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Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTV) (202310905)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202310905

Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTV)

9 June 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:
    1. The resident’s request for her kitchen and bathroom to be replaced.
    2. Damp and mould at the resident’s property.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord.
  2. The resident has told us she has a long–term health condition, and her son has a learning disability. However, there is no evidence that the landlord was aware of these medical conditions.
  3. On 22 March 2023, the landlord attended the resident’s property to assess the condition of the kitchen and bathroom. It was confirmed during the inspection that the kitchen and bathroom did not require renewal prior to the planned renewal date of the financial year of 2025/2026.
  4. On 4 April 2023, the resident contacted the landlord asking for an update on the kitchen and bathroom renewal inspection.
  5. On 17 August 2023, the resident submitted a complaint to the landlord. She stated there was damp and mould at her property and explained she was unhappy that the landlord would not replace her kitchen and bathroom prior to the financial year of 2025/2026. She complained that the landlord completed her neighbour’s repairs quicker than hers.
  6. The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response to the resident on 29 August 2023. It explained its inspection confirmed that the bathroom and kitchen did not require renewal prior to the planned renewal date of 2025/2026. In addition, the landlord stated it had looked at its repair records, and it could not locate any reports of damp and mould. It explained that it could not take any action as the damp and mould issue had not been reported and asked her to report the issue to the repairs team. The landlord also stated it treats each resident on an individual basis, so a comparison between her and her neighbour’s repairs would not be appropriate. It offered the resident £50 compensation to recognise its poor communication about the outcome of the kitchen and bathroom renewal inspection.
  7. On 5 December 2023, the resident contacted the landlord and requested her complaint to be escalated to the next stage of its complaints process. She stated she felt she was being discriminated against and explained it was a struggle to get the landlord to complete repairs. In addition, she stated the landlord’s staff members assessed the condition of the kitchen and bathroom and explained action was required.
  8. The landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response to the resident on 12 December 2023. It reconfirmed that the kitchen and bathroom did not require renewal prior to the planned renewal date of the financial year of 2025/2026. The landlord also explained that the worktops had been wrapped in a decorative finish and had started to peel back. However, it stated it had not completed the decorative wrapping, and it did not have an obligation to repair decorative wrapping. The landlord restated that there had been no reports of damp and mould from the resident and reconfirmed that she should report the issue to its repairs team. The landlord re–offered the £50 compensation it offered in its stage 1 complaint response.
  9. The resident remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s response and submitted her complaint to the Ombudsman. She stated she wanted her kitchen and bathroom to be replaced, the damp and mould to be resolved at her property and compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. The resident stated as part of her complaint she felt that there had been unfair treatment and discrimination from the landlord with its handling of repairs. The Ombudsman cannot establish whether discrimination occurred in a legal sense as this needs to be determined by a court, and so this is beyond the scope of this assessment. The Ombudsman’s investigation can, however, consider the actions taken by the landlord in response to the resident’s report of discrimination and whether its response to this was fair and reasonable.
  2. The resident has mentioned to us that her mental health and her son’s health was impacted due to damp and mould at the property. We acknowledge that this has been a very difficult time for the resident and her family. However, it is outside the Ombudsman’s role to determine whether there is a direct link between the landlord’s actions or inaction and any specific impact on the resident and her son’s health. It would be more appropriately suited for a court or liability insurer to investigate this as a personal injury claim. Courts can award damages in a different way to the Ombudsman and review medical evidence. However, it is generally accepted that damp and mould can pose a significant health risk. This service can consider the general risk, and distress and inconvenience caused by any errors by the landlord as well as the landlord’s response to the resident’s concerns about her family’s health.

 

The resident’s request for her kitchen and bathroom to be replaced.

  1. The landlord’s planned property investment policy states planned works such as kitchen, bathroom, windows, roofs and boiler renewal will be completed based on stock condition surveys and life cycles of the components.
  2. In response to the resident’s request for a replacement kitchen and bathroom. The landlord’s surveyor visited the resident’s property in March 2023 and carried out an inspection to identify whether the kitchen and bathroom required immediate replacement. The landlord took appropriate steps by completing an inspection to assess the condition of the kitchen and bathroom.
  3. There was a delay in the landlord providing the resident with an update on the outcome of the inspection, which resulted in her contacting the landlord in April 2023. Shortly after, the landlord informed the resident that her kitchen and bathroom did not require renewal prior to the planned renewal date of the financial year of 2025/2026. The landlord acted appropriately in this instance, as the landlord would only be expected to consider replacing a kitchen or bathroom if an inspection indicated this and if it had deteriorated to the extent that repairs would be ineffective and uneconomic. However, as the kitchen and bathroom renewal were planned for this financial year, we recommend that the landlord provides the resident with an update on when it plans to start the renewal works.
  4. The landlord acknowledged in its stage 1 and 2 complaint responses that there was a delay in it updating the resident with the outcome of the kitchen and bathroom renewal inspection. It offered the resident £50 compensation to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by the poor communication. The amount of compensation offered by the landlord was reasonable and in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance (published on our website), which sets out the Ombudsman’s approach to compensation. The remedies guidance suggests awards of £50 to £100, where there was a minor failure by the landlord in the service it provided, and it did not appropriately acknowledge this and/or fully put it right. The compensation proportionately reflects the impact of the landlord’s poor communication to the resident, and it amounts to reasonable redress for this aspect of the complaint.

.Damp and mould at the resident’s property.

  1. The landlord’s repairs policy states that the landlord is responsible for keeping the structure and exterior of a resident’s property safe, secure and weatherproof.
  2. The landlord’s repairs policy includes the following response timescales for repair categories:
    1. Emergency repairs – the landlord will respond and carry out the repair within 24 hours.
    2. Routine repairs – the landlord will respond and carry out the repair within 28 days.
    3. Non-routine repairs – the landlord will respond and carry out the repair within 90 days.
  3. In August 2023, the resident submitted a complaint to the landlord, and as part of the complaint, she mentioned there was damp and mould at her property. In response to the resident’s concerns raised about the damp and mould, the landlord stated in its stage 1 and 2 complaint responses that its repairs team had received no reports of damp and mould and told the resident to report the damp and mould issue to its repairs team. The Ombudsman recognises the landlord did not locate any previous reports of damp and mould from the resident prior to August 2023. However, when the resident raised the damp and mould issue as part of her initial complaint, it would have been appropriate for the landlord to inform its repairs team of the reported damp and mould issue. The landlord failed to do this when it issued its stage 1 and 2 complaint response, which was unreasonable and did not demonstrate it had taken the complaint seriously or responded to all the issues raised . It has also confirmed it did not carry out any damp and mould inspections following the resident’s complaint submission. This was not appropriate.
  4. The resident told the Ombudsman that the damp and mould is still present at her property. She explained there is damp and mould in the bathroom and also some damp and mould in her kitchen. The resident explained she did not contact the landlord with further reports about the damp and mould, as she felt it did not listen to her and treat her fairly.
  5. She also raised, as part of her initial complaint to the landlord that she felt that there had been unfair treatment and discrimination from the landlord with its handling of repairs and stated the landlord completes her neighbour’s repairs more quickly than her repairs.
  6. The landlord acted appropriately by responding to the resident’s concerns about unfair treatment and discrimination in its stage 1 complaint response. It stated it treats all residents fairly and explained it was not appropriate to compare her circumstances to her neighbour’s as there are normally very different problems surrounding each repair. The landlord’s response to the resident’s concerns was reasonable and, normally, repair timescales vary depending on the type of the repair and whether it is an emergency or routine repair.  The landlord would not be expected to share detailed information about the neighbour’s repairs due to confidentiality.
  7. The landlord failed to refer the damp and mould issue to its repairs team and carry out an inspection and due to this, the resident and her family have been living with damp and mould for nearly 2 years. Therefore, there has been maladministration by the landlord in its handling of damp and mould at the resident’s property.
  8. The Ombudsman requires the landlord to arrange for a surveyor to carry out a damp and mould inspection at the resident’s property and draw up a schedule of any required works following this survey. In addition, the landlord is ordered to pay the resident £350 compensation to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by its failure to investigate and resolve the damp and mould. The amount of compensation awarded is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance referenced above which suggests awards in this range where there has been a failing by the landlord which caused distress and inconvenience to the resident over a prolonged period but there may be no permanent impact from the failing. In addition, we recommend the landlord carry out staff training to ensure its appropriate staff are aware of when and how to refer a resident’s repair issue to its repairs team.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53 (b) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress prior to investigation, which in the Ombudsman’s opinion, satisfactorily resolves the resident’s concerns about her request for her kitchen and bathroom to be replaced.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of damp and mould at the resident’s property.

Orders

  1. The landlord is ordered to:
    1. Pay the resident £350 compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused by its delay in resolving the damp and mould at her property.
  2. The landlord must comply with the above orders within 4 weeks of the date of this report, providing evidence to the Ombudsman that it has done so by the same date.
  3. The landlord is ordered to arrange for a surveyor to complete a damp and mould inspection at the resident’s property and draw up a schedule of any required works to resolve the damp and mould issues. The schedule must include timescales of when the work will be completed. A copy of the schedule should be sent to the resident and the Ombudsman.
  4. The landlord must comply with the above order within 6 weeks of the date of this report, providing evidence to the Ombudsman that it has done so by the same date.

 

Recommendations

  1. We recommend the landlord pay the resident its original offer of £50 compensation, offered during its complaint process if it has not already done so. The Ombudsman’s finding of reasonable redress is based on the understanding that this compensation will be paid.
  2. We recommend the landlord provides the resident with an update on when it plans to start the renewal works this financial year for the bathroom and kitchen.
  3. We recommend the landlord carry out staff training to ensure its appropriate staff are aware of when and how to refer a resident’s repair issue to its repairs team.