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Sovereign Network Group (202347376)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202347376

Sovereign Network Homes

21 August 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 resident’s complaint is about the landlord’s handling of her reports of damp and mould in the property.

Background

  1. The resident holds an assured non-shorthold tenancy. The property is a 2-bedroom flat in a converted house. The resident lives with her daughter, who is asthmatic.
  2. The resident reported 2 areas of damp and mould in her property on 30 October 2023. She said there was black mould that is wet to touch on the wall by the window and on another wall, there was white furry mould that was also wet to touch. She explained that she was concerned for her health. The landlord arranged an inspection for 9 November 2023.
  3. After chasing the landlord to complete works from November 2023 to January 2024, the resident raised a formal complaint on 10 January 2024. She complained about the outstanding damp and mould within her property, particularly in her daughter’s bedroom. She said the surveyor told her on 9 November 2023 that there were high readings of damp and mould in her daughter’s bedroom, inadequate insulation and cold pockets forming in the bricks and walls. The surveyor said works would need to be completed as soon as possible, as the bedroom was uninhabitable and a health risk for a child to sleep in. The resident complained that since November 2023, she had to chase up repairs and for a copy of the report but had no response. She had moved her daughter into her room as the mould continued to grow, with the walls becoming damper and the temperature of the room decreasing.
  4. The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response on 29 January 2024. It apologised that the remedial works had been delayed and explained this was caused by an administrative error. For the time taken to resolve the issue and the inconvenience caused to the resident, it offered £207 compensation.
  5. The resident escalated her complaint to stage 2 on 30 January 2024 as she remained unhappy with the findings and outcome. She declined the offer of compensation and reiterated that works to the insulation of the exterior brickwork and internal walls in the bedroom were outstanding. She also had to dispose of clothes and a wardrobe set due to the damp and mould. She had been paying excessive heating costs from using a blow heater to heat the property, due to cold pockets in her daughter’s bedroom. She complained that the situation was having a detrimental impact on her and her daughter’s mental wellbeing, as the damp and mould had caused anxiety and stress.
  6. The landlord sent its stage 2 complaint response on 5 March 2024, it apologised for the administrative error, as the contents of the report relating to the resident’s property was mixed up with one for a different property. This meant the damp and mould team were given incorrect recommendations for her property and the landlord noted that this was unacceptable. It apologised that it did not have the report, as it was waiting for its contractor. Once it received this, it said it would review it promptly and work to get confirmation of the completed repairs. It said that as it did not have the report from the contractor, it was unable to conclude fully and review the compensation amount.
  7. Following the stage 2 response, the resident escalated her complaint to the Housing Ombudsman on 21 March 2024, as repairs and treatment of the damp and mould had not been completed. She wanted the landlord to complete the outstanding works, including insulation of the exterior brickwork and internal walls in her daughter’s bedroom.

Assessment and findings

Scope of the investigation

  1. The resident has asserted that the landlord’s handling of the damp and mould has negatively impacted on her family’s health. While the Service does not doubt or underestimate the resident’s concerns, it is outside our remit to determine a causal link between the landlord’s actions (or lack thereof) and any deterioration in the resident’s family’s health and well-being. Often, when there is a dispute over whether someone has been injured or a health condition has been made worse, the courts are better equipped to access and assess all the relevant evidence that can provide an expert opinion of the cause of any injury or deterioration of a condition. This would be a more appropriate and effective means of considering such an allegation and so should the resident wish to pursue this matter, she should do so via this route. This investigation will only consider whether the landlord acted in accordance with its policy, its legal obligations and fairly in the circumstances.
  2. In the resident’s referral to the Ombudsman, she said she is seeking for the landlord to be fully transparent with reports and protection of her information and data, as letters and reports had been sent to other residents. From the evidence provided, the resident did not raise this issue as part of her formal complaint. In the interest of fairness, the scope of this investigation is limited to the issues that have completed the landlord’s formal complaint procedure. This is because the landlord needs to be given a fair opportunity to investigate and respond to any reported dissatisfaction with its actions prior to the involvement of the Service. If the resident remains dissatisfied, she should escalate the complaint to the final stage of the landlord’s complaint process and then refer it to the Service.

The landlord’s handling of the reports of damp and mould

  1. The landlord’s damp, mould and condensation policy says it will maintain homes, so they meet the Decent Home Standard and investigate and diagnose the cause of damp and mould. It says it will deliver effective remedial solutions and remain in regular and effective communication with its residents, following reports of damp and mould. The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) provides a means of classifying and understanding the risks attached to damp and mould in a residential property. It states that damp and mould can be a threat to health, particularly for people with breathing difficulties and asthma.
  2. When the resident first reported the damp and mould on 30 October 2023, the landlord raised a job to complete a damp survey on the same day. The landlord booked this appointment for 2 November 2023, but the resident called to change this for the following week. It was then re-booked for 9 November 2023. The Service considers the landlord to have acted reasonably in arranging to inspect the issue as quickly as possible. The delay caused by the resident rearranging the appointment was outside of its control.
  3. The contractor’s report on 9 November 2023 recorded that the damp and mould issues were ventilation related and not from a roof leak as initially suspected. The contractor noticed there were no air bricks in the chimney stack and said there should be 1 per flue, per floor level. It said the cement flaunching needs attention and excess ivy left by the previous contractor would also need removing. It said it could carry out the external works but there would need to be 2 new vents fitted internally, where the chimney stack is.
  4. We have received evidence to show that the resident chased the landlord regarding follow on works on 30 November 2023, 6 December 2023, 28 December 2023 and 4 January 2024. She was concerned that the damp and mould was getting worse and that the contractor told her works needed to be done urgently. We do not consider that the landlord followed its damp and mould policy of remaining in regular and effective communication with the resident, as she had to keep chasing. The landlord did not give her assurances that it would deal with the issue, explain what solutions it would be providing, or when it would do works. It was clear from the resident’s updates that the damp and mould was present in her daughter’s bedroom and works needed to be done promptly. Therefore, we would have expected the landlord to have acted with more urgency.
  5. The Ombudsman notes that a surveyor conducted a damp and mould report in December 2022 and recorded that the resident had an asthmatic child. We therefore consider that as the landlord was aware of this vulnerability, it should have prioritised the repairs accordingly, to try and resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
  6. Following the appointment on 9 November 2023, the landlord said the report was returned to its damp and mould team later than expected. It did not receive the report until 22 November 2023, due to a technical issue experienced on the digital platform. Following this, an administrative error meant it did not review the report correctly, the damp and mould team did not receive any recommendations, and no remedial works were scheduled. This meant the landlord did not review the inspection report until 24 January 2024. While we recognise that the technical issue was somewhat outside of its control, it should still take responsibility. The resident was also regularly chasing the landlord due to the worsening damp and mould issue and so even though it did not have the report from its contractor, it should have taken the residents’ concerns seriously.
  7. The resident contacted the landlord on 17 January 2024, as the damp issue was getting worse and she thought the issue was with the chimney breast. In its stage 1 complaint response on 29 January 2024, the landlord confirmed that it would instruct its contractors to prioritise a mould wash, resolve the damp in the resident’s daughter’s bedroom and to trace and rectify the leak from the roof around the chimney stack. The Service recognises that the landlord was looking to prioritise the jobs at this stage, which was reasonable. Nevertheless, this was 91 days after the resident first raised the damp and mould issue, which far exceeded what we would consider to be a reasonable timeframe. The landlord failed to act in line with its damp and mould policy of providing effective remedial solutions or remaining in regular contact with the resident. It is clear that by not promptly completing the works, the damp and mould hazard worsened, particularly in the resident’s daughter’s bedroom, who is asthmatic.
  8. The evidence we have received shows that the contractor completed the mould wash to both the bedrooms and the living room on 1 March 2024. This was over 4 months after the damp and mould was first reported. While this was an appropriate step to offer an interim solution, it should have been completed at an earlier date to mitigate the impact on the resident.
  9. In its stage 2 complaint response on 5 March 2024, the landlord confirmed that the technical issue was a system syncing issue, meaning the report could not be accessed but this was resolved by the contractors IT team. It also explained its contractor had swapped the title pages of the report for 2 different properties and it did not spot this immediately, meaning the wrong recommendations were given for each property. The landlord noted this was unacceptable, apologised and said it would take swift action once it received the report. It is reasonable that it recognised its failings and took steps to put things right.
  10. The landlord also said in the stage 2 response that it should have the report by 13 March 2024, would review it and aim to get further works actioned quickly. However, the resident chased the landlord on 14 March 2024 and 8 April 2024. As the landlord did not adhere to the timeframe set out in the complaint resolution, the resident expended additional time and effort chasing the matter. If the landlord deemed the timeframe was no longer achievable, it should have informed the resident of the reasons for the delay and provided an updated timeframe. As it failed to do so, it did not appropriately manage the resident’s expectation.
  11. The landlord subsequently responded to the resident on 10 April 2024 and it apologised for the delay. It confirmed that roofers had inspected the property and found the downpipe disconnected and the low-down hopper blocked with debris. It reconnected the downpipe and cleared the blockage. It therefore determined it had completed the external work, and that it would contact her to progress any internal repairs. In her response, the resident said no works had been completed and she asked that someone contacts her, as the situation was causing ongoing distress and affecting her family’s wellbeing.
  12. The Ombudsman does not consider the landlord to have acted reasonably as the contractor’s record keeping, miscommunication and misinformation was causing further inconvenience to the resident. In its response to the resident, it apologised, noted that no works had been completed and advised that it would look into this. We also recognise that the landlord contacted its contractor on 12 April 2024 and said the situation was urgent as there was potentially a roof leak causing damp and mould. It was reasonable for the landlord to act promptly and ensure its contractor understood the urgency needed.
  13. The landlord’s roofing contractor confirmed a visit on 15 April 2024. We are pleased to see this appointment went ahead as scheduled, at which time, the contractor was able to identify that the damp and mould were related to ventilation. It said there are no air bricks in the chimney stack, where there should be 2 on each floor level.
  14. Following this, the resident confirmed to the landlord that she had had a call from the roofing team to confirm an appointment for 1 May 2024 to put up scaffolding. She said the contractor failed to attend and she did not receive any response to her emails or phone calls, so no explanation was given. The contractor also failed to attend a scheduled appointment on 21 May 2024. The contractor erected the scaffolding on 22 May 2024. The Service does not consider this to be reasonable, and landlords should always ensure that its contractors attend scheduled appointments or let residents know as soon as possible that they need to re-schedule.
  15. The resident requested an update on the progress of the works on 8 July 2024. The landlords’ internal notes state that on 16 August 2024, it completed the works and removed the scaffolding. The resident escalated the repair again on 21 August 2024, as she had not received confirmation that the works had been completed. It is clear from this that the landlord was not engaging in regular and effective contact with the resident. It is recognised this would likely cause frustration to the resident and lead her to believe it was not taking her concerns seriously. In turn, this could have a detrimental impact on the landlord-tenant relationship.
  16. During the Service’s investigation, the resident has confirmed that the internal works for the damp and mould have been done but she is concerned about what will happen in the winter. She is unsure if any works are outstanding externally and she has not received any further updates from the landlord. Beyond the £207 compensation offered in stage 1, the resident confirmed there have been no further offers.
  17. From the information the Ombudsman has received, it is clear that the landlord has acted unreasonably and not in line with how we would expect it to treat a damp and mould repair – particularly, where there is a vulnerable person present. The Ombudsman’s Spotlight report on damp and mould (published in October 2021) said that it is important landlords clearly communicate its diagnosis with the resident and share relevant information, to ensure the resident has confidence in it and understands the next steps. We cannot see that the landlord has done this for the resident. While we recognise that it was pro-active in arranging the first inspection of the damp and mould, it only looked to prioritise works 91 days after the resident first raised the issue. It also did not do a mould wash until 4 months after the issue was raised. We would consider this to be unreasonable, particularly as the worst of the damp and mould was in a child’s bedroom, who is asthmatic. The resident was also inconvenienced by having to regularly chase the landlord, dealing with missed appointments by contractors and she still has not been told if any external works are outstanding.
  18. In light of the failures noted above, the Ombudsman has determined that there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the reported damp and mould. In line with our remedies guidance for maladministration which has caused inconvenience and delays, the Ombudsman orders the landlord to pay the resident an additional £800. This will bring the total compensation amount to £1007 (taking into consideration the £207 previously offered). This is in line with a failure of this nature, which has adversely affected the resident, particularly because of the worry of the impact of the damp and mould on her daughter’s wellbeing. We also order that, within 4 weeks of this determination, the landlord carries out a post-works inspection to establish whether any further works are needed to ensure the damp and mould issue has been resolved long-term.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould.

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of this report, the landlord must provide us with evidence to demonstrate that it has complied with the following orders:
    1. Pay a further £800 compensation to the resident. This is in addition to the £207 previously offered to the resident.
    2. Complete a post-works inspection for the damp and mould repair and write to the Service and the resident to confirm how it has satisfied the works are completed in full. The landlord should provide photographs of the areas that were subject to damp and mould and a completed post-works inspection worksheet from its contractor.
    3. If it identifies any outstanding works, the landlord should provide a schedule, noting the start date and estimated timeframe to complete the works.