Yorkshire Housing Limited (202451053)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202451053

Yorkshire Housing Limited

28 August 2025

(re-issued on 3 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 reports of damp, mould and excess cold.
  2. The landlord’s complaint handling is also considered.

Background

  1. The resident has a secure tenancy of a 2-bedroom house. The tenancy started on 23 May 2011. The landlord is a housing association. The resident was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) in October 2024.
  2. On 2 January 2025 the resident told the landlord he was concerned about damp. He said the landlord had visited multiple times, but the problem had worsened and was affecting his and his partner’s health.
  3. The landlord inspected the property on 9 January 2025. The inspection report says there had been mould for 2 – 3 years and the house was not warming up properly. It recommended an investigation of the building insulation.
  4. On 19 January 2025 the resident complained about the landlord’s handling of damp, mould and excessive cold. The resident said he wanted to be compensated for the distress he had experienced and for damaged belongings.
  5. The landlord sent a stage 1 complaint response on 31 January 2025. It acknowledged the resident first reported issues in 2018. The landlord listed the actions it had taken and where it had failed to act. It upheld the resident’s complaint, apologised, and said it should have recognised there was an issue with the building insulation. The landlord ordered a series of inspections and repairs. It awarded £450 compensation.
  6. After the resident asked for his complaint to be reviewed, the landlord sent a stage 2 response on 6 March 2025. The landlord said the delays were unacceptable and recognised the impact on the resident. It said it would treat the damp and mould and arrange a thermal imaging survey. The landlord said it aimed to resolve the issues within 3 – 6 months. It apologised and increased the compensation offer to £1,000.
  7. The resident was unhappy with the landlord’s response and referred his complaint to us on 16 March 2025. The resident said he wanted the landlord to arrange a survey and to complete repairs. He said he wanted to be compensated for damaged property and lost earnings.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. The resident said he reported damp, mould and excessive cold for 6 years. 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 while they are still ‘live’, and while the evidence is available to reach an informed conclusion on the events which occurred. We do not consider complaints that were not brought to the attention of the landlord as a formal complaint within a reasonable period, which would normally be within 12 months of the matters arising. In this case the landlord acknowledged in its complaint responses it failed to raise repairs after it visited in November 2023. This investigation therefore considers the period from November 2023 until the landlord’s final complaint response on 6 March 2025. The historical issues provide contextual background to the current complaint.
  2. Throughout the complaint and in communication with this Service, the resident said this situation had a detrimental impact on his health and wellbeing. The courts are the most effective place for disputes about personal injury and illness. This is largely because independent medical experts are appointed to give evidence. They have a duty to the court to provide unbiased insights on the diagnosis, prognosis, and cause of any illness or injury. When disputes arise over the cause of an injury, oral testimony can be examined in court. While the Ombudsman cannot consider the effect on health, consideration has been given to any general distress and inconvenience which the resident experienced because of any service failure by the landlord.
  3. The resident said he wanted compensation for lost earnings. We do not generally make orders for the loss of wages. We have, however, considered the general distress and inconvenience which the situation may have caused the resident, as well as the landlord’s response to the resident’s concerns about his health.

Landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp, mould and excessive cold

  1. Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 says the landlord must keep the structure and exterior of the property in repair. The landlord’s repair policy says it will provide safe, warm, and secure homes. It also says it will attend emergency repairs in 4 hours, complete urgent repairs in 7 calendar days and routine repairs within 28 calendar days.
  2. The landlord said it found mould when it visited the resident’s property in November 2023. It visited the property again in January 2024 and raised orders for new extractor fans and for the walls to be ‘cleaned and sealed’. The landlord said the work orders were cancelled in error.
  3. In February and March 2024 the resident contacted the landlord as no repairs had been completed. The landlord then did the following works:
    1. The kitchen extractor fan was replaced on 16 May 2024.
    2. The bathroom extractor fan and shower were replaced on 29 May 2024.
    3. Mould in the bathroom was cleaned and treated on 26 June 2024.
    4. Algae on the gable wall was cleaned and treated on 18 October 2024.
  4. The landlord failed to follow its repairs policy. It attended twice but did not raise and complete the necessary repairs. This meant the resident had to chase the landlord, which was unreasonable. Even after the resident contacted it, there is no evidence the landlord treated the issues with urgency. As a result, it took between 6 and 11 months for the landlord to do the repairs.
  5. On 14 October 2024 the resident reported damp and mould. After the landlord visited on 21 October 2024 the resident asked multiple times for a copy of the survey report. Internal landlord emails sent at the time say there was no report, but this was not communicated to the resident. The landlord acted unreasonably in failing to respond to the resident’s request and not explaining the purpose of the visit.
  6. In November and December 2024 the resident reported cold air entering the property. He told the landlord he believed this was due to poor building insulation. The landlord said it would respond to the resident’s concerns “in the new year”. On 2 January 2025 the resident raised concern about the condition of the property and the landlord’s lack of response. The landlord contacted the resident and said it would inspect the property and explained there was no survey report from the visit in October 2024.
  7. The landlord acted appropriately in arranging an inspection, particularly as the resident had expressed concerns for his and his partner’s health. However, the landlord should have responded to the resident’s earlier reports.
  8. On 9 January 2025 the landlord inspected the property and completed a mould treatment. It recommended a check of the insulation, window and door seals, radiators and heating, and roof and gable end. It said it would install ‘data loggers’ and visit at the end of January 2025 to check progress.
  9. The landlord sent the visit report to the resident on 20 January 2025. It said it was trying to get a quote for insulation works. This landlord acted reasonably in sending the report and this demonstrated it had learned from its previous failure to provide information after visiting.
  10. After the resident complained to the landlord, it sent a stage 1 response on 31 January 2025. It apologised for the delays in carrying out works. The landlord said it had arranged for inspections of the roof, windows and heating. It said it would organise a thermal imaging survey of the property and the installation of monitoring equipment. The landlord awarded £450 compensation.
  11. The landlord inspected the radiators on 4 February 2025, confirmed they were working and recommended an upgrade. The resident asked the landlord to carry out the upgrade when it did other works. The landlord completed the roof and gable end inspection on 17 February 2025.
  12. In its stage 2 complaint response, sent on 6 March 2025 the landlord increased the compensation award to £1000. It said the next steps were to remove plasterboard from round the windows and investigate insulation issues. It restated its intention to arrange a thermal imagining survey and said it aimed to fully resolve the issues in 3 – 6 months.

Events after the landlord sent the stage 2 response

  1. On 27 March 2025 the landlord inspected the window and doors.
  2. The landlord said it ordered a thermal imaging survey and building inspection, however only the survey was carried out as the contractor did not do thermal imaging. On 22 July 2025 the landlord said it was looking for a contractor to do the thermal imaging and assess the cavity wall insulation. The landlord subsequently said it would visit on 31 July 2025 and take a thermal imaging camera.
  3. The landlord has not provided evidence it raised a work order for the removal of plasterboard and investigation of the insulation. The resident told us some works began after the landlord’s visit in July 2025, however, the nature of these works is unclear.
  4. Where the landlord admits failings, we consider whether its offer of redress puts things right and resolves the resident’s complaint satisfactorily in the circumstances. In doing so, we consider whether the redress was in accordance with the dispute resolution principles of ‘be fair’, put things right’ and ‘learn from outcomes’.
  5. The landlord acknowledged it failed to raise repairs and failed to explain the purpose of its visit in October 2024. It recognised the repair delays had caused the resident distress. The landlord conducted an inspection and completed the checks this identified. The landlord awarded £1000 compensation. This amount is within the range set out in our guidance for failings that had a significant impact on the resident. This was appropriate for the failings identified in the landlord’s final complaint response.
  6. The landlord acknowledged it took too long to recognise there was an issue with the insulation. However, it did not raise the works to investigate this. It committed to arranging a thermal insulation survey but failed to do so and did not keep the resident updated. This suggests the landlord had not learned from the previous communication and repairs failures. After we contacted the landlord about the resident’s complaint it visited the property and some works started, however, it is unclear if the issues have been resolved. As a result, we have made a finding of maladministration.
  7. We have ordered the landlord to take action to put things right. We have also ordered the landlord to pay £1200 compensation. This comprises £1000 awarded at stage 2 and £200 for the failures set out above. This is in accordance with our remedies guidance where there was a failing that had a significant impact on the resident.

The landlord’s complaint handling

  1. Our Complaint Handling Code (the Code) says landlords must address all points of a complaint in the response.
  2. The resident made a stage 1 complaint on 19 January 2025. The landlord sent a stage 1 complaint response on 31 January 2025. The response did not address the resident’s request to be reimbursed for belongings damaged by damp and mould.
  3. The resident asked the landlord to escalate her complaint on 6 February 2025. He said he was unhappy with the compensation offered at stage 1 and was waiting for the landlord to send an insurance claim form. The landlord sent a stage 2 response on 6 March 2025. It did not address the resident’s request to be compensated for damaged belongings.
  4. We found service failure with the landlord’s complaint handling. This is because the landlord did not address the resident’s request to be compensated for damaged belongings. We order the landlord to pay £50 compensation. This is in accordance with our remedies guidance for when there has been a minor failure by the landlord in the service it provided, and it did not appropriately acknowledge this.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of reports of damp, mould and excessive cold.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme there was service failure in the landlord’s complaint handling.

Orders and recommendations

  1. Within 4 weeks of the date of this report, the landlord must:
    1. Apologise in writing for the identified failures.
    2. Pay the resident £1250, this comprises:
      1. £1200 for the distress and inconvenience caused by the failings in the landlord’s handling of reports of damp, mould and excess cold.
      2. £50 for the distress and inconvenience caused the failings in the landlord’s complaint handling.

The landlord can deduct from this amount any compensation paid at stage 2. The compensation awarded by the Ombudsman must be paid to the resident and not to a rent or service charge account. 

  1. Carry out a thermal imaging survey of the resident’s property. The landlord should provide the resident and the Ombudsman with a copy of the report and a schedule for any works identified in the survey. The works should start no later than 6 weeks after the landlord receives the survey report. If it is unable to meet this deadline the landlord must notify both the resident and us, providing a clear explanation for the delay.