London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q) (202101343)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202101343

London & Quadrant Housing Trust

20 April 2023

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 reports of damp and mould and the residents subsequent request for compensation.
2. The Ombudsman has also considered the landlord’s complaint handling.

Background

3. The resident held an assured tenancy with the landlord in a 1-bedroom ground floor flat.
4. On 21 April 2021, following a telephone conversation with the resident, the Housing Officer arranged to inspect the resident’s property on 27 April 2021, in relation to concerns about damp and mould in his home. The Housing Officer attended the resident’s home on this date but was unable to gain access to the property. This was rescheduled to 6 May 2021.
5. Following contact from the resident, the Ombudsman wrote to the landlord on 10 May 2021. The Ombudsman asked the landlord to raise and respond to the resident’s complaint that he had experienced damp and mould in the property for the last 17 years. He said that the landlord simply painted over the damp and mould. He said that this had happened four to five times over the years. He said that the damp had caused damage to his belongings, furnishings, and clothing, and that his health had suffered due to the damp and mould. He said that he wanted compensation for everything he had to endure and requested an immediate move to suitable accommodation.
6. On 11 May 2021 the landlord responded to the resident’s complaint at stage one of its complaints process. In summary the response said:
   1. That the landlord had recently registered the case.
   2. The landlord and its surveyor had arranged to inspect his home.
   3. The resident would need to submit a personal liability claim for damages to his health and belongings. The landlord provided him with advice on how to do this.
7. On concluding that the resident’s property was uninhabitable, on 20 May 2021, the landlord offered the resident temporary accommodation at a hotel whilst it completed the repairs to his property. The landlord also offered him £250.00 per week compensation. It was agreed that the resident would instead stay with friends and family. On 10 June 2021 and 17 June 2021, the landlord offered the resident permanent alternative accommodation. The resident refused these offers and said that he would be willing to wait for another property closer to the area he wanted.
8. On 16 September 2021 the resident emailed the landlord and said that he was not happy with the outcome of the landlord’s stage one response. He said that the landlord had not addressed his request for compensation for the damage to his health and belongings. The landlord acknowledged this the same day.
9. On 28 September 2021 the landlord offered the resident a permanent move to an alternative 1-bedroom flat. The resident accepted the offer. This Service reminded the landlord on 26 October 2021, however, that the resident was still seeking a response to his complaint. The landlord acknowledged this and told the resident that he would receive a formal response by 8 November 2021.
10. On 21 December 2021 the landlord issued its final response. In summary the response said.
    1. The landlord and the surveyor attended the property on 18 May 2021 and made the decision to decant him, as the property was no longer habitable.
    2. The units on the right-hand side were showing damp within the walls and the landlord had requested a works order to inspect the roof and the right-hand side of the building. The landlord cleared the roof and gutter on 3 June 2021.
    3. It was unable to find any recent reports of damp and mould other than the most recent inspection in May 2021. The landlord apologised for any distress or inconvenience this may have caused but said that it relied on residents reporting repairs to it.
    4. He should make a financial claim for any damage to his personal belongings through his own content’s insurance or the landlord’s insurers. The landlord gave advice to him on how to do this.
    5. The landlord offered the resident compensation of £150.00, comprising of £60.00 for inconvenience, £60.00 for distress, and £30.00 for the delay in its response. It said that if the resident accepted the compensation, it would be offset against his rent arrears.
11. The resident said in his complaint to the Ombudsman, that he wanted a total of £6,000 compensation for ‘health, damage to his bed and belongings’.

Assessment and findings

Policies and procedures

12. The landlord’s repairs policy states ‘We want to provide residents with a reliable, modern and effective repairs service that undertakes repairs for which we have a responsibility to a good standard in a reasonable timeframe’. ‘For routine day to day repairs, we will aim to complete the repair at the earliest mutually convenient appointment’.
13. The landlord’s complaints policy states that at stage two it will write to the resident with the outcome and next steps within 20 working days of the request to escalate.
14. The landlord’s compensation policy states that residents may be entitled to a disturbance payment if the landlord requires them to permanently or temporarily leave their home so that major improvement works can be completed.
15. The landlord’s compensation policy states that it will make payment of £10.00 for a failure to respond to a formal complaint within the timescales published in our Complaints Policy.

The landlord’s handling of reports of damp and mould and the residents subsequent request for compensation

16. When investigating a complaint, the Ombudsman applies its Dispute Resolution Principles. These are high level good practice guidance developed from the Ombudsman’s experience of resolving disputes, for use by everyone involved in the complaints process. There are only three principles driving effective dispute resolution:

a.         Be fair – treat people fairly and follow fair processes; 

b.         Put things right, and; 

c.         Learn from outcomes. 

17. The Ombudsman must first consider whether a failing on the part of the landlord occurred, and if so, whether this led to any adverse effect or detriment to the resident. If it is found that a failing did lead to an adverse effect, the investigation will then consider whether the landlord has taken enough action to ‘put things right’ and ‘learn from outcomes’.
18. The resident informed the Ombudsman that he had reported damp and mould in the property for over a year before he raised a complaint with the landlord. The landlord has provided the Ombudsman with the resident’s tenancy notes since 2003 and its repair logs for the property since 2012. The Ombudsman has been unable to confirm that there were any reports in the year prior to making the complaint. As far as the evidence shows, the issue was only brought to the landlord’s attention in April 2021.
19. The landlord tried to inspect the resident’s property to assess the damp and mould at the end of April 2021. The evidence showed that following this, the resident tried to arrange a further appointment with the landlord to inspect his property. It is unclear if the landlord responded to the resident’s request, however, this did not cause any significant delays. The landlord responded quickly to the resident’s complaint and arranged an appointment with him to inspect the property. The landlord inspected the property within eight days of the resident’s complaint. The landlord’s response was fair and proportionate. It inspected the property within a reasonable timescale and in line with its repairs policy.
20. On inspection, the landlord found that the property was uninhabitable. The landlord then acted promptly in arranging alternative temporary accommodation for the resident. The evidence indicated that landlord awarded the resident £250.00 per week compensation as a disturbance payment, in line with its compensation policy, as he was no longer able to live at the property. Overall, the landlord’s actions were fair and proportionate.
21. In total, the landlord made three offers of permanent accommodation to the resident over a four-month period. The evidence showed that the landlord considered the resident’s concerns about the location of the new property and offered a fair and flexible approach. It took proactive action in finding a further option for the resident. Given the condition of the resident’s property due to the damp and mould, the offer of alternative permanent accommodation was a fair and reasonable approach to take.
22. The landlord’s response to the resident’s request for compensation was also reasonable. While it missed the opportunity to recommend that the resident make a personal injury claim if he sought to pursue compensation for any alleged impact on his health, the landlord appropriately advised the resident that he could make a claim for his damaged belongings through his own content’s insurance or its own insurer. It also provided adequate advice to the resident on how to do this.
23. The Ombudsman does not underestimate the stress and inconvenience this situation would have caused the resident, however, the evidence showed that the landlord acted promptly in responding to the residents reports of damp and mould. The landlord took reasonable actions to mitigate any concerns for the resident’s health by offering him temporary accommodation, followed by an offer of alternative permanent accommodation, within a reasonable timescale. Overall, the landlord acted fairly and in line with its policies and tried to ‘put things right’ for the resident.

The landlord’s handling of the complaint

24. The Ombudsman has also considered the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint. In doing so, this Service notes that it took the landlord over three months to respond to the resident at stage two. This was not in line with the landlord’s complaints policy which indicated that at stage two, the landlord will respond within 20 working days. The subsequent delay led to the resident contacting the Ombudsman for assistance in obtaining a response. This was an avoidable delay that would have caused distress and inconvenience to the resident.
25. The landlord’s final response was also inaccurate. It said that the most recent report of damp and mould from the resident was in May 2021, however, the evidence showed that the resident had discussed his concerns about damp and mould with his Housing Officer in April 2021. This may indicate issues with the landlord’s record keeping, however this was a minor failing that had no significant impact on the landlords overall handling of the complaint.
26. While the landlord’s approach was contrary to its usual procedure, it did acknowledge this and make an offer of compensation (£150) in recognition. This took into consideration the resident’s distress and inconvenience, as well as the delayed response. The Ombudsman’s remedies guidance suggests that compensation between £100 – £600 should be considered where there is a failure which adversely affected the resident. The landlord therefore made an offer which was in accordance with this Service’s guidance and in the Ombudsman’s opinion, proportionately reflected the level of detriment. The landlord’s offer of redress was satisfactory in putting matters right.

Determination

27. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was no maladministration by the landlord in respect of its handling of reports of damp and mould and the residents subsequent request for compensation.
28. In accordance with paragraph 53(b) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord offered redress to the resident prior to investigation which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the landlord’s handling of the complaint satisfactorily.

Recommendations

29. It is recommended that the landlord review its complaint handling procedures to ensure they are in line with the code and identify any training needs.