Origin Housing Limited (202323038)

Decision
Case ID	202323038
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	Origin Housing Limited
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Assured Tenancy
Date	3 December 2025

Background

The resident lives in a maisonette. She said she had experienced problems with condensation in the property since 2015. On 10 February 2023 the resident reported that her bath was leaking into the property below hers. The landlord raised work to repair the leak in the bathroom and install humidistat extractor fans in the kitchen and bathroom. The bathroom repairs were completed but there was no evidence the humidistat fans were installed. The resident told us these were never installed, and the landlord’s records record these repairs were cancelled.

What the complaint is about

The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
1. Repairs for a bathroom leak and to reduce condensation.
2. The associated complaint.

Our decision (determination)

We found the landlord responsible for maladministration in its handling of:
1. Repairs for a bathroom leak and to reduce condensation.
2. The associated complaint.

We have made orders for the landlord to put things right.

Summary of reasons

The landlord’s handling of repairs for a bathroom leak and to reduce condensation

The landlord has not completed repairs to improve ventilation in the property that were recommended by its surveyor in March 2023. It has not explained why it did not follow these recommendations or what it would do instead to resolve the condensation. The resident has reported that this issue is still ongoing. It took too long to complete repairs for the bathroom leak and the resident needed to chase. The unresolved condensation caused the resident distress and inconvenience, and she reported it had damaged her possessions.

The landlord’s handling of the associated complaint

The resident needed to raise her stage 1 complaint twice before landlord acknowledged it. The landlord also failed to acknowledge and respond to all the issues in her complaint. This included historical issues, damage to health and damage to possessions.

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: The apology is provided by a senior manager. The apology is specific to the failures identified in this decision, meaningful and empathetic. It has due regard to our apologies guidance. The apology must explain why the repairs the surveyor raised in March 2023 were not completed.	No later than 11 February 2026
2	Repairs order The landlord must complete the installation of humidistat fans in the bathroom and kitchen of the property.	No later than 11 February 2026
3	Inspection order Within 2 weeks of the installation of the humidistat fans, the landlord must inspect the property for condensation, damp and mould.	No later than 25 February 2026
4	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident compensation of £600. This is made up of: £500 for the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of repairs. It may deduct the £250 it offered her previously if it can show it has already paid this. £100 for the distress and inconvenience caused by its failures in complaint handling.	No later than 11 February 2026
5	Assess further compensation order The landlord must ask the resident for evidence of her costs in replacing possessions and decoration because of damage from the condensation. It should either assess whether it will reimburse her for any costs in line with its compensation policy or provide its liability insurance details for its insurer to assess a claim instead. If the landlord assesses a claim itself, it should write to the resident setting out the reasons for its decision.	No later than 11 February 2026

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
10 May 2023	The resident complained to the landlord that: a. There had been a problem with condensation in the property since 2015. b. The damp conditions of the property led to her family having coughs and nosebleeds c. The condensation was severe enough to prevent her from cooking. d. She had to redecorate every 6 months because of the damage from the damp. e. She had needed to replace possessions damaged by the damp and mould. f. Despite an inspection from the landlord’s surveyor, the condensation had not been resolved. g. She had needed to take unpaid leave from work to allow access for workers.
19 June 2023	The resident raised her complaint again which repeated the above issues. She added that: a. The condition of the property had prevented her from having guests to stay. b. She had been without water and washing facilities for 1 day because of bathroom repairs for a leak in February 2023. c. The tiles and bath panel had been removed on 17 April 2023 but had not yet been replaced. d. The contractor had arrived late that day.
5 July 2023	The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response to the resident. It said: a. All work to the bathroom and to resolve the condensation was complete. b. It did not compensate for residents’ time off from work for repairs but offered £100 compensation for the inconvenience caused by the repairs.
1 September 2023	The resident chased the landlord for its stage 1 complaint response which she had not received. It provided it to her later that day, and she responded to say the compensation was not enough for her distress and inconvenience, and for the cost of replacing damaged possessions and redecorating.
7 September 2023	The landlord said it would increase its offer to £250. The landlord confirmed this was its final response to the complaint.
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident told us she was unhappy that the condensation had not been resolved since 2015. She said it was causing health issues for her household and cost her money to replace her possessions and decorations. The resident said the situation had been distressing and had led to her losing time from work.

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	The handling of repairs.
Finding	Maladministration

Our scheme rules state we may not investigate complaints which were not referred to the landlord as a complaint within a reasonable time, which is normally 12 months. The resident has stated she was aware of the condensation problem since 2015. She raised a formal complaint on 10 May 2023. However, there is no evidence they raised a complaint promptly and in any event within 12 months of when they became aware of the issue. We have not seen evidence they were prevented from raising a complaint sooner. For that reason, we will not investigate the complaint about the condensation from before May 2022.
The landlord has not provided its repairs policy to us. We have therefore assessed what we think a reasonable timeframe would have been for the repairs the resident reported, considering all the circumstances.
The landlord overhauled ventilation units in the resident’s property on 17 June and 2 August 2022 to address the build-up of condensation and mould. There were no reports from the resident that the condensation and mould continued after this. The landlord installed a new ventilation unit on 11 January 2023. There were no immediate reports from the resident that this was not working. It would be reasonable for the landlord to consider that the issues were resolved as there were no further reports.
The resident reported a leak from her bathroom going downstairs on 10 February 2023. Sometime shortly after she reported that condensation was causing damp and mould in the property. It was appropriate for the landlord to inspect the property. There was no evidence that there was an immediate hazard to people or the property, so it was reasonable for the landlord to treat the repair as a non-emergency. It responded to this in good time.
The landlord inspected on 9 March 2023. It found an area of mould on the bathroom ceiling and other areas were predominantly dry. The landlord repaired the leak from the bathroom 5 months after the resident reported the issue. This was significantly longer than the 28 days we would expect for this type of repair. The repair required multiple visits to complete, however there was no evidence of the landlord providing a schedule of work or explaining why the repair would take so long. This delay caused inconvenience to the resident in having to chase the completion of the work. The resident also said she was unable to bathe in her property during this time out of concern the leak may continue to go downstairs.
The landlord’s stage 1 complaint response said it could not access the property for repairs on 3 occasions between 2 March and 18 April 2023. It provided no evidence to us of these access attempts such as photographs. Where a landlord cannot gain access to a property on multiple occasions it would be reasonable to expect it to contact the resident to ask why they had not allowed access and establish if they needed any help to allow access. There is no evidence the landlord did this, which was a failing.
The landlord’s stage 1 complaint response also said it had completed work to install humidistat fans arising from its surveyor’s inspection on 9 March 2023. There was no evidence these were installed. If the landlord chose not to follow its surveyor’s recommendations, it should have a good reason for doing so and explain this to the resident. It would still need to resolve the repair another way.
The landlord’s internal records on 18 and 19 September 2023 showed that the humidistat fans requested by the surveyor were still not installed. It needed to raise further jobs to complete the installation. The resident confirmed to us on 3 December 2025 that this still has not been done. The landlord’s stage 1 complaint response was inconsistent with its records which suggest the fans have not been installed. We have therefore ordered the landlord to fit the humidistat fans now as previously agreed. We will also order the landlord to inspect the property 2 weeks after installing the fans to see if the condensation is resolved.
The resident said the conditions at the property affected her and her household’s health. It would be fairer, more reasonable, and more effective for the resident to make a personal injury claim for any injury caused. The courts are best placed to deal with this type of dispute as they will have the benefit of independent medical advice to decide on the cause of any injury and how long it will last. We have not investigated this further. We can decide if a landlord should pay compensation for distress and inconvenience.
The resident said the ongoing condensation had caused her distress and inconvenience, and costs for replacing damaged possessions and decoration. It was unreasonable that the landlord did not acknowledge or consider in its complaint responses whether its delays had led to excess costs for the resident. This went against its compensation guidance which said that staff should be proactive about identifying when compensation may be appropriate. Its guidance also says that it will consider compensating for damage or loss of belongings due to its action or inaction.
On 13 May 2023 the resident said she could not have a bath at home because of the leak. In her complaint on 19 June 2023, she said that she had been without water or washing facilities for 1 day. We have considered this when assessing compensation for distress and inconvenience, as explained below.
Because of the extended time that the repair work to resolve the condensation has remained unresolved, the landlord must pay the resident compensation of £500 including the £250 it previously offered. This is in line with our remedies guidance. This says awards between £100 and £600 are appropriate when there has been a failure by the landlord which has led to a negative effect on the resident which may not be permanent.
We also order the landlord contact the resident to investigate her claim of damaged possessions and decoration from the condensation. It must consider the claim and confirm whether it will compensate her for these in line with its compensation guidance. The landlord can refer a claim to its liability insurance as an alternative to considering it itself.

Complaint	The handling of the complaint
Finding	Maladministration

The landlord has a 2-stage complaints procedure that was in line with our Complaint Handling Code (the Code). The Code sets out our expectations of landlords in handling complaints.
The resident complained to the landlord on 10 May 2023 about the condensation and the progress of repairs. There was no evidence it responded to this. She complained again on 13 and 19 May 2023, and on 19 June 2023. The landlord did not provide its stage 1 response until 5 July 2023. This was 40 working days since the resident first tried to complain. This was a significant delay that exceeded the timeframes set out in our Code and the landlord’s policy.
The Code says that a landlord should consider all aspects of a resident’s complaint unless there is a valid reason not to. If there is a valid reason, it should explain why. In its complaint responses the landlord failed to address the following dissatisfactions the resident raised:
1. The resident’s report of the condensation affecting her household’s health.
2. Her report of the effects of the condensation leading to damage to her possessions and decoration.
3. Her report that the contractor had not attended an appointment on 10 May 2023.
It was unreasonable the landlord did not explain why it had not considered the above points. This would have led to the resident feeling her concerns had been ignored. The landlord should pay the resident £100 compensation for her distress and inconvenience from the poor handling of the complaint. This is in line with our remedies guidance mentioned above.

Learning

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

The landlord did not provide evidence to support its account of events in its stage 1 complaint response. Its repair records did not show that it had acted appropriately to complete the necessary repairs. Our spotlight report on knowledge and information management highlighted that poor record keeping leads to poor repair outcomes for residents. The landlord may wish to consider reviewing its repairs record keeping procedures in line with our spotlight report, if it has not done so already.

Communication

The landlord’s communication with the resident was inadequate. Between 10 May 2023 and 5 July 2023, she attempted to complain and highlighted concerns about the progress of work. Other than its late stage 1 complaint response, there was no evidence of the landlord responding to these concerns.