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Teachers’ Housing Association Limited (202430988)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202430988

Teachers’ Housing Association 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:
    1. Reports of damp and mould.
    2. Associated complaint. 

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of a one-bedroom basement flat owned by the landlord. She had told the landlord prior to her complaint she has Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
  2. The resident complained to the landlord on 29 July 2024 that she had been raising concerns about damp and mould in the property for several years, but it had not resolved this. She said she was experiencing several health issues and was concerned the property condition had contributed to this. She also said the damp and mould had damaged her personal belongings.
  3. The landlord issued its stage 1 response on 13 August 2024. It acknowledged the resident had been reporting damp and mould since December 2022. It said it inspected the property in June 2024 and the repairs ordered from this were scheduled to be finished in August 2024. It upheld her complaint and said it would consider an offer of compensation for the delays.
  4. The resident escalated her complaint on 25 November 2024. She stated the damp and mould had returned following the repairs the landlord carried out and it had not responded to her previous emails. She asked it to take urgent action to resolve the damp and mould and to reconsider reimbursing her for the damage to her personal belongings.
  5. The landlord issued its stage 2 response on 4 April 2025. It said it had carried out repairs in August 2024 and replaced the boiler for the property in October 2024. It stated it had inspected on 28 March 2025 and raised further repairs, which were scheduled for completion on 7 April 2025. It agreed it would arrange for a specialist damp survey following the repairs but said the property was not uninhabitable, so it would not temporarily move her. It offered her £500 as compensation and would consider reimbursement for damage to her personal belongings if she provided further details. 
  6. The resident brought her complaint to this Service to investigate. Following the stage 2 response she was moved out of the property temporarily between 7 July 2025 to 1 September 2025 so repairs to the property could take place. She told us she remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s response and wants it to provide additional compensation for distress and reimbursement for her damaged personal belongings. 

Assessment and findings

Scope

  1. The resident told this Service she had been reporting issues with damp and mould since 2020. She asked us to consider the events back to that time in light of the impact the landlord’s actions had on her and as her MS had delayed her progressing her complaint with it.
  2. The Ombudsman encourages residents to raise complaints with their landlords in a timely manner, so that the landlord has a reasonable opportunity to consider the issues whilst they are still ‘live’, and the evidence is available to reach an informed conclusion on the events. As the substantive issues become historical, it is increasingly difficult for either the landlord, or an independent body such as the Ombudsman, to conduct an effective review of the actions taken to address them.
  3. Though the resident reported damp and mould to the landlord throughout this period, she did not complain about its handling of this until 29 July 2024. Therefore, while the historical incidents provide contextual background to the current complaint this investigation focuses on events from December 2022 when her more recent reports were made.
  4. The resident also said in her complaint to the landlord that the issue triggered relapses of her MS as well as causing her to develop chest problems and a diagnosis of a “fungal ball” in her sinuses. 
  5. Often, when there is a dispute over whether someone has been injured or a health condition has been made worse, the courts rely on expert evidence in the form of independent medical reports. This will give an expert opinion of the cause of any injury or deterioration of a condition. This will be a more appropriate and effective means of considering such an allegation as the courts can make legally binding decisions. If the resident wishes to pursue the impact on her health further, she should seek independent legal advice. Where there is evidence of a failing by the landlord, the Ombudsman will still consider distress and inconvenience caused from the landlord’s actions.

The landlord’s handling of damp and mould

  1. The Ombudsman expects landlords to maintain a robust record of contacts, repairs, and services provided. This is because clear, accurate, and easily accessible records provide an audit trail and enhance landlords’ ability to identify and respond to problems when they arise.
  2. It is our opinion that the landlord has failed to maintain adequate records of its handling of the reported damp and mould, which has impacted our ability to carry out a thorough investigation, as highlighted at various points throughout this report. This contributed to the other failures identified in this report.
  3. The landlord’s damp, mould and condensation (DMC) policy confirms its responsibility to ensure its homes are well maintained and free of damp and mould. It says it will investigate reports of these and implement “all reasonable remedial repairs” to remove damp and mould.
  4. Prior to the events of the current complaint the resident wrote to the landlord on 12 December 2022. She said it had carried out a damp and mould inspection in 2020 and she had attempted to follow its advice but damp and mould was still a problem. It had agreed to replace the kitchen window, as it could not be opened, but she said this work had not been done. We have seen no evidence it responded to her.
  5. The resident wrote to the landlord again on 13 November 2023, she reported damp and mould had been a problem on the property for years and she was no longer able to manage it. She reiterated it had agreed to replace the kitchen window but no work had taken place. She expressed concern that the damp and mould was causing relapses of her MS as well as causing damage to her personal belongings. There is no evidence it responded to her, this is not in accordance with its DMC policy which says it will contact the resident within 5 days.
  6. The resident reported further issues with damp and mould on 8 April 2024, saying she had reported this several times previously and she was unable to manage this due to her MS. She said the area around the kitchen window was badly affected and the damp was affecting plug sockets which she was concerned was a hazard. There is again no evidence of the landlord’s response to her at the time, its next record was it creating a work order on 13 June 2024 to complete a damp and mould report for the property. This is of particular concern as it did not demonstrate taking any action to address the potential hazard she reported.
  7. In her complaint to the landlord on 29 July 2024 the resident stated that she had reported issues with damp and mould over several years and was unclear on what action it would take. She had experienced several health issues and her healthcare professionals were concerned her living conditions were contributing to this. The damp and mould was continuing to affect her personal belongings. She asked it to resolve the damp and mould as a matter of urgency.    
  8. From the available records the damp and mould report took place around 9 August 2025 when the landlord raised various works for the property including the installation of vents and redecoration. As such it took 87 working days for the inspection to take place following the resident’s further reports of 8 April 2024. This significantly exceeds the timescales of its DMC policy which says an inspection should take place within 21 working days. It did not provide any records which documented the inspection findings on which the proposed works were based. This is another significant records management issue.
  9. The landlord issued its stage 1 response on 14 August 2024. In this it:
    1. Acknowledged the resident said she had been reporting damp and mould in the property since 2020. It said it only had records of her contact from December 2022 and was unsure why it had not addressed her concerns before.
    2. Said a repairs contractor had visited in June 2024 after which it created work orders to address the damp and mould (as described in paragraph 20), which would be completed in August 2024. It also agreed to carry out further work to replace the boiler.
    3. Acknowledged the resident’s account of how the damp and mould had affected her health and said it would carry out a further inspection after the repairs to make sure it had resolved the issue.
  10. There is no evidence the landlord or its contractor visited the property in June 2024 as said in its stage 1 response and it is unclear why it said this. It had not completed the damp and mould report it committed to undertake by the resident’s complaint on 29 July 2024 and followed this up with the contractor on the same day.
  11. The landlord’s DMC policy says a repairs raised from a damp and mould inspection should be completed in 31 calendar days. As the repairs had been raised on 9 August 2024 a completion date of before 31 August 2024 would be in line with this policy. However, the work orders do not provide a completion date and there is no other evidence to confirm if it completed these repairs in line with its stage 1 response. It also did not raise the work order to replace the boiler until 1 October 2024. The resident has confirmed these repairs were completed prior to her escalation request on 25 November 2024.
  12. In addition, we have not seen evidence the landlord carried out a post-works inspection, as it said it would in its stage 1 response, to assess if the repairs it had made had resolved the damp and mould. In line with our Complaint Handling Code (the Code) any remedy proposed during the complaints process must be followed through to completion.
  13. The resident contacted the landlord on 10 October 2024 and said the damp and mould was returning. It told this Service it requested a further damp and mould survey on 17 October 2024, though it accepted it had no record to provide of the request and its contractor did not follow-up on this.
  14. The resident escalated her complaint on 25 November 2024. She acknowledged the landlord had carried out work to the property but said it had not addressed the underlying cause of the damp and mould. She asked it to act urgently due to the impact this was having on her health and to provide her with compensation, including for the damage it had caused to her personal belongings.
  15. There is no evidence the landlord acted on the resident’s reports of damp and mould until it inspected the property on 28 March 2025. This was 115 working days after the resident had reported returning damp and mould, greatly exceeding the timescales of its DMC policy.
  16. The landlord issued its stage 2 response on 4 April 2025. In this it:
    1. Outlined the repairs it had completed following its stage 1 response. It understood a damp and mould inspection had been arranged for 4 November 2024 but this did not take place.
    2. Said based on its findings from its visit on 28 March 2025 it would complete repairs to the lounge, bedroom and other parts of the property by 7 April 2025.
    3. Stated it would arrange a specialist damp survey once the repairs it had identified from 28 March 2025 were complete. It said the property was “not [deemed] as uninhabitable” so she would not be temporarily moved whilst the repairs take place.
    4. Offered her £500, consisting of £400 for it not following its DMC policy and £100 for its delay in responding her complaint. It would consider providing an additional payment to reimburse her for the damage to her personal belongings if she provided further details.
  17. With the repairs the landlord said it would complete, as with its stage 1 response, this would be a reasonable timescale in line with its DMC policy. However, there is no records of the completion dates for these repairs to show whether it completed these by 7 April 2025 as it said it would.
  18. The landlord’s DMC policy says in serious circumstances it can organise moving a resident into temporary accommodation. We have seen no evidence it considered the resident’s account of how the damp and mould was affecting her health when making its decision not to temporarily move her until repairs were complete. It should have assessed this and outlined any actions it would take to mitigate the impact on her as part of its response to her complaint.
  19. The specialist damp and mould survey took place on 17 April 2025. The landlord’s contractor’s report, dated the following day, recorded:
    1. There was evidence of rising damp, penetrating damp and mould growth across the property. It recommended extensive works including internal and external proofing to the walls, anti-condensation paint and installation of a positive input ventilation system.
    2. There were water leaks in the bathroom due to poor wall tiling and sealing around the bath which could be contributing to the damp and mould. They advised the landlord to arrange separate repairs to remedy this as it was outside of their expertise.
  20. We note in relation to the contractor’s finding about the bathroom the resident had told the landlord on 20 March 2025 a leak had developed in the bathroom. It agreed to assess this as part of its inspection on 28 March 2025 but there is no record of the findings of its inspection, other than its stage 2 response, which did not address whether the reported leak needed repairs. As its contractor recorded the leak in the bathroom was ongoing, required repairs and was contributing to the damp and mould, it did not take reasonable action to respond to this.
  21. The landlord told this Service it received the specialist damp and mould survey report on 2 May 2025. It did not raise repair orders to carry out the recommended work until 6 June 2025, it recorded these works had a ‘planned’ priority with a target completion date of 3 September 2025. We recognise it may not have reasonably been able to complete the repairs in line with the 31 calendar day timescale in its DMC policy, due to the scale of the recommended work. However, there is no explanation for why it took 34 calendar days to raise the recommended repairs.
  22. Similarly, there is no evidence the landlord contacted the resident to discuss temporarily moving her from the property whilst the repairs took place until 4 July 2025. It told her it had booked her into a hotel whilst the works took place, and the temporary accommodation would start from 7 July 2025. As with its stage 2 response we have seen no evidence it considered the impact she said the damp and mould had on her health when making this decision or how it prioritised arranging temporary accommodation.
  23. The resident told this Service she remained in temporary accommodation until 1 September 2025. The landlord told us the recommended repairs have been completed though it does not have a written report to show this and it instead documented this through visual inspections. It said it intends to carry out a post-inspection in November 2025 to confirm if the works have resolved the damp and mould. In our view, considering the previous records management failings, it is important that it fully documents its findings and we have made an order for it to provide this to us and the resident in writing. 
  24. Though the landlord has carried out significant work on the property following the stage 2 response, the £400 it offered in compensation for its handling of the damp and mould was not proportionate to the impact this had on the resident. There were a series of significant failures in its handling of the damp and mould over approximately 20 months from November 2023 until she was temporarily moved in July 2025. In our view this, would have had a severely detrimental effect on her.
  25. The resident sent the landlord a list of items on 15 August 2025 which she wants it to reimburse her for. It told this Service she advised it there are potentially further items which have been damaged and it agreed to allow her further time to provide a final list “at her convenience”, at which point it will make a decision on whether to reimburse her. Whilst the approach it has described is reasonable, she says it has not responded to the list of damages she sent. In the interests of resolving this we have ordered it to write to the resident to set out how it will handle the requested reimbursement. 
  26. In summary there were very significant failings by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould and the associated repairs in that it:
    1. Did not keep adequate records of the action it had taken to respond to the resident’s reports of damp and mould. In particular, it did not record inspection findings for 9 August 2024 and 28 March 2025.
    2. Did not respond to her report of 12 December 2022 for the approximately 11 months until her next report.
    3. Did not respond to her report of 13 November 2023 for the approximately 5 months until she chased it.
    4. Did not arrange an inspection following her further report of 8 April 2024 for 87 working days.
    5. Did not arrange for the replacement of the boiler as it agreed in its stage 1 response for 48 calendar days.
    6. Did not carry out a post-works inspection for the repairs created following the inspection on 9 August 2024.
    7. Did not arrange an inspection after she reported on 10 October 2024 that the damp and mould was returning for 115 working days.
    8. Did not take action to resolve the leak in the bathroom she reported on 20 March 2025, despite saying it would assess this in its inspection of 28 March 2025.
    9. Did not order the repairs recommended from the specialist damp survey for 34 calendar days after it received this and did not discuss temporarily moving the resident for 64 calendar days.
    10. Did not take account of the impact the resident said the damp and mould was having on her health throughout the 20-month period after she raised this concern on 13 November 2023 until it temporarily moved her from the property on 7 July 2025.

The landlord’s complaint handling

  1. The landlord operates a 2–stage complaints process. Its complaints policy says that it will respond at stage 1 within 10 working days of logging the complaint. It will respond at stage 2 within 20 working days of the resident escalating the complaint.
  2. The resident made her original complaint on 29 July 2024, which the landlord acknowledged on 1 August 2024. It issued its stage 1 response on 13 August 2024, 8 working days after its acknowledgement. This is within the timescales of its complaint policy and the Code.
  3. As part of the landlord’s stage 1 response it told the resident it would consider providing compensation for its delays in responding to her reports of damp and mould. It said it would need to approve this internally and would contact her further about this. There is no evidence it did this prior to issuing its stage 2 response on 4 April 2025, over 8 months later. This was not in line with the Code which says any remedy proposed must be followed through to completion.
  4. On 18 September 2024 the resident responded to the landlord saying she would provide further evidence of her contact with it from 2020 about damp and mould. She reiterated the impacts on her health and to her personal belongings and asked it to look further at this to “facilitate a resolution”. Whilst she did not explicitly say she wanted to escalate her complaint it is clear she did not consider the complaint resolved. It would have been appropriate, in line with the Code, for the landlord to have considered escalating her complaint. It did not do this and there is no evidence it responded to her.
  5. The resident complained to the landlord on 25 November 2024 that she had had no response to her email on 18 September 2024 and specifying she wanted to escalate her complaint. It acknowledged this on 28 November 2024.
  6. The resident told this Service the landlord contacted her on 23 December 2024 to say it would need to extend its response until 10 January 2025 due to staff absence. She contacted us for advice on 15 January 2025 as it had not provided a response. We wrote to it on 19 March 2025 and told it must respond by 26 March 2025. This should not have been necessary. This Service expects landlords to be able to handle complaints in a way that is consistent with its policy without our involvement.
  7. The landlord agreed with the resident to extend its response to 4 April 2025 so it could carry out its planned damp and mould inspection on 28 March 2025 first. It issued its response on 4 April 2025, 88 working days after it acknowledged her stage 2 escalation. This greatly exceeded the timescales of its policy and the Code.
  8. In its stage 2 response the landlord apologised to the resident for the delays in handling her complaint at stage 2 and offered her £100 as compensation for this. It also said it would carry out retraining of its staff on its complaints process, the timescales required and on keeping complainants informed and updated. The landlord’s offer was in line with our guidance on remedies. We conclude that the actions it took were appropriate to put right the failings we have seen and to prevent these from reoccurring.            

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme there was severe maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the damp and mould.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 53.b. of the Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress prior to investigation which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves its handling of the complaint satisfactorily.

Orders and recommendation

Orders

  1. The landlord must within 4 weeks of this determination:
    1. Provide the resident with a written apology by a senior staff member which must recognise the delays in its handling of the damp and mould and the impact this had on the resident.
    2. Pay the resident £1,250 in compensation (inclusive of the £400 It previously offered) for the resident’s distress, inconvenience and loss of enjoyment of her home from its handling of the damp and mould.
    3. Write to the resident, as soon as reasonably practical, to confirm whether she has further evidence to provide about the value of the personal belongings she says were damaged. It must then consider whether it will offer a contribution under its compensation policy or provide details to the resident of its liability insurer with respect to her damaged personal belongings. It must write to the resident within 4 weeks of the date of this determination setting out how it will handle the claim.
    4. Provide the Ombudsman with evidence of compliance with these orders. The compensation should be paid directly to the resident and not used to offset any monies she may owe the landlord.
  2. Within 8 weeks of this determination the landlord must:
    1. Complete a post works survey to review the works completed to the property and confirm whether these have resolved the damp and mould. The landlord must provide a copy of the survey to the resident and this service within 10 working days of the property inspection.
    2. Carry out a management review of the resident’s case. This should consider how the delays in responding to the reports of damp and mould occurred in this case and its practices regarding how it deals with, responds to and monitors these and the associated repairs. This is to ensure that they are recorded, investigated and responded to in a timely manner. In doing so the landlord should have regards to the recommendations in the Ombudsman’s Spotlight Report on Knowledge and Information Management (published on our website).

Recommendation

  1. The Ombudsman recommends that the landlord pay the resident the £100 it previously offered for its complaint handling if it has not already done so.