London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q) (202223275)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202223275

London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q)

5 April 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. This complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
    1. The resident’s reports of damp and mould.
    2. The associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant. The resident has three children at the property, all of whom she considers vulnerable. Two of the children have asthma.
  2. The property is a three-bedroom house.
  3. The resident reported damp and mould to the landlord on 30 August 2022. She said this was present throughout the house, highlighting issues in the bathroom, the main bedroom, and with the kitchen wall. The landlord undertook an inspection of the property on 16 September 2022. The resident reported potential water ingress in the loft on 18 November 2022. Following this, a plumber and an electrician visited the property and found there were no leaks or faults with the plumbing in the property.
  4. The resident raised a complaint on 8 December 2022. She was unhappy that the landlord had still taken no action following the survey of her property. She also informed the landlord that she had three children in the property with additional needs. The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response on 15 December 2022. The Ombudsman has not seen a copy of this. The resident requested her complaint be escalated to stage 2 on 29 December 2022. She said she was still suffering from the damp and mould, informing the landlord that her child now had to sleep in a different bedroom. She also said she felt the damp and mould was worsening the child’s health condition.
  5. The landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response on 13 February 2023. It upheld her complaint providing her with £2,200 in compensation. This consisted of £2,000 for the distress and inconvenience of the situation, £100 for its failure to keep to its service standards, £50 for the time and effort she had undertaken and £50 for its delay in providing the stage 2 complaint response. The landlord also informed her it would be undertaking a supervisor inspection on 15 February 2023 and performing a new damp and mould inspection. It was not able to give a date for this inspection. It also said that it would be in contact with her about completing the necessary works once the inspection had been completed.
  6. The resident confirmed to the Ombudsman that she would like for it to consider her complaint on 15 April 2023. She said the damp and mould had been ongoing since 2010. She said she was happy to accept the compensation the landlord offered; however, it had still not carried out the repairs to rectify the situation. She was unhappy that the landlord had performed a number of inspections but had not completed the necessary work to rectify the structural causes of the damp. To resolve her complaint, the resident said she would like the landlord to perform the necessary works to rid the property of mould.

Assessment and findings

The scope of our investigation

  1. The resident has said that the damp and mould has had a negative effect on the health of her children. It is beyond the remit of the Ombudsman to decide on whether there was a direct link between the landlord’s actions and any ill health. The resident may wish to seek independent advice on making a personal injury claim if she considers that health has been affected by any action or failure by the landlord. While the Ombudsman cannot consider the effect on health, consideration has been given to any general distress and inconvenience which the resident experienced as a result of service failure by the landlord.
  2. The resident has stated that the damp and mould has been an ongoing problem for over 10 years. The Ombudsman expects that any issues be raised as a complaint within a reasonable period of time, usually 12 months. This investigation has therefore considered only the landlord’s handling of the damp and mould reports beginning in August 2022. The Ombudsman also cannot consider, as part of this complaint, any events that happened after the landlord’s stage 2 complaint response, except events and works that the landlord committed to undertaking as part of this.

The landlord’s handling of reports of damp and mould

  1. The landlord’s damp and mould policy states that following a report of damp and mould, ‘an assessment of the property will be agreed at a mutually convenient time within 20 working days to understand the scale of the problem’. This assessment ‘will identify the underlying cause of the damp and mould within the property and provide the tenant with guidance on managing mould’. The landlord then goes on to say that ‘any remedial works identified will be recorded and raised to our internal or external maintenance teams within 10 working days of the assessment. Multiple fixes may be required and therefore, we will be clear with residents on timescales and keep them informed throughout’.
  2. The landlord’s repair policy has two different timescales. For emergency works where there is immediate danger, it will attend within 24 hours. For routine day-to-day repairs, it aims to complete the repair in an average of 25 working days.
  3. The landlord performed an initial inspection of the property 17 days after the resident first reported the damp and mould. This was in line with the timescales for a full inspection under its policy. The landlord however failed to follow up performing the works recommended by this until several months later. This delay potentially made the issues worse and would have warranted the landlord undertaking a new full survey of the property, including the exterior.
  4. The landlord however failed to perform or arrange the necessary remedial works recommended by either inspection within the timescales set out in its policy. This inspection raised issues including with the pointing to the front and rear of the property, crumbling brickwork due to excessive ground water penetration, and a drainage issue. As part of its stage 2 complaint response, the landlord recognised this and ordered a rising damp survey of the interior of property. This survey did not investigate the exterior of the property. Following this, it again failed to properly inform the resident about the works it intended to take or agree an action plan with the resident to combat the damp and mould. From the evidence available, it also does not appear that the landlord has undertaken all of the works that were recommended as part of this report.
  5. When the landlord undertook the external works, it failed to properly monitor these. The resident raised concerns that some of the repairs to the brickwork and the pointing were completed at the wrong location, and not in line with the work order. The landlord does not appear to have completed any re–inspection following this or been able to provide the resident with evidence that this was undertaken correctly. This represented a failure from the landlord to fairly deal with the work, and to manage the resident’s concerns.
  6. The landlord also failed, throughout the course of the complaint, to fairly communicate with the resident. It never provided her with a comprehensive overview of the works it was going to undertake, nor did it respond to her requests to see copies of the surveys. The landlord’s actions in failing to discuss this with her undoubtedly caused additional distress and inconvenience for the resident, leading to a lack of clarity about the actions it would be undertaking.
  7. The landlord also failed to undertake any kind of risk assessment relating to the vulnerabilities of the inhabitants of the property. There were three young children in the property, two of whom suffer from asthma. The landlord should have considered this when arranging to undertake the works and considered the risk its delays could have had on the residents. 
  8. The landlord recognised that it had not acted within the guidelines of its policy and provided the resident with £2,150 compensation for the distress and inconvenience the damp and mould had caused. It said that this figure represented compensation for the number of years this had been ongoing. The figure represented a fair amount of compensation for the distress and inconvenience of the ongoing damp and mould in the property and is within a range that the Ombudsman would recommend where there has been a landlord failure that has had a seriously detrimental impact on a household.
  9. However, as the landlord however failed to fully arrange, complete, or monitor the damp and mould works in the period after the final complaint response, the Ombudsman cannot say its response put things right or represented reasonable redress. Whilst the compensation may have been proportionate, the actions the landlord took fell short of providing a solution to the ongoing damp and mould, especially when considering the vulnerability of the inhabitants of the property. The continued failings also indicate that the landlord did not learn sufficient lessons from the outcome of the complaint and so did not act in accordance with the Ombudsman’s Dispute Resolution Principles. The landlord’s actions in handling the situation therefore represented maladministration.
  10. If the landlord has not already paid the £2,150 to the resident, it should pay this amount to her within four weeks of the date of this letter.
  11. The landlord also needs to perform a new survey of the property. This should consider both the interior of the property and the exterior. It should reinspect any works it undertook as part of its resolution to this complaint, or any subsequent works. As part of this, the landlord should also undertake a risk assessment in relation to the vulnerabilities of those living in the property. The landlord should then provide the resident with a copy of the survey, alongside a list of the works it intends to carry out. This list should provide the resident with timescales for the completion of works in line with its repair policy.
  12. The landlord should also allocate the resident a singular point of contact to communicate with whilst the repairs remain outstanding. This would serve to minimise the distress and inconvenience caused to her whilst works are ongoing.

The landlord’s handling of the associated complaint

  1. The landlord’s complaint policy says that it will log complaints made at stage 1 of its complaints process within 5 working days. It then says it will provide its response within 10 days of the complaint being logged. At stage 2, the landlord says it will provide its complaint response within 20 working days of the request to escalate the complaint. The landlord says there may be instances where it may require an extension to be able to provide its complaint responses, but that it will inform residents of this if this is the case.
  2. The landlord actions at stage 1 of the complaints process appear to have been fair. The Ombudsman has not seen a copy of the stage 1 complaint response but both parties appear to agree this was sent. The resident complained to the landlord on 8 December 2022. The landlord has said that it provided its stage 1 complaint response on 15 December 2022. This was 7 days after the complaint was first raised. As the resident requested an escalation to stage 2, the Ombudsman is of the view, based on the balance of probabilities, that this must have given the resident the correct information regarding the escalation process.
  3. At stage 2, the landlord did not provide its response within the timescales set out in its policy. It instead took 31 working days to provide its complaint response. The landlord recognised its failings and awarded £50 compensation for the inconvenience this caused to the resident. This amount was in line with its compensation policy and reflected the inconvenience that would have been caused by this short delay.
  4. Overall, the landlord’s handling of the associated complaint represented reasonable redress. It recognised its service failure and provided a fair amount of redress for this. It is recommended that the landlord reoffer this compensation to the resident if it has not already paid this.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of reports of damp and mould.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 53b of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was reasonable redress in the landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. It is ordered that within 4 weeks of the date of this letter, the landlord must:
    1. If not already done, pay the resident the £2,150 compensation it offered for its failure to handle the resident’s reports of damp and mould correctly (this should be paid direct to the resident and not offset against the resident’s rent account).
    2. Review the distress, inconvenience and time and trouble caused to the resident since its February 2023 final complaint response and make a compensation offer to the resident accordingly. This offer should include an explanation of how it has reached this figure.
    3. Arrange and perform a new survey of the entire property (both the interior and exterior) to include a:
      1. post-inspection of the quality of any works completed since December 2022;
      2. a final diagnosis of any continued reasons for damp and mould in the property;
      3. a risk assessment in relation to the vulnerabilities of those living in the property.
    4. The landlord should write to the resident within 2 weeks of the survey to:
      1. provide a copy of the surveyor’s report;
      2. provide a list of the works it intends to carry out with timescales for each repair that in line with its repair policy;
      3. provide the outcome of the risk assessment and any actions it will take to alleviate potential risks to the health of the household pending the completion of works.
    5. If it has not already done so, the landlord should allocate the resident a singular point of contact she can discuss the ongoing damp and mould situation with until completion of all works.

Recommendations

  1. The landlord should pay the resident the £50 offered in its stage 2 complaint response for its complaint handling failures.