ForHousing Limited (202221471)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202221471

ForHousing Limited

31 January 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

The complaint is about:
1. The landlord’s handling of damp works required to the resident’s property and associated repairs following the works.
2. The landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint, including request for compensation.

Background

The resident lives in a one bedroom flat, located on the ground floor and built approximately in 1979. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord, and the tenancy began on 13 July 2016.
The landlord’s repairs policy states it applies the following timescales for repairs:
1. Emergency repairs within 24 hours.
2. Urgent repairs within 3 working days.
3. Routine repairs within 30 working days.
4. Damp repairs within 40 working days.
5. Replacement repairs within 80 working days.
The landlord’s repairs policy states that where there is no access to a resident’s property, its contractor’s planners will make three attempts by telephone. On the third attempt, they will also send a letter with a future appointment date or advising the tenant the job will be cancelled and they should contact to re-arrange. The contractors will cancel this job with the reason ‘no contact’.
When an operative attends a property and is unable to gain access, they complete a no access card and post it through the door of the property. The card advises the tenant it has attended and the job will be cancelled, requesting they contact to rearrange. The contractor will cancel the job with the reason ‘no access’.
The landlord’s repairs policy states that where a repair cannot be completed on first visit and follow on works are required, a further appointment will be arranged with the tenant before the operative leaves the property. Repair requests will be confirmed by phone, in writing or in a text message to the tenant. This will include a description of the repair, the date and time of appointment and the name of the contractor.
If a repair cannot be completed within the stated timescale (e.g. if a replacement component is required), the contractor will inform the tenant of the revised timescale which may, due to the nature of the works, be progressed as investment works outside of the policy.
The landlord’s damp and mould procedure states all repairs identified during a damp inspection will be raised within 24 hours of the inspection being completed. All damp works will be raised on the repairs system with a 40 working day target. Work in progress checks will be caried out in line with the landlord’s repairs and maintenance procedures.
Section one of the landlord’s redress policy states redress consisted of three stages:
1. First response – identify and agree an appropriate remedy within 2 working days.
2. Stage one – a full investigation into the complaint by a manager from the relevant service area within 10 working days of escalation of the Initial Complaint.
3. Stage two – an independent review of the complaint carried out by the Customer Feedback & Improvement Team within 5 working days of escalation or within 21 working days of escalation where a Complaints Panel is required.
Section two of the landlord’s redress policy stated complaints would automatically escalate to the next stage if it failed to agree an appropriate remedy or timeframe for delivery, or it failed to deliver the agreed remedy or timeframe.
It is noted that the landlord has issued a new complaints policy with effect from 24 February 2023. This investigation however will consider the actions of the landlord against the redress policy in place at the time of the complaint
This Service’s spotlight report on damp and mould (published October 2021) provides recommendations for landlords which include:
1. Adopt a zero-tolerance approach to damp and mould interventions. Landlords should review their current strategy and consider whether their approach will achieve this.
2. Ensure they can identify complex cases at an early stage and have a strategy for keeping residents informed and effective resolution.
3. Ensure that they clearly and regularly communicate with their residents regarding actions taken or otherwise to resolve reports of damp and mould.
4. Identify where an independent, mutually agreed and suitably qualified surveyor should be used, share the outcomes of all surveys and inspections with residents to help them understand the findings and be clear on next steps. Landlords should then act on accepted survey recommendations in a timely manner.

Summary of events

On 22 December 2021 the resident reported damp at his property to the landlord. The landlord arranged an appointment for 13 January 2022 to inspect the resident’s property.
On 13 January 2022 the landlord’s operative inspected the resident’s property and concluded two proprietary vents were to be installed and pointing was required to the bottom of the property.
A damp survey was conducted on 30 June 2022 by the landlord. The survey found:
1. Rising damp, black mould growth, peeling wallpaper and hygroscopic damp in the bathroom.
2. Black mould growth and rising damp in the bedroom.
3. Crumbling plaster, efflorescence salts present in the hall/landing.
4. Plastering cracked and falling off the wall, black mould growth and external wall render cracked in the lounge.
On 19 August 2022 operatives of the landlord attended the resident’s property and removed boxing and repaired a leak on the basin wastepipe going into the soil stack.
On 13 September 2022 the landlord’s records state the resident made a complaint. A copy of the resident’s original complaint was not made available to this investigation, but this Service was provided with an extract of the notes from the landlord’s systems. The notes stated the resident reported damp on 5 July 2022 and works should have been completed by 31 August 2022. The resident said he had called several times and sent emails however no response had been received from the landlord.
On 25 October 2022 the landlord decanted the resident at a hotel until the required works were completed at the property.
On 31 October 2022 the landlord’s operatives attended the resident’s property to begin works in the lounge, bedroom, hall, and bathroom.
The resident contacted the landlord on 9 November 2022, asking what was happening with the works at his property as he had been told the works needed to be done by 11 November 2022. The landlord responded the same day and informed the resident he was only booked into the hotel until 9 November 2022 and could return to his property. The resident returned to his property and informed the landlord works were still being done and were not finished.
On 10 November 2022 the resident contacted the landlord, stating he had no gas in the property. The resident stated an engineer had been to the property, but he had not been in, and the engineer did not use the keys in the key safe. The resident also asked if someone was to attend to complete works in the bathroom. The landlord responded and said it would arrange for all works to be raised by 14 November 2022.
On the 14 November 2022 the resident contacted the landlord to say he had not heard anything further from it. The resident said he had half a bathroom, and it was the sixth day without hot water and heating.
On 21 November 2022 an operative of the landlord attended the resident’s property to complete works in the bathroom, including a leak from the toilet, sealing the bath and fitting a shower riser and shower curtain. The landlord’s records stated no access was possible to the property.
The landlord’s operative attended the resident’s property on 28 November 2022 to carry out the required works.
On 13 December 2022 the landlord issued its stage one response. The landlord stated:
1. It apologised for the delay in its response.
2. After reviewing and consulting with its contractor, the works required were not allocated enough time and had been incorrectly planned in. It apologised to the resident and said it was addressing this with its contractors.
3. Works in progress visits were not completed as instructed; it apologised as that would have highlighted the issues the resident raised before he returned home.
4. Due to the amount of works still to be completed, a schedule was provided consisting of:
  1. Monday 9 January 2023 – Plastering works and an electrician, plumber and glazier to remove fixtures and fittings.
  2. Tuesday 10 January 2023 to Tuesday 17 January 2023 – Plastering works.
  3. Friday 20 January 2023 – Electrician, plumber and joiner to reinstate fixtures and fittings.
  4. Monday 23 January 2023 to Tuesday 24 January 2023 – Tiling works.
5. It apologised for the resident being left without heating, its internal process was not followed which resulted in the delay and chase ups by the resident were not actioned fast enough which caused further delays.
6. It offered £750 compensation to the resident for the upset and inconvenience caused.
The resident called the landlord on 3 January 2023 and asked if he could be decanted while the works proposed were being completed. The resident also enquired about the compensation of £750 being paid as he had provided his card details but had no further update. The landlord’s internal records noted the jobs proposed were not yet on its systems.
On 9 January 2023 the resident contacted the landlord as he was expecting the works to begin and requested an update. The landlord checked its systems and established the works were raised on 6 January 2023 but had not been planned in. The resident was informed, and he requested his complaint be escalated to the next stage as the works had not gone ahead as agreed in the stage one response. The resident said he was annoyed with the lack of communication and planning of the works from the landlord. The resident requested for an end date for when the works would be completed.
On 20 January 2023 the landlord’s operative attended the resident’s property to carry out plastering works in the living room and bedroom but stated they were unable to gain access.
On 6 February 2023 the landlord’s records show it could see the dates that were provided to the resident in the stage one response but there was confusion over the dates being a duplicate job and when the outstanding works were to be completed. The landlord also noted the complaint had been closed.
On 9 February 2023 the resident spoke to the landlord regarding the outstanding works. The landlord advised that operatives attended on 20 January 2023 but were unable to gain access. The resident said he was not given an appointment date so was not aware of the visit. The resident did say he received a letter from the landlord’s operatives regarding works that required a joiner and plasterer, but this did not contain a date. The resident asked for the works to be rebooked.
On 3 April 2023 the landlord issued an acknowledgement of the resident’s request for his complaint to be escalated to stage two. The landlord asked the resident to provide a reason for the escalation request. The landlord apologised if the resident had already provided the reason but said it required the reason to ensure the complaint was reviewed in the most thorough way.
The landlord spoke to the resident on 6 April 2023 and the resident provided the following reasons for his escalation request:
1. Extensive repairs following damp works not completed.
2. He was currently sleeping on the sofa as his bedroom was a mess and he only had half a bathroom.
3. Works were scheduled from 9 January 2023 but no one turned up.
4. He had repeatedly asked for the complaint to go to stage two but it had not happened until now.
5. No compensation to cover damaged furniture due to mould.
6. He had been reporting damp and mould since 2021.
The landlord informed the resident it would provide the stage two response by 2 May 2023.
The landlord visited the resident’s property on 25 April 2023. The landlord provided a list of outstanding works for the property. It stated it was aware an appointment was booked with the resident for 27 April 2023 and the works identified would take 2-2.5 days to complete. It asked if the scheduled appointment could be extended to accommodate the works which included:
1. Both window reveals in dining room were loose and needed hacking off and replastering.
2. Window board missing in front of property.
3. Various repair patches around door frames.
4. Pendoc missing in bathroom and living room.
5. Bath panel not fitted correctly and to be replaced with white plastic panel.
6. Pipework to be redone in bathroom.
7. Boxing in (in the bathroom) had been fitted and cut short and needed redoing.
8. Front door was loose and to reseal the door inside and out.
On 2 May 2023 the landlord spoke to the resident regarding the works that had been carried out. The resident stated he was unhappy with the quality of the works that had been completed. The landlord agreed that the works had not been completed to the required standard, including:
1. Door frames were slightly better, but still wobbled.
2. The boxing in the bathroom was redone but bowed at the bottom and it was advised by an operative that this would need to be removed again when the flooring was completed. The stop tap had been boxed in and sealed the screws with silicone and the sink was not secure.
3. There was still a hole at the top of the front door and the door frame still wobbled.
4. Electric sockets were out of the wall and mould was around seals in the windows.
The landlord requested that further works were raised to address the outstanding issues on 3 May 2023. Works for plastering, joinery, tiling, plumbing, electrical work and flooring were scheduled to take place on 22 May 2023, 23 May 2023 and 24 May 2023.
The resident contacted the landlord on 10 May 2023 and said he had not been informed when the works were booked in for. The resident informed the landlord he had been getting texts on the day of the works but no advance notice. The landlord internally inquired who it could contact to obtain a full list of works planned with dates and descriptions.
On 11 May 2023 the landlord issued its stage two response. The landlord stated:
1. The stage two review of the complaint took place on 20 April 2023.
2. The resident requested escalation of the complaint on 3 April 2023 and advised of the reason for escalation on 6 April 2023. The reasons for escalation were:
  1. Repairs following the damp works had not been completed.
  2. No compensation awarded for the damage to furniture.
  3. Failure to escalate to stage two when previously requested.
3. The stage two review arranged for an inspection from a manager of the landlord on 24 April 2023, a further visit was arranged for 3 May 2023 by a site supervisor and work was scheduled to be completed between 22 and 24 May 2023.
4. During the manager’s visit, the resident advised he had removed damaged furniture and the manager requested photographs to assess the damage. It requested photographs from the resident to assess his request for compensation against its compensation policy.
5. Its records showed that the request to escalate the complaint was made on 3 April 2023. Its investigation was not able to identify any previous communication following the stage one response.
6. It apologised that the resident had to request the escalation on two occasions.
7. It offered an additional £75 compensation, consisting of £25 for service failure and £50 for delays in completing the repairs.

Post Complaint

On 24 May 2023 the resident contacted the landlord as an electrician had not attended and plumbers who attended caused damage to other ongoing repairs.
The resident spoke to the landlord on 30 May 2023 and informed it:
1. The bath panel was MDF and had not been changed to plastic.
2. Only half the plastering had been completed.
3. The tiler broke the one tile that he was there to fix and left it.
4. The sink was leaning against the wall and not fixed; this was now chipped.
5. There was a leak from toilet cistern.
6. A bathroom light fitting was not put back and had wires in the bathroom hanging down.
On 2 June 2023 the landlord’s records show it made enquiries internally about the status of the works required. It noted it looked like the works had not been fully completed and the only outstanding works on it system not planned in was for the damaged basin. It asked for any works that had not been planned in to be done so directly with the resident.
The resident contacted the landlord on 26 June 2023 and said he had tried to contact an officer but had not got a response. The resident wanted an update regarding the repairs that were due to be carried out and enquired if the repairs were being done in the right order.
On 4 July 2023 the landlord confirmed again internally that the only outstanding repair on its systems was for a new basin and tiling. It informed the resident a tiler would attend on 11 July 2023 and a plumber on 12 July 2023.
The landlord’s records show that its operatives attended the resident’s property on 6 July 2023 but works were refused by the resident as he wanted to speak to the complaints team before any works were done.
The resident contacted the landlord on 31 July 2023, stating he had had no contact from it since early July 2023.
Further works were carried out in August 2023, including to the bathroom light and plastering above the front door and around the door frame.
The landlord’s surveyors attended the resident’s property on 31 October 2023 and agreed to address issues with workmanship, including correcting plastering, correcting skirting board in the bedroom, changing the bath panel, and refixing a loose radiator.
The landlord stated to this Service that the final works were completed, including plastering in November 2023 and joinery, flooring, plumbing and tiling in December 2023.

Assessment and findings

From the evidence provided from the landlord, it confirmed that the resident first reported damp to it in September 2021 and it issued a Hygrometer pack containing details of how to manage condensation and associated mould. It then introduced a new damp and mould policy. The resident contacted the landlord again in December 2021 and this time the landlord conducted a damp inspection in January 2022 which identified works to be completed. The landlord accepts those works were not completed.
After the resident made a further report in June 2022 of damp, a damp survey was completed on 30 June 2022 and following this, works should have been arranged to complete the identified repairs. The landlord’s damp and mould and repairs policies state that repairs due to damp and mould would be completed within 40 working days. It is acknowledged that in some circumstances delays can occur and this may mean the 40 working day timescale is not fulfilled.
The resident however contacted the landlord on 13 September 2022 to make a complaint that the works had still not been completed. It took until 31 October 2022 for these works to begin.
During the period between 31 October 2022 and 9 November 2022, the resident was decanted but was informed by the landlord he could move back to the property as works had been completed. On his return, the resident informed the landlord some works were outstanding and there was no gas present at the property. The landlord has failed to evidence it conducted the appropriate checks to ensure the property was suitable for the resident to return to.
It is not disputed by the landlord in its stage one response that it failed to follow its processes correctly in repairing the resident’s property and it failed to keep the resident suitably informed of the progress of the repairs. The landlord offered compensation of £750 and provided a schedule of works to the resident for resolution to the repairs. These were positive steps taken by the landlord indicated that it had understood the resident’s reasons for the complaint and had learned from the complaint.
The evidence provided shows the landlord did not handle the repairs at the resident’s property with sufficient organisation. Internal communication between the landlord’s staff showed a lack of understanding about what works had been needed, what works had been raised and what works had been allocated to contractors. This led to the resident’s repairs taking substantially longer to complete than was necessary. There was no mitigating reason for these delays.
The landlord did not sufficiently keep the resident informed. The resident regularly contacted the landlord via phone, email and text for updates on the repairs and the landlord either did not respond or, when it did respond, was unable to provide an update to the resident.
The resident requested updates from the landlord which it was unable to provide due to its records not being sufficiently updated. Subsequently, contractors attended before required works from other contractors had taken place and the resident was not aware some contractors were due to attend, resulting in some appointments being logged as ‘no access’.
The evidence provided shows substantial internal confusion on the part of the landlord regarding the works required. There were multiple emails sent asking for clarification about what works were required and when works were due to be completed by. Most significant was the commitment made in the stage one response which provided the resident with a clear schedule of works which subsequently was not completed with no explanation being provided to the resident as to why.
In this case, it took the landlord 18 months to complete the final repairs to the resident’s property, significantly longer than the timescales in either its damp and mould or repairs policies.
Given the significant time the landlord had taken to complete the works at this point, it did not show an awareness or urgency to ensure the works were prioritised and completed within a reasonable time.
There appears no substantive reason for the delays that would have prevented the landlord from completing the works at the resident’s property. Therefore, the delays incurred are concluded to be due to the landlord’s handling of the repairs and it’s failure to follow its own processes and procedures.
The landlord offered the resident £750 for the delays in completing the repairs at his property. The offer was made during in its stage one response to the resident on 13 December 2022. The offer made at that time would be within the remedies considered appropriate by this Service for the delay in completing the repairs. However, the subsequent repairs schedule proposed to the resident to complete the repairs were not fulfilled by the landlord and further delays in completing the repairs occurred. The landlord in its stage two response offered a further £75 compensation in May 2023. The additional offer of compensation made in May 2023 is not considered appropriate for the further delays in the repairs being competed, especially given the landlord proposed and committed to complete the repairs in January 2023.
It is noted during the repairs period that there were times the property was without adequate heating and not all rooms were accessible to the resident due to outstanding repairs. This Service is unable to quantify the exact period of time or extent each room was individually affected due to the ongoing repairs and repeated visits needed. It is however clear that this would have caused the resident distress and inconvenience during this time.
The landlord has stated the repairs were completed in December 2023 which represents an additional period of time of 12 months since the offer of compensation of £750 was made to the resident. This indicates that the landlord failed to learn sufficient lessons from the outcome of the resident’s complaint and similar failings continued for an extended period. This Service considers an additional amount of £1,000 (including the £75 offered in the stage two response) should be paid to the resident for these delays and for overall distress and inconvenience during the time it took for the repairs to be completed.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint

The stage one complaint response was issued after 65 working days. Although the landlord apologised for the delay, it did not offer any explanation for the this or offer any further redress to the resident.
The landlord, in the stage one response, provided the resident with a schedule of works to address the outstanding issues at his property. It however failed to complete the works at the times proposed. The landlord failed to fulfil its commitment to the resident that it made in the stage one response, and this further damaged the landlord–tenant relationship.
In its acknowledgement of the stage two escalation request, the landlord asked the resident to provide the reasoning for the request. The resident had already provided the reason when he initially made the request for the complaint to be escalated. Although it would have been reasonable for the landlord to request further clarity of the escalation request for it to provide a robust response, the wording of the letter to the resident suggested it was not aware of the reason for the request or if a reason had been provided.
The acknowledgement of the resident’s escalation request was sent on 3 April 2023. This was 61 working days after the request for the complaint to be escalated was initially made on 9 January 2023. In the acknowledgement, the landlord provided a date of 3 May 2023 for the stage two response to be issued.
The stage two response was issued on 11 May 2023. The stage two response stated the review of the escalation request took place on 20 April 2023. It is not clear why it therefore took a further 14 working days to issue the response to the resident, especially given it meant the response was issued later than the specified date it had provided to him.
The landlord failed to provide a response to the resident’s escalation request regarding the repairs or his reasons for escalation. Instead, the landlord provided the resident with the dates further works would be carried out. The landlord failed to offer an acknowledgement, explanation or apology to the resident for the delays he had incurred for the repairs to be completed or for the standard of the repairs that had already been completed.
The landlord also failed to offer an explanation why the remedy offered in the stage one response – for works to take place between 9 and 24 January 2023 – had failed to take place.
The landlord stated it could find no evidence of the resident making a request to escalate the complaint before 3 April 2023. The evidence provided shows that on 9 January 2023, an internal email was sent by the landlord that clearly stated the resident had requested for his complaint to be escalated. The landlord in its review of the complaint failed to recognise this and therefore was incorrect in the response it issued to the resident.
The stage two response was issued 25 working days after the acknowledgement of the escalation request was issued to the resident. This was five working days after the stated response date of 3 May 2023 was given to the resident. However, the evidence confirmed the original request to escalate the complaint was made on 9 January 2023. This meant the stage two response was issued 85 working days after the original request to escalate the complaint was made.
The landlord, in its stage two response, acknowledged the resident had requested compensation for damage to items in his property, the focus being damage to furniture. The stage two response stated that the landlord, during a visit to the resident in April 2023, was advised the damaged items had been removed but the resident could provide proof of any furniture damaged to it and it would consider this under its compensation policy. This was a reasonable request by the landlord and provided the resident with the opportunity to proceed with his request for compensation for damaged items.
The landlord issued the stage one and stage two responses significantly late, it failed to fulfil the commitment made in the stage one response to schedule the proposed repairs, it failed to escalate the complaint to stage two when initially requested and failed in the stage two response to provide any explanation or apology to the resident regarding the repairs to his property. This is maladministration by the landlord and it should pay the resident £300 for those failures.

Determination (decision)

In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in relation to the landlord’s handling of damp works required to the resident’s property and associated repairs following the works.
In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in relation to the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint, including request for compensation.

Reasons

The landlord did not schedule initial works to be completed following the damp survey. It took a further four months to begin works and failed to fully complete all outstanding repairs until December 2023 which was almost 18 months after the damp survey was completed.
The landlord failed to issue the stage one or stage two complaint responses within the timescales set out in its complaints policy. If failed to fulfil the commitments made at stage one and did not recognise this or show it had learned from this in its stage two response and subsequent actions.

Orders

Within four weeks of the date of this report, the landlord is to:
1. Apologise to the resident for its handling of damp works required to the resident’s property and associated repairs following the works.
2. Pay the resident £1,825 (including the £825 already offered, if it has not already done so) for its handling of damp works required to his property and associated repairs following the works.
3. Pay the resident £300 for the failures in its handling of his complaint.
4. Complete a full inspection of the resident’s property and produce a full report detailing if any works are still required at the property and, if so, produce a timescale to the resident for the works to be completed. A copy of this is to be sent to this Service.
5. Review its complaint processes to ensure complaints are logged and escalated at the correct time and its records show the resident’s reasons for escalation.
The landlord should reply to this Service within four weeks of the date of this report to evidence compliance with these orders.

Recommendations

The landlord is recommended to review this Service’s spotlight report on Knowledge and Information Management and self-assess against its record keeping practices.