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Camden Council (202325423)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202325423

Camden Council

5 June 2024


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 response to reports of a leak, and damp and mould.

2.     The Ombudsman has also considered the landlord’s complaint handling.

Background

3.     The resident is an assured tenant. Her tenancy began in 2013 and the property is a 2-bedroom flat, within a block. The landlord is a local authority. The resident’s complaint relates to a leak in her living room from a balcony above, along with damp and mould in the property’s living room and spare bedroom.

4.     The resident has said the property has a history of damp. The landlord did not provide this service with a copy of the resident’s original repair report. The resident has provided her own timeline of reports of damp in 2013 and visits by the landlord in 2015 and 2017. Repair records show the landlord completed a damp and condensation survey on 21 January 2022. The landlord did not provide a copy of the findings on this visit. There is gap in evidence following the landlord’s survey.

5.     In November 2022 the landlord raised mould treatment and investigative works for the property. No evidence was seen to show what prompted the inspection. There is no evidence of communication between January and November 2022 between the landlord and resident.

6.     The resident said from November 2022, in addition to the repairs required at the property, she had been left in a damp flat, with plaster scraped off the walls in the living room and her spare bedroom. She said there was ‘a pipe dripping water into her living room when it rained’. She also said her health was suffering due to the situation. The resident made a formal complaint on 4 December 2022. She asked the landlord to update her on what repairs were planned.

7.     The landlord responded at stage 1 of its complaint process on 3 February 2023. This was around 41 days after the resident’s complaint. She said she did not receive the response at this point because the landlord mistakenly sent another case from different resident in error. The key points from the landlord’s stage 1 response were:

  1. The landlord acknowledged it had failed to provide the resident with a good service,
  2. In order to stop the leak affecting her flat the landlord needed to access the property above the resident’s flat. This was delayed because the landlord lost the keys to an empty property above,
  3. The landlord was sorry for the insufficient communication between internal landlord departments which had led to a delay in processing the complaint. It apologised for the inconvenience this failing had caused.

8.     The resident escalated her complaint on 23 April 2023. She said she had been very patient over the years, however, she felt ‘fobbed off’ by the landlord’s response. The landlord issued a reply under stage 2 of its complaints process on 24 May 2023 and upheld the resident’s complaint. The key points were:

  1. The landlord would ensure the repairs were resolved. Its damp team had been asked to visit the resident,
  2. The resident was awarded £450 in compensation. This was based on £150 for the delay in repairs between November 2022 and March 2023 and £300 for the resident’s distress, time and trouble.

9.     Photographs provided by the landlord show completed repairs to a balcony above the property in September 2023. Subsequently, during a phone call in May 2024, the resident told the Ombudsman the repair issues were resolved. However, she wanted us to consider the landlord’s handling of the repair. It was understood she felt the landlord’s compensation was also unfair.

Assessment and findings

10.   It is recognised the situation was distressing for the resident. The timeline shows it has been ongoing for a considerable period. Where the Ombudsman finds failure on a landlord’s part, we can consider the resulting distress and inconvenience.

 

 

Scope of Investigation

11.      The resident has referenced repair issues dating back to 2013. Though her concerns are acknowledged, the scope of an Ombudsman investigation can be limited to various factors including the time that has passed. Given the above, our assessment focused on events from around January 2022 onwards.

Policies, procedures, and other relevant information

12.      The landlord’s tenancy conditions state:

  1. the landlord must keep the structure and exterior of the property in repair and good working order,
  2. the resident must tell [the landlord] promptly about any damage to the home and any defects.

13.      The landlord’s repairs policy says the repairs service can repair leaks, mould, and damp and the wait time for non-emergency repairs is 20 working days.

14.      The landlord operates a 2-stage complaints policy. It shows the landlord will respond to complaints within 10 working days at stage 1. At stage 2 the landlord will respond within 20 working days.

15.      The Ombudsman’s three principles behind effective dispute resolution are:

  1. be fair,
  2. put things right,
  3. learn from outcomes.

The landlord’s response to a leak, and damp and mould at the property

16.      The resident said following a visit on 21 November 2022 the landlord left her property with the repairs unfinished and with plaster scraped from the walls. Furniture had also been moved and plastic had been put on the flooring in the living room and spare bedroom. The landlord returned the following day, but it did not help the resident fully return her flat to how it was. The second bedroom was not made usable as the state the room made it unsuitable for her grandchildren to stay over.

17.      On 4 December 2022 the resident raised a formal complaint to the landlord about the leak and the damp and mould at the property. In February 2023, the landlord issued its stage 1 response to the resident. It said it had inspected an empty property above the resident’s flat and found no evidence of a leak in that area. The landlord also said that it would visit the resident to take on board her concerns and view the state of her property. There is no evidence to show this visit took place.

18.      The resident received a complaint response addressed to a different resident and concerning a different complaint point. She contacted the landlord to enquire after her own response, however, maintained that she was never provided with the response that referred to her complaint.

19.      On 21 March 2023 the landlord’s contractor attended the property and conducted an inspection. The resident stated the contractor informed her that it would report to the landlord who would be in touch regarding scheduling the required works.

20.      The resident stated she did not receive any communication from the landlord and so on 23 April 2023 she escalated her complaint to stage 2 of the landlord’s process.

21.      When the resident escalated her complaint, she said she was looking for resolutions. She asked for the landlord to sort out the damp or move her to another property and reduce her rent or award compensation for the years of stress and time spent on chasing and waiting for repair appointments.

22.      In the landlord’s response it reiterated the actions it had taken to date. This included attending in November 2022 to undertake works to repair damage caused by leaks, however, it stopped the work pending fixing the root cause of the leaks. The landlord acknowledged that it had left the property in a dishevelled state. It stated that roofers had attended the property in March 2023 and cleaned drainage gulleys and outlets and were satisfied there were no leaks from the roof. The landlord stated that it had enquired as to whether there had been further leaks with the resident, and that she stated there had not, however, the internal walls within the property were still damp.

23.      The landlord stated that it would arrange for its damp team to attend the property and a surveyor would inform the resident of the work required to dry the walls in order for them to be redecorated. The landlord did not acknowledge her request to be moved or the impact on the resident from the delay in resolving the repairs.

24.      The landlord offered £450 in compensation. This was based on £150 for the delay in repairs between November 2022 and March 2023 and £300 for the resident’s distress, time and trouble.

25.      On 27 July 2023 the landlord contacted its contractor and asked it to contact the resident and attend the property to establish if the balcony above the resident’s property was causing the leak. This was information which contravened the landlord’s messaging about the root cause that was sent to the resident as part of its stage 2 response.

26.      This Service has seen evidence of repair works in September 2023 for the balcony above the resident’s property. This was 4 months after the stage 2 response, 9 months after the resident’s initial complaint and 2 years after the resident had first made the landlord aware of the repair work needed to prevent the leak into her living room.

27.      It has been difficult for this Service to assess the extent of the damp and mould that was present at the property. This is due to the landlord’s failure to provide results or notes from inspections and surveys. There has also been a lack of record keeping and difficulties in communicating with the resident, as evidenced by the failure to provide a stage 1 response by the landlord. Given that damp and mould are potential health hazards this service expects that the landlord should have good records that evidences actions taken and its decisions made in the management and treatment of damp and mould. It should also have an effective complaint handling process. The lack of record keeping has impacted the time it took for the landlord to resolve the repairs efficiently for the resident and also to manage the complaints process in this case. This has caused unreasonable delays to the resident achieving resolution.

28.      During the landlords attempts to resolve the issue, it arranged damp and mould surveys at the property which appeared to be conducted previously in 2022. The repair records do not show what happened following the first survey and this is indicative of poor record keeping that delayed progress to resolution and potentially repeating work.

29.      The landlord’s policy states that non-emergency repairs will be completed within 20 working days. There has been a significant delay between the resident reporting the leaks and damp to there being meaningful repairs being conducted. This was despite the resident raising and escalating a complaint. There was no significant sense of urgency in the landlord’s attempts to resolve the situation.

30.      On 6 February 2024 the landlord’s repair log marked the damp and mould on the internal walls as completed. The resident has confirmed it was at this time the walls were treated, and her second bedroom was made usable again. This was over 2 years since they had scraped the walls, moved the furniture, and put plastic down in this room. It is reasonable to conclude that she was unable to fully enjoy the property during this period.

31.      The significant failure to comply with its repair timescales is inappropriate and the delay to complete the repair to the resident’s property was unreasonable. The impact on the delays was such that the resident was not able to fully use her property and was unable to have her grandchildren to stay over. This led to distress and inconvenience for the resident in chasing the landlord to action the necessary repairs. These failures amount to maladministration on the landlord’s behalf. The landlord has offered compensation of £450 however this does not reflect the level of distress and inconvenience detailed above. As such the landlord will be ordered to pay additional compensation to reflect the significant impact upon the resident for it’s failures.

32.      The landlord calculated the compensation based on repair delays between November 2022 to March 2023. The landlord’s repair records show internal works were not completed until January 2024. The landlord’s compensation award did not cover the full complaint timeline. It was therefore disproportionate and a breach of its compensation policy. This action caused further upset to the resident.

33.      Given the circumstances, the Ombudsman will order increased compensation to put things right for the resident based on the information seen. Our calculation will include a flat rate of £20 per month for the duration of the delay period to reflect the resident’s loss of amenity. In line with our approach to compensation within the Ombudsman’s guidance on remedies. It will also include a separate element to address the distress and inconvenience she was caused.

34.      In summary, the landlord failed to comply with its repair policy and delayed unreasonably in providing an effective joined-up repairs service. As a result of these failings, the Ombudsman finds that there was maladministration by the landlord in this case.

The landlord’s complaint handling

35.      The resident made a formal complaint on 4 December 2022. The landlord responded at stage 1 of its complaint process on 3 February 2023. This was around 41 days after the resident’s complaint. The landlord’s policy states it will respond to complaints within 10 working days at stage 1. The landlord did not communicate any reasons as to why the response was delayed and the failing to comply with its policy was inappropriate. The was a significant delay beyond the policy time and was unreasonable.

36.      At stage 2 the target response time was 20 working days, the landlord was around 2 days delayed. This delay was unlikely to have caused a significant impact on the resident. However, it did not respond to the resident’s request to be rehomed as a result of the damp and mould. It did not acknowledge the distress and inconvenience caused to her. In the circumstances this was unreasonable and a complaint handling failure.

37.      The delay at stage 1 of the complaints process would have impacted the resident by denying her resolution at the earliest opportunity, in line with the landlord’s complaints policy. This, in conjunction with the failure at stage 2, to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by the service failures as part of its damp and mould handling, was unreasonable. In order to put things right for the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident as a result of the landlord’s complaint handling failures, an order will be made for compensation.

Determination (decision)

38.      In accordance with paragraph 52 there was maladministration in respect of the landlord’s handling of:

  1. repairs to a leak, and damp and mould at the property,

39.      In accordance with paragraph 52 there was a service failure in respect of the landlord’s handling of:

  1. the associated complaints.

Orders

40.      Within 4 weeks of the date of the report the landlord should apologise in writing to the resident for its handling of the repairs and her complaint. The apology must reflect the findings above.

41.      Within 4 weeks of the date of the report the landlord should pay the resident £1150, inclusive of the £450 previously offered, in compensation. This comprises of:

  1. £600 for distress and inconvenience of the handling of repairs at the property,
  2. £500 for the loss of amenity over 25-month period, equivalent to £20 per month,
  3. £50 for complaint handling failures.

The landlord is free to deduct any amount already paid to the resident from the above total.

42.      The landlord must review the root cause of repairs failing and outline what steps it will take to prevent re-occurrence and ensure that repairs are completed promptly and efficiently going forward. The landlord must provide this service with a copy of the review document to ensure compliance.

43.      Evidence must be provided by the landlord to this service to show that the orders have been complied with, no later than 4 weeks after the date of this report.