Southern Housing (202321554)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202321554

Southern Housing

26 February 2025


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 handling of the resident’s concerns about damp, mould, and associated repairs.
  2. We have also considered the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord under an agreement dated August 2010. She lives in a 2–bedroom property with her children.
  2. According to the landlord’s inspection records, the resident contacted it in October 2022 to report damp, mould and damages. In a subsequent follow up inspection on 3 November 2022, the landlord identified mould and water stains at the resident’s home, noted that a roof inspection to check for a leak would be carried out, and that replastering and decoration work was required. A quote for repair works to the resident’s loft, was then raised on 15 December 2022.
  3. The resident raised a complaint on 24 March 2023. She complained that the damp and mould issues identified in 2022 had not been rectified or repaired, electrical wires had been left exposed, and bathroom and window repairs were needed. To resolve her complaint she wanted the landlord to address the issues and move her to a different property.
  4. The landlord responded at stage 1 of its complaints process on 21 April 2023. It said:
    1. It had investigated why repairs had taken a while to complete, and found that its contractor had tried calling the resident 4 times between 15 and 20 December 2022 but got no answer. It also explained that it had then sent her a letter in January 2023 and emailed her with an appointment confirmation for the same month.
    2. A roofer and manager attended her home on 22 January 2023, and a quote was then submitted for works, which was approved on 24 February 2023.
    3. Plastering was agreed and booked in for 17 March 2023, and decorating was scheduled for 11 and 12 April 2023 as requested by the resident due to half term. It also said a contractor would attend on 2 May 2023 to check the resident’s concerns about her windows, and carry out a repair if necessary.
    4. It had no record of the resident reporting concerns about exposed wires, and had raised an emergency repair to make safe if needed. It also confirmed all these works would be carried out between 2 and 4 May 2023, and it offered the resident £100 for time, trouble, and disruption.
  5. The resident escalated her complaint in August 2023. She explained that the work carried out by the landlord’s contractor after her stage 1 complaint was of a poor standard, the roof and windows remained damaged, and that her hoover had been damaged as a result of cleaning up after the landlord’s contractor. To resolve her complaint, she wanted outstanding repairs completed, a permanent move, reimbursement for damaged belongings including furniture, and compensation for inconvenience.
  6. The landlord issued its final response on 28 September 2023. It said:
    1. It was sorry for the repair delays, and had asked a senior contractor to take over the works and carry out both mould treatments and repairs.
    2. A roof inspection would take place, and the resident would be temporarily moved into other accommodation to allow for the works to take place, which was likely to start on 9 October 2023 for 3 weeks.
    3. It was unable to arrange a permanent move as it didn’t have a transfer waiting list.
    4. It upheld her complaint, and increased its compensation offer to £1,130 for inconvenience, time and trouble, repeated visits, failure to respond to her concerns, and a reimbursement for the hoover.
  7. The resident remains dissatisfied with the landlord’s response. When she contacted this Service in September 2023, she said that to resolve her complaint she wanted a permanent move,  and increased compensation for damaged belongings and repair delays. The landlords records indicate that as of July 2024, repairs remained outstanding.

 

Assessment and findings

The scope of the Ombudsman’s investigation

  1. The resident has explained that in her initial stage 1 complaint to the landlord, she raised a complaint about its handling of antisocial behaviour (ASB). However, she has confirmed that she chose not to escalate this element of her complaint to stage 2, and it did not complete the landlord’s internal complaints procedure. As a result, ASB is not investigated in this report.
  2. The resident has also suggested that damp in her home has negatively affected both her and her children’s mental and physical health. It is beyond the expertise of this Service to make a determination on whether there was a direct link between the landlord’s actions and an impact on health. The resident therefore may wish to seek independent advice on making a personal injury claim if she considers that her or her children’s health has been affected by any action or failure by the landlord.

The landlord’s handling of damp and mould and associated repairs

  1. The landlord’s responsive repairs policy says that it will repair and maintain homes in line with best practice and legislation. It also says:
    1. A responsive repair is day-to day maintenance work to a home, and the landlord will arrange an appointment as soon as possible at a time that suits the resident. It aims to complete responsive repairs in one visit, or in as little time as possible.
    2. Make safe works for emergency repairs will be carried out within 6 hours of the repair being reported. Emergency repairs include unsafe electrical fittings.
  2. The Ombudsman’s Spotlight Report on Damp and Mould provides recommendations for landlords, including that they should “adopt a zero-tolerance approach to damp and mould.”
  3. In response to the Spotlight Report, the landlord carried out a Damp and Mould Scrutiny Project report, available on its website, which examined its residents experience with damp and mould, and analysed its systems and processes for dealing with it. Recommendations in the landlord’s report include:
    1. Improve communications with residents about timescales, actions and follow-up work.
    2. Better management of contractors.
    3. Establishing and communicating clear timescales to residents.
  4. The landlord has not provided us with a copy of a damp and mould policy, and a search of its website did not find one.
  5. According to the landlord’s repair records, the resident raised concerns about damp and mould in October 2022. Following its subsequent inspection of the resident’s home in November 2022, the landlord identified:
    1. Mould in the resident’s living room.
    2. Water stains on the wall of the first–floor landing.
    3. Water stains and mould in a child’s bedroom along with a wet reading.
  6. Subsequently, the landlord noted during the same visit that an inspection of the roof would be carried out to check for any leaks, and that plastering and redecoration was required. Arranging for a leak inspection was a reasonable approach for the landlord to take given the damp and mould and associated damage that had been identified.
  7. However, the record of follow up repairs provided by the landlord is unclear. The information made available indicates that:
    1. A quote was raised on 15 December 2022 for works on the bedroom, loft, roof, hallway, and living room. This is marked as completed on 12 April 2023.
    2. A surveyor and a contractor attended the resident’s home on behalf of the landlord on 16 January 2023, and work on the roof was authorised to start from 7 February 2023.
    3. Further roofing works had been identified in a previous visit, and completed on 8 March 2023 as requested by the resident.
    4. Plastering was booked in for 17 March 2023.
    5. The landlord emailed the resident on 23 March 2023 to request 2 extra days of plastering, but the resident said that was not possible so it was put on hold.
  8. The landlord’s repair records do not make it clear exactly what repairs were carried out, or completed. Numerous entries on the repair records provided record a status of “cancelled” or have no completion date confirmed. This makes it difficult for us to find that the landlord acted appropriately in its repair handling. In our special investigation report on the landlord, published in May 2024, this Service found that the landlord needed to improve its record keeping for repairs.
  9. In summary, the landlord identified damp and mould treatment, and associated repairs were needed in November 2022, but works do not appear to have been completed until April 2023. Although some work appears to have been carried out in regard to the roof, it took the landlord from November 2022 to March 2023 to complete it. It is however unclear what work was carried out, or what the outcome was.
  10. In any event, the resident complained to the landlord on 24 March 2023 explaining that damp and mould and associated repairs remained outstanding. She said that although some “patch” repairs had been done, they were not resolving the issue.
  11. In its stage 1 complaint response to the resident on 21 April 2023, the landlord recognised that repairs had been delayed and scheduled outstanding works to be completed in May 2023. It also raised an emergency repair for the exposed wires the resident had reported, although it is not clear when this repair was completed.
  12. Further, when the resident escalated her complaint in August 2023 she said the repairs and work to address the mould issue had only been partially completed, and that there were long gaps between contractor visits. The landlord acknowledged in its final response in September 2023 that the damp and mould issue and outstanding repairs had not been resolved, and confirmed its intent to have a senior contractor to take over the works.
  13. In summary, by September 2023 – 11 months after the issues were first identified in November 2022 – works on damp and mould and associated repairs in the resident’s hallway, child’s bedroom, kitchen, and roof remained outstanding.
  14. We recognise that, in some cases, repairs may be delayed due to external factors, such as contractor availability or material shortages. However, in this instance, the landlord has not provided any clear reason for the prolonged delays. While it noted that there were occasions when it attempted to contact the resident to arrange appointments, these instances accounted for only a small fraction of time and do not explain the extended period during which the repairs remained incomplete.
  15. We also consider the impact of the delays on the resident. Given that the repairs included work to essential areas in her home such as the roof, loft, hallway, living room, and a child’s bedroom, the prolonged delays caused considerable disruption, discomfort, and frustration for the resident and her family. This is also reflected in her repeated correspondence with the landlord about the issues.
  16. In its final response, the landlord took steps to address the issues raised about the outstanding repairs and quality of work carried out previously by assigning a senior contractor, arranging further inspections, and offering temporary accommodation to the resident while repairs were completed. These were reasonable actions. However they came significantly late in the process and overall the landlord failed to resolve the issues in a timely manner, in adherence with its own responsive repairs policy, and the recommendations set out in its own review following the Spotlight Report.
  17. We therefore find that the landlord’s overall handling of damp, mould and associated repairs, including the extended delays and failure to ensure a satisfactory standard of work and solution, amounts to severe maladministration.
  18. In its final response, the landlord offered the resident £900 for the inconvenience, time, and trouble caused by the delays, plus an additional £15 for a repeat visit, and £200 reimbursement for a damaged hoover. This could have been sufficient to resolve the resident’s complaint because it was consistent with our remedies guidance and the landlord’s own compensation policy. However, there is no evidence that the landlord completed the repairs it promised in its stage 2 response. Its now over a year since the final response was issued, and as a result the resident ought to be compensated for these further delays.
  19. In this case, we also order an increase in compensation for the following reasons:
    1. The repairs and damp and mould work took 11 months, well beyond what would be considered a reasonable timeframe under the landlord’s own policy.
    2. The resident had to report the issues multiple times, which added unnecessary stress and inconvenience.
    3. The need to move the resident and her family out for 3 weeks in October 2023 suggests that extensive repairs were needed, and action could have been taken earlier to temporarily rehouse them, especially when considering that the landlord had noted in November 2022 that damp and mould was an issue.
    4. The delays particularly affected a child’s bedroom, which caused the resident understandable concern.
    5. The landlord’s compensation offer did not take into account the time the resident and her children had to reside in the property with damp and mould.
  20. Given the significant delays of 11 months followed by further delays after the landlord’s final response, the poor workmanship requiring repeat visits and intervention from a senior contractor, and the impact on the resident and her family – including the disruption caused by unfinished repairs in essential living spaces like a child’s bedroom – we find it reasonable to order an increase in compensation.
  21. An order has therefore been made for the landlord to pay the resident an additional £500. This is in line with our remedies guidance for failures which have had a significant impact on a resident, and where the landlord has made some attempt to put things right but the offer was not proportionate to the failings identified by our investigation.
  22. It is unclear whether or not the outstanding damp and mould or repair issues have been resolved since the resident’s complaint completed the landlord’s internal complaints procedure. A further order has therefore been made for the landlord to arrange an inspection of the damp and mould problem at the resident’s home by a suitably qualified person, and identify a permanent fix to resolve it. It must present the resident and this Service with a report of its findings.
  23. In addition, the landlord has also been ordered to arrange an inspection for any outstanding repairs relating to the resident’s roof, hallway, child’s bedroom and kitchen if necessary, and draw up a schedule of repairs. It must present both this Service and the resident with its schedule.
  24. The resident has previously advised both the landlord and this Service that she would like to be permanently moved to a different property as part of the resolution to her complaint. In its final response to the resident’s complaint, the landlord explained that its Residents Service Team could assist her with further advice about moving, as it did not have a transfer waiting list. A recommendation has been made below for the landlord to ensure that its team makes contact with the resident to discuss her options in this regard.
  25. In her stage 2 complaint, the resident requested that the landlord reimburse her for damage to personal items. It was not specified what items were damaged, however she did explain that a hoover had been damaged during cleaning up after a contractor’s visit. The landlord subsequently reimbursed the resident for the hoover, which was appropriate and reasonable.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint

  1. At the time of the resident’s complaint in 2023, the landlord operated a 2 stage complaints process. In line with the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code, the landlord must acknowledge a complaint at stage 1 of its process within 5 working days and supply a written response within 10 working days from the date of acknowledgement. It must also acknowledge a stage 2 complaint within 5 working days and supply a written response within 20 working days.
  2. The resident raised her stage 1 complaint on 24 March 2023, and it was acknowledged by the landlord on 3 April 2023, 7 working days later. It then issued its stage 1 response on 21 April 2023, 14 working days after the complaint acknowledgement. No explanation has been given for the delays, and there is no information to show the landlord told the resident there would be a delay in responding.
  3. The resident contacted the landlord on 21 June 2023 to explain that the issues she had complained about remained outstanding. She sent a further email on 3 August 2023 reiterating the issues she was experiencing.
  4. The landlord contacted the resident on 16 August 2023 to confirm whether she wanted her complaint escalated, and then sent her a complaint acknowledgment on 25 August 2023, 17 working days after her complaint was raised. It then issued its final response on 28 September 2023, 25 working days later. As a result, the resident was caused further inconvenience by delays in getting responses to her complaint.
  5. The landlord failed to handle the resident’s complaint in adherence with the Code, causing further frustration for the resident in prolonging her complaints journey. Therefore, the landlord was responsible for service failure in its complaint handling.
  6. An order has been made below for the landlord to pay the resident an additional £100 in compensation, to recognise the time and trouble linked to the unnecessary delays caused to her complaints journey. This is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance for failures which a landlord has failed to acknowledge or put right.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was severe maladministration by the landlord in its handling of damp, mould, and associated repairs.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s complaint.

 

 

 

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. The Ombudsman orders the landlord to, within 28 days of the date of this determination:
    1. Pay compensation to the resident of £1,730 made up of:
      1. £1,615 for the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident by delays in handling her reports of damp and mould, and the associated repairs.
      2. £100 for time and trouble linked to the unnecessary delays caused to the resident’s complaints journey.
      3. This is inclusive of the compensation previously offered by the landlord. Therefore the landlord may deduct from the total any compensation that it may have already been paid in relation to the complaint.
  2. The landlord should pay the compensation directly to the resident and not offset against any debt that may be owed.
  3. The landlord must, within 28 days:
    1. Arrange an inspection to identify any outstanding repairs relating to the resident’s roof, hallway, child’s bedroom and kitchen if necessary, and make a schedule of work to complete them. It must provide the resident and this Service with the schedule.
    2. Arrange an inspection of the damp problem at the resident’s home by a suitably qualified person, and identify a permanent fix to resolve it. It must provide the resident and this Service with a copy of its findings.
  4. The landlord must provide the Ombudsman with proof of compliance with the above orders.

Recommendations

  1. The landlord should ensure that its relevant team makes contact with the resident to discuss her options in regard to moving to a different property.