Southern Housing (202347001)

Decision
Case ID	202347001
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	Southern Housing
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Assured Tenancy
Date	23 March 2026

Background

The resident lives in a house with her son who was 4 years old at the time of the complaint. The resident is registered blind and her son has a diagnosis of asthma. She complained about a delay in the landlord completing garden works. The landlord also included a complaint about rendering and internal repairs in its stage 2 complaint response.

What the complaint is about

The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
1. Garden works.
2. Repairs to render and associated internal repairs.
We have also investigated the landlord’s complaint handling.

Our decision (determination)

We found maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the:
1. garden works
2. repairs to external render and associated repairs
3. complaint.

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

Summary of reasons

Garden

The landlord took over 2 years to complete work to the garden and it failed to keep the resident updated. The garden was not accessible to the resident during this time due to her vulnerabilities and therefore the landlord should have prioritised the work. However, we have seen no evidence that it considered this. Part of the garden remains inaccessible due to rubble left by the contractor. The landlord has also failed to inform the resident of its intentions regarding the rest of the garden.

Render

It took over 2 years for the landlord to repair the render on the property, during which time the resident and her son lived with damp and mould. This was particularly distressing as the resident’s son has a diagnosis of asthma. There were avoidable delays due to the landlord not taking timely actions and it did not keep the resident informed

Complaint handling

There was an error in the stage 1 complaint response, long delays in providing a stage 2 complaint response, and the landlord did not address all the issues raised.

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: a manager provides the apology the apology is specific to the failures identified in this decision, meaningful, and empathetic it has due regard to our apologies guidance	No later than 20 April 2026
2	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £1,400 made up as follows: £700 for the time, trouble, distress, and inconvenience caused by the failings in its handling of garden works £600 for the time, trouble, distress, and inconvenience caused by the failings in its handling of repairs to the render repairs and associated internal repairs £100 for the time, trouble, distress, and inconvenience caused by its handling of the complaint The landlord must pay this directly to the resident and provide documentary evidence of payment to us by the due date. The landlord may deduct from the total figure any payments it has already paid.	No later than 20 April 2026
3	The landlord must remove the rubble left in the garden by the landscaper by the due date. It must provide photographs of the area taken before and after the removal.	No later than 05 May 2026
4	Inspection order The landlord must contact the resident to arrange an inspection of the garden. It must take all reasonable steps to ensure it completes the inspection by the due date. A suitably qualified person must complete the inspection. 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: inspects the whole garden and produces a written report with photographs The survey report must set out: whether the garden is fit for purpose considering the residents vulnerabilities and whether there are any hazards whether the landlord is responsible to resolve the issue together with reasons where it is not responsible a full scope of works to achieve a lasting and effective resolution to the issue (if the landlord is responsible) the likely timescales to commence and complete the work	No later than 05 May 2026
5	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 a suitably qualified person. 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: inspects the damp and mould in the porch of the property and produces a written report with photographs The survey report must set out: whether there are any hazards the most likely cause of the damp and mould. whether the landlord is responsible to repair or resolve the issue together with reasons where it is not responsible a full scope of works to achieve a lasting and effective resolution to the issue (if the landlord is responsible) the likely timescales to commence and complete the work	No later than 05 May 2026

Recommendations

Our recommendations are not binding, and a landlord may decide not to follow them.

Our recommendations
The landlord should check other complaints raised by the resident to ensure that it has followed any remedies offered through to completion.

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
24 May 2023	The landlord told the resident that it would log a stage 1 complaint. This was following several contacts she had made about outstanding work to her garden.
30 May 2023	The landlord acknowledged receipt of the stage 1 complaint. It clarified that the complaint was about its lack of communication and the time taken to complete works to her garden.
7 June 2023	The landlord told the resident that it needed more time to complete actions and therefore there was a delay in it providing the complaint response.
16 June 2023	The landlord provided a stage 1 complaint response. It said that: it was sorry for not keeping the resident informed it had received a quote for the work but needed a second quote for comparison it would therefore get another contractor, which it named, to provide a quote and would authorise the work by 30 June 2023 it offered £65 compensation comprising £15 for poor communication and £50 for time, trouble, and inconvenience
25 July 2023	The landlord said that it would escalate the complaint to stage 2 of the complaints process.
22 August 2023	The landlord confirmed its understanding of the reasons for the complaint escalation with the resident, which were: it had not repaired rendering on the property. This was causing water ingress into her son’s bedroom cupboard and the porch area which both had damp and mould in them the landscapers had left rubble in the garden. As she was registered as blind this was a major hazard she wanted the rendering completed before the autumn, the cupboard to be dried out and repaired, and all rubble and obstacles removed
5 October 2023	The landlord provided a stage 2 complaint response. It said that: when contractors went to complete the rendering repairs, they had identified that further work was needed. They sent this request to a member of staff that then left the organisation and therefore the work had not been progressed it apologised for this failure which it said had happened because the contractor had emailed the officer on their individual email rather than using the central mailbox. It had therefore reminded the contractor of the proper channels to avoid this happening again a surveyor had attended the property on 9 September 2023 to identify what work remained outstanding. They would return with a structural specialist following this visit it would raise a job for the recommended works by 20 October 2023 and it would book this work in no later than 27 October 2023 it upheld her complaint and offered an additional compensation payment of £440 comprising £350 for time, trouble, and inconvenience, £60 for the delay, £15 for failure to follow process, and £15 for the delay in the stage 2 complaint response
Referral to the Ombudsman	In March 2026 the resident told us that the landlord had not yet cleared the rubble left by the landscapers. She said that she would like this removed and further work completed to the garden as promised. She also did not feel that the compensation offered reflected the distress caused. She said that she had logged further complaints that had also reached stage 2 of the complaints process but the issues remained unresolved.

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 garden works
Finding	Maladministration

In March 2022, before the resident accepted the property, she identified that the garden needed work before it would be safe for her and her son to use. The landlord agreed to complete this work after she moved in.
The tenancy agreement says that the landlord will complete any repair work within a reasonable time and to a reasonable standard.
There is evidence that an operative attended the property but reported that the job was too complicated to price. Two other members of staff then attended, priced the job, and sent information back to the landlord to review on 28 March 2023. However, there was a delay in this being authorised. During this time the resident took time and trouble chasing completion of the work.
On 23 May 2023, after the resident chased the landlord again, it said that it would escalate the matter via the complaints process. The resident then took further time and trouble contacting it again on 30 May 2023 when she told it that her son had tripped in the garden and badly hurt himself. There is evidence that the landlord then asked another contractor to quote for the work on 7 June 2023.
A contractor finally completed work on part of the garden on 28 June 2024 which partially resolved the issue. However, the contractor left rubble in the garden. The resident has told us that this continues to be a hazard. Also, parts of the garden remain inaccessible to her and we have seen no evidence that the landlord has told her what its intentions are for these areas.
Our remedies guidance sets out that payments of £600 to £1,000 are appropriate to put right failings where there has been a significant physical and/or emotional impact on the resident. In ordering £700 compensation, we have considered the distress caused by the long delay in completing the work. The lack of certainty about the landlord’s future intentions and the lack of consideration of the resident’s vulnerabilities when part of the garden remains inaccessible.

Complaint	The handling of rendering and associated work
Finding	Maladministration

There is evidence that the resident told the landlord that the cupboard within her son’s bedroom was damp on 24 November 2022. However, the landlord cancelled the repairs job it raised about this because it said she did not reply to a phone call.
The landlord raised a repairs job to repair chunks of rendering that had fallen off the property on 31 January 2023. Throughout April 2023 the resident took time and trouble contacting the landlord about the outstanding repairs which she said were allowing water ingress into the property. This was particularly evident in the porch and her son’s bedroom cupboard.
In May 2023 the landlord told the resident that a contractor would complete the work on 12 and 13 June 2023. However, on 21 June 2023 the resident told it that the contractor had attended but stopped work because they found further issues with the walls. The contractor also emailed the landlord to confirm this. The resident took further time and trouble chasing this up again in July 2023, and in September 2023 she emailed the landlord to explain that her son had asthma and the damp was affecting this.
The landlord asked a specialist surveyor to inspect the property on 27 September 2023. It has told us that a contractor completed the necessary rendering repairs on 10 July 2024 and that the works to the cupboard were completed on 29 August 2024.
Our remedies guidance sets out that payments of £600 to £1,000 are appropriate to put right failings that caused significant physical and/or emotional impact on the resident. In ordering £600 compensation, we have considered the distress caused to the resident and her son, who has asthma, living with damp and mould for a prolonged period. Also, the time and trouble she had to take because the landlord did not keep her informed.
The resident has informed us that there is still an issue with damp and mould in the porch so we have ordered an inspection of this area.

Complaint	The handling of the complaint
Finding	Maladministration

The Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code in place at the time of the complaint (the Code) said that complaint handlers must consider all information and evidence carefully.
In this case, in the stage1 complaint response, the landlord said that a second named contractor would visit the property to quote for the garden works, when they had already attended. This error cost the resident time and trouble because she had to contact the landlord to point this out.
The landlord’s complaint policy says that it will acknowledge stage 2 escalation requests within 5 working days of receipt. It says that it will provide a response within 20 working days of the acknowledgement. This is in line with the Code.
In this case the landlord took 21 working days to acknowledge receipt of the complaint and a further 33 working days to provide a response. This delay and failure to follow its policy meant that the resident was waiting longer for a resolution which caused her distress and inconvenience. It also delayed her access to an investigation by this Service.
The Code also said that landlords must address all points raised in the complaint and provide clear reasons for any decisions.
However, in this case, although the landlord included the garden issues in its summary of the reasons for the complaint escalation in the stage 2 complaint response, it did not offer any answers to these issues at all. This was despite the problems with the garden being the sole subject of the stage 1 complaint response. This error left the resident with unanswered questions which caused her further distress and cost her time and trouble escalating the case to us for investigation.
In summary, there was an error in the stage 1 complaint response, significant delays in providing a stage 2 complaint response, and the landlord did not address all the issues raised. It offered £15 compensation to her for the delay in providing the stage 2 complaint response. However, we do not think that this reflects the time, trouble, distress, and inconvenience caused. As such, we ordered increased compensation in line with our remedies guidance for £100.

Learning

Complaint handlers should ensure that they complete a full investigation and include all complaint points in complaint responses.

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

No issues identified.

Communication

The landlord’s communication with the resident throughout the process was poor.