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Stonewater Limited (202447159)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202447159

Stonewater Limited

23 September 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 reports of a roof leak and subsequent damp and mould.

Background

  1. The resident lives in the property, owned by the landlord, under an assured tenancy. The property is a 3-bedroom house. The landlord has recorded that the resident and her son, who also lives in the property, have physical disabilities and medical conditions. The resident’s son has brought the complaint to this Service on her behalf. For clarity, this report will refer to only to resident throughout.
  2. The resident contacted the landlord on 26 September 2024 to raise a complaint about damp and mould. She said that the landlord had identified work needed but had not completed it. She told it that plaster had come off the walls in a bedroom and there was damage to her belongings.
  3. The landlord sent its stage 1 response on 23 October 2024. It said:
    1. damp and mould had persisted despite treatment due to lack of proper remediation – work had been identified but not completed, resulting in continued deterioration
    2. repairs it had carried out had addressed immediate issues but did not resolve long-standing problems
    3. it would carry out repairs to the roof and guttering then address the internal damage
    4. the resident should claim on her contents insurance – if she has none it said she could submit a claim to its insurer for consideration
    5. it offered £450 compensation
  4. On 15 January 2025, the resident asked the landlord to escalate the complaint. It sent its stage 2 response on 20 February 2025, in which it said:
    1. arrangements had been made to ensure all work would be carried out to the highest standard – it would then arrange a follow-up inspection
    2. it offered additional compensation of £175
  5. On 7 May 2025, the resident asked us to investigate the complaint. She said the roof was still leaking and there was damp and mould throughout the property.
  6. The landlord re-reviewed the complaint following our involvement and on 5 September 2025 wrote to the resident to increase its offer of compensation to £4,985.10, broken down as follows:
    1. £685.10 for loss of a bedroom for up to a year, based on 10% of rent
    2. £1,000 for inconvenience, time, and trouble
    3. £300 for failure to consider a decant
    4. £500 for failure to complete repairs
    5. £1,500 for damage to carpet, a bed, and a vacuum cleaner
    6. £250 for failure to follow its policy and process
    7. £250 for poor communication
    8. £500 for complaint handling

Assessment and findings

Scope of the investigation

  1. The resident has told us that she and her family have worsening health conditions because of the landlord’s inaction and delays. We cannot say if the landlord’s action or inaction has directly caused a detrimental impact on health. These matters are better suited for consideration by a court where medical experts can look at independent evidence. We can look at whether the landlord considered the resident and her family’s vulnerabilities, and the distress and inconvenience caused by any failings.

Roof leak

  1. The landlord has a statutory duty under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the property. The landlord has a responsibility under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) introduced by The Housing Act 2004, to assess hazards and risks within its rented properties. Damp and mould growth are a potential hazard and therefore the landlord is required to consider whether any damp and mould problems in its properties amount to a hazard and require remedying.
  2. The landlord’s repairs policy sets out the following categories and timescales:
    1. emergency repairs – within a maximum of 24 hours
    2. non-emergency repairs – within 28 days
    3. major repairs – within 42 days
  3. The policy says the landlord will maintain clear and continuous communication via the resident’s preferred communication channel to ensure they know when a repair will be completed.
  4. The landlord completed repairs to the roof between December 2021 and January 2022. The resident later reported damp in the property to the landlord on 12 June 2023. The records show that the landlord completed work on 12 July 2023 to unblock guttering. The landlord completed internal plaster works on 20 September 2023. Although this was outside its policy timescale, the resident asked to reschedule the appointment several times, so this delay was not unreasonable.
  5. Following continued issues with water ingress, the landlord carried out temporary repairs on 27 December 2023, when it placed a tarpaulin over the roof. The landlord inspected the roof again in January 2024 and found that extensive repairs were required.
  6. The resident reported a problem with the ceiling in the property on 26 February 2024. The landlord attended the same day, in line with its repairs policy, and made the ceiling safe. It carried out repairs to the roof on 5 March 2024. It carried out initial internal repairs on 27 March 2024, but follow-up work was required, which it failed to complete. The resident was left with a bedroom with a support beam in place and exposed brick where plaster had fallen away for a protracted period, which was not appropriate.
  7. The landlord did a damp and mould inspection on 15 April 2024 and found a moderate risk of mould growth. The inspection highlighted structural issues and recommended substantial remedial work. It completed further inspections on 27 June 2024 and 1 October 2024 which also recommended that work was needed. However, we have seen no evidence the landlord completed all work, which was not appropriate.
  8. The landlord’s stage 1 response of 23 October 2024 acknowledged that its lack of action had caused additional damage internally. It said it had not carried out work to resolve long-standing issues. It said it would complete the required external works and then it would put right the internal damage. It said that if the resident did not have contents insurance, she could submit a claim to its insurer for consideration. It said it could assist with this process, which was reasonable.
  9. The landlord offered compensation of £450 to recognise missed appointments, poor communication as well as the inconvenience caused to the resident. Given that the issues had been ongoing for over a year, this offer was not proportionate to the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident. Although it said it would complete the outstanding repairs, it did not provide a timeline for this work, which was not appropriate.
  10. The landlord did a further inspection on 10 January 2025, however we have not seen a copy of this report. It is not clear why it took so long after the stage 1 response to carry out this inspection. This was not in line with its repairs policy and represented an unreasonable delay.
  11. In its stage 2 response of 20 February 2025, the landlord said it would complete all work to a high standard and it would then arrange a follow-up inspection. It offered additional compensation of £175 to recognise the inconvenience caused by delayed repairs and the delay to its complaint response. It explained that she would need to submit a personal injury claim if she felt its actions had impacted her health, which was a reasonable approach. The landlord again failed to provide a timeline for repairs work, leaving the resident with no clear idea of how it would move things forward, which was not reasonable.
  12. The landlord did some repairs in March and April 2025. However, it is not clear what, if any, repairs remained outstanding. It did not complete a further inspection until 26 June 2025, which represented an unreasonable delay. This identified outstanding issues both externally and internally, demonstrating that previous repairs had not been effective, despite the landlord’s commitment at stage 2 to complete repairs to a high standard.
  13. The landlord re-reviewed the complaint and contacted the resident and this Service on 5 September 2025. It said it recognised that there had been significant failings in its handling of her reports of a roof leak and the subsequent repairs. It said that it had completed some work and it would do a drone survey of the roof. It said that it would do a further inspection on 8 September 2025. It apologised for its failings both in its handling of the leak and the associated complaint and offered the resident compensation of £4,985.10.
  14. The resident has recently told us about an incident where tiles fell off the roof, narrowly missing her grandchild’s head. The landlord has not yet had the opportunity to formally respond to this, so it has not formed part of our investigation. However, this does further demonstrate the seriousness of the landlord’s failure to carry out lasting repairs.
  15. The Ombudsman considers there to have been severe maladministration by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s reports of a roof leak and subsequent damp and mould. While it has now made an increased offer of compensation, this offer came 7 months after the completion of its internal complaints process. This offer came too late in a protracted process to prevent a determination of severe maladministration.
  16. The landlord has failed to carry out lasting repairs for more than 2 years since the resident first reported damp in the property. While it did carry out repairs on many occasions, these have not been effective at resolving the underlying problems with the roof. Despite numerous repairs, the landlord failed to demonstrate that it considered alternative approaches to resolve the problem.
  17. Multiple surveys found a moderate risk of damp and mould. The landlord was aware of vulnerabilities within the household and the resident was clear in her escalation request that the situation was having an impact on her health. However, the landlord did not demonstrate that it took the household’s vulnerabilities into consideration or took its obligations under the HHSRS seriously. The landlord’s repairs records lack detail and did not always make it clear what work had been completed. This likely contributed to its failure to fully resolve this issue. There is also no evidence that it kept the resident updated in line with its policy.
  18. The landlord committed to resolving the issues with the roof at both stage 1 and stage 2 of its complaints process. However, it did not set out a clear plan of action at either stage. Seven months after the conclusion of the complaints process the issues are still ongoing and it has only recently recognised the seriousness of its failures. It is not appropriate that the landlord did not recognise this until this Service became involved with the complaint.
  19. When considering an appropriate remedy, we have considered our remedies guidance, alongside what the landlord has already offered as well as the circumstances of the case. The amount of £4,985.10 falls within the severe maladministration banding of our remedies guidance and we consider this amount as appropriate in the circumstances. As such we have not awarded further compensation. The landlord has also provided the resident with a genuine apology in its recent letter, so no further order has been made in this respect.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme there was severe maladministration by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s reports of a roof leak and subsequent damp and mould.

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of the report the landlord to:
    1. pay the resident compensation of £4,985.10 as offered on 5 September 2025, if it has not already done so
    2. provide us and the resident with a copy of the report from the inspection carried out on 8 September 2025
    3. provide us and the resident with a copy of a schedule of outstanding works, if required, including timescales for completion
    4. provide the resident with a timescale for it to carry out a further post-work inspection once the remedial work is complete
    5. provide us with evidence of compliance with the above orders