Southern Housing (202413388)

Decision
Case ID	202413388
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	Southern Housing
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Assured Tenancy
Date	22 October 2025

Background

The resident lives in a 2-bedroom flat.

What the complaint is about

The complaint is about:
1. The landlord’s response to the damp and mould in the property.
2. The landlord’s response to resident’s reports of problems with windows.
3. How the landlord responded to the complaint.

Our decision (determination)

We have found that:
1. there was maladministration in the landlord’s response to the damp and mould in the property
2. there was maladministration in the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of problems with windows
3. there was reasonable redress in the landlord’s handling of the complaint

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

Summary of reasons

The handling of damp and mould

The landlord did not carry out inspections and repairs in line with its repairs policy. It failed to follow through with commitments made in its stage 2 response and the damp and mould issue remains unresolved more than 2 years after the resident first reported it.

Problems with windows

The landlord again did not carry out inspections and repairs in line with its repairs policy. The problem remains almost 2 years after the resident first reported it and the landlord failed to recognise and appropriately address this during its complaints process.

Complaint handling

While there were failings by the landlord in its stage 1 complaint handling, it recognised this in its response and offered appropriate compensation and an apology.

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	No later than 19 November 2025
2	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £1,660 made up as follows: £1,360 for its handling of damp and mould £300 for its handling of window 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. The landlord may deduct from the total figure any payments it has already paid. This includes an overpayment of £565 it made in error following its stage 2 response.	No later than 19 November 2025
3	Inspection order The landlord must contact the resident to arrange a damp and mould 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: Inspects the roof and internals of the property and produces a written report with photographs The survey report must set out: Whether the property is fit for human habitation and whether there are any hazards The most likely cause of the damp and mould issues 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 repair to the issue (if the landlord is responsible) The likely timescales to commence and complete the work Whether temporary alternative accommodation is necessary either because of the condition of the property or during the works	No later than 19 November 2025
4	Inspection order The landlord must contact the resident to arrange an inspection of the windows in the property. 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.	No later than 19 November 2025

Order

What the landlord must do

Due date

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

No later than

19 November 2025

Compensation order

The landlord must pay the resident £1,660 made up as follows:

£1,360 for its handling of damp and mould
£300 for its handling of window 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.

The landlord may deduct from the total figure any payments it has already paid. This includes an overpayment of £565 it made in error following its stage 2 response.

No later than

19 November 2025

Inspection order

The landlord must contact the resident to arrange a damp and mould 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:

Inspects the roof and internals of the property and produces a written report with photographs

The survey report must set out:

Whether the property is fit for human habitation and whether there are any hazards
The most likely cause of the damp and mould issues
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 repair to the issue (if the landlord is responsible)
The likely timescales to commence and complete the work
1. Whether temporary alternative accommodation is necessary either because of the condition of the property or during the works

No later than

19 November 2025

Inspection order

The landlord must contact the resident to arrange an inspection of the windows in the property. 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.

No later than

19 November 2025

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
3 April 2024	The resident raised her complaint as she was unhappy that following an inspection 3 months earlier no repairs had been completed.
9 April 2024	The landlord acknowledged the complaint, saying it understood it to be about damp and mould and a problem with windows. It said she had told it the stress of dealing with the issues was affecting her mental health and that mould had ruined some of her belongings. It said it would respond by 23 April 2024.
23 April 2024	The landlord wrote to the resident to say it needed more time to investigate her complaint and would respond by 8 May 2024.
6 June 2024	The landlord sent its stage 1 response. It acknowledged there had been delays in it carrying out repairs, and these were still outstanding. It offered compensation of £490 for the damp and mould issue. It offered an additional £75 to recognise its delay in responding to the complaint.
10 December 2024	The resident contacted us as she was unhappy repairs remained outstanding and asked for our help.
14 January 2025	We contacted the landlord and asked it to respond directly to the resident.
20 January 2025	The landlord acknowledged the resident’s escalation request and told her it would respond by 17 February 2025.
17 February 2025	The landlord sent its stage 2 response. It apologised for the ongoing delay in damp and mould work being completed and said it had chased an update from its contractor and would update her by 5pm on 24 February 2025. It increased its compensation offer for this issue to £760. Its response did not mention the issue she had raised about windows.
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident asked us to investigate the complaint as although she had initially accepted the landlord’s compensation offer, it had failed to follow through with the repairs. She told us she wanted the repairs completed and additional compensation for the further delay.

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 response to the damp and mould in the property.
Finding	Maladministration

What we did not consider

The resident told the landlord that dealing with the damp and mould impacted her mental health condition. 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’ve not investigated this further. We can decide if a landlord should pay compensation for distress and inconvenience.

Damp and mould

The resident called the landlord on 10 November 2023 to report damp and mould. It tried to visit on 28 November 2023 but was unable to gain access and left a card asking her to rebook. She contacted the landlord the following day to say the appointment was booked for 24 November 2023 and someone had instead turned up when she was at work. It was not appropriate for the landlord to change the appointment without notifying her.
There is no evidence the landlord booked in another visit and on 27 December 2023 the resident called it to chase this up. The landlord’s repairs policy timescale for routine repairs was 20 working days, and it had failed to carry out an inspection or any repairs within this timescale, which was not reasonable. She called again on 8 January 2024 as she said that someone was supposed to attend and had not arrived. On 3 April 2024 she asked to raise her complaint as the landlord had still not attended.
The landlord’s records show it raised a job on 8 May 2024 to carry out a damp and mould inspection. This was 6 months after the resident first reported the problem, which represented an unreasonable delay. It carried out the inspection on 14 June 2024, which was a further unreasonable delay. The survey said there was a roof leak and the extractor fan in the bathroom was in poor condition. It confirmed mould growth in the rear bedroom due to condensation and recommended installation of a passive wall vent.
The landlord did not take any further action until it raised a job on 10 December 2024 for a new extractor fan in the bathroom and the wall vent in the bedroom. The landlord’s records do not show this work as complete until 6 May 2025, which was not appropriate.
In its stage 2 response of 17 February 2025 the landlord said it had sent the roof works to an external contractor and it had chased these up. It does not appear to have followed this up or carried out an inspection or any work. Between February and August 2025 the landlord’s records show that it, and its contractor, had some issues in making contact with the resident and booking in an appointment. However, its records do not show that it regularly continued to try to contact her across different methods to try to book in the work.
In its internal communications of 13 August 2025, the landlord said that the contractor had gone into liquidation, and it was unsure whether it had raised a job for a new contractor to attend. This was not appropriate and demonstrates that the landlord failed to keep adequate records in relation to this matter, which likely contributed to it failing to carry out the repairs.
The landlord did recognise failings in its handling of the damp and mould at both stage 1 and stage 2 of its internal complaints process. However, following its final response it still did not follow-up on its commitments. It took too long to carry out works to the extractor fan and wall vent, and repairs to the roof and related internal damage remain outstanding. Its compensation offer of £760 did not go far enough to put things right, given the further delays to it completing work.
We have made an order for the landlord to pay the resident compensation of £1,360. This amount replaces the landlord’s offer of £760. This amount has been awarded in line with our remedies guidance to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by the ongoing damp and mould issues.

Complaint	The landlord’s response to resident’s reports of problems with windows.
Finding	Maladministration

The resident told the landlord on 27 December 2023 that a bedroom window would not shut. The landlord raised a job on 29 December 2023 to inspect this and an appointment was made for 8 January 2024. However, the landlord has been unable to confirm this went ahead. It tried to visit on 13 May 2024 but had not made the resident aware of the appointment and could not get access. By this time the landlord had exceeded the timescale of 20 working days for routine repairs by more than 3 months, which was not reasonable.
In its stage 1 response the landlord said it had made a new appointment for 14 June 2024 to inspect the kitchen window. It said an operative had previously attended on 22 December 2023 and found that a previous contractor had painted some other windows shut. It said it booked a visit to rectify on 10 June 2024. Its stage 1 failed to offer redress for this issue, which was not appropriate, given the lengthy delay.
When contacting us on 14 January 2025, the resident said the windows issue remained unresolved. In the landlord’s stage 2 response of 17 February 2025 it failed to comment on this issue and provided no redress or next steps, which was not appropriate. As the landlord was given the opportunity to provide a final response, we have investigated this issue. The resident told us on 2 July 2025 that the issue remained outstanding. The landlord’s internal notes of 13 August 2025 state that it was unsure whether it had resolved the issue, which was not appropriate. This again demonstrates the landlord’s failure to keep adequate records in relation to repairs.
We have made an order for the landlord to pay the resident compensation of £300. This is to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused to her by its failure to follow-up on her outstanding concerns about the windows and carry out an inspection to identify any necessary work.

Complaint	The handling of the complaint
Finding	Reasonable redress

As can be seen from above:
1. the landlord responded at stage 1 within 44 working days (3 April 2024 to 6 June 2024) – which was not in line with its complaints policy
2. while it did initially update the resident to say it needed more time, it failed to update her when it could not meet the new deadline
3. the landlord acknowledged the resident’s escalation request within 5 working days and provided its response within 20 working days of this acknowledgement (20 January 2025 to 17 February 2025) – which was in line with its complaints policy
The landlord apologised in its stage 1 for its delayed response and offered £75 compensation to recognise this. This offer of compensation was proportionate to its failings and in line with our remedies guidance.

Learning

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

Poor record keeping across both complaint issues made it hard for the landlord to respond proactively and effectively. It also impacted on its ability to ensure repairs had been completed. Our spotlight report on Knowledge and Information Management highlights that without good data management, landlord may struggle to use or analyse information to improve services. The landlord should take steps to improve how it records and uses data. This could include better training, clearer guidance, or more support for staff.