North Northamptonshire Council (202220918)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202220918

North Northamptonshire Council

21 March 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

The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s:
1. Reports of repairs to the windows and doors, pipework and a manhole cover.
2. Request for asbestos tiles to be removed from the property.
3. Reports of damp and mould in the property.
4. Complaint and the level of compensation offered.

Background

The resident lives in a three-bedroom end of terrace house under a secure tenancy which began on 30 April 2012.
The landlord does not have any vulnerabilities recorded for the resident or her household.
The complaint relates to outstanding repair issues within the property including to windows, the back and front doors, an exposed manhole cover and drainage issues. Additionally, the resident has reported damp and mould in the property, particularly around the window frames and damaged, exposed asbestos flooring tiles.
The resident raised her complaint on 17 May 2022 and highlighted that these were longstanding repair issues. Specifically, the resident said that her window and door frames were rotten, that the toilet soil pipe was “being held up by a screw” and that there was a sewage smell from pipework in her bathroom and from the waste pipe connected to her washing machine. Additionally, the resident noted that she needed to clean her windows weekly due to the build-up of mould.
The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response on 16 June 2022. In this response it said a new job had been raised to overhaul the windows, install fans in the property to assist with ventilation and to check the drainage. The landlord also said it would install a new trap waste to prevent drainage smells from entering the property.
The resident’s complaint was escalated to stage 2 by this Service on 3 February 2023 as she remained dissatisfied that the repairs remained outstanding. The landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response on 28 March 2023. In this response the landlord responded as follows:
1. The landlord had attempted to overhaul the windows in the property, however the appointment on 7 November 2022 had not gone ahead due to “staff shortages”. The landlord apologised for the delay and stated that it had arranged an appointment for 6 April 2023.
2. The landlord offered to reimburse the resident for any increase in gas consumption due to the gap under the back door. A repairs appointment was booked for 6 April 2023 to rectify the issue with the door.
3. The landlord had arranged for a new trap to be fitted to the washing machine waste on 14 April 2023 to combat the smell. The landlord had also scheduled for the broken manhole cover to be replaced at this appointment.
4. The landlord said that it had attempted to remove the asbestos tiles on 1 July 2021, but could not gain access. It subsequently closed the job. Following a further visit to the property on 27 March 2023, the landlord had re-raised the job and committed to contacting the resident shortly to arrange the appointment.
5. The landlord had referred the damp issues to a specialist contractor. The landlord said the contractor would be in touch soon to arrange an appointment to survey the property and that extractor fans would be fitted once the windows were replaced.
The resident remained dissatisfied and escalated her complaint to the Ombudsman on 3 April 2023 seeking completion of the outstanding repairs, removal of the asbestos and rectification of the damp and mould in the property.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

In her correspondence, the resident states that she has experienced issues with outstanding repairs for several years. The landlord’s repair records support this and show that some of the repair issues have been raised since early-2019.
When a complaint is referred to the Ombudsman, we must consider what is fair in all the circumstances. We must also consider whether the matters should have been escalated to our Service at an earlier stage to receive a determination. This is to ensure that events can be clearly recalled, and that appropriate evidence will still be available to support the investigation.
For this reason, it is not fair to either party to consider matters that have not been escalated previously over this extended period. In this case, the determination will only consider matters raised in the 12 months prior to the formal complaint being raised. Therefore, any issues related to defects in the property, the asbestos tiles or damp and mould prior to 17 May 2021 will not be considered as part of this complaint.

Repairs to the windows and doors, pipework and a manhole cover.

Under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, landlords have a statutory duty to maintain the structure and exterior of its properties, which includes the roof, walls, windows, doors and external fixtures. Landlords are also responsible for the installations for sanitation within the property. Once notified of a defect, landlords must make a lasting and effective repair in a reasonable time.
The landlord’s repairs policy outlines three priorities for repairs as follows:
1. P1 – Emergency repairs, which the landlord commits to responding to within 24 hours.
2. P3 – Routine repairs, in which the landlord will arrange an appointment within a mutually convenient time with the resident.
3. P5 – Planned works, which sit outside of responsive repairs and are usually large scale works with a specific schedule provided.
Within the scope of this investigation, the resident first notified the landlord of the outstanding repairs as part of her stage 1 complaint on 17 May 2022. Throughout the course of the complaint the resident raised repair requests for:
1. Replacement of the windows and doors in the property, as she stated that these were rotten and allowing a draft through, which was contributing to damp and mould in the property. The resident said that the draft meant she needed to keep the heating on for longer, which increased her energy bills.
2. Blocked and unsuitable pipework in the property, which was causing a sewage smell in the bathroom and from the waste pipe connected to her washing machine. The resident also reported that the toilet soil pipe was “being held up by a screw”.
3. A broken manhole cover in the rear garden, which left the drain exposed, presenting a fall hazard.
In its stage 1 response, the landlord committed to overhauling and repairing the windows, fitting a waste trap to prevent smells coming up from the drain and installing fans within the property. An appointment was booked to repair the windows on 7 November 2022, however the landlord cancelled this due to staff shortages. There is no evidence that the other repairs were progressed in any way at this point.
The landlord’s stage 2 complaint response committed to two further appointments being booked to progress the repairs issues:
1. An appointment on 6 April 2023 to repair the windows and back door. The landlord apologised for cancelling the earlier appointment due to staff shortages and explained that the ongoing delay had been caused by the backlog. The landlord also offered to pay the increased gas costs whilst the resident had been using her heating more, due to the drafts that these issues were causing.
2. An appointment on 14 April 2023 to repair the manhole cover and fit a waste trap in the utility room to a hand basin to prevent sewage smells from entering the property.
The landlord’s stage 2 response also offered £200 compensation to the resident for the delays, distress and inconvenience.
The broken and exposed manhole cover was repaired by the landlord’s contractors as planned on 14 April 2023, however none of the other repairs were completed. The manhole cover was repaired around 11 months after it was reported by the resident. This was an unacceptable delay, in excess of the landlord’s repair policy timescales.
Ultimately, the resident’s windows and back door were replaced on 9 October 2023. The evidence shows that a large element of this delay was internal discussions between the landlord and surveyor around whether the windows could be repaired or if they needed to be replaced. The surveyor asserted in April 2023 that they were rotten and required replacement. This resulted in a delay of almost 18 months between the issue being reported by the resident.
It is not clear from the evidence whether any further work has been completed on the resident’s pipework, or if a waste trap has been fitted. The resident said to this Service that the sewage smells are still present in her property.
The landlord said, in its correspondence with this Service, that the resident had not raised issues with pipework since 31 August 2021. This was not correct, as the resident raised her formal complaint since that date and therefore the landlord’s own complaints and repair logs contradict this statement.
The evidence shows that there was confusion between the landlord’s staff about the state of different repairs
Overall, there have been multiple failings in the landlord’s handling of repairs to the windows, door, manhole cover and pipework. This is because the landlord:
1. Delayed the repairs for several months after they were reported by the resident. The manhole cover was repaired after 11 months, the windows and door after 18 months and the drainage issues appear to remain outstanding at the time of investigation.
2. Did not have appropriate systems internally to track complaints through to completion.
3. Did not have an accurate understanding of the repairs and the views of its staff, particularly in relation to the repair or replacement of the windows, differed greatly.
4. Did not keep the appointments it had given in its complaint responses or complete the outstanding repairs within the timescales it had indicated.
5. Left potentially dangerous defects in the property for an extended period of time, notably the exposed manhole cover.
6. Contributed to increased costs for the resident by delaying the repairs. It is noted that the landlord has offered to pay the additional gas costs, however it is unclear if it has done this to date.
7. Has caused the resident significant distress, inconvenience, time and trouble in pursuing her complaint and the associated repairs to completion. In the meantime, the resident has experienced a loss of amenity in her home.
8. Offered very limited remedies for these failures, including an apology and £200 compensation.
Taking these factors together, this amounts to maladministration in the landlord’s handling of these repairs. The landlord must now undertake any outstanding repairs, pay the resident compensation and undertake a case review to highlight learning to prevent similar occurrences in the future.

Asbestos tiles

The presence of asbestos in properties, particularly older properties, is common and, in itself, does not constitute disrepair, nor is it usually hazardous to residents. However, landlords have several legal obligations when asbestos is damaged or deteriorates as it can release asbestos dust into the air which has been linked to an increased prevalence of several long–term health conditions.
Part 1 of the Housing Act 2004 defines category 1 and 2 ‘hazards’ under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). Asbestos can be a prescribed hazard under this legislation if it is in a state that may cause harm to health. Landlords must take appropriate action to remove these hazards or make them safe for residents.
The Environmental Protection Act 1990 defines ‘statutory nuisances’ including properties that are in “such a state as to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance.” Given the health risks of exposed or deteriorated asbestos, landlords have a legal duty to take steps to abate any such nuisance in their properties.
When a landlord undertakes repairs in a property, including to asbestos, it also has legal obligations under the Defective Premises Act 1972, to ensure that “the work is done in a workmanlike or (as the case may be) professional manner, with proper materials and so that as regards the work the dwelling is fit for habitation when the work is completed”.
These legal obligations are in addition to the landlord’s contractual and legal obligation under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 to undertake effective and lasting repairs, in a timely way once a resident notifies them of a defect within their properties.
The resident reported broken asbestos tiles in her property since early 2021. In response to this the landlord completed an asbestos survey on 15 June 2021 which identified asbestos flooring tiles in the resident’s kitchen and ground floor hallway. The survey identified that these tiles were in “a fair condition” and were therefore category D (very low risk) in an undamaged state.
The landlord’s stage 2 complaint response stated that an appointment had been booked to remove these exposed tiles on 1 July 2021 but that its contractor was not able to access the property and left a card. Following this, the landlord cancelled the works. No further action was taken until a subsequent unrelated visit on 27 March 2023 when the contractor restarted the job for the removal of the tiles. The contractor noted that three square metres of tiles were broken.
It is unclear from the landlord’s records why additional attempts were not made to complete this work or why the works were then cancelled. This represents a significant failure in the landlord’s process and records keeping to be able to follow up on potentially hazardous issues in a timely way.
The landlord’s records do not indicate any further work has been undertaken in respect of the asbestos tiles since the visit on 27 March 2023. At the time of this investigation, the landlord has not removed the broken tiles, although it has arranged an appointment to visit the property. This represents a delay of almost three years which is a significant failing by the landlord.
Given that exposed asbestos is a known health risk, particularly when exposure is over a protracted period, this delay may have placed the resident at risk for this period. Furthermore, the repair was incorrectly closed by the landlord following one attempt to access the property. There is no evidence that this was followed up or noted until a subsequent inspection 27 March 2023. This lack of proactive management of a safety issue by the landlord demonstrates a poor process for handling such repairs. This also indicates poor record keeping processes, as clear actions and timescales allow a landlord to progress repairs through to completion, which was not seen in this case.
Overall, the significant delays in repairing the tiles, which remain outstanding at the time of investigation, the premature closure of the repair and the poor processes in managing asbestos repairs are severe maladministration. This is because the resident was left at potential risk for an extended period of time, which was compounded by the landlord’s ineffective systems and record keeping.
The landlord must now urgently remove the damaged tiles from the resident’s property, or otherwise make them safe. The landlord must also apologise for this failing, pay the resident compensation and undertake a case review to avoid further such failings in the future. The landlord must also undertake a self-assessment against the findings of the Ombudsman’s Knowledge and Information Management (KIM) spotlight report, to identify and implement learning to assist in future similar cases.

Damp and mould

Within the scope of this investigation, the resident has reported damp and mould in the property since 17 May 2022. This included black mould around the window frames and adjoining walls.
Damp and mould in properties may be a hazard under the HHSRS as landlord are responsible for ensuring that there are adequate hygrothermal conditions, to avoid health hazards from dampness and high humidity. Similarly, damp and mould may constitute a statutory nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Landlords have a legal duty to take steps to abate any such nuisance in their properties.
The Ombudsman’s spotlight report on damp and mould gives various recommendations to senior management teams within member landlords. These included:
1. Proactively identifying damp and mould in its housing stock.
2. Tackling damp and mould in a data-driven, risk-based way.
3. Ensuring that responses to reports of damp and mould are timely and backed up by accurate and robust record keeping.
4. Ensuring that it clearly and regularly communicates updates and progress on resolving damp and mould issues with the resident concerned.
The resident submitted photographs to the landlord which showed mould around various windows in the property. The resident attributed this to the faulty windows and a leak in the roof. In the evidence supplied, there is no record of the landlord completing any assessment or investigation into the source of the damp and mould, despite committing to refer the matter to a specialist contractor in its stage 2 response. This was a significant failure by the landlord.
The resident noted in her correspondence with this Service, as part of the investigation, that the damp and mould significantly improved following replacement of the windows on 9 October 2023, however within the scope of this investigation, this was around 17 months after it was reported by the resident. During this extended period, the resident described needing to clean her windows on a weekly basis due to the mould build up. There is evidence of the landlord’s operatives attending on 28 March 2023 to undertake a mould wash.
The landlord committed in its stage 2 response to installing fans in the property once the windows were repaired. It is not clear why this work was postponed until after the window repairs. The evidence shows that the landlord has received quotes for these works in April and May 2023, however it is not clear if these have been subsequently installed. The landlord must install these fans in a timely way, as it has previously committed to do, if it has not already done so.
At the time of this investigation, the resident said that the property continues to be very cold, particularly on the top floor and that this causes her to use additional gas and electricity to heat the property.
Overall, there have been significant delays in assessing and removing the cause of the damp and mould. There is also no evidence of pro-active management or surveys of the causes of the damp by the landlord beyond a single mould wash on 28 March 2023. The Ombudsman expects landlords to assess the causes of damp and mould in a timely way, address the cause and proactively monitor the situation for reoccurrence. There is no evidence that the landlord undertook any of these steps and this is maladministration.
The resident reports that there continues to be ongoing temperature issues in the property at the time of investigation which are impacting the resident’s enjoyment of the property and causing her additional cost in keeping the property warm. The HHSRS also requires properties to maintain a reasonable degree of thermal comfort to be compliant. The landlord must ensure that it addresses this moving forward.
The landlord must now apologise to the resident, pay her compensation and undertake an assessment of the property, ensuring that it completes any outstanding actions in a reasonable time. The landlord must also self-assess against the recommendations of the Ombudsman’s spotlight report on damp and mould and undertake a case review to identify learning that can be undertaken to prevent a reoccurrence.

Complaint handling

The landlord operates a two-stage complaint process. It commits to acknowledging complaints within three working days and providing a response within 20 working days at both stages.
The Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code, which was in force at the time of this complaint, includes several key principles for complaint handling, including:
1. Complaints must be resolved at the earliest opportunity.
2. Complaints provide senior staff with essential insight into day-to-day operations allowing them to assess effectiveness and drive a positive complaint handling culture.
3. A landlord must not unreasonably refuse to escalate a complaint through all stages of the complaint procedure.
The landlord’s stage 2 complaint was issued after 37 working days. This was a delay of 17 working days over the landlord’s complaints procedure. Additionally, this response was issued following three chasers being sent by this Service and, ultimately, a Complaint Handling Failure Order being issued. The Ombudsman expects landlords to resolve complaints at the earliest opportunity and without the involvement of third parties. This was maladministration in this case.
Additionally, the evidence shows that the landlord did not learn from its complaint process or use it as a means to progress the resident’s issues to completion. There is evidence of the landlord committing to further appointments or repair actions, which it then did not keep. Similarly, the complaint itself was not used by the landlord as a reminder of the outstanding issues, to trigger a timely repair. Instead the issues remained outstanding for several more months, including some which remain outstanding at the time of this investigation.
Overall, the Ombudsman expects landlords to have an effective complaints process which provides for learning and a resolution to issues. In this case, the process only served to extend the resident’s distress and inconvenience when further commitments were not met.
The Ombudsman also expects landlords to operate their complaints processes in accordance with the Complaint Handling Code. In particular, residents should be able to escalate their complaint without the need for third party involvement. This was not the case in this complaint and this was a significant failing.
Taking these factors together, there has been maladministration in the landlord’s complaint handling. The landlord must now apologise to the resident, pay compensation and undertake a case review to identify what learning it can use to prevent a similar reoccurrence again in the future.

Determination

In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there has been:
1. Maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of repairs to the windows and doors, pipework and a manhole cover.
2. Severe maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s request for asbestos tiles to be removed from the property.
3. Maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould in the property.
4. Maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint and the level of compensation offered.

Orders

Within 28 days of the date of this determination, the landlord is ordered to:
1. Arrange for a senior officer at Executive Director level or above to apologise to the resident in person for the failings identified in this report.
2. Pay the resident £3000 compensation comprised of:
  1. £800 for the distress, inconvenience and loss of amenity due to the landlord’s delays in completing repairs within the property.
  2. £1200 for the distress and inconvenience of living with damaged and exposed asbestos tiles within the property over an extended period of time.
  3. £600 for the distress, inconvenience and loss of amenity of damp and mould within the property over an extended period.
  4. £400 for the failures in the landlord’s complaint handling, including the resident’s time and trouble in pursuing the complaint to completion.

This compensation must be paid directly to the resident and not applied to the rent account unless this is requested by the resident.

Pay the resident £510 compensation for the cost of additional heating required in the property between 17 May 2022 and 9 October 2023 when the new windows and door was installed. This has been calculated on the basis of £1 per day for this period. If the resident can supply the actual differences in usage, and the difference is greater than the figure above, the landlord must pay that figure instead.
Undertake an assessment of the outstanding repairs and complete these within this timescale. This must include, as a minimum:
1. Installation of the fans within the property that it committed to within its stage 2 complaint response, if it has not already done so.
2. Removal of the damaged asbestos tiles from the resident’s property or otherwise making this safe.
3. Arranging a survey of the drainage system within the property to identify the source of the smells. Once identified, it must complete remedial works within four weeks of the date of the survey to prevent further smells entering the property.

Within 8 weeks of the date of the determination, the landlord is ordered to undertake a case review for this complaint to identify the causes of the failures found in this report. This review must specifically address the following areas:
1. The reasons why the repairs were delayed and how this can be prevented in future.
2. The reasons why damaged asbestos tiles were not removed from the resident’s property once reported and how this will be prevented in future.
3. The reasons why damp and mould in the property was not addressed in a timely manner and how this will be prevented in the future.
4. The reasons why complaint responses were delayed and why the landlord failed to utilise the complaints process to progress the resident’s issues to completion.

Once completed, the review and any learning identified must be presented to the landlord’s governing body within two weeks.

Within 6 weeks of the date of the determination, the landlord is ordered to:
1. Undertake a survey into the causes of temperature fluctuations in the property. The survey must identify what actions can be taken to keep the property at a reasonable temperature and provide a schedule showing when these works will be completed in a period of no more than 6 weeks from the date of the survey.
2. Undertake a self-assessment against the findings and recommendations of the Ombudsman’s spotlight report on Knowledge and Information Management (KIM). The assessment must include any learning identified and an action plan showing how and when this will be implemented within a period not exceeding 6 weeks.
3. Undertake a self-assessment against the findings and recommendations of the Ombudsman’s spotlight report on damp and mould. The assessment must include any learning identified and an action plan showing how and when this will be implemented within a period not exceeding 6 weeks.
4. Undertake a review of its open repair cases to identify any other longstanding asbestos issues. Once identified, the landlord must take timely action to remove or make safe the asbestos within a period not exceeding 6 weeks.
The landlord must provide evidence of compliance to this Service within the timescales indicated above.