Royal Borough Of Greenwich (202330458)

Decision
Case ID	202330458
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	Royal Borough Of Greenwich
Landlord type	Local Authority / ALMO or TMO
Occupancy	Secure Tenancy
Date	5 February 2026

Background

1. The resident complained about damp, mould, and several outstanding repairs. The landlord said it had completed some work, while some remained outstanding due to access issues, and it had no record of others. It arranged an inspection, raised further work orders, acknowledged repair delays and poor communication, apologised, and offered compensation.
2. The resident escalated her complaint because repairs remained outstanding. In its final response, the landlord said it had completed a survey, identified repairs, and completed some of the work, while other repairs remained outstanding due to continued access issues. It acknowledged further communication issues, apologised, and increased its offer of compensation.

What the complaint is about

3. This complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
   1. Damp and mould.
   2. Repairs relating to the bath, taps, guttering, drainage, structural issues, cracked plaster, windows, and front door.
   3. The complaint.

Our decision (determination)

4. We found:
   1. Service failure in the landlord’s handling of damp and mould.
   2. Service failure the landlord’s handling of repairs relating to the bath, taps, guttering, drainage, structural issues, cracked plaster, windows, and front door.
   3. Reasonable remedy in the landlords handling of the complaint.

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

Summary of reasons

Damp and mould

5. Most delays were avoidable and caused by the landlord’s communication failures and repair management. The landlord did not evidence inspections or explain its compensation calculation, making its response to the complaint incomplete.

Repair issues

6. The landlord acknowledged delays and communication failures but did not improve its service, which led to further delay.

The complaint

7. The landlord did not meet its stage 1 timescale but acknowledged this failure and offered a reasonable resolution. It met the required timescale at stage 2.

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	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £400 made up as follows: £200 for the handling of damp and mould. £200 for the handling of repair issues.   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 05 March 2026
2	Inspection order The landlord must contact the resident to arrange an inspection. It must take all reasonable steps to ensure the inspection is completed by the due date. The inspection must be completed by someone suitably qualified to complete an inspection of the type needed. If the landlord cannot gain access to complete the inspection, it must provide us with documentary evidence of its attempts to inspect the property no later than the due date.   What the inspection must achieve The landlord must ensure that the surveyor’s inspection includes the issues involved in this complaint: The damp and mould, the cold conditions, the front door, the bay‑window leak, the faulty window lock, the faulty taps, the guttering and drainage, and the plaster and structure of the property. The survey report must set out: The most likely cause of the damp mould and cold conditions. A full scope of works to achieve a lasting and effective repair to the issues The likely timescales to commence and complete the work	No later than 02 April 2026

 

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
14 June 2023	The resident reported that a neighbour’s tree had been causing rising damp and damage to her home since the start of her tenancy. She also raised concerns about several outstanding repairs. These included issues with the bath, extractor fan, structural problems, cracked plaster, taps, guttering, a leaking bay‑window roof, window locks, the front door, and low temperatures inside the property.
9 August 2023	The landlord confirmed it repaired the kitchen tap but outside its 20‑working‑day timescale. It said it would inspect the property in September 2023 to assess reports of damp and mould, plaster, and cracks in property. It said there were no previous reports about a window not locking or an extractor fan but contacted the resident to raise repairs. Repairs were also raised for a bay window roof leak and gutters. An inspection for the front door was arranged for 27 July 2023, but no access was provided. The landlord acknowledged delays and communication shortcomings and offered £250 compensation.
21 November 2023	The resident escalated the complaint because repairs were still incomplete and communication had not improved. She also said the compensation was insufficient.
19 December 2023	The landlord confirmed that it had completed the tree works. It said an inspection in September 2023 identified work, including replacing the extractor fan, applying a sealer coat, and carrying out drainage repairs. Some work was rescheduled due to access issues, including mould treatment and clearing the drains. The landlord said it completed the extractor fan replacement in December 2023. The bath and taps remained outstanding. The landlord identified errors in its communication, apologised, and increased its compensation offer to £350.
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident brought the complaint to the Ombudsman due to continued delays and poor communication. She asked the landlord to inspect the property, complete outstanding repairs, and acknowledge its failings.

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 landlord’s handling of reports of damp and mould.
Finding	Service failure

What we have not investigated

8. The resident said in her complaint that she had been experiencing issues with the tree since the start of her tenancy. Records show she made a complaint about the tree in 2022. As the time limit for us to consider that earlier complaint has passed, this investigation focuses on the new complaint she raised with the landlord in August 2023, and the landlord’s final response issued in December 2023.

What we have investigated

9. The resident reported damp and mould in her son’s bedroom on 30 March 2023. She said the room was cold and she was cleaning mould daily. The landlord raised a mould wash on 31 March 2023 and said it would arrange an appointment with her. On 14 June 2023, the resident complained that nobody had attended to the damp and mould. She also said a neighbour’s tree was causing rising damp and damage to her home, and that the downstairs rooms were cold.
10. The landlord responded to the complaint. It said it inspected the tree on 31 July 2023 and scheduled canopy‑lifting work for October 2023. However, the landlord has not provided evidence of the July inspection. It booked a mould wash for 2 August 2023 and a damp and mould inspection for 8 September 2023 and said it would also inspect the cold related concerns. The landlord acknowledged delays, inconvenience and poor communication. It apologised and offered £250 compensation but did not explain how it calculated this amount or provide a breakdown.
11. Records show the resident rescheduled the mould wash to 15 August 2023, but operatives could not gain access on the day. The landlord cancelled the job on 28 September 2023 due to no contact. However, the resident had contacted the landlord in late August asking it to confirm the scope of the works it had planned, and there is no evidence that it responded. A mould wash later raised on 28 September 2023 was later cancelled by the landlord as it required an external contractor.
12. The landlord carried out the 8 September 2023 damp and mould inspection. It identified the need for an extractor fan and wallpaper removal before applying a sealer coat. The landlord has not provided the inspection report, so it is not apparent whether the tree contributed to the damp and mould.
13. The resident escalated her complaint in November 2023, saying works were still outstanding and she continued to receive incorrect or past appointment dates by text. She also said the compensation offered was inadequate.
14. In its final response, the landlord said it completed the tree works in November 2023. However, its records show the works took place on 14 December 2023 and involved lifting the canopy and cutting it back from the property. The landlord did not address whether the tree contributed to the damp and mould (which had been of particular concern for the resident). It also did not respond to the residents’ concerns about the property being cold.
15. It confirmed the extractor fan was fitted on 5 December 2023. It said there was no access for the sealer coat and mould wash work on 7 December 2023 and rescheduled for 11 January 2024. It acknowledged further communication issues and noted that calls were not made to the resident to book appointments. It apologised and increased compensation to £350.
16. The records show that when the operative attended on 11 January 2024, they recorded that the resident said she had cancelled the appointment. In March 2024, the resident reported unannounced operative visits and reiterated her request to be called in advance of appointments. The landlord responded and said the contractor would arrange an appointment. The records confirm that the mould wash was completed on 22 April 2024. However, they do not confirm whether the sealer coat works were subsequently completed, and it is therefore unclear whether these works remain outstanding.
17. The landlord’s repair policy states that non‑urgent repairs should be completed within 20 working days. Its tree management policy states inspections should take place within 10 working days, with low‑priority works completed when capacity allows.
18. The landlord did not inspect the reported damp and mould for approximately 6 months after the resident first raised the issue. The mould wash took place around 12 months after the initial report, and the landlord’s records do not confirm whether the sealing works were completed. In addition, the tree inspection took 34 working days to complete, which exceeded the timescales set out in the landlord’s policy.
19. While there were some access issues which undoubtedly caused some delay, many of the delays arose from communication failures. These included an error in the landlord’s text‑message system that issued incorrect appointment dates, a failure to call the resident to arrange appointments, the cancellation of the September mould wash appointment despite the resident making contact in late August, and errors in raising the mould wash.
20. The delays were largely avoidable. They resulted from poor communication, limited monitoring of repairs, and slow or absent responses to the resident. Although the landlord accepted that some delays had occurred, the issues continued. Its records did not clearly show what inspections it carried out or provide a final response to the resident’s concerns about her cold home. The landlord also did not explain how it calculated its final compensation offer of £350. As a result, the landlord’s complaint response was not as clear and thorough as it need to be.

Complaint	The landlord’s handling of repairs relating to the bath, taps, guttering, drainage, structural issues, cracked plaster, windows, and front door.
Finding	Service failure

23. The resident complained that multiple repairs she reported in March 2023 remained outstanding. These included issues with taps, bath, cracked plaster, structural concerns, a bowed front door that did not close properly, a bay window roof leak, blocked guttering, a window that did not lock, and defects linked to a newly installed drain.
24. In its stage 1 complaint response, the landlord said it repaired the kitchen tap on 30 June 2023 which was outside its repairs policy timescale. The landlord said it had raised work orders for the bath and booked an inspection for 8 September 2023 to assess the plasterwork and cracking in the property.
25. The landlord also said there were no previous reports about the window not locking or the extractor fan. It said it contacted the resident on 1 August 2023 to confirm the issues and raise the relevant repairs. The repairs records support that there were no earlier reports about these concerns.
26. Repairs were also raised for a bay window roof leak and gutters and said it would contact resident to arrange appointment. An inspection for the front door was arranged for 27 July 2023, but no access was provided. The landlord acknowledged delays and communication shortcomings and offered £250 compensation.
27. The resident escalated her complaint in November 2023, as repairs remained incomplete. In its final complaint response, the landlord said the inspection took place on 8 September 2023. It said the inspection identified the need to clear a blocked drain and replace the bath and shower taps, and that no other repairs were identified. It said the drain works were scheduled for 21 November 2023, but there was no access. It said a text message was sent, although there was no record of a telephone call. The landlord said it rescheduled the appointment to January 2024 and would contact the resident to arrange the bath works. It apologised for further communication failures and offered an additional £350 compensation.
28. The landlord’s records show that an inspection took place on 8 September 2023. However, neither a copy of the inspection report or detailed notes confirming what was assessed or explaining why no further repairs were identified beyond the blocked drain and bath have been provided.
29. The landlord raised repeated appointments to address the blocked drain, with attendances on 21 November 2023, 22 January 2024, and 24 November 2024. Each attendance was recorded as no access. There is no evidence that the landlord attempted to contact the resident by telephone before these appointments (which it had previously agreed to do). The bath was installed on 7 March 2024, and the bath taps and handles were replaced on 21 March 2024. The bath panel was not installed at that time due to a reported leak and remained outstanding. The landlord’s records show that the leak was still unresolved when an operative attended in August 2024. The bath panel was completed on 18 September 2024.
30. The landlord emailed the resident and said works to the front door were completed on 23 August 2023 and that replacement was not recommended. We have not seen records of the inspection that led to this decision. There is also no evidence of completed works or inspections relating to the reported structural cracks, plaster damage, bay window roof leak, guttering, or window locking issues. As a result, it is not apparent whether these issues were assessed or remain outstanding.
31. Overall, while the landlord acknowledged delays and communication failures, this continued, which led to further delay. The landlord has not provided inspection reports or records to show that these matters were assessed or that no repairs were required. It also did not fully address all aspects of the resident’s complaint in its final response, including reported structural cracks, plaster damage, the bay window roof leak, guttering, and window locking issues. It also did not include relevant information about works to the front door that took place before the final response. These shortcomings meant the landlord did not provide a clear or complete response to the complaint and contributed to ongoing uncertainty and unresolved repair concerns.

Complaint	The landlord’s handling of the complaint.
Finding	Reasonable redress

32. The landlord operates a 2‑stage complaints process. It aims to acknowledge complaints within 5 working days, issue a stage 1 response within 15 working days, and issue a stage 2 response within 20 working days. The policy also states that if it cannot respond within these timescales, it will contact the resident to explain why.
33. The resident complained on 14 June 2023. The landlord acknowledged the stage 1 complaint on 19 July 2023, 26 working days later, and issued its response on 9 August 2023, 16 working days after the acknowledgment. The resident chased the landlord during this period, but the landlord did not update her about the delay, which caused inconvenience. It apologised for the delay and offered compensation.
34. The resident escalated the complaint on 21 November 2023. The landlord acknowledged it on 23 November 2023, 3 working days later, and issued its stage 2 response on 19 December 2023, 19 working days later, which met its policy timescale.
35. Overall, the landlord did not meet its stage 1 timescale or keep the resident updated, which was a shortcoming. It acknowledged the delay, apologised, and included compensation for it, although without a breakdown. The landlord met the required stage 2 timescale.

Learning

36. The landlord offered compensation for both the substantive issue and its complaint handling, but it did not break this down. When a landlord’s compensation takes different issues into account, it is good practice to show the amounts it has attributed to each matter and we encourage the landlord to take this approach in future.