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London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (202435920)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202435920

London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham

28 July 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 damp and mould at the resident’s property.

Background

  1. The resident is a secure tenant of the landlord. The resident’s children have ADHD and autism, which the landlord is aware of.
  2. In December 2022, the resident contacted the landlord and reported damp and mould at her property.
  3. On 31 January 2023, the landlord carried out a damp and mould wash at the resident’s property following a report of damp and mould.
  4. On 25 January 2024, the resident submitted a complaint to the landlord and explained the situation had been ongoing for several years. She stated the property was covered in mould and impacting her and her children’s health. The resident also stated she had been trying to bid for another property for a while.
  5. On 29 January 2024, the landlord’s contractor attended the resident’s property and carried out mould treatment. The contractor also recommended the installation of a PIV (positive input ventilation) unit.
  6. The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response to the resident on 15 February 2024. It explained the repairs it recently carried out resolved the damp and mould at her property and asked the resident to contact it if the issue remained outstanding. The landlord also stated it would review the resident’s medical information she provided to check if she was eligible for a higher band on the housing register.
  7. On 29 February 2024, the resident contacted the landlord and requested her complaint to be escalated to the next stage of the landlord’s complaints process. However, she did not include any reasons for the escalation.
  8. On 27 March 2024, the resident sent a text message to the landlord explaining she would not be going ahead with the installation of the PIV unit at the moment, as she had nowhere to move furniture and make space.
  9. The landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response to the resident on 28 March 2024. It apologised for the impact the situation had on her and her family and stated it understood there were issues with the lack of customer service she has received and knew it affected the progression of the repairs required.
  10. The resident remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s response and submitted her complaint to the Ombudsman. She stated she would like compensation and an apology for the landlord’s failings.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. The resident raised as part of her complaint that she had been bidding for a property on the housing register for a while and provided medical information for the landlord to prioritise her on the housing register. This report will consider the resident’s complaint about the landlord’s handling of the damp and mould at her property. It will not consider the issues she raised about her request to be prioritised on the housing register list. The rules which govern our service are set out in the Housing Ombudsman Scheme. Paragraph 42.J. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme states the Ombudsman may not consider a complaint which falls properly within the jurisdiction of another ombudsman, regulator, or complaint-handling body. Housing transfers related to the housing allocation banding, which is awarded by a local authority in accordance with its allocation policy, are outside the Housing Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. Complaints about a local authority housing allocations banding scheme, fall within the jurisdiction of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO). The resident may be able to refer the complaint about this issue to the LGSCO if she wishes to pursue it further.
  2. The resident has mentioned as part of her complaint that the damp and mould has impacted her and her family’s health. We acknowledge this has been a very difficult time for the 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 family’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 and her family’s health.
  3. This report will consider the resident’s concerns about the damp and mould at her property, which she raised in her complaint to the landlord in January 2024. It will not investigate the resident’s new report of damp and mould made in December 2024 and related new separate complaint made to the landlord in March 2025 about this and other issues such as heating and a decant (temporary move). Approximately 11 months passed since the repair was resolved in January 2024 and the new damp and mould issue in December 2024. Therefore, the Ombudsman cannot conclude whether the new damp and mould issue is linked to the resident’s initial damp and mould report. In addition, as we were only recently made aware of the new additional complaint and the stage 2 complaint response was only issued to the resident in June 2025, we have not had the opportunity to request and receive the landlord’s file for the new complaint.

Policies and Procedures

  1. The landlord’s repairs policy explains that the landlord is responsible for repairing the structure and key components of the building and exterior of the property, including roofs, walls, doors, windows, gutters, and drains.
  2. In addition, the landlord’s repairs policy includes the following response timescales for the following repair categories:
    1. Urgent emergency repairs – The landlord will respond within 4 hours.
    2. Emergency repairs – The landlord will respond within 24 hours.
    3. Routine repairs – The landlord respond within 20 working days.
    4. Planned repairs – The landlord respond within 60 working days.

Assessment

  1. On 8 December 2022, the resident contacted the landlord and reported damp and mould in her property. In response to the report, the landlord acted appropriately and carried out a mould wash at the resident’s property. However, there was a slight delay in the landlord completing the mould wash, and it was not in line with the landlord’s 20 working days timescale for routine repairs.
  2. The mould wash initially resolved the damp and mould at the resident’s property and there was no evidence of a further report until 25 January 2024, when the resident submitted her complaint to the landlord. Following the report, the landlord responded quickly and took appropriate steps by visiting the resident’s property on 29 January 2024. It carried out mould treatment in the bedrooms and bathroom at the property and recommended a ventilation unit to be installed. The landlord acted reasonably by carrying out works to resolve the damp and mould at the resident’s property.
  3. Shortly after the landlord’s contractor completed the mould treatment, the landlord acted appropriately by carrying out a post–inspection of the works and confirmed the damp and mould was resolved. It also raised a work order for the installation of a PIV unit at the resident’s property. However, the landlord’s records state the resident declined the installation of the ventilation unit. The landlord also provided us with a copy of a text message from the resident, which stated she would not be going ahead with the installation of the ventilation unit at the moment, as she has nowhere to move furniture and make space. We recognise the resident’s decision to decline the installation of the ventilation unit would have been outside the landlord’s control. However, if the damp and mould was still present in the property after the mould treatment or had returned, it would have been reasonable for the landlord to follow its procedures to gain entry to the resident’s property to complete the installation of the ventilation unit.
  4. The landlord acknowledged in its stage 2 complaint response sent in March 2024 that there were some issues with its customer service which affected the progression of the required repairs and apologised for this. It was a positive step that the landlord apologised, and the landlord’s apology was reasonable and proportionate to recognise the landlord’s initial delay in completing the mould wash. The apology is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance which suggests an apology may be sufficient where the landlord has made an error or errors which may have been of short duration and may not have affected the overall outcome of a complaint. The apology amounts to reasonable redress for this aspect of the complaint. Therefore, we will not be asking the landlord to pay compensation to the resident for this complaint.
  5. We recognise the resident contacted the landlord in December 2024 to report that the damp and mould had returned and she has confirmed it is still present in the property. Although this has not been investigated as part of this report, we recommend the landlord completes necessary works to resolve the damp and mould at the resident’s property.

 

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 the landlord’s handling of damp and mould at the resident’s property.

Recommendations

  1. We recommend the landlord completes the necessary works to resolve the damp and mould at the resident’s property.