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London & Quadrant Housing Trust (202443643)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202443643

London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q)

26 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:
    1. The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports about damp and mould. 
    2. Complaint handling

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord. The landlord confirmed it had vulnerabilities recorded for the household which included physical disabilities and illness.
  2. In 2023, the resident reported damp and mould in his bedroom. The landlord completed repairs in 2023 and loft insulation work in April 2024 to resolve the issue. On 29 October 2024, the resident reported a reoccurrence of damp and mould. He said the bedroom was uninhabitable because of the impact of the mould on his health conditions. The resident complained to the landlord on 3 December 2024. He said the landlord failed to act with urgency given the household health vulnerabilities.
  3. The landlord responded at stage 1 on 19 December 2024. It sent the response to the resident on 6 January 2025 after the resident said he had not received this. The landlord confirmed a surveyor would complete an inspection within 20 working days and it would raise any necessary work following this.
  4. The resident escalated his complaint to stage 2 on 8 January 2025. He said he had not received an explanation for the delays, and the damp and mould was unresolved and this was impacting his health.
  5. The landlord issued its final response on 27 January 2025. It said its system had failed to raise the initial complaint on 3 December 2024. The landlord said it completed an inspection on 17 January 2025 and raised work to resolve the issue. This included repairs to a water tank, pointing works, checking radiators, installing a chemical damp proof course and a positive induction ventilation (PIV). It also provided details of its insurance team for claims to personal injury to health, and damage to personal belongings. The landlord said it was only able to compensate from the time of the complaint because the last report of damp and mould was in 2023 and no repairs were raised in October 2024. The landlord offered compensation of £100 for distress and inconvenience due to vulnerabilities, and £110 relating to its complaint handling.
  6. The resident remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s response. In his complaint to the Ombudsman, he said the repairs were completed but the landlord took too long. He said the issues had impacted on the health of the household and the landlord had not taken the health vulnerabilities into consideration in its response.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. In his complaint to the landlord, the resident said the damp and mould was a recurring issue over the previous 17 years. The resident raised a previous complaint about damp and mould which the landlord provided a final response to on 31 January 2024. The records show no further reports of damp and mould after this date until 29 October 2024. Therefore, In the interest of fairness, this investigation has primarily focused on the landlord’s handling of the resident’s recent reports from October 2024 onwards, and the issues considered in the landlord’s final complaint response on 27 January 2025.
  2. The resident has referred to the situation impacting his health. The resident may be able to make a personal injury claim if he considers that his 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 he wants to pursue this option. As this issue is more effectively resolved and remedied through the courts it will not be considered in this report.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports about damp and mould 

  1. In the tenancy agreement, the landlord agrees to keep the structure and exterior of the property in good repair. The landlord has a responsibility in the Decent Homes Standard to ensure its properties are free from hazards and risks. Similarly, it is required to ensure that properties remain fit for human habitation at the start of the tenancy and throughout – taking into account prescribed hazards. Damp and mould growth are a potential hazard.
  2. The tenancy terms and conditions booklet advises residents to take out home contents insurance for belongings. It says the landlord is generally not responsible for any losses a resident may suffer.
  3. The landlord repairs policy says it aims to complete routine day to day repairs in an average of 25 calendar days. In regard to vulnerable residents, the policy says the landlord is able to adjust its service standards where a delay would put a resident at risk because of their condition.
  4. The landlord’s vulnerable residents policy says residents could meet its definition of vulnerability for reasons including chronic illness.
  5. The landlord’s damp and mould policy says that following a report of damp and mould, it will agree an assessment of the property at a mutually convenient time within 20 working days to understand the scale of the problem. Any remedial works identified will be recorded and raised within 10 working days of the assessment. Multiple fixes may be required and therefore, it will be clear with residents on timescales and keep them informed throughout.
  6. The landlord’s compensation policy says it will consider paying compensation in circumstances including where it fails to follow policies, procedures or guidelines and this has a negative impact on a resident. The policy does not cover compensation for damage belongings or personal injury.
  7. The claims for personal injury or loss, or damage to personal possessions section of the landlord’s website says its insurance team handles all claims against it.
  8. The evidence shows the resident reported damp and mould to the landlord on 29 October 2024. The landlord’s records noted it discussed the report with the resident on 5 November 2024 and he had requested a surveyor visit due to this being a reoccurrence of the issue. While there is evidence of the landlord appropriately contacting the resident after this initial report, the landlord then failed to follow its damp and mould policy and arrange an inspection within 20 working days. As such, the resident took the time and trouble to raise the issue as a complaint.
  9. The records show that the landlord had not initially referred the issue for an inspection because further information was needed. There was no evidence of the landlord contacting the resident again about this. The landlord failed to retain an oversight of the report and took no action until the resident complained. This failure delayed the landlord’s initial inspection and its subsequent identification and remedy of the issues.
  10. The landlord inspected the damp and mould on 17 January 2025. This was 53 working days after the resident’s initial report. The landlord’s internal emails stated it attempted to contact the resident on 2 and 6 January to arrange an appointment. However, the landlord had already delayed arranging an inspection by this time. The landlord did not identify any of this delay and inaction in its final complaint response. It stated in error that it had no evidence of the resident reporting the issue in October 2024.
  11. Following the inspection, the landlord appropriately raised work orders In January 2025, in line with its damp and mould policy to address the issue and prevent this from reoccurring.
  12. The landlord provided an update on the works on 28 January 2025 as promised in its final response. Complex repairs and investigation of damp and mould issues may require additional time for the landlord to complete them. However, good customer service requires landlords to keep in communication with tenants and update them on the progress of repairs. The landlord’s records show the resident following up with the landlord for updates about the installation of the PIV in February, March and May 2025. The poor communication on the timescales for this work was a further failing and again not in line with its damp and mould policy.
  13. The resident told the landlord the impact of the damp was affecting the health of the household on 31 October 2024. He said the bedroom was uninhabitable because of the impact of the mould on his respiratory health conditions, including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The landlord confirmed it had vulnerabilities recorded for the household. Despite this, it failed to action an inspection until he complained. A mould wash was also not completed until 19 February 2025, which was almost 4 months after the resident’s initial report. There was no evidence of the landlord taking into consideration the household vulnerabilities in the timeliness of its response as set out in its repairs policy. The resident experienced continued damp and mould in his property while waiting for the repairs to be completed.
  14. We have not seen evidence of the resident’s claim to the landlord about damaged items, however the landlord had addressed this in its final response. We are not able to comment on whether the landlord was liable for any damage to the resident’s possessions. Given that the landlord’s compensation and complaints policies do not cover damages and personal injury, it was reasonable for the landlord to have signposted information about its own insurer, for the resident to pursue if he felt the landlord was at fault for damage or injury to health. This was also in line with the information on its website about such claims.
  15. The landlord has attempted to put things right for the resident through raising remedial works, apologising, and offering compensation of £100 for the impact due to the resident’s vulnerabilities. However, this compensation did not account for the delays from October 2024. It also failed to demonstrate it had taken learning from the complaint and identified what had gone wrong in its failure to raise an initial inspection.
  16. Overall, the landlord acknowledged the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident by the damp and mould, due to vulnerabilities, from the time of the resident’s complaint on 3 December 2024. However, it failed to identify the full extent of the delays. Therefore, it did not fully recognise the impact its failures had on the resident. While it raised and completed repairs to resolve the damp and mould, it then failed to appropriately communicate with the resident about part of these repairs through to completion. As such, the landlord did not fully remedy the issue in its complaint responses. Therefore, we have ordered a further amount of £300 compensation. This is in accordance with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance where there has been a failure which has adversely affected a resident, and the offer was not proportional to the failings we have identified.

Complaint handling

  1. The landlord has a 2 stage complaints policy. It will log and acknowledge a complaint within 5 working days. It will respond to a stage 1 complaint within 10 working days of acknowledgement, and a stage 2 complaint within 20 working days. The landlord will monitor progress until all outstanding actions are complete. Legal liability such as insurance claims are not covered.
  2. The resident complained to the landlord on 3 December 2024. The landlord initially failed to raise this, and the resident had to take the time and trouble to follow up on 13 December 2024. The landlord responded at stage 1 on 19 December 2024, however, the resident did not receive this response. The evidence shows the landlord sent this to the resident on 6 January 2024, after it was aware he had not received the response. On both occasions it acted quickly to resolve the errors once aware.
  3. In its final response, the landlord acknowledged its failure to raise the resident’s complaint on 3 December 2024 and its further error in failing to send the stage 1 response on 19 December 2024. It explained why this happened and offered the resident £110 compensation for its poor complaint handling. This was appropriate to recognise the inconvenience it caused the resident by the complaint handling. The offer of compensation was in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports about damp and mould. 
  2. In accordance with paragraph 53.b of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was reasonable redress in respect of the landlord’s complaint handling.

Orders and recommendations

Orders.

  1. The landlord must, within 4 weeks of this report:
    1. apologise to the resident in writing for the failings identified in this report.
    2. pay the resident compensation of £300 for the further failings identified in its handling of the resident’s reports about damp and mould. This amount is in addition to the £100 already paid.
    3. provide evidence of compliance with the above orders to the Service within 4 weeks of the date of this determination.