London & Quadrant Housing Trust (202429630)

Background

1. The resident lives in a 2-bedroomed flat on the top floor of a 3-storey block. She has anxiety and has recently had oncology treatment. She has complained about a leak from the roof which is affecting her property. She escalated her complaint to the Ombudsman because she is not satisfied with the landlord’s response.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s:
   1. Response to reports of a leak from the roof as well as damp and mould in the resident’s property.
   2. Complaint handling.

Our decision (determination)

3. We have found that:
   1. There was maladministration in the landlord’s response to reports of leak from the roof and damp and mould.
   2. There was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the complaint.

We have made orders for the landlord to put things right.

Summary of reasons

The handling of reports of a leak and damp and mould

4. Although the landlord inspected the roof promptly in line with its policy, it did not act on the recommendations of its surveyor. It delayed completing the necessary works to the roof that were raised in the inspection. This led to damp and mould in the resident’s flat.

The complaint handling

5. The landlord did not monitor progress to ensure all actions set out in its complaint response were completed. It did not communicate with the resident, forcing her to chase updates and leaving her unaware of the action taken. It did not escalate the complaint when this was requested by the resident.

Putting things right

Where we find service failure, maladministration or severe maladministration we can make orders for the landlord to put things right. We have the discretion to make recommendations in all other cases within our jurisdiction.

Orders

Landlords must comply with our orders in the manner and timescales we specify. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of compliance with our orders by the due date set.

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

What we found and why

The circumstances of this complaint are well known by the parties involved, so it is not necessary to detail everything that’s happened or comment on all the information we’ve reviewed. We’ve only included the key information that forms the basis of our decision of whether the landlord is responsible for maladministration.

6. The occupancy agreement states that the landlord is responsible for repairs to the roof of the building. Leaseholders are responsible for all repairs to the interior of their property. The repairs policy states that it aims to complete routine day to day repairs in an average of 25 calendar days. There is no service standard for more complex major works.
7. The resident reported the leak to the roof on 10 March 2024. The landlord asked a contractor to inspect the roof on 21 March 2024. This was 8 working days after the repair was reported. The contractor made recommendations to the landlord to rectify the leak. Contractors would need scaffolding for further works. The landlord reviewed the contractor’s quote for the works and declined it.
8. We do not know what happened after the roofing team declined the quote. However, the works remained outstanding for 8 months. Although the works needed were complex in nature, the landlord delayed its response to the recommendations. Repairs were completed on 26 November 2024. This was 183 days after the initial report.
9. The Ombudsman’s Spotlight Report on Repairs (published in May 2025) stresses the importance of communication between landlords and residents. Ineffective communication leaves residents uninformed and frustrated. One of the recommendations in the report was for landlords to review communication to ensure it is “timely, transparent, tailored”.
10. The resident chased the repair multiple times in the lead up to her stage 1 complaint on 15 July 2024. In its stage 1 response the landlord said it would update the resident as soon as it had information about the outstanding works. However, the resident had to chase the repair several more times between her stage 1 and stage 2 complaints.
11. Following the stage 2 response on 21 October 2024, the landlord did act on the repair. Works were started around 23 October 2024 and signed off on 26 November 2024. However, this information was not communicated to the resident. She is under the impression that the landlord had attempted a temporary fix. The resident confirmed to the Ombudsman that the leak was still present in February 2025.
12. The landlord’s damp and mould policy states that it will tackle the root cause of the problem and carry out repairs needed to prevent damp and mould from reoccurring. Damp can be caused by water penetration through leaks. After a report of damp and mould, an inspection should take place within 20 working days and any remedial works identified will be raised within 10 working days of the inspection.
13. The landlord’s vulnerable residents policy defines a vulnerable resident as someone with a condition or circumstance that places them at risk in their home. The policy states that residents can be supported in several ways, including providing minor health and safety repairs at no cost and prioritising health and safety repairs.
14. On 14 July 2024 the resident advised the landlord that there was black mould inside her property due to the ongoing roof leak. Although the interior of the flat is the resident’s responsibility, the damp and mould could have been linked to the ongoing water penetration. The resident further advised the landlord on 11 September 2024 that she was undergoing oncology treatment which left her at risk of infection. The situation was also causing her anxiety and stress. It would have been reasonable for the landlord to inspect her property to see if the leak was causing damp and mould. It could have looked at how this could be mitigated, for example, providing a dehumidifier or carrying out a mould wash. The landlord did not inspect the resident’s property or offer any support with the damp and mould.
15. Overall there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the reports of a leak and damp and mould.

16. The landlord’s complaints policy states that it will acknowledge a complaint within 5 working days, respond to a stage 1 complaint within 10 working days and to a stage 2 complaint within 20 working days.
17. The landlord acknowledged and responded to the resident’s stage 1 complaint on time. However, it did not act on the resident’s request for her complaint to be escalated to stage 2. She emailed requesting escalation on 8 August 2024 and had to chase this with the landlord on 18 September 2024. The response to the stage 2 complaint took 52 working days from her first escalation request. The landlord offered compensation of £20 for this service failure, however this was not reasonable redress for such a long delay.
18. The stage 1 response did not address the length of time the issue had been ongoing or what action had been taken previously. The stage 2 response did not acknowledge the failings in the stage 1 response or in the escalation to stage 2.
19. The complaints policy states that after the landlord’s decision is confirmed in writing, it will monitor progress until all outstanding actions are complete.
20. At both stages of the internal complaint procedure, the landlord stated that it would keep the resident updated and make contact regarding appointments. This did not happen. The resident had to contact the landlord multiple times for updates. She remains unaware of the outcome of works following her stage 2 complaint. This amounts to maladministration.

Learning

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

21. Although the landlord had access to the contractor’s inspection report, this was not shared between teams so that complaint handling staff could respond in detail to the resident’s stage 1 complaint. The landlord should act promptly with the information it has available.

Communication

22. The landlord’s communication with the resident was poor in this case. The promised updates would have eased the resident’s concern and frustration and saved her the time and trouble of chasing information and submitting complaints.

Repairs and damp and mould

23. The landlord caused unnecessary delays by declining the roof quote from the contractor and not rescheduling works. The resident had damp and mould in her property, which was not addressed by the landlord despite the possible link to water penetration.

Complaint handling

24. The landlord should act promptly to requests to escalate complaints. Its responses should address all points raised and put things right. The landlord should monitor progress and keep residents updated.