Applications are open to join the next Housing Ombudsman Resident Panel – find out more Housing Ombudsman Resident Panel.

London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q) (202318626)

Back to Top

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202318626

London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q)

28 March 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 the resident’s repair requests as a result of a leak.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant in a 2-bedroom flat owned by the landlord. She lives in the property with her children and her tenancy started in February 2017.
  2. The resident requested a repair from the landlord on 14 July 2022 because of damp and mould affecting the hallway and storage cupboard following a leak. The resident also reported that the carpet was affected. The landlord responded by completing a mould wash to the affected areas.
  3. In March 2023 the resident made a complaint to the landlord about the issue, stating that she had not received any follow-up repairs from the landlord. She advised that the landlord had failed to remove the mould and it was affecting the health of the household. The leak had been on-going for 3 years and she was seeking compensation for the landlord’s handling of the issue, and to cover the cost of her carpet cleaning.
  4. The landlord responded to the complaint at stage 1 by offering a further mould wash. The resident contacted the landlord again in June 2023 due to a further leak in the hallway and storage cupboard. The next day the resident escalated her complaint to stage 2. The landlord responded 2 months later, advising that repairs for damage would need to go through an insurance claim. It also arranged for the resident’s mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) to be repaired and offered £150 in compensation for distress and inconvenience and £50 for the delay in issuing its stage 2 complaint response.
  5. In bringing the complaint to this Service, the resident is seeking a higher amount of compensation as she considers that the amount awarded was not sufficient redress for her time and trouble over this issue.

Assessment and findings

Scope of the investigation.

  1. Throughout the complaint and in communication with this Service, the resident said this situation had a detrimental impact on the health and wellbeing of the household. The courts are the most effective place for disputes about personal injury and illness. This is largely because independent medical experts are appointed to give evidence. They have a duty to the court to provide unbiased insights on the diagnosis, prognosis, and cause of any illness or injury. When disputes arise over the cause of an injury, oral testimony can be examined in court. While the Ombudsman cannot consider the effect on health, consideration has been given to any general distress and inconvenience which the resident experienced because of any service failure by the landlord.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s repair requests as a result of a leak.

  1. Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 obliges the landlord to keep in repair the structure of the property. This includes internal plasterwork. Where a landlord is responsible for repairs, it is expected to complete them within a reasonable time.
  2. Under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (the HHSRS), the landlord has a responsibility to keep a property free from category one hazards, including damp and mould growth.
  3. It is helpful to note that this Service has seen historical evidence that the neighbouring property’s shower had a recurring issue with a water leak from between 2019 and 2023.
  4. The landlord responded to the resident’s first repair request on 14 July 2022 by carrying out a mould wash. Eight months later the resident complained that she had not received any follow-up from the landlord in relation to the mould that she had reported.
  5. However, we have seen no evidence that the resident reported damp and mould, or water damage to the landlord a second time before submitting her stage 1 complaint. The landlord’s stage 1 response advised that it had attempted 2 further visits but there was no access.
  6. The landlord’s stated approach to damp and mould situations involving emergency repairs and vulnerable residents is that they will proactively contact the resident if there is no access in the first instance. In this case the landlord did not have any recorded vulnerabilities but it attempted 2 visits with no access and contacted the resident to recommend she book in the follow-up repairs. In line with the landlord’s repairs policy, it is a resident’s responsibility to report repairs and to provide access.
  7. When reporting the repair for the first time, and in her stage 1 complaint, the resident requested help from the landlord to address the damage to her flooring. In its stage 1 response the landlord did not address the issue with the carpet. Since she had not received a response, the resident replaced the carpet with laminate at her own expense.
  8. The landlord offered a second mould wash as part of its stage 1 response, but there is no evidence that this took place. Three months later another leak occurred in the hallway and cupboard, and the resident escalated her complaint to stage 2. The landlord attended and recommended a follow-up visit from a damp and mould specialist. The specialist’s report advised there was visible mould and highly damp areas, and that the laminate flooring and plasterboard needed replacing.
  9. At stage 2 the landlord agreed to send a plumber to reassess the most recent repair to the shower room next door. It also committed to service or replace the MVHR unit and vents in the resident’s property to improve ventilation, as recommended in the damp and mould report.
  10. The landlord provided advice to the resident by telephone about how she could make a claim on its insurance for the damage caused by the leak. It confirmed in the written stage 2 response that the areas of damage would be repaired once the claim had been received and accepted.
  11. The landlord’s ‘Home and Maintenance Responsibilities’ booklet explains that it will repair large cracks and severely crumbling surfaces, as well as conduct repairs that are causing damp and mould. Also, the landlord’s repairs policy states that following a repair, it will make good any affected surfaces ready for residents to redecorate.
  12. The photographic evidence provided by the damp and mould specialist showed that the plasterboard and skirting boards in the hallway and cupboard were damaged, damp, and mouldy. The specialist’s report recommended that these areas should be repaired. The landlord’s 2022 action plan for dealing with damp and mould states that following a specialist’s report, required repairs will have jobs raised within a 10 day period. Therefore, the landlord’s response that it would repair damage “once a claim had been received and accepted” was not appropriate.
  13. The stage 2 response does not clearly define what damaged items the landlord has recommended the resident claim for on its insurance. This Service’s guidance on complaints involving insurance states that if the landlord has contributed to the cause of a leak, then it should raise a claim on its own insurance policy for damaged belongings. Since the landlord had been out to repair the source of the leak a number of times, it would therefore be reasonable for the landlord to consider making a claim under its own insurance for damage to the resident’s laminate flooring.
  14. The landlord’s stage 2 response stated that it would not cover the resident’s expenses that she incurred when replacing the original carpet. The reason provided was that the resident should have requested permission to replace the carpet with laminate in accordance with its home improvements policy. Another reason given by landlord is that the resident should have contacted it at the time that the carpet was damaged and made a claim under its insurance.
  15. However, the resident contacted the landlord for help to clean or replace her damaged carpet on 2 occasions and the landlord did not provide advice on making an insurance claim. Also, the home improvements policy indicates that where improvements have been made without prior permission, then a retrospective request can be made. Therefore, the landlord’s stage 2 response advising that the resident could not make a claim for the cost of her damaged carpet was not reasonable.
  16. We have been unable to evidence that the repairs to the plasterboard, skirting board, or flooring have been completed.
  17. The landlord’s compensation policy states that compensation will be paid if a customer has had to live in poor conditions for longer than is reasonable due to the landlord’s failure to deal satisfactorily with repairs that are its responsibility. The landlord offered £150 in compensation to the resident for her distress and inconvenience in dealing with the reoccurring leak.
  18. Where there are admitted failings by a landlord, this Service will consider whether the redress offered by the landlord put things right and resolved the resident’s complaint satisfactorily in the circumstances. In considering this we take into account whether the landlord’s offer of redress was in line with the Ombudsman’s dispute resolution principles of: be fair (follow fair processes and recognise what went wrong), put things right, and learn from outcomes.
  19. There was a failing by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s request for repairs to the plasterboard and skirting board, as a repair for this should have been raised within 10 days of the damp and mould survey. There was also a failing by the landlord to adequately consider the resident’s request for costs in replacing or cleaning her carpet. Therefore, we find maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s request for repairs and order the landlord to pay additional compensation of £150 to the resident. This amount is within the parameters set out in the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance where the landlord has acknowledged failings and made some attempt to put things right but the landlord’s offer was not proportionate to the failings identified by our investigation. This amount should be paid directly to the resident and not to her rent account.
  20. We order the landlord to book in repairs to the resident’s plasterboard and skirting board in the hallway and cupboard, if not already completed.
  21. We also order the landlord to communicate to the resident how she can make a claim on its insurance to cover the cost of the damaged carpet (and laminate if not already included).

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s repair requests as a result of a leak.

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks the landlord is ordered to:
    1. Pay the resident a total of £350 compensation made up as follows:
      1. £150 for the time and trouble that the resident has likely incurred as a result of the landlord’s handling of the repair requests. It should pay this amount directly to the resident and not to her rent account.
      2. The £200 previously offered to the resident if not already paid.
    2. Contact the resident to arrange repairs to the resident’s plasterboard and skirting board in the hallway and cupboard if not already completed.
    3. Communicate with the resident about how she can make a claim on its insurance to cover the cost of the damaged carpet (and laminate if not already included).
  2. The landlord should reply to this Service with evidence of compliance with these orders within the timescale set out above.