a knowledge and information management failure.
  3. There is evidence that the resident reported concerns about a beeping smoke alarm to the landlord on 25 September 2023. The landlord attended the property and repaired the alarms 4 working days later on 29 September 2023. However this was completed 3 working days later than its 1 working day repair timescale for an emergency health and safety repair.
  4. The resident reported an alarm fault to the landlord again on 30 September 2023. This resulted in the landlord renewing a smoke alarm in the hallway and a heat alarm in the kitchen on 12 October 2023. It was unreasonable for the landlord not to have completed satisfactory repairs when it had initially attended the property on 29 September 2023. Furthermore for it not to have subsequently prioritised the repair which would have presented a health and safety concern to the resident. This caused further inconvenience, time, and trouble to the resident in pursuing a resolution to the alarm faults. Taking all matters into account this Service finds service failure in the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of no smoke or fire alarms in the property.
  5. An award of £75 as compensation has been ordered below for the impact the matter had on the resident. This award is in keeping with this Service’s remedies guidance for situations where a landlord has not appropriately acknowledged repairs and/or had not fully put them right within a reasonable timeframe.
  6. It is evident that since it issued its final complaint response the landlord tested the CO2, heat and smoke alarms in the property during a gas safety check it completed on 30 January 2024. The safety certificate confirmed that the alarms in the property were operational.

The landlord’s response to the resident’s report of creaky stairs.

  1. This Service made reference to the resident’s reports of creaky stairs in our stage 1 complaint on behalf of the resident on 3 July 2023. There is no evidence to indicate when, or if the resident had previously raised the matter with the landlord.
  2. The landlord responded to the matter in its final complaint response of 23 October 2023 in which it confirmed that it did not have any records of the repair being reported. However, given the landlord had been made aware of the matter via this Service on 3 July 2023 it would have been reasonable for it to have contacted the resident to see if a repair was needed prior to issuing its complaint response 80 working days later..
  3. The landlord’s failure to complete a repair within its policy timescales and its delay in responding to the resident about the matter caused avoidable inconvenience, time, and trouble to her. Consequently this Service finds service failure in the landlord’s response to the resident’s report of creaky stairs.
  4. An award of £75 as compensation is therefore ordered for the impact the matter had on the resident. This award is in keeping with this Service’s remedies guidance, where a landlord has not appropriately acknowledged repairs and/or had not fully put them right. As there is no evidence to confirm if the repair has been completed a further order has been made to address this below.

The landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of damp and mould in the property.

  1. On 12 September 2024 we asked the landlord to provide evidence about its handling of reports of damp and mould in the property. Specifically we asked it to provide information about damp and mould reports, repairs, or treatments related to the property between a reference to black mould and a surveyor’s inspection in October 2019 and the resident’s report of yellow mould on 27 September 2023.
  2. The landlord failed to respond to the evidence requested within the timescales provided. Paragraph 10 of the Scheme says landlords must provide copies of any information requested by the Ombudsman that is, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, relevant to the complaint. The landlord’s failure to respond to the evidence request represents a knowledge and information management failure. This has consequently affected our assessment of the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of damp and mould in the property.
  3. It is evident that the landlord has previously completed mould washes in the property to respond to the resident’s reports of damp and black mould. The landlord completed this work twice in 2012, once in 2015 and 2018, and 3 times in 2019 when it was noted that black mould had covered the bedroom and bathroom walls and that the ceilings and walls had been inspected by a surveyor. However there is no evidence that the landlord repaired the cause of any damp and mould when it visited the property in 2019.
  4. The landlord made notes on its housing database on 3 January 2019 that said the resident had reported that damp and mould was a recurring issue that must be remedied. Further that the attempts the landlord had made to find the root cause in the past had had no effect.
  5. This Service has not seen any evidence that the landlord carried out any actions to establish the cause of the recurring damp and mould between October 2019 and September 2023. It is however evident that in 2015 the landlord had noted that the roof had been leaking into the bedroom causing damp and mould in the property. Further that in September and October 2019, February 2020 and October 2023 additional roof leaks had occurred which had penetrated the property through the bathroom ceiling.
  6. The landlord failed to address the resident’s reports of damp and mould in the property in its final complaint response of 23 October 2023 beyond saying that it had arranged for repairs to be completed on 27 November 2023. The repair appointment was reasonable and in keeping with the landlord’s 28 working day  timescale for a routine repair. However the Ombudsman encourages landlords to use complaints as a source of intelligence to identify issues and introduce positive changes in service delivery. The landlord’s final response is lacking in detail and in any acknowledgement of its previous failings in responding to damp, mould, and a history of roof leaks into the property. This was a missed the opportunity to reassure the resident that it took the matter seriously and/or that it would work with her to find a lasting solution to the situation.
  7. When a landlord is at fault it needs to put things right by acknowledging its mistakes and apologising for them, explaining why things went wrong and what it will do to prevent the same mistake happening again. The landlord did not appropriately address its handling of damp and mould in its complaint response such as by offering an apology, recognition of its failings and/or an award of compensation in keeping with its compensation procedures. This was a missed opportunity for the landlord to consider the impact of its failings and recognise the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident who had lived in a property affected by damp, mould, and leaks. Further that it had had caused time and trouble to the resident in pursuing her complaint via this Service. This was unreasonable under the circumstances. Consequently taking all matters into account this Service finds maladministration in the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of damp and mould in the property.
  8. An award of £250 in keeping with this Service’s remedies guidance is therefore ordered below in recognition that the landlord had made some attempt to put things right but failed to address the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident. Furthermore, the award proportionately addresses the time and trouble she incurred in pursuing a resolution to the complaint via this Service.
  9. The landlord has provided evidence to this Service which shows that it has reviewed its response to reports of damp and mould against the recommendations in the Ombudsman’s Spotlight Report on Damp and Mould (October 2021). It has presented a February 2023 report about its approach to tackling damp and mould to its Housing Scrutiny Sub-committee. Further it has implemented initiatives to tackle damp and mould in homes with a focus on the health and wellbeing of residents. We have therefore not made any further order for the landlord to review its approach to damp and mould.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint.

  1. There was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint as the landlord:
    1. Did not acknowledge the stage 1 complaint this Service raised on 3 July 2023. This was not in keeping with paragraph 4.1 of the Housing Ombudsman complaint handling code (the ‘Code’) that was in place at the time of the complaint. The Code says a complaint should be acknowledged and logged within 5 days of receipt.
    2. Did not issue a response to the resident’s stage 1 complaint of 3 July 2023 in keeping with its 10 day complaint policy. This resulted in this Service issuing a chaser letter on 29 September 2023 which asked the landlord to provide the resident with a complaint response by 6 October 2023.
    3. Issued a final stage 2 response to the resident on 23 October 2023 in place of a stage 1 response. This was not in keeping with paragraph 5.11 of the Code which says landlords must only escalate a complaint to stage 2 once it has completed stage 1 and at the request of the resident.
    4. Did not fully address the resident’s complaint about damp and mould beyond explaining that it had booked a repair appointment. This was not in keeping with paragraph 5.6 of the Code which says landlords must address all points raised in the complaint.
    5. Did not provide the resident with an opportunity to escalate her complaint in keeping with the paragraph 5.9 of the Code because it had chosen to issue a final response. This created a barrier to pursuing a resolution to the resident’s concerns and has caused time, trouble, and inconvenience in pursuing a resolution via this Service.
    6. Did not issue a response to the resident’s stage 1 complaint of 3 July 2023 until 23 October 2023 which was 70 working days later that its 10 day complaint policy target for a stage 1 complaint.
    7. Said in its final complaint response “I am very sorry to hear that you are not happy with the reply you received concerning the points raised in your original complaint.” This was inappropriate given the landlord had not previously provided a stage 1 response to the original complaint.
    8. Did not fully investigate the complaint about asbestos such as by evidencing the ways in which the landlord’s actions ensured the property met asbestos regulations.
    9. Concluded its complaint response by saying “we operate a two-stage complaints process, and your complaint has now reached the end of this process.” This was inappropriate given it had only provided one complaint response.
  2. The landlord contacted this Service on 3 September 2024 with reference to its handling of the complaint. The landlord explained that it had treated our chaser letter of 29 September 2023 as a stage 2 complaint because the resident had previously submitted several Members Enquiries. The landlord’s corporate complaints policy says, “enquiries from members are dealt with under the Member’s Enquiries procedure and are subject to different timescales.” It was inappropriate for the landlord not to have responded to the resident’s complaint at stage 1 in keeping with its separate 2-stage complaint process and the Code.
  3. When a landlord is at fault it needs to put things right by acknowledging its mistakes and apologising for them, explaining why things went wrong and what it will do to prevent the same mistake happening again. The landlord did not consider its handling of the resident’s complaint when reviewing the housing services it had provided. This was a missed opportunity for the landlord to consider the impact of its complaint handling delays and recognise that they had caused inconvenience, time, and trouble to the resident.
  4. An award of £200 as compensation is therefore ordered below in keeping with this Service’s remedies guidance in recognition that the landlord has not appropriately acknowledged its failings and/or had not fully put them right. This award also addresses the time and trouble the resident incurred in pursuing a resolution to the complaint via this Service.
  5. In February 2022 the Ombudsman issued a special report about the landlord, highlighting concerns with its complaint handling. The report recommended the landlord review its complaint handling procedures to reduce the risk of similar failures in the future. We continued to identify problems with the landlord’s performance, reaching findings of maladministration and severe maladministration following investigations into 20 separate complaints from residents.
  6. In June 2023 we told the landlord of our intention to carry out an inspection to find out the reasons for its ongoing failures in complaint handling. In December 2023 we issued a report setting out our findings with further recommendations for service improvement.
  7. In this investigation we have identified failures similar to those that led to our special report in 2022 and subsequent inspection in 2023. We therefore order the landlord to consider the findings highlighted in this investigation against the recommendations in our inspection report of December 2023.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme there was:
    1. No maladministration in respect of the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of intermittent heating and hot water due to a faulty boiler.
    2. Service failure in respect of the landlord’s response to the resident’s:
      1. Report of creaky stairs.
      2. Reports of no fire and smoke alarm in the property.
      3. Reports of asbestos in the property.
    3. Maladministration in respect of the landlord’s:
      1. Response to the resident’s reports of damp and mould in the property.
      2. Handling of the resident’s complaint.

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of the date of this report, the landlord is ordered to:
    1. Apologise in writing to the resident for its handling of damp and mould in the property and for its complaint handling failings.
    2. Pay the resident £700 in compensation made up as follows:
      1. £100 for time, trouble, distress, and inconvenience associated with the handling of reports of asbestos in the property.
      2. £75 for inconvenience, time and trouble related to the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of no fire and smoke alarm in the property.
      3. £75 for inconvenience, time and trouble related to the landlord’s response to the resident’s report of creaky stairs.
      4. £250 for time, trouble, distress, and inconvenience associated with the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of damp and mould in the property.
      5. £200 for time and trouble caused to the resident related to the landlord’s complaint handling failures.
    3. Inspect the property to assess if any outstanding repairs are required. If works are required the landlord should send the resident and this Service details of the works, together with a timetable for the works to be carried out within 2 weeks of inspecting the property.

The compensation is to be paid direct to the resident and not offset against any money that the resident may owe the landlord.

Recommendations

  1. The landlord is recommended to provide the resident with a copy of the instruction manual for the heating system and thermostat(s) and subject to the resident’s agreement, visit her at home to show her how to use the heating system correctly.