Thanet District Council (202227258)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202227258

Thanet District Council

4 December 2024

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:
   1. Noise nuisance.
   2. Damp and mould.

Background

2. The resident has been a secure tenant of the landlord, a local authority, since July 2021. The property is a 2 bedroom flat and he lives there with his mother.
3. On 6 December 2021 and 25 January 2022, following reports that windows and the balcony door were leaking, the landlord inspected the property. On both occasions, it noted there was no evidence of any leaks but there was condensation and mould spots on the windows. The living room was very warm with no windows or trickle vents open and the landlord explained the importance of ventilating the property.
4. In December 2021, the landlord agreed to clean all mould from the windows, which it did in early January 2022. Following the visit on 25 January 2022, the landlord noted there were no further works it could do to address the situation.
5. On 4 occasions between February 2022 and January 2023, the resident reported damp and/or mould. On all occasions, the landlord noted it had previously inspected and there was no damp and mould, but there was condensation, and no repairs were required. On 2 occasions in February 2022 and January 2023, the landlord noted it wrote to the resident with advice on how to prevent damp, mould and condensation.
6. The resident reported banging noise from a neighbour’s property below in August 2022 and January 2023. In August 2022, the landlord issued diary sheets, which it said were not returned, and visited the resident and the neighbour. In January 2023, the landlord issued diary sheets and reviewed CCTV. The following month, the resident returned completed diary sheets on 2 occasions, which the landlord reviewed.
7. On 26 January 2023, the resident reported damp and mould in the property via a Councillor and said he had been fobbed off by the landlord. The landlord treated this as a formal complaint and arranged to inspect the property the following month. It noted nothing had changed since the previous inspections. The living room was very warm and cluttered, with no windows or trickle vents open. There was condensation on the bedroom windows and a small area of mould in the bathroom, which required cleaning. There were no structural issues and it was not concerned about damp.
8. The resident made a complaint to the landlord in February 2023 about its handling of the noise. He said he did not believe it was taking the matter seriously. The landlord provided its stage 1 response on 3 March 2023, which said the complaint was not upheld as it had attempted to work with him to investigate the noise issues. The landlord has subsequently told this Service that this complaint was not escalated to stage 2.
9. The landlord provided its stage 1 response to the damp and mould complaint (although not labelled as such) on 7 March 2023. It said the property did not suffer with damp and mould but did suffer with condensation. This was caused by the property being hot, humid and not properly ventilated and it gave advice on how to prevent this.
10. The resident replied that information given in the stage 1 response regarding the damp and mould was wrong and the landlord was not taking the matter seriously. This was treated as a stage 2 escalation request and, on 4 April 2023, the landlord provided its stage 2 response. It said the information given in the stage 1 response was appropriate as it had concluded the property suffered with condensation and not damp and mould.
11. In June 2023, the resident told this Service he was dissatisfied because there was still damp and mould in the bedroom. He reported that noise nuisance by neighbours was ongoing and the landlord had done nothing about this. He wanted to be moved to another property.

Jurisdiction

12. What we can and cannot consider is called the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. This is governed by the Scheme. When a complaint is brought to this Service, the Ombudsman must consider all the circumstances of the case, as there are sometimes reasons why a complaint will not be investigated.
13. The resident raised a complaint about the landlord’s handling of noise nuisance in February 2023, and a stage 1 response was provided the following month. However, this complaint was not escalated to stage 2, which means no final response letter was provided.
14. Paragraph 42.a of the Scheme says that the Ombudsman may not investigate complaints which are made prior to having exhausted a member’s complaints procedure, unless there is evidence of a complaint-handling failure. This is so that the landlord has a reasonable opportunity to resolve the issues internally before this Service intervenes.
15. In this case, the resident’s complaint about the landlord’s handling of noise nuisance did not complete the landlord’s internal complaints procedure, as only a stage 1 response was provided. In addition to this, there is no evidence of a complaint handling failure by the landlord. Therefore, the complaint about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of noise nuisance is outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction and is not considered further in this report.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

16. It is noted that damp and mould concerns were addressed as early as December 2021, but the resident did not raise a formal complaint about the landlord’s handling of the issues until January 2023. Complaints should be brought to the attention of the landlord within a reasonable time of the problem occurring, usually within 12 months. This is so that the landlord has an opportunity to resolve the issues while they are still ‘live’ and the evidence is available to properly investigate them (reflected at paragraph 42.c of the Scheme). As a result, this investigation is focused on events from January 2022 onwards (12 months before the complaint was made). Anything that happened before this date, is considered for context but not assessed or determined as part of this investigation.

Handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould

17. The landlord is responsible for addressing damp and mould in line with section 9(a) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. This says that the landlord has an obligation to ensure the property is fit for human habitation during the term of the tenancy, in relation to freedom from damp.
18. Following the inspection on 25 January 2022, the landlord concluded there was condensation in the property, as opposed to damp and mould. Considering the circumstances noted in the inspection report, this was a reasonable conclusion. The landlord’s website says that residents are responsible for the reasonable management of condensation in their property and that this will avoid the build-up of mould. Therefore, it was reasonable that the landlord took no action to address the small areas of mould identified during its visit and advised the resident he was responsible for this.
19. When the resident reported damp and mould on 4 further occasions over the next 12 months, the landlord noted no action was required. As the landlord had attended the property on 2 previous occasions to investigate this issue and there had been nothing that would have lead to a significant increase or change in the level of damp and mould, such as a leak in the property, its decision to take no further action was reasonable. While important that landlords investigate and treat damp and mould, it also should be conscious of how it makes use of its limited resources and budgets, by not carrying out actions or works which are not required.
20. While the landlord’s decision not to take action in response to the resident’s reports was reasonable, the Ombudsman has seen no evidence that the landlord told the resident that it would not be taking action, or explained its reasons for not doing so. This led to the resident feeling that it was not taking the matter seriously.
21. It was sensible of the landlord to carry out a further inspection in February 2023, as the last inspection had been carried out more than a year previously and so the condition of the property may have changed during that period. Following the inspection, the landlord again concluded that the property suffered with condensation, as opposed to damp and mould, and based on the noted observations, this was again reasonable.
22. The landlord provided advice to the resident on how to prevent and treat damp, mould and condensation, both in person and in writing. This was sensible to help him understand how he could prevent and address these issues. From the evidence provided, the advice given by the landlord was reasonable and delivered in a sensitive and non-judgmental way.
23. Overall, the landlord’s decisions and actions taken in respect of the damp and mould were reasonable. However, there were communication failures as it failed to tell the resident why it was not taking action on several occasions. Therefore, the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould amounts to service failure. An order has been made below for the landlord to pay the resident £100 compensation for the communication failures in its handling of his reports of damp and mould.
24. In October 2024, the resident told this Service that the damp and mould was an ongoing issue. Therefore, an order is made for the landlord to review this case and confirm to the resident what, if any, action it will take in respect of this issue. As part of this review, the landlord should consider when it last inspected the property and, if this was more than 12 months ago, it is advised to complete a further inspection. If the landlord decides that it will not take any action it must explain how it reached this decision and provide further advice and guidance to the resident on what action he can take to prevent and treat damp, mould and condensation.
25. The resident has told this Service that he wants to move because of the damp and mould (and anti-social behaviour). The Ombudsman cannot order the landlord to move the resident, but an order is made for the landlord to provide written advice on his rehousing options and what, if any, support it can provide to progress a move to an alternative property.

Determination

26. In accordance with paragraph 42.a of the Scheme, the complaint relating to the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of noise nuisance, is outside of the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.
27. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould.

Orders

28. Within 6 weeks, the landlord is ordered to:
    1. Pay the resident £100 compensation for the communication failures in its handling of his reports of damp and mould.
    2. Review this case and confirm in writing to the resident what, if any, action it will take in response to his recent reports of damp and mould. As part of this review, the landlord should consider when it last inspected the property and if this was more than 12 months ago, it is advised to complete a further inspection. If the landlord decides that it will not take any action, it must explain how it reached this decision and provide further advice and guidance to him on what action he can take to prevent and treat damp, mould and condensation.
    3. Provide written advice to the resident on his rehousing options and what, if any, support it can provide him to progress a move to an alternative property.

The landlord to provide evidence of compliance with the above orders, to this Service, within 6 weeks.