London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q) (202338603)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202338603

London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q)

31 October 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 damp and mould in the resident’s property.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord. The property is 2-bed flat. The resident’s adult son, who lives in the property with her, has asthma.
  2. The resident reported damp and mould in the property on 17 February 2022. She then made a complaint about how the landlord had handled the damp and mould on 20 November 2023. She said it had raised a number of jobs and then marked them as complete despite having taken no action, and had not done enough to resolve the damp and mould.
  3. The landlord issued a stage 1 response to the complaint on 21 November 2023. It said it upheld the complaint and gave details of appointments it had arranged. The resident was not satisfied with the landlord’s response, so escalated her complaint on 26 November 2023. She said the jobs raised would not resolve the damp in her son’s bedroom wall, the mould was affecting her son’s health, and there had been poor communication around the repairs.
  4. The landlord issued a stage 2 response on 5 January 2024. It said it could see the resident had been reporting damp and mould for a long time, and had to chase it for responses throughout. It said it was clear that the damp and mould had gotten worse over time, and that it had updated its systems to record her son as vulnerable because of his asthma. It set out its action plan for resolving the issues, and offered the resident £1,180 compensation.
  5. The resident was dissatisfied with the landlord’s response, so referred her complaint to the Ombudsman. She said the landlord had not carried out any works since the stage 2 response, and she thought the only way to solve the problem was for the landlord to move her.

Policies and procedures

  1. Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 places a statutory obligation on the landlord to keep the structure and exterior of the property in repair. This includes the roof, guttering, and external walls. The tenancy agreement says that the landlord is also responsible for repairs to the internal walls and plasterwork. The landlord is required to carry out repairs within a reasonable timeframe.
  2. Under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, the landlord must ensure the property is fit for human habitation throughout the tenancy. The landlord must also ensure that the homes it provides meet the Decent Homes Standard. Section 5 of the Decent Homes Standard says the landlord should ensure that its properties are free of category 1 hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). Damp and mould is listed as a potential category 1 hazard.

Scope of the investigation

  1. Paragraph 42(a) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme says the Ombudsman may not investigate complaints which have not completed the landlord’s internal complaints process. The resident told the Ombudsman that there were ongoing issues with damp and mould, and the landlord’s handling of related repairs, after the stage 2 response. Any events after the stage 2 response have not gone through the landlord’s internal complaints process. As such, this investigation will only consider events up to the point of the landlord’s stage 2 response (5 January 2024), though those events may be referred to for context.
  2. The resident has referred to the effect the damp and mould had on her family’s health. She said one of her sons has asthma and struggles to breathe in the property, and that another son started to develop breathing difficulties as a result of the damp and mould. The Ombudsman is unable to draw conclusions on the causation of, or liability for, damage to health and wellbeing. Personal injury claims must, ultimately, be determined by the courts, as the courts can consider medical evidence and make legally binding findings in this regard. However, the Ombudsman will consider any general distress and inconvenience the situation caused the resident.

Assessment and findings

  1. The resident reported damp and mould to the landlord on 17 February 2022. The landlord arranged for an inspection on 24 February 2022. This was a reasonable first step, as it would need to assess the likely cause of the damp and mould to work out what repairs, if any, it needed to carry out. The surveyor identified blocked gutters, cracks in the external walls which were letting water in, and damp in both bedrooms and the bathroom. They said some of the mould on a bedroom ceiling was from a previous toilet leak, and that there was possible water ingress from an outside wall or chimney. They said further investigation was needed. The photos from the report show visible black mould and water damage.
  2. Following that report, the landlord took no action for almost a month. On 22 March 2022, it logged a works order to replace the pointing and repair the leak-damaged ceilings. On 4 April 2022, it logged a works order for an inspection of the roof and chimney. It is unclear from the evidence provided why the landlord waited almost a month after the inspection to raise any works orders or further inspections. This was inappropriate, and demonstrates that it did not take the damp and mould in the resident’s property seriously.
  3. The Ombudsman’s March 2019 Spotlight Report on repairs sets out the expectations the Ombudsman has for landlords where repairs are concerned. The report says landlords should keep clear, accurate, and easily accessible records of residents’ reports of disrepair and the landlord’s responses. This should include details of appointments, any inspections, any work carried out, and completion dates. Landlords should also monitor the progress of any reported repairs, and comply with the repair timescales set out in their policies as far as possible.
  4. The landlord has provided its repair records for the relevant timeframe. However, it has been difficult for the Ombudsman to determine from those records what action it took, and when it took that action. This is because while it has produced a list of works orders, it has not provided any supporting evidence for the majority of the repairs. For example, the repair records show it marked the guttering repair as complete on 21 April 2022. However, it has produced no contractor notes to show the repair was completed, and a year later it raised a new works order for an ‘outstanding gutter repair’. It has also referred in its records to inspections for which it has provided no reports or inspection notes, and has marked a number of repairs as complete when there is no evidence of any of the raised works having been carried out. This has hampered the Ombudsman’s investigation into this complaint.
  5. What the Ombudsman has been able to determine from the landlord’s records, however, is that as of the landlord’s stage 2 response on 5 January 2024, the damp and mould reported on 17 February 2022 was unresolved. This is a serious and significant delay.
  6. Throughout that time, the landlord raised multiple works orders, which it marked as complete despite no works having taken place on a number of occasions. It also cancelled works orders on the basis that the resident refused access on 15 July 2022. However, it has provided no evidence that she was aware of any appointments in advance, that it tried to contact her, or that its contractors actually attended the property. In the absence of that evidence, the Ombudsman cannot reasonably conclude that the resident refused access for the works.
  7. It raised further works orders in September, October, and November 2022, and from April 2023 onwards. It marked many of those works orders as complete, despite the works having not gone ahead. This was inappropriate, and caused significant delays in resolving the reported damp and mould. In its stage 1 response on 21 November 2023, it told the resident it had booked appointments for a joint visit on 1 December 2023 to detect the leak, plastering on 5 December 2023, and to repair loose pointing on the rear wall, for which it did not confirm a date. It then failed to attend those appointments, and some of the works orders were again marked as complete despite the appointments not going ahead. This demonstrates that the landlord failed to learn from the complaint.
  8. In its stage 2 response, the landlord acknowledged that the resident had reported damp and mould in 2022, and that it had gotten significantly worse over time. It said works had not gone ahead because of missed appointments, non-attendance, and a lack of care on its part, and that the resident had to pursue it for repairs throughout that time. It noted it had not carried out most of the works set out in its stage 1 response. It said its plumber had turned up for the joint appointment, but the carpenter had not. As such, the leak detection had not gone ahead. It said it had not carried out the repairs to the brickwork due to weather conditions, and that the plastering could not go ahead until the source of the leak had been identified.
  9. In its stage 2 response, the landlord set out an action plan for the various repairs, and the related damp and mould. However, the resident confirmed in May 2024 that the issues were still ongoing, and it is unclear from the landlord’s records what works it has, or has not, carried out since then. In its internal emails on 15 August 2024, the landlord said that the repairs were completed in December 2023. However, the landlord is aware that this is incorrect, as set out in its own stage 2 response. It is therefore apparent that its poor record keeping has continued to affect the repairs after the stage 2 complaint, and it has failed to take the opportunity to learn from the complaint.
  10. When acknowledging its failings in its stage 2 response, the landlord offered the resident £1,180 compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused. While it is promising that the landlord has acknowledged the significance of its failings, the Ombudsman does not consider that the compensation offered is sufficient, taking into account all the circumstances of this case. In this case, the resident was left living with damp and mould, a potential category 1 hazard, for nearly 2 years by the time the landlord issued its stage 2 response.
  11. The resident said that the damp and mould made her son’s asthma worse, and that another son was prescribed a nebuliser as a result of breathing difficulties caused by the damp and mould. The Ombudsman cannot determine whether or not the damp and mould caused any harm to her sons’ health. However, this Service notes that living in a property you believe is harmful to your family’s health will inevitably cause a significant level of distress. The landlord has also provided no evidence of carrying out any assessment of whether or not the property was fit for human habitation, or whether the resident and her family should be moved to temporary accommodation until it identified the source of the leak and resolved the damp and mould.
  12. The landlord has also acknowledged that the resident had to repeatedly pursue repairs as a result of its ‘lack of care’. This would have caused unnecessary distress and inconvenience to the resident, who felt the landlord was ignoring her. The evidence provided has also demonstrated that while the landlord acknowledged its failings in the stage 2 response, it then missed the opportunity to learn from the complaint. Overall, the landlord’s poor handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould amounts to severe maladministration. The Ombudsman has therefore considered what else the landlord needs to do to put things right.
  13. The resident said that the landlord needs to move her to another property, and that there is no other resolution as a result of the delays and worsening damp. It is not within the Ombudsman’s remit to order a landlord to permanently rehouse a resident. However, the landlord has not shown that it appropriately assessed whether or not the property was fit for human habitation as a result of the damp and mould, and it is unclear from the information provided whether or not the reported issues are ongoing. As such, the landlord must arrange for an appropriately qualified surveyor to carry out a survey of the property and produce a full survey report detailing any areas in need of repair, the cause of any repair issues, and any remedial works needed. The landlord must also contact the local authority to request a formal HHSRS assessment of the property.
  14. The Ombudsman also considers that the landlord should pay additional compensation to the resident for the distress and inconvenience caused by its poor handling of damp and mould at the property. Taking into account all the circumstances of the case, the Ombudsman considers that the landlord should pay the resident £1,800 compensation for its poor handling of damp and mould. This is in line with the Ombudsman’s published remedies guidance for severe failings which have a significant impact on a resident. This is inclusive of the £1,180 offered as part of the complaints process.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there has been severe maladministration with regard to the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould.

Orders

  1. Within 2 weeks of the date of this determination, the landlord is ordered to:
    1. Arrange for an appropriately qualified surveyor to carry out a full survey of the property. A copy of the surveyor’s report must be provided to the Ombudsman. The report must include details of any unresolved repair issues, the likely cause of any repair issues and any unresolved damp and mould, and any necessary works to resolve the issues.
    2. Contact the local authority’s environmental health team to request a formal HHSRS assessment of the property.
  2. Within 4 weeks of the date of this determination, the landlord is ordered to:
    1. Pay the resident £1,800 compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused by its poor handling of her reports of damp and mould. This is inclusive of the compensation offered through the complaints process. For the avoidance of doubt, the compensation must be paid directly to the resident, and can only be credited to her rent account with her express agreement.
    2. Write to the resident to set out its action plan for resolving any remaining repair issues or unresolved damp and mould. The action plan must include the following:
      1. The results of the survey, including the likely cause of any remaining damp and mould or other repair issues.
      2. What works it intends to carry out as a result of the survey, when it will carry out those works, and how long it anticipates those works will take.
      3. An assessment of whether or not the resident and her family can remain in the property during the works, or will need to be moved to temporary alternative accommodation until any works are complete. It must include the reasons for its decision.
      4. The name and direct contact details of a single point of contact who will oversee the repairs.
      5. If the landlord considers that it does not need to carry out any repairs, what its reasons are.
    3. The landlord must provide the Ombudsman with a copy of the letter and written action plan.
  3. The landlord is to reply to this Service to provide evidence of compliance with these orders within the timescales set out above.