North Northamptonshire Council (202512461)
|
Decision |
|
|
Case ID |
202512461 |
|
Decision type |
Investigation |
|
Landlord |
North Northamptonshire Council |
|
Landlord type |
Local Authority / ALMO or TMO |
|
Occupancy |
Secure Tenancy |
|
Date |
15 December 2025 |
Background
- The property is a 2-bedroom flat that is occupied by 6 people. The resident experienced ongoing damp and mould in her property. She complained about the landlord’s handling of her reports.
What the complaint is about
- The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould.
- We have also considered the landlord’s complaint handling.
Our decision (determination)
- We found maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould.
- We found service failure in the landlord’s handling of the complaint.
We have made orders for the landlord to put things right.
Summary of reasons
- The landlord did not complete the outstanding repairs in line with its repairs policy, provide clear updates, or acknowledge all its failings. Its compensation award was insufficient given the circumstances of the case.
- The landlord did not respond to the resident’s complaint in line with timescales set out in the Complaint Handling Code. It did not acknowledge this failure or offer any redress.
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.
|
Order |
What the landlord must do |
Due date |
|
1 |
Apology order The landlord must apologise in writing to the resident for the failures identified in this report. The landlord must ensure:
|
No later than 19 January 2026 |
|
2 |
Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £750 made up as follows:
The landlord may deduct any payments it has already made from this total figure. This must be paid directly to the resident by the due date. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date. |
No later than 19 January 2026 |
Recommendations
Our recommendations are not binding, and a landlord may decide not to follow them.
|
Our recommendations |
|
The resident has informed this Service that she continues to experience issues with damp and mould in her property. The landlord should contact the resident to arrange an inspection of the property and organise any subsequent work if required. |
|
If it has not already done so, the landlord should pay the resident the amount it offered in June 2024 for the damage to personal belongings. |
Our investigation
The complaint procedure
|
Date |
What happened |
|
22 August 2023 |
The resident reported damp and mould. She said that mould had appeared on the furniture in her children’s room and she had to dispose of some belongings. |
|
9 May 2024 |
The resident raised a complaint. She said she had mould in the bedrooms which had damaged her belongings. |
|
3 June 2024 |
The landlord issued its stage 1 response. It apologised for not meeting the resident’s expected standards and confirmed that it carried out a survey on 15 May 2024. It said that its contractors would contact her directly to arrange a start date for the works. It offered a £500 goodwill gesture for any inconvenience caused. |
|
15 May 2025 |
The resident escalated her complaint. She said the landlord had not resolved the mould and contractors told her the property needed to be empty for it to complete a treatment. It had not arranged a move, and the mould affected her children’s health and damaged her belongings. |
|
25 June 2025 |
The landlord issued its stage 2 response. It said it had inspected the property on 30 May 2025 and found poor ventilation, high moisture, and mould in several rooms. It met the resident on 13 June 2025 to agree next steps, including a 3 day intrusive survey and mould eradication works starting 14 July 2025. It agreed to arrange hotel accommodation for the resident and her family during the works and said it would contact her on 30 June 2025 to organise this. |
|
Referral to the Ombudsman |
The resident asked this Service to investigate. She said the landlord had not resolved the damp and mould in her property and the issue was impacting her family’s health. She said she wanted the landlord to move her to resolve her complaint. |
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.
|
Complaint |
Reports of damp and mould. |
|
Finding |
Maladministration |
- This investigation focuses on the concerns raised in the resident’s formal complaint. We have reviewed the period from August 2023 to July 2025 to ensure the landlord had a fair opportunity to investigate and respond to those concerns through its complaints process. The resident may wish to pursue any current issues directly with the landlord as a new formal complaint.
- Throughout her communication, the resident referred to how the living conditions impacted her family’s health and well-being. The Ombudsman does not doubt this. However, it is beyond our remit to draw conclusions on the causation of, or liability for, impact on health and wellbeing. This is more appropriate for the courts to deal with, or as a personal injury claim. We have considered the distress and inconvenience the situation may have caused the resident and whether the landlord adequately considered this.
- The landlord’s damp and mould policy statement says it will investigate reported cases of damp and mould promptly. It will inspect properties, complete necessary repairs, and keep residents informed. Its policy does not specifically outline its response timeframes but its website states that it will respond to emergency repairs within 24 hours, routine repairs within 30 working days, and it will contact residents to complete planned repairs.
- On 22 August 2023, the resident reported damp and mould. The landlord inspected the property on 20 September 2023 and found mould around the windows. It advised the resident how to ventilate the property and confirmed that it had previously treated mould in the bedrooms and bathroom. On 12 October 2023, it replaced the silicone around the windows with anti-mould silicone. These actions were in line with its damp and mould policy and addressed the issues found during its inspection, which was an appropriate response.
- On 23 January 2024, the resident reported further damp and mould. The landlord inspected the property on 25 January 2024, and found a small patch of mould in the kitchen and a faulty extractor fan. It arranged to repair the fan the same day. It carried out a follow-up visit on 18 April 2024 and noted that the resident confirmed she was happy with the repairs and that the mould had not returned. These actions were reasonable and in line with its damp and mould policy. It investigated within 2 days, completed the repairs, and followed up to ensure the work was successful.
- By May 2024, the mould had returned. In its stage 1 response, the landlord apologised that its service had not met the resident’s expectations and offered a goodwill gesture of £500. It later offered a further amount for the damage caused to personal items. While it was positive that it offered redress, it did not clearly explain the reasons for the offer or identify its failings. It would have been appropriate for it to set out the specific service failures, explain how it understood these impacted the resident, and show how it calculated the compensation amount. This would have given the resident a clear understanding of the outcome and the steps it had taken to put things right.
- It was appropriate for the landlord to confirm in its stage 1 response that its surveyor had completed an inspection on 15 May 2024, and it would contact her to arrange works. However, its response did not clearly explain the repairs identified, what works were required, or provide a timescale for completion. This lack of detail likely left the resident uncertain about the next steps and what action it would take to resolve the issues.
- On 5 and 17 June 2024, the landlord raised jobs to treat mould throughout the property, install air filtration devices, and reseal window trickle vents. It could not complete the work because the resident was unable to clear furniture or leave the property. On 28 August 2024, the landlord said it would arrange temporary accommodation for 48 hours so the works could go ahead.
- However, by October 2024, the works had not started because the landlord was considering offering the resident a direct let. While it was reasonable for it to explore a permanent solution, by this point 4 months had passed since it assured the resident in its stage 1 response that it would complete the works. It was inappropriate for it to delay the repairs and this was not in line with its damp and mould policy, which requires prompt action to address such issues.
- By May 2025, the landlord still had not completed the mould works. This was a year after the resident reported that the mould had returned and significantly outside of its 30-day timeframe for routine repairs. Our Spotlight Report on Damp and Mould (2021) says landlords must act quickly because damp and mould harms health and wellbeing. It also says landlords should set clear timescales and share them with residents. The landlord did not complete the works in line with its policy or keep the resident updated during this period. This was unreasonable, particularly given the resident’s reported health concerns. As a result, the resident was left living in unsuitable conditions for an extended period, which likely caused considerable distress and inconvenience.
- It was appropriate for the landlord to set out a clear plan for mould works in its stage 2 response and confirm it would provide temporary accommodation during the treatment. These actions showed commitment to resolving the problem and supporting the resident. However, its response did not explain why it had delayed works for over a year or acknowledge the impact this would have had on the resident. It also did not offer additional compensation. By not addressing these issues, it missed an opportunity to fully put things right.
- To resolve her complaint, the resident asked the landlord to permanently move her from the property. While it was appropriate for it to advise her about her current banding, offer an occupancy waiver, and recommend a mutual exchange, the landlord did not explain why it could not consider her for a direct let. It would have been appropriate for it to explain why it could not offer this, particularly as, by October 2024, the works had stalled while it was exploring this option.
- On 22 July 2025, the landlord completed a full mould treatment in every room, including to the bathroom ceiling and external walls. It also cleaned the windows, and added new silicone. These actions were reasonable and aligned with the commitments made in its stage 2 response.
- Although the landlord eventually carried out the repairs, its stage 2 response did not explain the significant delay or acknowledge the impact on the resident. By not fully acknowledging its failings, it did not provide a resolution to the complaint and fully put things right. As such, we have made a finding of maladministration.
- The landlord offered £500 for inconvenience which is within the range recommended in our remedies guidance for failures that adversely affect residents. However, this amount does not reflect the significant delay in completing the works between 2024 and 2025 or its failure to acknowledge or explain the impact on the resident. Our remedies guidance recommends compensation between £600 to £1,000 for failures that significantly affect a resident. The prolonged delay likely had a significant impact on the resident; therefore, we have ordered the landlord to pay an additional £200, bringing the total compensation to £700 for the distress and inconvenience caused.
|
Complaint |
The handling of the complaint |
|
Finding |
Service failure |
- The landlord uses a 2 stage complaints procedure. The timeframes in its procedure mirror that of our Complaint Handling Code (the Code) which sets out our expectations of a landlord’s complaint handling practices. The Code states the landlord must send stage 1 complaint responses within 10 working days, and stage 2 complaint responses within 20 working days.
- The resident raised her complaint on 9 May 2024, and the landlord responded at stage 1 on 3 June 2024, 16 working days later. She escalated her complaint on 15 May 2025, and it responded at stage 2 on 25 June 2025, 28 working days later. It did not meet its policy or the Code timescales at either stage. It also failed to address the delays in its responses or offer any redress for these.
- We order that the landlord must pay the resident £50 compensation. This is in line with our remedies guidance for circumstances where there was a failure by a landlord in the service it provided, and it did not acknowledge this or put it right.
Learning
Knowledge information management (record keeping)
- The landlord maintained good records of the efforts it took to resolve the damp and mould in the property.
Communication
- The landlord did not explain delays, acknowledge the impact, or keep the resident updated throughout the process. To improve, the landlord could implement a communication standard that requires regular updates, clear explanations for any delays, and confirmation of next steps. This will help manage expectations and maintain trust during complex repairs.
Complaint handling
- The landlord missed complaint response timescales at both stages and did not acknowledge or offer redress. It could reflect on this and consider any learning and staff training needs.