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A2Dominion Housing Group Limited (202413921)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202413921

A2Dominion Housing Group Limited

29 January 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 the resident’s reports of damp and mould and associated repairs.

Background

  1. The resident has an assured tenancy with the landlord for a four-bedroom house. The resident lives with her partner and 5 children.
  2. The resident reported damp and mould to the landlord on 29 January 2024. On 29 February, the landlord completed an inspection finding evidence of damp and mould. Its report recommended removing the mould, redecorating with anti-mould paint and checking the level of insulation at the property.
  3. The resident raised a complaint on 17 April 2024 stating the landlord had taken no further action from 29 February. The landlord replied on 24 April. It confirmed it would complete a mould wash by 16 May and would investigate the wall cavity insulation. It offered £235 in compensation for the delay in completing the work and its failure to keep the resident updated.
  4. The resident escalated her complaint on 24 April 2024. She stated other than the mould wash, the landlord had not given timescales for completing work. She also believed the landlord failed to acknowledge the damage to her possessions and the impact on her daughter’s health.
  5. The landlord replied to the escalated complaint on 20 May 2024. It acknowledged it had failed to complete a comprehensive mould wash on 15 May and arranged a further appointment. It confirmed it would complete a check of the insulation by 1 July. It offered £450 compensation for the delay in completing work, poor standard of work and poor communication.
  6. In correspondence with the Ombudsman the resident stated the landlord had only completed a mould wash and survey and no other work. The landlord has not provided evidence of further work taking place.

Assessment and findings

Scope of assessment

  1. The resident has complained that her family’s health has been impacted by the repair issues and damp and mould in her home. The Ombudsman is unable to assess the cause of, or liability for, impacts on health and wellbeing. The resident may be able to make a personal injury claim if she considers that her health has been affected by the landlord’s actions or inaction. This is a legal process, and the resident may wish to seek legal advice if she wants to pursue this option. In accordance with paragraph 42.f. of the Scheme, this issue is more effectively resolved and remedied through the courts. It will not be considered in this report.
  2. The resident has raised several new issues following the completion of the landlord’s complaints process on 20 May 2024. This includes gaps in her front door and a further report of damp and mould in October. In accordance with paragraph 42.a. of the Scheme the Ombudsman will not consider complaints made prior to exhausting a landlord’s complaints procedure. As such the landlord needs the opportunity to investigate these further matters. The resident can approach the Ombudsman if she further exhausts the landlord’s complaints process.

The resident’s reports of damp and mould and associated repairs.

  1. In her initial complaint of 17 April 2024 the resident said she was waiting for a mould wash to be completed. She said she was having to chase the progress and could not use her daughter’s bedroom due to the mould there.
  2. The landlord’s complaint response confirmed the resident reported damp and mould in her property on 29 January 2024. The landlord’s damp, mould, and condensation policy states once it receives a report it will investigate to determine the cause. The landlord completed a survey of the property on 29 February. This was 3 working days outside of the 20 working days in its repairs policy, a minor delay. 
  3. The landlord inaccurately stated in both complaint responses its damp and mould survey took place on 29 January. This appears to be a basic error, because in its same response it acknowledged the resident had reported damp and mould on the same day.
  4. In the stage 1 complaint response the landlord acknowledged its failure to complete any works following the survey of 29 February 2024. It apologised and offered compensation in accordance with its compensation policy. It also agreed in both complaint responses that it had failed to communicate sufficiently with the resident about the incomplete work. As there is no evidence between 29 February 2024 and 20 May of the landlord updating the resident at any point, other than in the complaint responses, and the records confirm its lack of action after February, it was appropriate for the landlord to apologise and offer compensation.
  5. The landlord confirmed in its stage 1 response it would complete a mould wash by 16 May 2024. Its stage 2 response confirmed it had completed two visits to complete a mould wash on 15 and 20 May. The additional date was due to the failure to treat the hallway on the earlier date. It apologised and offered compensation in line with its policy for this. Its policy for standard repairs in its repairs policy is 20 working days. From the survey of 29 February it took 55 working days to complete the mould wash. This exceeded the timescale in its policy by 35 working days.
  6. The resident reported she was unable to use her daughter’s bedroom due to the mould in there. There is no evidence of the landlord investigating whether this was accurate. It did not acknowledge or reply to this point in its complaint response. As such it was unable to determine if it should consider room loss allowance in accordance with its compensation policy.
  7. Despite acknowledging an inspection of the insulation was required, the landlord offered no timescale for completion of this in its stage 1 response. This caused uncertainty to the resident and she would raise this in her complaint escalation in April. In its stage 2 complaint response it confirmed it had surveyed the insulation on 21 May and appropriately shared the report with the resident. It confirmed it would complete further investigation of the insulation by 1 July.
  8. The landlord’s contractor attended the resident’s property on 1 July 2024 to inspect the insulation as the landlord promised in its final complaint response. Further work was needed, and the evidence shows the landlord was waiting for a quote for the necessary works in August.  It is unclear if this work has since taken place. An order will be set for the landlord to confirm a timescale for the completion of such work, if it has not already done so.
  9. In her complaint escalation of 24 April 2024 the resident said the landlord was not taking her daughter’s health seriously, she said she had pneumonia at the start of the year. She had also raised this in the surveyor visit on 29 February. On each occasion, she believed the damp and mould was detrimental to her daughter’s health.
  10. The landlord’s prioritisation policy states it will aim to fast-track repairs for its most vulnerable customers. To establish this it will seek to identify vulnerability at the first point of contact with a resident. It says it will do this by encouraging residents to disclose such matters.
  11. There is no evidence the landlord considered the vulnerability of the household following the disclosure on 29 February and 24 April 2024. As such it was unable to consider whether it should fast-track any repairs. This was not in accordance with its prioritisation policy. The landlord did not respond to the issue in its final complaint response, meaning it missed an opportunity to identify, acknowledge, and remedy its omission.
  12. The resident reported her possessions had been damaged in her complaint escalation. She did not specifically clarify what items had been damaged. However, in the damp and mould report of 29 February 2024, she reported her daughter’s mattress had been damaged. The landlord’s complaints policy states it should direct residents to its insurance in the first instance when such concerns are raised, or refer the matter to its insurers itself. The landlord did not do so in this case, and therefore did not follow it policy.
  13. Nonetheless, the resident raised a liability claim with the landlord’s insurer on 20 May 2024, the same date as the landlord’s stage 2 complaint response. As such, it is clear the landlord’s omission in providing insurance information did not impact on the resident’s ability to raise a claim.
  14. In summary the landlord took several positive steps to address the resident’s concerns about damp and mould at her property. This included surveying the property, completing a mould wash and arranging works regarding insulation. The remedies it provided, including the compensation were appropriate to the scale and nature of the failings it had identified. However, it did not identify that it had failed to appropriately act on the resident’s concerns about her family’s health or consider how that might effect its handling of the repairs in line with its policy. That was a serious omission, leaving the complaint unresolved.

Determination

  1. 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 and associated repairs.

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of this report the landlord must pay the resident compensation of £750 for its failure to consider prioritisation of the repairs at the resident’s property. This is inclusive of the £450 it previously offered.
  2. Within 6 weeks the landlord must confirm in writing to the Ombudsman and the resident that it has completed repairs to the insulation at the property. If it has not, it must confirm to the resident and Ombudsman its timescale for completion of this.
  3. Evidence of compliance with these orders must be provided to the Service by their respective deadlines.

Recommendations

  1. The landlord’s holds no vulnerability information for the family at the property. It should reconsider the vulnerability information it holds for the family. It should discuss this with the resident considering which information she wishes to disclose.