London Borough of Ealing (202345558)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202345558

London Borough of Ealing

13 October 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. This complaint is about how the landlord handled repairs to the resident’s front door, and related damp and mould.
  2. We have also considered how the landlord handled the complaint.

Background

  1. The resident is a secure tenant of the landlord. The property is a 2-bed flat.
  2. The resident made a complaint about her front door on or around 26 September 2023. She said the landlord had replaced the door in December 2022, but that the works were not up to standard. She said there was a large gap under the door, allowing both water and cold air into the property. She said this was causing damp and mould, and the door needed to be replaced.
  3. The landlord issued a stage 1 response on 16 October 2023. It said it had raised a works order for a damp and mould contractor to survey the area around the door for treatment. It said it would need to treat the damp and mould before it could replace the door.
  4. The resident was unhappy with the landlord’s response, so escalated her complaint.
  5. The landlord issued a stage 2 response on 17 June 2024. It said:
    1. A surveyor attended on 28 May 2024. They confirmed the damp and mould was caused in part by the faulty door, but there were 2 other areas of damp that needed to be resolved. It suspected the other damp was from a leak above, so it would arrange a roof inspection.
    2. It had booked a mould wash and an inspection of the door for 20 June 2024. After that, it would resolve the issues.
    3. It offered £380 compensation for the delays.
  6. The resident was unhappy with the landlord’s response, so referred her complaint to us. She said it had not resolved the problems with the door or with the damp and mould. She also said it had offered compensation for 38 weeks of delays, but the issues had been going on for much longer than that. To put things right, she wanted it to complete the repairs and offer additional compensation.

Events after the complaint

  1. The landlord carried out a review of this complaint after we asked it for further information. It said:
    1. It accepted that the resident had been reporting issues with the door going back to 2015, and it had not adequately addressed her concerns.
    2. It had not effectively managed the repair since the complaint response. The final door repairs were completed 44 weeks after the stage 2 response.
    3. It accepted there were delays in its complaint responses at both stages, and it had not appropriately investigated the complaint.
    4. It offered a further £440 compensation for delays in repairs. This was £10 per week from the stage 2 response to the date it completed the door repairs. It also offered £260 compensation for its complaint handling.
    5. It said it would arrange a post-inspection of the door repair to ensure the problems were fully resolved.

Assessment and findings

Door repair

  1. The landlord has accepted that there were unreasonable delays in the repair and offered the resident compensation. It has also completed the repairs since the resident referred her complaint to us. As such, the only outstanding issue is whether the compensation offered is enough to put things right.
  2. It is common ground that there have been issues with the resident’s door going back a number of years. The resident reported the issues that were part of this complaint on or around 31 January 2023. The landlord had 28 days from the resident’s report to carry out a routine repair under its repairs policy.
  3. The landlord’s records related to this repair are limited and at times contradictory, and this has hampered our investigation into this complaint. For example, while its records say it booked an appointment for 7 February 2023, it has provided no evidence of attending that appointment, or of taking any further action until the resident made a complaint. It has also provided inconsistent dates for repairs. However, it is not disputed that the front door was allowing water into the property (causing damp and mould), or that the landlord had not completed the repairs by June 2024, when it issued its stage 2 response.
  4. This was just over 16 months after the resident reported issues with the door, which is a significant and unreasonable delay.
  5. The landlord accepted there were unreasonable delays and offered £380 compensation. It said this was for the time the repairs had been outstanding. It calculated this based on a rate of £10 per week for the 38 weeks between the complaint and the stage 2 response. However, the repairs had been outstanding since the end of January 2023, and the landlord has only offered compensation for the delays from September 2023 onwards.
  6. Had the landlord calculated its compensation offer for the full time the repairs were delayed, not just from the date of the complaint, it is likely there would have been a finding of reasonable redress. As it did not, it has not done enough to put things right. We therefore find there has been maladministration.
  7. To put things right, the landlord must pay the resident £670 compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused by its unreasonable delays in repairing the front door. This is based on the landlord’s compensation rate of £10 per week from 28 February 2023 (the end of the 28-day deadline to complete repairs under its policy) and the stage 2 response.
  8. This sum includes the £380 offered as part of the landlord’s complaints process. It does not include the £440it offered for delays after its stage 2 response. Any delays after the stage 2 response would be a new complaint, so we have not considered them as part of this investigation.

Complaint handling

  1. In its 3 October 2025 case review, the landlord accepted that there were unreasonable delays in its complaint responses at both stage 1 and stage 2. It also accepted that it failed to adequately investigate the complaint. It has now offered the resident £260 compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused by its failings, and confirmed that its complaints team have since had additional training.
  2. The landlord has correctly identified its various complaint handling failings. The offer of compensation is also in line with our published remedies guidance for failings which adversely affect a resident but have no permanent impact. The compensation offered is therefore appropriate.
  3. Had the landlord offered the compensation as part of its complaints process, there would have been a finding of reasonable redress. As it did not, we find there has been maladministration.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there has been maladministration with regard to the landlord’s handling of repairs to the resident’s front door, and related damp and mould.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there has been maladministration with regard to the landlord’s complaint handling.

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of the date of this determination the landlord must pay the resident £930 compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused by its failings. This sum includes the £380 offered in its stage 2 response and the £260 offered for complaint handling on 3 October 2025. It does not include the £440 offered for delays after the stage 2 response. This is broken down as follows:
    1. £670 for the distress and inconvenience caused by its poor handling of the door repairs.
    2. £260 for the distress and inconvenience caused by its complaint handling failings.
  2. The landlord must provide us with evidence of compliance with the above order within 4 weeks.