Orbit Housing Association Limited (202123222)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202123222

Orbit Housing Association Limited

13 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 response to the resident’s reports of damp and mould in his property.
2. The Ombudsman has also considered the landlord’s complaint handling in relation to this case.

Background and summary of events

3.  The resident is an assured shorthold tenant and his tenancy began in 2020. The property is a one bedroom flat on the second floor of a purpose built block. 

4.  In May 2021 the resident contacted the landlord to report that there was mould in his bathroom, hallway and bedroom. A job was raised that day for contractors to attend and remove mould from the affected walls and apply a mould wash. 

5.  Contractors attended on 10 June 2021 and reported that no mould was found in the reported areas but that paint was peeling from the walls. 

6.  There were two missed appointments recorded in July 2021. On 2 August 2021, the contractors attended the property again to undertake works however they assessed that insufficient time had been given to complete the job so this would need to be rescheduled for a full day.

7.  On 3 September 2021 the contractors attended again and removed the peeling paint from the walls in the bathroom, sanded the walls and completed a mould wash to the affected areas. The contractors reported that they would need to return another day to treat the walls in the bedroom. 

8.  On 8 October 2021 a further appointment was arranged to complete the works in the bedroom. The contractors cancelled this appointment in response to the resident’s reports that mould had been reappearing on the walls that had been treated with mould wash in September 2021. They recommended to the landlord that works be put on hold and a damp survey obtained in order to determine the cause of the mould.

9.  On 15 November 2021 a damp survey was conducted by an independent expert. The landlord’s records show that the report was sent to the landlord’s contractors on 23 November 2021 but that this report was not forwarded to the landlord until 24 March 2022. The surveyor completed an external and internal inspection of the property and took moisture readings. The report concluded that the readings were consistent with levels of condensation in the property. It recommended that a Positive Input Ventilation unit be installed. Alternatively, an extractor fan should be fitted in the kitchen and the bathroom extractor fan should be replaced with a filterless fan. Information was included in the report about managing moisture levels in the property. The report advised the occupier to keep trickle vents open in double-glazed windows and ensure that extractor fans continued to run for some time after cooking or showering.

10. The resident contacted this Service in January 2022. He said that he had raised a complaint with the landlord but had not received a response. He said that the ongoing problem with damp and mould was so extensive that he could not have carpets fitted in the property because they would be damaged by the mould. 

11. This Service contacted the landlord on 20 January 2022 outlining the resident’s complaint and requesting a response within 10 working days.

12. On 23 February 2022 when no response was forthcoming this Service followed this up with the landlord and requested a response by 2 March 2022. 

13. The landlord issued its stage one complaint response on 14 April 2022. In its response it stated that:

a. The resident’s complaint was upheld. While a damp survey had been carried out on his property, this was not followed up and it was only sent to the landlord for action on 24 March 2022 which was a delay of four months.

b. Compensation of £418 was offered to the resident which comprised of:

1. £70 goodwill payment due to the report being delayed.

1. £100 payment for the frustration and inconvenience this had caused him
2. A payment of £133 for delays in fitting the resident’s kitchen and bathroom fans over the 28 days allowed for routine repairs.

iv.  A goodwill payment of £105 would be offered to the resident to decorate the bathroom, bedroom and hallway

v. A payment of £10 for a missed appointment on 2 August 2021

14. On 15 April 2022 the resident responded that he did not wish to accept the offer as it did not adequately reflect the impact of the delays and the costs he would incur in redecorating the property. The resident stated that he has a disability. He also disclosed that he had PTSD and his mental health had been affected by the stress of his living conditions. He added that his daughter had asthma and she was not able to visit him as the damp conditions in the property affected her breathing.

15. On 25 April 2022 the landlord sent the resident a letter acknowledging his request to escalate his complaint with reference to the points in the resident’s email of 15 April 2022. The landlord advised that it would respond by 20 May 2022.

16. On 3 May 2022 the landlord scheduled an appointment for the contractors to attend to fit the extractor fans in the property. The landlord’s records suggest that this appointment did not go ahead as another appointment was scheduled for 9 May 2022. The resident reported that the contractors attended on 9 May 2022 to fit fans but could not complete the works. The works were completed on 10 June 2022.

17. On 20 May 2022 the landlord extended the date for response to its stage two complaint to 7 June 2022. The response was issued on 8 June 2022 and in it the landlord acknowledged that there had been service failings and offered an apology to the resident. The landlord noted in its response that the repairs remained outstanding at this date. An increased compensation offer was made of £977 which comprised of:

a.  £10 for missed appointments;

b.  £70 goodwill payment for the service failure of the poor communication between independent surveyor, contractors and landlord;             

c. £200 goodwill payment for the service failure of the mishandling of the complaint at stage one including a delayed response and an extension at stage two;

d. £300 goodwill payment for the stress and inconvenience the situation has caused the resident;

e. £292 payment for the amount of days over the landlord’s standard repairs  timeframe it took to complete the repairs (acknowledging that repairs remained outstanding); 

f. £105 decoration payment for bedroom, bathroom and hallway.  

18. The resident referred his complaint to this Service as he was dissatisfied with the landlord’s response to his reports of damp and mould and the level of redress offered.

19. The resident has since contacted this Service to advise that he still has mould in his property and that the remedial works undertaken by the landlord have not been effective. The resident has reported the impact that the mould has had on his mental and physical health and considered that the compensation award offered by the landlord was insufficient. 

Assessment and findings

Scope of the investigation

20. Paragraph 42(g) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme states that the Ombudsman will not investigate complaints which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, “concern matters where the Ombudsman considers it quicker, fairer, more reasonable or more effective to seek a remedy through the courts, other tribunal or procedure.” This is because it is not within the Ombudsman’s expertise to determine cause, liability or negligence, and to award damages in the way an insurance procedure or court might. If the resident considers that the conditions in his home have impacted his health, he may wish to obtain legal advice.

21. What the Ombudsman can consider, however, is whether the landlord has kept to the law, followed proper procedure and good practice, and acted in a reasonable way. Our duty is to determine complaints by reference to what is, in this Service‘s opinion, fair in all the circumstances of the case.  Where remedies are ordered, this will be in accordance with the Ombudsman’s guidance which is available on our website. The Ombudsman’s awards of compensation are not intended to be punitive and do not offer damages in the way that a court might. In assessing an appropriate level of compensation, this Service takes into account a range of factors including any particular distress and inconvenience caused by the issues.

 

Policies and procedures

22. The resident’s tenancy agreement states that landlord is responsible for maintaining the structure and exterior of the property. 

23. The landlord’s repairs policy provides that there are three categories of repair; emergency, routine and non-routine. Emergency repairs are to be undertaken within 4 to 24 hours. Routine repairs are to be completed within 28 days. Non-routine repairs are those that are grouped together and included within stock investment programmes and include roof replacements. There is no timescale for non-routine repairs. 

24. The landlord’s repairs policy further states that it prioritises responding to customers with acute physical or mental health vulnerabilities and that this may include treating what is generally categorised as a routine repair as an emergency where the circumstances constitute a risk to the health or safety of that customer due to the nature of their vulnerability.

25. The landlord has a two stage complaint policy. Stage one complaints are to be responded to within 10 working days. Stage two complaints are to be responded to within 20 working days. If the landlord is unable to respond within 20 working days, they will contact the customer to advise when they expect to be able to respond.

26. The landlord’s compensation policy allows for discretionary compensation payments to be made were there has been a failure of service, missed appointments, damage to possession and loss of facilities in the home. The level of compensation is assessed with reference to the inconvenience caused to the resident, the delays in putting things right and if the individuals affected have needs that were made worse by the situation. 

27. The landlord’s ‘damp mould and condensation policy’ (dated April 2022) states that the landlord has a zero-tolerance approach to damp and mould. The policy outlines the approach the landlord will take in relation to reports of damp and mould. This includes responding in a timely manner to reports of damp and mould, maintaining good communication with residents, keeping accurate records, undertaking risk assessments and facilitating effective tenancy support and aftercare. 

 The landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of damp and mould in his property

28. The landlord records that the resident had first reported the issue with damp and mould in May 2021. While contractors attended in June 2021, within the timescales outlined in the landlord’s responsive repairs policy, the works did not go ahead on this date and there were both missed and cancelled appointments in July and August 2021. It was not until September 2021 that works to treat the mould in the property began, 12 weeks outside of the timescales for routine repairs in the landlord’s responsive repairs policy.  This was an unreasonable delay.

29. In September 2021 contractors attended to remove the peeling paintwork and apply a fungicidal mould wash to the affected walls. The resident reported some weeks later that the mould had returned. A follow up appointment scheduled for October 2021 was therefore cancelled and contractors recommended that a damp survey be arranged to determine the cause of the mould. This was a sensible approach given that the current treatment had proved ineffective.

30.  The landlord acted promptly and appropriately in instructing a specialist independent contractor to undertake a damp survey of the property in November 2021 to investigate the cause of the damp and mould. The report was sent to the contractors in November 2021 but it was not until March 2022, four months after the report had been issued and nine weeks after the resident had raised a complaint, that the landlord followed this up with the contractor. This was an unacceptable delay and while the landlord had informed the resident that the works were delayed because the report had not been forwarded to it by the contractor, this explanation is inadequate. It is the landlord’s responsibility to undertake repairs within a reasonable time and, more specifically, to act in accordance with its policies. Its failure to do so caused detriment to the resident as he was put to further time and trouble in following this up with the landlord.

31. The report concluded that the mould in the resident’s property was caused by condensation. It was reasonable for the landlord to accept the findings of the survey and it acted appropriately in approving the recommended works to improve air circulation in the property. Having identified condensation to be the main cause of damp in the property, it was also reasonable for the landlord to provide the resident with a copy of the report which contained advice for occupiers in taking action to improve air circulation and reduce moisture in the property. 

32. Having noted the full extent of the works from the survey, the landlord had a responsibility to ensure that the works were completed within the timescales outlined in its responsive repairs policy. This is in line with this Service’s Dispute Resolution Principles – “Be Fair, Put Things Right” and “Learn from Outcomes”. The landlord’s records show that an appointment in April 2022 to fit the extractor fans had to be rescheduled as the resident was away, and a further two appointments had to be cancelled in May 2022.  It is unclear from the records why the first appointment in May was cancelled and the second cancellation was because works had not yet been undertaken to drill holes in the walls for the fans. The extractor fans were installed following the landlord’s stage two complaint response, on 10 June 2022.While the appointment in April was rescheduled at the resident’s request, this Service considers that this would not have significantly impacted on the landlord’s ability to complete the works within a more reasonable timescale. Given the delay of four months from the completion of the damp survey in November 2021 to the landlord signing off the recommended works in March 2022, it was unreasonable for the landlord to take a further 11 weeks for the recommended works to be completed. This, added to the earlier delays, caused further distress and inconvenience to the resident and led to the resident losing confidence in the landlord’s willingness to resolve the issue.

33. In determining a complaint, this Service considers whether a landlord has learned lessons from outcomes in highlighting areas for improvements in service delivery. In this instance, while the landlord had acknowledged delays to repairs in its complaint response, the landlord had not ensured that works going forward were completed within responsive repairs deadlines as it took a further 11 weeks for the extractor fans to be installed after the works were raised in March 2022.

34. The landlord has recorded that the resident does not have any vulnerabilities.  This is inaccurate and the records provided shows that the resident had disclosed that he is disabled and has a mental health condition in an email to the landlord in April 2022. The landlord, in accordance with its policies, should have taken into account the resident’s vulnerabilities in prioritising repairs and  determining how works were to be undertaken. Given the resident’s mental health condition, the stress caused by delays in undertaking works and poor communication were likely to have had a greater impact on him.

35. This Service’s spotlight report on complaints about damp and mould, published in October 2021, recommends that damp and mould should be a high priority for landlords and that a zero-tolerance approach should be taken. The report makes a number of recommendations about how landlords should respond to reports of damp and mould which cover record keeping, communication and ensuring that staff have the appropriate expertise to identify signs of damp and mould in a property.

36. In response to the Ombudsman’s report, the landlord issued its ‘Damp, Mould and Condensation policy’ in April 2022 which incorporates a number of the recommendations of the spotlight report including taking a proactive approach “to ensure issues of this nature are not seen as acceptable” and offering support to residents to ensure that issues are resolved satisfactorily. 

37. The surveyor’s report concludes that  ‘The products we have recommended must be regarded as part of the solution to controlling the humidity in your building. Their effectiveness is dependent on how much water vapour you produce and how you heat and ventilate the building’ The resident has since reported to this Service that the extractor fans have not been effective in addressing the mould issue. It is unclear whether this has been reported to the landlord by the resident. Nevertheless, it would have been good practice, and in accordance with its policy particularly given the resident’s vulnerabilities, for the landlord to take a proactive approach in following up with the resident whether the installation of extractor fans had been effective in reducing mould growth in the property. If not, further investigations could have been undertaken by the landlord to identify what other measures, if any, it could take to resolve the issue satisfactorily.

38. The resident has outlined the detrimental impact the delays have had on him.  He had disclosed to his landlord that he has a mental health condition, that he suffers from PTSD and he has a disability. The resident also advised that he has not been able to have his children stay with him because of the mould in his property and his concerns about the impact on this on their health, particularly as one of his children has asthma. The resident has informed this Service that he has been unwilling to decorate or fit carpets in the property until he is assured that the issues in the property have been resolved, because of his concerns that mould growth will damage and stain his walls and carpet. He has also complained that he has developed respiratory difficulties which he believes are linked to the conditions in his home.

39. It is noted that the landlord has made a payment to the resident of £777 in recognition of the failure in its repairs service. It also offered an apology to the resident for its service failures. It was fair under the circumstances that the landlord should consider reasonable redress to put right the failings in its repair service. However, in the Ombudsman’s view, this amount failed to take into account the additional impact on the resident as a result of his vulnerabilities. Further it would have been reasonable for the landlord to have monitored and reviewed the repairs works, working proactively and collaboratively with the resident to identify solutions to the ongoing moisture levels in his home. The Ombudsman recommends that further compensation be paid to the resident to reflect the distress and inconvenience he has suffered as a result of these failings. A further award of £200 should therefore be made to the resident in recognition of the impact these delays have had on him.

Complaints handling

40.  The resident has informed this Service that he first complained to the landlord about damp and mould in his property prior to January 2022. The landlord has advised that they do not have records of a complaint being made before this date. This Service made contact with the landlord on 20 January 2022 to raise a complaint on behalf of the resident so for the purposes of this report, the initial complaint will be treated as having been made on this date. This Service contacted the landlord on the same day to request a response to a stage one complaint within 10 working days. A response was not made available to the resident until 14 April 2022, which was a delay of 10 weeks.

41. The resident requested that his complaint be escalated on 15 April 2022 and a response was due on the 16 May 2022, however the landlord requested an extension to the deadline and a response was issued on 8 June, 18 days outside of the response deadline.  

42. The landlord offered the resident an apology for its failings in its repairs response and complaints handling, and has offered £200 in compensation for its complaints handling. While the Ombudsman recognises the impact that the delays and poor communication from the landlord would have had on the resident, the landlord’s offer of compensation was within the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance for service failure. Consequently, in relation to this aspect of the complaint, the Ombudsman finds that the landlord had made an offer of reasonable redress prior to this investigation and no further order is made. 

Determination (decision)

43.  In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of mould and damp in the property and in its handling of remedial works.

44.  In accordance with paragraph 53b of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has offered reasonable redress for the service failures relating to its complaint handling.

Orders

45.  Within four weeks of the date of this report the landlord is to pay the resident £200 in addition to the £977 already paid to him. The landlord should confirm with this Service when payment has been made. 

Recommendations