The Guinness Partnership Limited (202318752)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202318752

The Guinness Partnership Limited

30 April 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

The complaint is about:
1. The resident’s reports of faulty windows resulting in damp and mould.
2. The resident’s reports of faulty bathroom and kitchen fans.
3. The resident’s reports of poor complaint handling.

Background

The resident lives in a 2 bed flat under an assured tenancy which began on 31 August 2016.
The resident has not declared any vulnerabilities to the landlord or this Service, however she did undergo a surgical procedure during the time of this complaint which she said meant that she was spending more time at home in the conditions that she raised her complaint around.
The complaint centres around delays to completing repairs in the resident’s property including to windows and fans. The resident said that this contributed to damp and mould in the property.
The resident raised a complaint on 12 April 2023 in which she said there were outstanding repairs to her property including windows and fans in the bathroom and kitchen. She said that these were contributing to damp and mould within the property and that the landlord’s communication around repairs and appointments had been poor.
The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response on 25 May 2023 and said:
1. It upheld the resident’s complaint.
2. It acknowledged and apologised for a delay in scheduling a follow up appointment to assess the windows and fans in the resident’s property.
3. The visit had now been completed and had recommended replacing the handles, seals, hinges and vent covers. It had also noted that the bathroom fan needed replacing. The landlord said that a contractor would be in touch within 20 working days to arrange this.
4. It had noted that the resident had needed to call on 3 occasions to chase repairs. The landlord said that this was a failing and it apologised for this.
5. It offered £60 compensation for complaint handling delays, £25 for poor communication and £25 for the distress and inconvenience of the delays in completing repairs.
The resident escalated her complaint to stage 2 on 26 June 2023 as she said that there had been no update on the repairs, which remained outstanding.
The landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response on 4 September 2023 in which it said:
1. It acknowledged that there had been further delays with completing the works. The landlord apologised for this and offered increased compensation of £250 in respect of this.
2. It had scheduled the outstanding repairs to be completed on 18 October 2023.
3. It would contact the resident the following day after the repairs appointment to ensure that the works had been completed satisfactorily.
The resident remained dissatisfied and escalated her complaint to the Ombudsman on 13 November 2023 seeking increased compensation to account for damaged goods in her property and completion of the bathroom repairs, which remain outstanding.

Assessment and findings

General

Under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, landlords have a statutory duty to maintain the structure and exterior of its properties, which includes the roof, walls, windows, doors and external fixtures. Landlords are also responsible for the installations for sanitation within the property. Once notified of a defect, landlords must make a lasting and effective repair in a reasonable time.
The landlord’s repair policy mirrors this legal obligation. It says that the landlord will:
1. “maintain the outside and the structure of your home. This includes […] windows, including necessary outside painting and decorating.”
2. “Keep in repair and proper working order any installations we provide for heating, water heating and sanitation and for the supply of water, gas and electricity within your home. This includes […] fans.”
3. Address emergency repairs within 24 hours of a repair being reported and all other routine repairs within 28 calendar days.
The landlord’s damp and mould policy says that it will:
1. Arrange an operative to attend following reports of damp and mould. The operative will make any immediate fixes necessary.
2. In cases of severe or recurring damp and mould, the landlord will undertake a “comprehensive risk assessment which might result in a range of actions to support the resident depending on their circumstances.”
3. Consider a range of measures to reduce damp and mould including “providing and funding dehumidifiers, the installation of positive pressure, mechanical or passive ventilation systems, dry lining walls or applying mould resistant coverings, as appropriate, on a case by case basis.”
4. “Pay compensation as a result of our failure to deliver the service we have committed to. This includes where furniture or belongings have been damaged and/or distress and inconvenience has been caused.”
Landlords have a legal obligation under Section 9A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 to keep their properties free from damp and mould, to ensure that they remain fit for human habitation.

Faulty windows and damp and mould

The resident’s complaint on 12 April 2023 highlighted that there were repairs outstanding in her property, including to faulty windows, which she said were contributing to damp and mould in her kitchen, bathroom and front room, as well as around windows in the property. The resident said that this caused her additional costs in heating the property, purchasing cleaning products and replacing items contaminated with mould. The resident said that the mould had damaged her possessions and this has included a sofa, clothing and other personal items.
The landlord’s repair records on 13 March 2023, from before the resident’s complaint, indicate that there was “a lot of condensation”. The contractor attributed this to a lack of suction on the fans and draughty windows.
On this basis, the landlord was on notice that a repair was required from at least 13 March 2023. Under its repairs policy, this would have been a routine repair, which required addressing within 28 days.
The windows in the property were replaced on 4 October 2024. This was a delay of over 18 months from the time the landlord was first put on notice of the repair being required. This was over 17 months from the time the resident raised her formal complaint and also around 17 months from the time the repair should have been completed under the landlord’s repair policy. This was an unacceptable delay which caused considerable distress, inconvenience, time and trouble to the resident in pursuing the matter to completion.
The evidence shows that the delays were caused by:
1. Ineffective record keeping in the landlord’s repair records which did not log follow up jobs when contractors attended the property, but were not able to complete the works first time.
2. At least three surveyor visits being booked, which appeared to assess the same works. The landlord’s records do not provide details of these surveys so it is difficult for this Service to accurately assess whether they were needed.
3. A failure to raise works orders correctly, resulting in partial repairs being completed. For example on 19 June 2023, two glazing units were replaced, but an order was not raised for the seals or handles to be overhauled. This caused a further delay in completing that particular element of the repair.
The evidence also shows that the resident called and emailed the landlord on several occasions outside of her formal complaint to chase updates and progress on the works. The landlord’s stage 1 complaint response acknowledged that it had failed to return callbacks that it had promised in a timely way. The landlord apologised for this.
Part of the resident’s complaint related to recurring damp and mould in the property, which she attributed to a combination of the faulty windows and fans in the property. The landlord’s repair records show that a damp and mould assessment was cancelled by the resident on 8 March 2023. There is no evidence that the landlord attempted to rebook this appointment or completed any other action to assess or address the damp and mould during the course of this complaint. This was a significant failing which left the resident and her son with considerable additional distress and inconvenience over a protracted period.
The resident had also complained about increased costs and damage to her personal possessions. The evidence shows she submitted evidence of this to the landlord on 18 June 2023 at the landlord’s request. The landlord replied and said that the resident would need to submit her claim to the landlord’s insurer. This was not in line with the landlord’s damp and mould policy which states that it will consider compensation in cases of service failures or damaged possessions.
It is unclear why the landlord did not consider compensation in line with its policy, but this was a procedural failing, which caused the resident additional time and trouble in pursuing her claim via an insurance claim.
In redress for the delays to completing the works to the windows, the evidence shows that the landlord:
1. Apologised to the resident for the delays in completing the works.
2. Offered £25 compensation in its stage 1 complaint response for delays in completing repairs. It also offered £25 for poor communication with the resident.
3. Had considered learning from the delays and had committed to sharing feedback with the repairs team regarding the delays.
4. Made commitments in both complaint responses that the repairs would be completed by a given deadline. The stage 1 response deadline was not met by the landlord, however the works were completed on the deadline given in the stage 2 response.
After the conclusion of the complaint, in May 2024, and following an intervention from this Service, the landlord reviewed the complaint. It offered the resident additional compensation including £100 for poor communication and £500 for the time, trouble and inconvenience in pursuing repairs. The landlord also apologised that it had failed to inspect the damp and mould or assess the resident’s damaged items.
At the time of investigation, the landlord’s correspondence with this Service noted that it had:
1. Installed additional insulation into the property in August 2024 in an attempt to “improve living conditions and prevent future damp issues”. While this was a positive step to improve conditions in the property, it is unclear why the landlord delayed taking this action for over 18 months. This was a significant delay.
2. Offered a further £700 compensation for outstanding repairs at this time.
3. Offered the resident £250 compensation in respect of the additional heating costs that the resident had incurred. It also said that it was reviewing the resident’s energy bills with a view to possible further compensation. There has been no further evidence provided that the landlord has made any further payments in respect of this. The resident told this Service that she had costs of purchasing cleaning materials and dehumidifiers.
This Service has noted that the landlord revised its offer of compensation when it reviewed the case due to our investigation. We accept that the new compensation offer is more appropriate in recognition of its failings, and it represented an attempt to put things right. However, it offered this a considerable time after the complaints process was exhausted. Additionally, it was prompted by this Service’s intention to investigate the complaint. This should have been an outcome and offer of redress identified at the time of the complaints process.
The correspondence in August 2024 also noted that the landlord had introduced a repairs-related working group to track and manage repair complaints and also made improvements to its sub-contractor management framework. This Service has noted these positive steps to improve future similar cases.
Overall, the evidence shows significant and recurring delays in the repairs to the windows and an absence of action taken to address the damp and mould which was present in several rooms and around the windows for a period of over 18 months. These delays were compounded by poor record keeping and a lack of accurate repair requests and follow up. The resident chased updates from the landlord on numerous occasions and would have been left with additional costs in this period. The landlord took limited action to address this within the complaint, but did offer further action and redress post-complaint which was more appropriate.
On this basis there has been maladministration in the landlord’s handling of repairs to the windows and its handling of damp and mould in the property. The landlord must now conduct a case review and assess the resident’s claim for compensation and/or progress a claim through its insurer for the increased costs and damaged possessions that she reported.

Bathroom and kitchen fans

The landlord’s repair records indicate that it was made aware that the fans in the resident’s kitchen and bathroom were not sufficient by a contractor on 13 March 2023. The contractor said that the resident was “doing everything right, the fans in [the] kitchen and bathroom are not good. Bathroom has no suction and kitchen when of [sic] is open so cases [sic] draughts.” The resident first reported these faults on 3 April 2023.
Under the landlord’s repair policy, this should have been treated as a routine repair and completed within 28 days. In response to this, the evidence shows that the landlord did not arrange for a contractor to attend the property to assess this until 11 May 2023. This was a delay of almost 2 months and around 1 month over the timescale set down in the landlord’s repairs policy.
In its stage 1 complaint response, the landlord said that its contractor had attended on 11 May 2023 and recommended that the bathroom fan required replacement. The landlord committed to its contactor contacting the resident within 20 working days to arrange the works. The landlord apologised for this delay and also acknowledged that the resident had chased it for updates on at least three occasions in the period between the repair being identified and its complaint response.
The landlord’s repair records show that an attempt was made to complete the works to the kitchen fan on 7 June 2023, however the job was closed due to the correct part not being available. The resident told the landlord that the electrician had committed to contacting her the following day with an updated completion date, but that she never received a call. Following further enquiries by the resident, the job was reopened and the kitchen fan was replaced on 4 August 2023, over 6 months from first being identified.
While this was a lasting and effective repair, it demonstrated further avoidable delays in the landlord’s repair processes, which required intervention and contact from the resident on several occasions to progress.
The evidence shows that the bathroom fan was replaced on 26 May 2023. At the time of investigation, the works in the bathroom remain outstanding as the landlord identified that a more complex repair than the installation of the new extractor was required. The landlord told this Service that the ducting required rerouting and that it is due to attend for a survey on 13 May 2025 and that works would be planned following this.
At the time of this investigation the repairs to the bathroom extraction system remain outstanding due to these further works. As there has not been a lasting and effective repair made by the landlord in over 2 years, this is maladministration as it represents an excessive and unreasonable delay. These delays would have caused the resident additional distress, inconvenience, time and trouble over an extended period of time.
Taking these factors together, the landlord has been on notice of these repairs to the fans and wider extraction system since 13 March 2023 and some elements remain uncompleted at the time of this investigation, over 2 years later. This is significantly longer than the timescales indicated in the landlord’s repairs policy and is maladministration.
It is noted that the landlord provided an offer of increased compensation post-complaint and also identified some operational learning and process changes which it planned to implement to prevent a reoccurrence. This was positive to note, however it is not clear why this action was not taken sooner. The landlord must now:
1. Provide a schedule of works to the resident and this Service showing how it will complete the works to the bathroom fan in a period not exceeding 12 weeks.
2. Undertake a case review to identify why the redress it offered in later case reviews was delayed and not considered as part of its initial complaint handling.

Complaint handling

The landlord operates a 2-stage complaint policy in which it commits to responding to resident complaints in the following timescales:
1. Stage 1 – 10 working days.
2. Stage 2 – 20 working days.
The Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (‘the Code’) sets out a number of key principles that landlords are required to adhere to in the management of complaints. This includes the following:
1. Landlords must operate a two-stage process without any additional or informal stages as this causes confusion and delay.
2. Landlords must respond to complaints within the timescales in the Code. This is 10 working days at stage 1 and 20 working days at stage 2. This is to avoid extending the complaint process or delaying access to the Ombudsman.
3. Landlords must not extend the timescales for responding to complaint by more than 10 working days. In cases of extensions this must be clearly explained to the resident and the Ombudsman’s details must be provided.
4. Landlords must have processes in place to ensure that a complaint can be remedied at any stage of its complaints process.
The evidence shows that both the landlord’s stage 1 and stage 2 complaint responses were issued over the timescales shown in the landlord’s complaint policy. This was a failing as it caused the resident additional time and trouble in pursuing the complaint to completion.
Within the complaint responses, the landlord provided redress, including compensation, and identified some organisational learning, however the complaint process failed to fully address the resident’s ongoing delays. In particular, it compounded this by setting deadlines by which work was to be completed, which were not then kept.
As previously mentioned in this report, there were two instances post-complaint when the landlord reviewed its handling of this case and amended its redress:
1. On 31 May 2024 the landlord increased its total compensation offer from £250 to £800, to account for ongoing delays in completing repairs. The landlord also acknowledged that it should have contacted the resident regarding delays in issuing its complaint responses. It apologised for failing to assess the damp and mould in the resident’s property or the damage this had caused to her possessions.
2. On 7 August 2024 the landlord further reviewed the case. It increased the compensation it had previously offered by a further £700, plus an additional £250 element contributing towards the resident’s increased heating costs. It also outlined learning that it had undertaken within its complaints and repairs team to improve processes and increase the resource available. The landlord said that it had passed the resident’s claim for damaged possessions to its insurer for consideration.
While it is positive to note the increased redress, organisational learning, apologies and practical steps to resolve the resident’s substantive complaints, it is concerning to note that these reviews did not take place as part of the initial complaint process.
The Ombudsman expects landlords, in line with the Code, to seek to resolve complaints at the earliest possible stage. This involves fully reviewing the contents of the case and providing appropriate redress. This should take place without the need for any third party intervention, as this is a key component of an effective complaint handling process.
On this basis, there has been maladministration in the landlord’s complaint handling. The landlord must now undertake a case review to identify why the redress offered in the later case reviews was not identified and actioned in the initial complaint process. The landlord should consider additional training for complaint handling staff to ensure that the complaint process fully identifies all possible opportunities for early local resolution and offers of redress at the earliest stage.

Determination

In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme there has been:
1. Maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of faulty windows resulting in damp and mould.
2. Maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of faulty bathroom and kitchen fans.
3. Maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of poor complaint handling.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

Within 28 days of the date of this determination, the landlord is ordered to:
1. Pay the resident the £1500 compensation and £250 contribution towards her increased utility costs which it has previously offered, if it has not already done so.
2. Provide its insurer’s position on reimbursing the resident for the costs of her damaged personal possessions. If the insurer is not able to compensate the resident for her possessions, the landlord must provide its position, in writing, on whether it will pay compensation in line with its damp and mould policy for these items.
3. Provide its final position on additional compensation for the resident’s increased costs, including utility costs, cleaning costs and the costs to purchase dehumidifiers, having reviewed her bills and giving consideration to the outstanding repair issues.
Within 8 weeks of the date of this determination, the landlord is ordered to:
1. Complete all required repairs to the bathroom fan and extraction system.
2. Undertake a case review to identify:
  1. Why additional actions, organisational learning and redress were only identified and considered when the landlord undertook post-complaint reviews in May and August 2024.
  2. Why the landlord’s complaint responses were not issued in the timescales shown in its complaint policy and the Code.
  3. Why the landlord did not assess the damage caused to the resident’s possessions or consider providing compensation, in line with its damp and mould policy.
  4. What further organisational learning or process changes might be required to prevent a reoccurrence in future.

The findings of the case review must be shared with resident and this Service.

Recommendations

The landlord should provide further training to staff handling and managing complaints to ensure that they are competent and empowered to identify and award the full range of redress required at the earliest stage in the complaint handling process.