Your Housing Group Limited (202342179)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202342179

Your Housing Group Limited

26 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

The resident’s complaint is about the landlord’s handling of repairs relating to damp and mould, including the landlord’s response to the resident’s possessions being damaged.

Background

The resident is an assured tenant of the property. The property is a 2-bedroom house. The resident’s daughter has eczema and breathing difficulties.
The resident reported damp and mould to the landlord on 22 December 2023.
The resident complained to the landlord on 29 January 2024. She said:
1. It was her third complaint to the landlord about damp and mould.
2. The main bedroom ceiling looked wet, had yellow bubbles and smelt musty.
3. There was mould under her bedroom window, on beams in the loft and in her children’s bedroom.
4. She had been airing the property, but it was cold. The mould was worse after her heating had been on.
5. Her clothes smelt and she had to throw some away. Her possessions had mould on them.
The landlord provided its stage 1 response on 20 February 2024. It said:
1. A damp and mould survey request was raised on 22 December 2023.
2. A mould wash was completed on 11 January 2024 in the kitchen, bedrooms, bathroom and living room.
3. The roof was inspected on 9 January 2024.
4. A surveyor visited on 24 January 2024 and requested a repair for the guttering at the rear of the property. The repair had been booked for 21 March 2024.
5. The resident would need to claim for damaged belongings through her home insurance.
6. It apologised for the inconvenience and offered £150 compensation, broken down as:
  1. £50 for the inconvenience caused.
  2. £50 for repairs service failure.
  3. £50 for time and trouble.
The resident escalated her complaint on 21 February 2024. She told the landlord:
1. The issues were not resolved. She did not accept the offer of compensation.
2. Contractors told her that bricks need repointing but this had not been reported back to the landlord.
3. The surveyor told the resident the bathroom extractor fan needed replacing and her children’s room needed new vents.
4. She could not keep wiping and masking the mould, it needed resolving.
5. Her daughter’s health was affected. She had eczema since living at the property and had developed problems breathing.
6. Her possessions had mould on them. She had thrown a lot of items away. She was constantly having to wash clothes and was impacted financially.
The landlord gave its stage 2 response on 12 April 2024. It said:
1. Damage for personal items would need to be claimed through the resident’s contents insurance.
2. The guttering had been inspected and a mould wash was completed.
3. There were further repairs needed. It provided an update on each stating:
  1. A mould wash had been booked for 5 April 2024. Due to an emergency the appointment was cancelled on the day. It rearranged the mould wash for 9 April 2024. The visit was recorded as no access. A further appointment on 12 April 2024 was postponed due to an emergency. It would provide the resident with a new date.
  2. The kitchen vent would be investigated on 12 April 2024 when a mould wash was completed.
  3. Lead flashing would be repaired on 2 May 2024.
  4. Pointing and brickwork on kitchen wall would be completed 15 May 2024.
  5. An electrician would attend on 17 May 2024 regarding the fans.
4. The outstanding repairs had not been booked in as the landlord had logged them all under one reference number. They were not scheduled due to a description of works not showing on the job.
5. It had not identified in its stage 1 response that further works were outstanding. It had since told officers that a description was needed of each individual job for repairs to be scheduled.
6. It apologised the repairs were not arranged and for the inconvenience. It offered an additional £300 compensation, broken down as:
  1. £100 for inconvenience caused.
  2. £50 for service delay.
  3. £50 time and trouble.
  4. £100 lack of communication.
On 16 April 2024 the resident told us she remained unhappy with the landlord’s response. In brief, she felt her landlord had not taken her complaint seriously. She said there was no urgency from the landlord in completing the repairs. The mould issue was not resolved and her items were damaged.

Assessment and findings

The landlord issued its final complaint response on 12 April 2024. At the time of its response, the substantive issues in relation to the works to remedy the damp and mould were outstanding. For fairness we have considered events beyond the final response, specifically up until 28 June 2024 when the landlord closed its complaint. This is because the repairs outstanding after the final response were directly linked to the complaint and the landlord’s proposed resolution.

The landlord’s handling of repairs relating to damp and mould.

The landlord’s repairs policy states damp and mould repairs are completed within 21 calendar days.
Clear record keeping and management is a core function of a repairs service, as this assists the landlord in fulfilling its repair obligations. Accurate and complete records ensure the landlord has a good understanding of the progress of ongoing repairs to be able to provide updates to resident. Records also enable outstanding repairs to be monitored and provide an audit trail of actions, including any delays that were outside of its control. Effective record keeping means landlords are also able to carry out effective investigations when things go wrong.
The landlord provided evidence of repair jobs reported under the resident’s tenancy to us for our investigation. Most of the repairs reviewed as part of our investigation were not included on the landlord’s log. The repairs that were included lacked in detail, often not having details of completion dates.
The landlord told the resident in its complaint response that a survey was raised following her report of damp and mould in December 2023. The landlord has told us that a technical survey was not completed on 22 December 2023. It said the landlord’s customer contact centre completed a triage form with the resident by telephone. During this, it noted the resident had young children in the property and 1 had eczema. The resident reported damp and mould in the bedrooms and that the walls were wet to touch.
The landlord raised a job for a mould wash and a roof inspection on 22 December 2023. Neither job was marked as complete on the landlord’s repair records. The evidence shows the landlord did not have clear oversight of the repairs as it told us a mould wash appointment on 11 January 2024 was “potential no access” as there were no notes but a contractor was on site for 1 minute. We have seen no evidence to confirm the repairs took place.
The landlord completed an inspection of the property on 24 January 2024. This was over a month after the resident’s report of damp and mould. The property condition inspection report showed there was mould in both bedrooms of the property. The landlord recorded humidity and moisture readings in all rooms. The roof and loft space were not inspected.
The property condition report does not show what works were required however there is evidence the landlord agreed to complete the following works:
1. Gutters to the rear to be straightened
2. Vent in the kitchen to be uncovered.
3. Bathroom fan to be upgraded.
4. Foam near kitchen window to be replaced with a brick.
5. Lead flashing around the vent to the rear of the roof to be addressed.
The landlord raised a job for the guttering on 25 January 2024 however it failed to schedule appointments for the rest of the works identified. This was not identified by the landlord until the resident escalated her complaint to stage 2. The landlord raised the repairs in April 2024. The delay in correctly logging the repairs meant the resident would have experienced uncertainty and distress in addition to feeling that her situation was not being taken seriously.
The landlord took 56 calendar days to complete the guttering repair. This was outside the 21 calendar days the landlord commits to in its repairs policy. We have seen no evidence to explain the delay.
We have seen evidence that the resident was requesting her bedroom wall was plastered. She had been unable to wallpaper due to the mould. The landlord raised an inspection for the ceiling and plastering to be inspected on 25 March 2024. The evidence is unclear if the plastering was inspected as the repair job logged only asks for an inspection of the ceiling.
Following an inspection of a ceiling at the property on 25 March 2024 the landlord arranged for a mould wash to be completed on 5 April 2024. The resident has told us that she waited at home all day but nobody attended to complete the repair. The landlord said the appointment was changed on the day and it tried to call the resident to rearrange the repair for 9 April 2024. We have seen no evidence the landlord tried to contact the resident. The appointment did not go ahead on 9 April 2024 and was recorded as no access. The landlord did not demonstrate it communicated appropriately with the resident, keeping her informed of the repair. It rebooked the mould wash for 12 April 2024 however the appointment was cancelled by the landlord. The evidence shows the landlord tried to contact the resident the same day but could not leave a voicemail.
The mould wash was completed on 17 April 2024. The resident was unhappy with the works completed and said the contractor had missed a patch of the wall. The landlord’s position was that it completed works as directed by the resident’s father who was at the property at the time. The landlord then agreed to complete a further mould wash. The resident did not want the mould wash until the outstanding repairs had been completed. It was positive the landlord agreed to reattend as the resident had concerns about the work completed. However there is no evidence it did so until September 2024 after the resident had made a further report of damp and mould.
Most of the outstanding repairs were completed in line with the appointments provided to the resident in the landlord’s stage 2 response. However, these were all were completed outside of the timescales in its repairs policy.
On 17 May 2024 the resident told the landlord she was unhappy with the repair completed to the bathroom fan. She stated the bathroom fan had been cleaned rather than replaced. It is not clear why the landlord did not replace the bathroom fan as the evidence shows it had been identified as needing replacement. The landlord did replace both the kitchen and bathroom fan on 25 June 2024. There was an unreasonable delay in completing the bathroom fan upgrade as it had been identified for replacement in January 2024.
The resident told the landlord she had 2 children living in the property. 1 of her children had eczema and had developed breathing difficulties. We have seen no evidence that the landlord considered this at any time. The landlord did not acknowledge or recognise the resident’s concerns about her daughter’s health, this was unreasonable as it did not show it had taken the resident’s concerns seriously.
The landlord’s records show the complaints team monitored the repairs after its stage 2 response and provided the resident with updates on the outstanding repairs. This was positive as it reassured the resident that the landlord was progressing the repairs. The evidence shows the landlord spoke to the resident on 28 June 2024. The resident confirmed the works had been completed and that the case could be closed.
In its stage 2 response, the landlord apologised and offered £300 compensation, in addition to the £150 offered in its stage 1 response. The landlord’s total compensation offer was £450. In our opinion the landlord’s offer of compensation was proportionate to the circumstances of the complaint at the time of its stage 2 response. This is because the offer was within the range for cases where the Ombudsman considers that there were failings which had a significant impact on a resident.
We consider that a further £100 compensation is due to the resident to reflect the shortfalls in service by the landlord after 12 April 2024 until 28 June 2024 when the case was closed. This is because the resident continued to be adversely impacted because of the repairs service provided by the landlord. The landlord did not follow up on the mould wash as it said it would once all the works were complete. The bathroom fan was not upgraded the repair appointment, the resident had to contact the landlord for the agreed works to be completed.
We have seen evidence the resident made further reports of damp and mould only 3 months after her complaint was closed and it is ongoing. The evidence shows a pattern of the resident reporting damp and mould and the landlord raising repairs and mould washes. We do not know if the landlord has established the cause. We have therefore made a recommendation for the landlord to complete a damp and mould survey of the property.

The landlord’s response to the resident’s possessions being damaged

The resident’s tenancy agreement states the landlord “will not insure your furniture and or personal possessions. We strongly advise that you arrange appropriate cover to protect your belongings.”
The landlord’s compensation policy said it would not normally consider compensation for “something which would be covered by customers own home contents insurance.”
The resident told the landlord during the complaints process that her personal possessions had been damaged by mould. The landlord’s position was that the resident would need to make a claim under her home insurance. The resident has told us that she did not have contents insurance. The evidence is not clear if the landlord was aware the resident she did not have contents insurance when providing its response.
Our guidance on complaints involving insurance claims sets out the landlord may become responsible for damage to resident’s possessions caused by damp and mould if it failed to carry out its repairing obligation within a reasonable time.
The landlord acknowledged a failing in its repairs service by not scheduling the repair works appropriately. As the landlord had acknowledged a failing, it would have been best practice for it to have considered whether its shortfalls did, or could have, resulted in damage to the resident’s personal belongings; in addition to signposting her to its insurers. We have recommended that the landlord writes to the resident providing details on how she can make a claim for damage to her belongings via its own liability insurance.
We find service failure in the landlord’s handling of repairs relating to damp and mould including the landlord’s response to the resident’s possessions being damaged. The landlord did not schedule all the repair works required. This meant most repairs carried out were not completed within the timescales in its policy. It also did not acknowledge the resident’s concerns about her daughter’s health. The landlord’s offer of compensation did not fully reflect the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident as there were further failings in its handling of repairs to the bathroom fan and a mould wash after its stage 2 response.

Determination

In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of repairs relating to damp and mould, including the landlord’s response to the resident’s possessions being damaged.

Orders

Within 4 weeks of this report the landlord is ordered to:
1. Provide an apology to the resident for the failures identified in this report.
2. Pay the resident a total of £550. This figure includes the £450 offered by the landlord during its complaint process, if it has not already been paid, in addition to an extra £100 in recognition for the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident. This should be paid directly to the resident and not used to offset any possible arears.
3. Provide us with evidence that the orders have been complied with.

Recommendations

We recommend the landlord writes to the resident providing details on how she can make a claim for damage to her belongings via the landlord’s own liability insurance.
Taking into account the resident’s recent reports of damp and mould, we recommend the landlord arranges a further damp and mould survey of the property, using a suitably qualified surveyor or damp and mould specialist.