The Community Housing Group Limited (202341258)

Background

1. The resident has an assured tenancy and the property is a 1-bed bungalow. There is a history of damp and mould reports and treatments since 2022. In February 2024, the resident complained to the landlord about a lack of updates since it last inspected the property. She said the roof needed replacing.  

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of damp and mould reports.
3. We have also investigated the landlord’s complaint handling.

Our decision (determination)

4. The landlord offered reasonable redress in its handling of damp and mould reports.
5. There was no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint.

We have not made orders for the landlord to put things right.

Summary of reasons

6. The landlord failed to act in line with its own damp and mould policy and did not take any action following an inspection.
7. The landlord’s compensation offer and proposed works put right the failings in its handling of the damp and mould reports.
8. There was a shortcoming in the landlord’s handling of the complaint but it was resolution-focused to fully address all the resident’s concerns in its stage 2 response.

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.

Recommendations

Our recommendations are not binding, and a landlord may decide not to follow them.

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

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.

9. We are aware that the resident had raised previous complaints relating to reports of damp and mould during his tenancy. Prior to this complaint, the landlord last provided a stage 2 response in July 2023 prior to some guttering repairs. The resident did not reference outstanding actions from that complaint within his submission to us. Therefore, our investigation will focus solely on the complaint relating to the period between January 2024 and the end of the complaint process in April 2024. We will reference other events for contextual purposes but cannot comment on prior complaints that were not brought to us.
10. The landlord’s damp and mould policy says that it will inspect within 2 working days of receiving a damp and mould report. The policy adds that it will complete required works in a reasonable time.
11. After the resident’s report of damp and mould on 2 January 2024, the landlord wrote to him that day and said he would receive a call within 3 working days of the receipt of that letter. This was to arrange an inspection. This approach is not in line with the landlord’s policy.
12. The landlord did not attend until 12 February 2024, 30 working days later, which is significantly outside the timeframe in its policy. However, as the resident told the landlord there was no damp inside the property on 8 January 2024, any impact on the resident was likely minor.
13. It is not disputed that the landlord failed to provide a response following its visit on 12 February 2024. Despite acknowledging this failing at stage 1, the landlord did not provide details of any findings from the visit. It did not offer this information to us either and it is unclear if the landlord failed to act on any required works. The absence of this information within the complaint response shows a lack of understanding of the resident’s complaint.
14. The landlord confirmed in the stage 1 response that it would do a new survey and replace the roof as part of planned works in the next financial year. These were reasonable proposals. The resident received confirmation of the roofing works in April 2024 and the landlord completed them by the end of August 2024.
15. Within its stage 2 response, the landlord offered £500 compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused. The landlord said that this payment covered events since the start of the resident’s tenancy. Our investigation only considered a limited period of that overall timeline. During the short period under review, we found limited failings with minimal impact on the resident. The landlord agreed to replace the roof and appropriately proposed repairs to further reduce the possibility of damp in the property.
16. The Ombudsman understands that part of the £500 compensation was towards the failings identified during this period. The £50 stage 1 compensation for the failure to follow up after February 2024 (within the wider £500 award) alongside the proposed plan of works was proportionate to put right the limited failings in 2024. On this basis, we make a finding of reasonable redress in the landlord’s handling of the damp and mould reports.

17. The landlord’s complaint policy says that it should respond to a stage 1 complaint within 10 working days and a stage 2 complaint within 20 working days.
18. The landlord failed to meet the timeframes for responding to complaints across both stages, taking 15 working days at stage 1 and 23 working days at stage 2. Although the responses were late, there was limited impact on the resident. The late replies were a minor shortcoming in the landlord’s handling of the complaint. 
19. Within the stage 2 complaint, the resident addressed issues that were not part of the initial complaint, such as claims for damages. This followed a meeting with the resident and ensured that the landlord addressed all outstanding issues comprehensively in its response. Although we would not comment on the landlord’s liability to cover damaged goods, or the amount it offered, the landlord’s decision to do so was reasonable and showed a resolution focused attitude.
20. In view of these findings, we make a finding of no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint.

Learning

21. The landlord should have systems and procedures in place to ensure that it is able to keep good records, and communicate outcomes, of damp and mould inspections.