The Guinness Partnership Limited (202319901)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202319901

Shepherds Bush Housing Association Limited

19 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

The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
1. Repairs to the property.
2. The resident’s reports of damp and mould.
3. An external sewage leak.
4. A pest infestation.

Background

The resident lives in the property, owned by the landlord, under an assured tenancy. The property is a 2-bedroom ground floor flat and he has lived there since September 2021. The landlord has recorded vulnerabilities for the resident, including that he uses a wheelchair.
The resident spoke to us on 13 March 2024 and asked us to raise a complaint about a number of issues, including repairs, pests, a sewage leak and damp and mould to the landlord on his behalf. The landlord sent its stage 1 response on 4 April 2024, in which it said:
1. it had found issues with the ventilation system in November 2023 but had not found any mould
2. it would be in contact within 5 working days to complete a damp and mould checklist and inspect the ventilation system
3. the resident had reported a pest infestation in November 2023 and an initial inspection was carried out on 15 February 2024
4. it apologised for not completing sewage works to the required standard – it had arranged for a contractor to inspect and clean the area on 6 October 2023
5. the resident had reported a broken toilet seat in November 2023 – the landlord had tried, unsuccessfully, to obtain the specification from the local council and was now making enquiries with a contractor
6. it acknowledged that there had been a delay in carrying out repairs to a fence and the bathroom door
7. it had no record of any reports of issues with the electrics within the previous 6 months and asked him to let it know if there were any outstanding issues
8. it offered him compensation of £200, broken down as follows:
  1. £50 for delays in attending the ventilation system
  2. £50 for delays in reviewing the pest infestation
  3. £50 for delays in repairing the toilet seat
  4. £50 for delays in making the fence safe
It is not clear from the landlord’s records when the resident requested escalation of the complaint, however the landlord confirmed the escalation on 17 May 2024. It sent its stage 2 response on 13 June 2024, in which it said it agreed with the outcome of its stage 1 response. It said it was unclear from his escalation request what repairs he felt were outstanding but confirmed it had several open repair jobs.
On 17 July 2024 the resident confirmed to this Service that he wanted us to investigate the complaint as he felt repairs remained outstanding.

Assessment and findings

Scope of the investigation

This Service has previously investigated a complaint about similar issues under case 202212275. In accordance with the Scheme, we will not investigate complaints which the Housing Ombudsman has already decided upon.
The version of the Scheme in place at the time the resident made his complaint also said we will not investigate matters that were not brought to the attention of the landlord within 6 months of the matters arising. The resident raised the complaint with the landlord in March 2024. The historical issues provide contextual background to the current complaint. However, this investigation has not considered issues with the electrics at the property, as this occurred before September 2023.
The resident has also raised further complaints with the landlord about similar issues, which have not fully completed the landlord’s internal complaints process. If the resident remains unhappy about ongoing issues, he should ask the landlord to escalate his ongoing complaint and provide him with a final response. This investigation has focused on events between September 2023 and June 2024 when the landlord issued its stage 2 response.
The resident has raised concerns about his health and the impact on this by the issues raised. Whilst this service is an alternative to the courts, it is unable to establish legal liability or whether a landlord’s actions or lack of action have had a detrimental impact on a resident’s health. Nor can it calculate or award damages.
The Ombudsman is therefore unable to consider the personal injury aspect of the resident’s complaint. These matters are likely better suited to consideration by a court or via a personal injury claim. While the Ombudsman cannot consider the effect on health, consideration has been given to any general distress and inconvenience which the resident may have experienced because of any service failure by the landlord.

Repairs

The landlord’s responsive repairs policy sets out the following repairs timescales:
1. priority 0 – immediate response – resolve within 4 hours
2. priority 1 – emergency – resolve within 24 hours
3. priority 2 – urgent – resolve within 5 days
4. priority 3 – routine – resolve within 20 days
5. priority 4 – complex and major repairs – resolve within 40 days
The resident reported issues with the electrics, where the ventilation system was tripping the electrics, in March, May and June 2023. The landlord’s contractor visited in April and May but did not find a fault. It carried out repairs to the wiring of the system in July 2023, which it said resolved the problem. We have seen no evidence that the resident subsequently reported any further issues with the electrics.
On 27 November 2023 the resident emailed the landlord to say that his toilet seat had been broken since June 2023. We have seen no evidence that the resident had previously reported this. The resident’s Occupational Therapist also reported this to the landlord on 5 December. They said that he was having to use a commode and a replacement toilet seat was required urgently.
On 11 December 2023 the landlord wrote to the resident about adaptation work. It enclosed a copy of the proposed plan of the kitchen and asked him for his availability to start work. On 28 and 29 December the resident reported having no heating and hot water. The landlord’s contractor attended the same day on both occasions to resolve. On 31 December he again reported to the landlord that he had no heating or hot water. On 2 January 2024 the landlord told the resident that he should have reported the heating issue to its emergency helpline, but had passed a message to the Repairs team that day. The landlord did not reattend to check the system was working, which was not appropriate, however there is no evidence the resident reported any further issues.
On 13 March 2024 we spoke with the resident, who asked us to raise a complaint to the landlord on his behalf, which we did the same day. He raised the following repairs issues:
1. issues with the electrics
2. broken toilet seat
3. delays to repairs
4. the landlord’s failure to install additional kitchen cupboards
The landlord sent its stage 1 response on 4 April 2024. It said that it was having difficulties obtaining the specifications for a replacement toilet seat, but was currently making enquiries with a contractor, after the local council was unable to provide this information. It offered £50 compensation for delays to carrying out this repair, which was reasonable.
The landlord said it had attended following reports of a lack of hot water and heating in line with its repairs policy timescales. It had not re-attended after his report on 2 January 2024, and it apologised for this. It asked him to let it know if he was still experiencing issues. As he did not report further issues, this was a reasonable response by the landlord.
The landlord said that it had agreed to adjust the bathroom door, despite this being the resident’s responsibility. This work was scheduled for 17 April 2024. It acknowledged that it had failed to schedule work to repair his fence following a visit on 24 November 2023. It confirmed this work had now been completed on 13 March 2024. It offered £50 compensation to recognise this delay, which was reasonable.
The landlord said that it had made multiple attempts to arrange works to the resident’s kitchen since November 2023. It said he had told it he was having issues reading emails so it had sent him letters on 14 November, 11 December and 12 December 2023, but had received no response. We have seen no evidence that the resident responded to the landlord’s attempts to arrange a start date for kitchen work, so its actions were reasonable.
The resident had reported a crack in the living room ceiling, which the landlord confirmed was a result of a leak from the flat above. This was reported on 27 March and 3 April 2024 and the landlord confirmed it attended on 3 April to inspect this. It confirmed it would be carrying out repairs and would then repaint the ceiling.
The landlord did not investigate the resident’s issues with the electrics as it said that it had not received any reports of an issue within the previous 6 months. We have not seen any evidence to the contrary, and this response was reasonable, in line with the Scheme in place at the time.
In the landlord’s stage 2 response of 13 June 2024, it said it had been unable to speak with him over the phone to get clarification of what repairs he felt were outstanding. It said it had raised a job for repairs to the bathroom that he had recently raised. It said it would contact him to arrange a clean of the bathroom first, and would then carry out the work. Cleaning the bathroom is outside the scope of what we would expect a landlord to do, so this was a reasonable offer from the landlord.
There were failings by the landlord in the delay repairing the fence, and in it completing the promised toilet seat replacement. However, the landlord acknowledged these in the complaint responses. The Ombudsman is of the view that the compensation and apology offered by the landlord during its internal complaints process was proportionate to the distress and inconvenience caused, and in line with this Service’s remedies guidance and was therefore reasonable.
Taking all matters into account the Ombudsman finds reasonable redress in relation to the landlord’s handling of repairs to the property.

Damp and mould

In November 2023 the resident reported damp and mould in the property, which he said he thought was caused by a problem with ventilation. In its stage 1 response of 4 April 2024, the landlord said it had attended on 24 November 2023. It had found that the ventilation system was not working, but it had not found any mould. It said it had incorrectly taken no further action, which it apologised for. It offered £50 compensation for this issue and said it would be in contact within 5 working days to carry out a damp and mould checklist.
There is no evidence the landlord carried out the promised checklist, or that it took any further action before issuing its stage 2 response of 13 June 2024. In this it said that it had an open damp and mould case, with a appointment booked for 17 June 2024 to repair the ventilation system. This appointment was not in line with the landlord’s repairs policy, and it provided no explanation for why it had taken more than 2 months to arrange this appointment.
A contractor visit went ahead and a quote from a contractor was accepted on 17 June 2024. After this, several bookings were made for repairs to be carried out, but were cancelled due to contractor issues, including a vehicle breakdown and contractor illness. On 28 November 2024 a new job was raised for the ventilation system.
An appointment was booked for work to be carried out on 25 March 2025, however it is not known if the work was completed on this date. As explained above, the resident has raised a further complaint about the ongoing issues after the landlord issued its final response in June 2024. So, these issues with appointments have not been investigated in this report.
The Ombudsman considers there to have been service failure by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould. It did not follow through with the damp and mould checklist promised in its stage 1 response. It did confirm in its stage 2 response that it had opened a damp and mould case and an appointment for a repair had been booked. However this appointment was not arranged within the timescale set out in the landlord’s repairs policy, and the stage 2 response did not recognise this.
An order has been made for the landlord to pay the resident compensation of £100 to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by this delay. This amount has been awarded with the landlord’s compensation policy in mind. This brings the total compensation for this issue to £150.
The landlord has confirmed to this Service that it has been having ongoing difficulties in obtaining access to the resident’s property to carry out inspections and repairs. However, a recommendation has been made that the landlord continues to attempt access and if it is able to do so, it should carry out a full damp and mould survey.

External sewage leak

On 17 July 2023 the resident told the landlord that sewage was surging out of a drain in the garden. The landlord’s contractor attended the same day, in line with the emergency response time set out in the landlord’s repairs policy, which was reasonable. The contractor found that the drain was blocked by a mass of baby wipes and concrete and the blockage was cleared.
On 13 September 2023 the resident emailed the landlord to say that a manhole in the garden had been left as a trip hazard following the sewage leak in July. On 19 September we raised a complaint about this issue only to the landlord on the resident’s behalf.
The landlord arranged for a contractor to visit on 3 October. The job sheet completed for the visit in July noted that the garden was left clean and tidy. However, on this visit it was found that the previous contractor had left a manhole damaged and sewage all over the garden. This was not an appropriate way for the garden to be left, especially given the resident’s vulnerabilities. A new manhole cover was ordered and on 8 October 2023 the contractor fitted the new manhole cover, descaled the drain and washed down the sewage.
The landlord has said it sent a stage 1 response to the resident in October or November 2023, however we have not seen a copy of this response. When we asked the landlord to raise a new complaint in March 2024, including the sewage leak issue, the landlord should have escalated the previous complaint to stage 2. We have seen no evidence that it did this, and in its stage 1 and 2 response in April and June 2024 it referred back to its previous stage 1 response. It said that it had apologised that the work was not completed to the required standard and had arranged for further work to be completed. No evidence has been provided that it offered any redress to recognise the impact of this issue on the resident.
The Ombudsman considers there to have been maladministration by the landlord in its handling of the external sewage leak. Despite telling the landlord the area was left clean and tidy, it was subsequently found that the original contractor had left sewage across the garden and a broken manhole cover. The landlord has not demonstrated during its complaint handling processes that it recognised the impact this had on the resident, given his vulnerabilities.
An order has been made for the landlord to pay the resident compensation of £150 to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by this issue. This award has been made with the landlord’s compensation policy in mind. If the landlord has already paid any compensation to the resident for this issue following its initial stage 1 response, this amount can be deducted from this figure.

Pest infestation

The landlord’s pest control policy says that pests inside a resident’s home or private garden are the responsibility of the resident. The landlord will signpost residents to their local council’s pest control services. The landlord is responsible for dealing with pests in any communal areas.
On 3 October 2023 a contractor of the landlord that inspected the garden following the sewage leak noted that as well as a damaged manhole and dry sewage ‘all over the garden’ it had found rat holes. It was not until 14 November 2023 the landlord acknowledged in writing to the resident that he had raised an issue with a pest infestation.
The landlord raised a job for a pest control contractor on 16 January 2024, who visited on 15 February. The landlord has not provided evidence that the rat infestation was isolated to the resident’s property only, and agreed to carry out treatment. Given that the sewage in the garden and damaged manhole cover, left by the landlord’s contractor, would not have helped the rat situation, it was appropriate for the landlord to take responsibility for resolving the rat infestation.
The landlord should, therefore, have arranged treatment within its repairs policy timescales. However, it took more than 4 months for the first pest control visit, which was outside the timescale for routine repairs and so represented an unreasonable delay.
During the visit on 15 February 2024, the contractor noted that there was a ‘bad rat infestation’ requiring a 5-6 part treatment, with up to 20 rat boxes to be placed. In its stage 1 response of 4 April 2024, the landlord acknowledged that there had been a delay in it sending a contractor to start treatment. It offered £50 compensation to recognise this delay. This compensation did not appropriate recognise the impact of its failings on the resident.
The contractor attended again in April, May and June 2024. They rebaited bait stations, filled a burrow hole in the garden and installed a camera to monitor pest activity. The landlord’s stage 2 response of 13 June 2024 said that pest control was ongoing, and explained that the contractor had to leave time between visits to ensure baiting had worked.
The landlord’s records show the final pest control visit took place on 1 July 2024 and the job was fully completed. We have seen no evidence that the resident has reported further issues with rats since the job was completed.
The Ombudsman considers there to have been maladministration by the landlord in its handling of a pest infestation. The landlord’s complaint responses did not recognise that the actions of its contractor who dealt with the sewage leak likely impacted the rat situation. It was unreasonable that pest control treatment did not start until more than 4 months after its contractor identified rat holes in the garden. Its offer of compensation did not go far enough to put things right for the resident.
An order has been made for the landlord to pay the resident additional compensation of £200 to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused to him by the rat infestation. This award has been made with the landlord’s compensation policy in mind. This brings the total compensation for this issue to £250.

Determination

In accordance with paragraph 53(b) of the Scheme, there was reasonable redress by the landlord in relation to its handling of repairs to the property.
In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme there was service failure by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould.
In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in relation to its handling of:
1. an external sewage leak
2. a pest infestation

Orders

The landlord to pay the resident total compensation of £550, less any amount already paid during its internal complaints process, broken down as follows:
1. £150 to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of his reports of damp and mould
2. £150 to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of an external sewage leak
3. £250 to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of a pest infestation
The landlord to apologise in writing to the resident for the failures identified in this report.
The landlord to provide us with evidence of compliance with the above orders within 28 days of this report.

Recommendations

The landlord to pay the resident £100 compensation offered during its internal complaints process in relation to repairs, if it has not already done so.
The landlord to continue to try obtain access to the property in order to carry out a full damp and mould survey.