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Peabody Trust (202417674)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202417674

Peabody Trust

31 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 reports of:
    1. Damp and mould and the related repairs.
    2. Asbestos and the replacement of his flooring.
  2. We have also considered the landlord’s handling of the associated complaints.

Background

  1. The resident has an assured non-shorthold tenancy with the landlord, a housing association, which started in July 2022. The property is described as a second floor 2-bedroom flat.
  2. The resident has young children with respiratory health conditions that live with him in the property.
  3. The resident reported damp and mould around 2-bedroom windows in November 2023. He said repairs had been carried out to the roof and window panes but this did not resolve the issue. He said it was affecting his 1-year-old child who has bronchitis. The landlord noted visiting the property in November and December 2023 to investigate the issues.
  4. The resident chased up the repairs to the windows on 2 February 2024. He also reported mould under the vinyl flooring near the windows. The landlord carried out mould treatment to the windows around in February 2024.
  5. Following a visit completed by landlord on 15 March 2024 it arranged mould treatment to the bathroom walls and ceiling. It also arranged repairs to the extractor fan. The landlord completed an asbestos survey for the bedroom flooring on 4 April 2024 and noted it was positive. The landlord also carried out damp and mould treatment to the bathroom in May 2024.
  6. The resident’s doctor wrote to the landlord on 23 May 2024. They expressed concerns about his child’s living condition which could exacerbate his asthma. They said the child was at risk of future life-threatening asthma attacks and the landlord should take all necessary to resolve any damp and mould issues within their home. The resident also expressed concerns about outstanding works and asked the landlord to consider moving his family to alternative accommodation due to their health and safety.
  7. The landlord removed the bathroom flooring on 13 June 2024 and installed new windows on 17 June 2024. The resident raised a stage 1 complaint on 17 June 2024 about the delay in replacing his bedroom flooring. He also said it had not provided the findings from the asbestos survey. The landlord visited the property on 16 August 2024 and noted damp and mould works to be carried out.
  8. The landlord responded to the stage 1 complaint on 19 September 2024. It apologised for the distress and inconvenience caused and offered £558.50 as compensation. The resident requested a review of the compensation on 23 September 2024. He said the amount offered did not reflect the inconvenience and health and safety risks to his family due to living in uninhabitable conditions.
  9. The landlord responded on 4 October 2024 that works were being carried out to address damp and mould in the property. It revised the offer of compensation to £1444.96. The resident expressed further dissatisfaction on 14 October 2024 about the compensation and works to replace the bedroom flooring. The landlord provided a final response to the complaint on 2 January 2025.  

Events after the landlord’s internal complaints process

  1. The resident informed us on 6 January 2025 that he remained unhappy with the landlord’s handling of asbestos and the delay in reinstalling flooring to other rooms in the property.
  2. On 20 January 2025 the resident expressed concerns about the possible spread of asbestos while the landlord was removing it from other areas in the property.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. The resident said he initially raised concerns about damp and mould when he moved into the property in 2022. The evidence confirms he reported damp in the bathroom in November 2022 which the landlord attended around December 2022 to either inspect or resolve it.
  2. From the evidence seen no further reports of damp and mould were raised until November 2023. Also, we have not seen evidence that the resident raised a formal complaint until 17 June 2024. Therefore, our investigation will focus on events that occurred between November 2022 and 6 January 2025 that were also addressed through the landlord’s complaints process.
  3. This Service notes the resident’s comments regarding his children’s health and the impact caused by the delays during the complaints. This Service is unable to draw conclusions on the causations of, or liability for, impact on health and wellbeing. Matters of personal injury or damage to health, their investigation and compensation, are not part of the complaints process, and are more appropriately addressed by way of the courts or the landlord’s liability insurer as a personal injury claim.
  4. The landlord has provided advice on how to pursue this aspect of his complaint accordingly with its insurance team. We will consider distress, inconvenience, time, and trouble caused due to the situation reported by the resident.

The resident’s reports of damp and mould and related repairs

  1. The Housing Ombudsman’s spotlight report on damp and mould (published October 2021) advises landlords to adopt a zero-tolerance approach to damp and mould interventions. The report reinforces the importance of:
    1. Focussing on an accurate diagnosis at an early stage and deciding on an appropriate course of action.
    2. Ensuring responses to reports of damp and mould are timely and reflect the urgency of the issue.
  2. The landlord’s damp and mould policy (effective February 2023) sets out that:
    1. Roofs, walls, windows, and doors can develop faults over time or decay.
    2. A single fault, or combination of issues, can cause water to get inside the building and this results in damp, mould, and condensation within the home.
    3. It has a duty to protect its residents and properties and will temporarily rehouse residents in critical situations where there is a risk to their health and safety.
    4. Under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, it is responsible for: maintaining the structure of the property and keeping it in good repair.
  3. Its repairs policy states it would aim to complete damp and mould works within 60 calendar days.
  4. Following the resident’s report of damp and mould on 6 November 2023 the landlord arranged an appointment for 16 November 2023. However, the repairs log does not clearly show if this appointment occurred and the outcome of the inspection. An operative attended on 23 November 2023 but they were unable to gain access. The records show the appointment was booked for 24 November 2023. The records do not show why it attended a day before the date agreed with the resident. This indicates poor record keeping.
  5. The landlord attended the property on 27 November 2023 and noted excessive condensation in 2 bedrooms, due to lack of ventilation and it raised works to replace the trickle vents (to the windows). The evidence shows works were carried out to the windows around 29 November 2024. It also attended between December 2023 and January 2024 and noted the possible cause of damp and mould could be a roof leak. On 6 January 2024 it said the windows were not repairable. This shows the landlord was taking reasonable steps to resolve the damp and mould in the property.
  6. The landlord carried out damp and mould treatments to the bedroom windows around 3 February 2024. In the same month, the resident reported mould on the vinyl flooring in the bedroom and he expressed concerns about condensation throughout the property. While the landlord noted the cause of the damp could be a roof leak, we have not seen its inspection reports (and of the condition of the property) and works recommended to resolve any issues identified. This is not appropriate.
  7. The landlord attended the property on various dates between March and April 2024 and completed the following:
    1. Damp and mould treatments to the affected areas in the property.
    2. Due to suspected asbestos, it arranged a survey for the bedroom flooring.
    3. Installed a condensation control fan in the bathroom and provided information to the resident on how to use it.
  8. In an undated letter to the landlord the resident acknowledged some works had been completed, but the issue persisted and remained a severe health risk to his children who have respiratory health problems. He said the extractor fan in the bathroom was not sufficient, as there was no window, and expressed concerns about the delay in carrying out repairs to the roof and windows. He asked the landlord to consider alternative housing to mitigate the adverse impact on his family. The landlord discussed a temporary move internally around April 2024 but the evidence does not show the outcome of its discussions or if this was communicated to the resident. This is not in adherence with its policy.
  9. There were delays in installing the new windows in the property and in removing the flooring in the bedroom. According to its repairs policy the landlord would aim to complete specialist repairs within 60 calendar days. It decided the windows were not repairable in January 2024 but they were not replaced until 17 June 2024 (approximately 6 months). We acknowledge there were some delays due to the landlord arranging for scaffolding and the wait time for the windows to be manufactured. However it took approximately 4 months (February to June 2023) to remove the bedroom flooring, which the resident said had damp and mould.
  10. The medical letter addressed to the landlord on 23 May 2024 stated that the landlord should be consider it a priority that the resident’s child lives in a property that does not exacerbate their asthma and cause on-going risk to their health and well-being. We have not seen evidence of communications or regular updates to the resident about the works to resolve damp and mould, its findings from any inspections and plan for works. This led to his complaint on 17 June 2024 that the landlord failed to communicate clear and accurate timelines for the work being done.
  11. There is some evidence of learning by the landlord outlined below:
    1. It carried out an inspection on 16 August 2024 and agreed further works to resolve damp and mould in the property. However, it has not provided a copy of the inspection report and schedule of works.
    2. It acknowledged in its stage 1 and 2 responses that there were delays in its handling of works to resolve damp and mould and it apologised for the distress and inconvenience caused. It said it would continue to monitor the progress of the repairs and follow up until all works were completed.
    3. It offered £400 for the distress and inconvenience due to the delays in carrying out the works.
    4. It raised works to inspect the cause of damp and mould in the loft and treatment for 30 October 2024.
    5. It discussed the resident’s rehousing options with him around 1 November 2024 but it noted he would not likely be accepted for a priority move due to extensive works carried out (to the radiators, windows and boiler).
  12. We acknowledge the steps taken by the landlord to address the outstanding concerns, though these actions were delayed and caused the resident distress. While it took measures to resolve the issues this was not well coordinated, which meant the resident had to repeatedly contact the landlord for updates.
  13. The landlord delayed discussing rehousing options with the resident (November 2023) but it has not advised on the outcome of the application or if this was processed at all. Also it has not shown it considered the health risks to the resident’s family and if it needed to provide alternative housing whilst it carried out the repairs (in accordance with its allocations policy).
  14. The landlord initially mentioned around January 2024 that works may be required to the roof to address the cause of the damp in the property. However, these works were not completed until around 6 December 2024 (approximately 10 months). The evidence indicates this caused delays to damp and mould treatment in other areas of the property such as black mould in the loft.
  15. Although it changed the extractor fan in the bathroom, the resident felt this did not address the problem of humidity and he expressed this again in his email to the landlord on 20 January 2025. We have not seen evidence that this was addressed by the landlord.
  16. The resident incurred time and trouble in chasing up various repairs for approximately 12 months. This would have caused him some frustration and distress. Based on the above there is evidence of maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould and related repairs.
  17. According to the landlord’s compensation policy it may offer awards between £600 to £1000 for service failures that have caused extensive disruption to a resident. The landlord’s offer of £400 does not fully reflect the delays, time and trouble incurred and the distress due concerns of the impact of damp on his children’s health and poor communication experienced. Therefore, we have ordered the landlord to pay an additional amount of £200 to the resident to address this.
  18. The landlord has provided evidence of a self-assessment against the recommendations in our spotlight report on damp and mould. It said it will continue to provide updates on improvements every quarter or when requested.
  19. The landlord also advised us that work is currently taking place to look at how it can adapt its systems to highlight cases where customers may have specific needs which require adjustments and additional support more clearly. It said equality training is now a mandatory learning module for all new staff joining its organisation. We have therefore not made orders for these areas.

The resident’s concerns about asbestos and replacement of flooring

  1. The landlord’s asbestos management policy states that its overall aim is to keep its colleagues, customers and those people working on its behalf safe and it would do this by:
    1. Checking for asbestos in residents’ homes and other premises owned or managed by it, maintaining a record of what it finds, making records available to those who may disturb it, and safely removing or encapsulating it when necessary.
    2. Undertaking inspection surveys where previous surveys had identified asbestos containing materials. The frequency will be determined by the asbestos management plan for the premises.
  2. Due to suspected damp and mould in the bedroom flooring, the landlord carried out a survey on 4 April 2024 to check for asbestos. This was discussed with the resident. It confirmed the flooring contained asbestos around 17 April 2024 and it had various discussions internally and with its contractors about the next steps. Part of its discussions included the removal of asbestos in order to facilitate the damp and mould treatment. It assured the resident (on 31 May 2024) the flooring would be replaced at no cost to him, and it agreed an appointment for 13 June 2024. This was appropriate.
  3. However, the landlord failed to discuss the findings from the asbestos survey with the resident in a timely manner. In an undated letter and his email dated 8 August 2024 the resident said while an appointment had been booked to remove the flooring in the bedroom, it had not discussed the results of the asbestos survey with him. He asked the landlord why the asbestos team had become involved as this had caused him significant concerns about the presence of asbestos in his home. This clearly caused the resident some distress.
  4. The outcome of the survey was shared with the resident around 23 September 2024 approximately 5 months after the survey was conducted. It provided a report which it said the resident should have been given when he moved into the property. While this may be the case, it should have updated the resident on its reasons for carrying out a survey to alleviate any concerns he may have had. The landlord also provided a copy of the air monitoring test after the removal of asbestos which showed the test was satisfactory. Advice and information were also given to the resident on asbestos within the home. This shows some learning by the landlord.
  5. While the landlord dealt with the removal of asbestos in the bedroom accordingly, the resident was unable to use the bedroom for several months after the flooring was removed. The resident complained between 17 June and 8 August 2024 that the situation was causing significant disruption to his family, as he was sharing 1 room with 2 children. He asked for a clear timeline for when the works would start so they could resume normal use of the bedroom. Although the landlord responded that it was planning to arrange the appointment soon, it failed to do so in a reasonable period.
  6. We recognise that, in some cases, repairs may be delayed due to various internal or external factors, but the landlord should have kept the resident updated. If it anticipated a long delay, it should have considered the provision of temporary accommodation to minimise the overall inconvenience to the resident. It failed to do so in this case. The prolonged delays caused considerable disruption, discomfort, and frustration for the resident and his family.
  7. The landlord apologised in its stage 1 response on 19 September 2024 for the delay in replacing the flooring. It said there were delays in the approval of costs for the new flooring, which resulted in a longer waiting time and impacted his enjoyment of the bedroom. It offered £283.50 (5% of the weekly rent for the loss of use of the bedroom but it revised this to the £969.96 (20% from June to November 2024) at the resident’s request. This was in accordance with its compensation policy. Also, it agreed to replace the flooring as a gesture of goodwill even though its policy identifies such repairs as the resident’s responsibility.
  8. On 14 October 2024 the resident said communication had not improved and the appointment scheduled for 10 October 2024 was not attended. The evidence indicates the works were later completed early November 2024. We have seen that the landlord calculated compensation for the loss of use of the bedroom to cover additional waiting time till November 2024. This suggests it anticipated further delays, but it has not demonstrated this was clearly explained to the resident. This caused the resident further inconvenience.
  9. Due to its poor communication and failure to fully demonstrate learning on the adverse impact to the resident, the Ombudsman has found service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s concerns about asbestos and replacement of flooring.

The landlord’s handling of the associated complaints

  1. The landlord’s complaints process has 2 stages. It would aim to respond to stage 1 complaints within 10 working days and response to stage 2 complaints within 20 working days. It will provide the resident with contact details for the Housing Ombudsman Service so that any decisions can be challenged.
  2. The landlord delayed responding to the resident’s stage 1 complaint raised on 17 June 2024. This took approximately 13 weeks which was far outside its published timescales. Although the landlord had some interaction with him by email regarding the outstanding repairs, it did not address the complaint or provide an explanation for the delays. This is not in line with its policy.
  3. We have seen that the delays caused the resident some distress, frustration, time and trouble and uncertainty. He contacted the landlord on 28 June and 7 August 2024 for an update and to be contacted by the responsible caseworker or manager. The evidence suggests the landlord acknowledged the complaint (on 12 August 2024) after he copied us into his email to the landlord on 8 August 2024. This was not appropriate.
  4. The landlord responded to the complaint on 19 September 2024 (approximately 68 working days), but it failed to provide a reason for the delay. It acknowledged the delay in responding to the complaint and offered £75 for the time and trouble incurred by the resident. This is in line with its compensation policy for service failures that have caused low level impact.
  5. The landlord responded within the published timescales to the resident’s stage 2 complaint. He raised the complaint on 23 September 2024 and the landlord responded on 4 October 2024. This was a detailed response where the landlord fully addressed the resident’s request for a reconsideration of compensation offered.
  6. However, it failed to advise if this was its final response or if the resident had the right to request a further review even after the resident sent various communications expressing further dissatisfaction. This is not in line with our complaint handling code, which advises landlords to confirm the complaint stage and how to escalate the complaint at the end of its stage 1 and 2 complaints procedure.
  7. The resident informed us on 31 October 2024 that he had not received a stage 2 response from the landlord. It was following our letter to the landlord on 19 November 2024 that it responded that the complaint had not yet exhausted its complaints process. The landlord subsequently advised the resident it would provide the stage 2 response by 24 December 2024, and it responded on 2 January 2025. This shows it did not learn from previous errors made.
  8. The landlord’s handling of the complaint and communication clearly delayed the resident in bringing the complaint to this Service, as he remained unsure of the stage of his complaint and if this had been exhausted.
  9. Also, it failed to provide an adequate response to the resident’s concerns about the flooring works. The resident said in his email on 14 October 2024 that the flooring works had not been done as no one attended on 10 October 2024. In its stage 2 response the landlord said the works were completed on 10 October 2024. This shows it did not conduct a thorough investigation of the complaint or listen actively to the resident.
  10. Due to the above there is evidence of maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the associated complaints. While the £75 offered at the end of the stage 1 complaint was appropriate, we have awarded additional compensation of £200 to reflect the additional failings identified.
  11. The landlord advised us on 26 March 2025 that it has made considerable changes and improvements to how it manages complaints which includes:
    1. Forming a centralised, specialist complaint handling team, which regularly receives training on all aspects of complaint management.
    2. A dedicated team who follow up outstanding repairs after a stage two response has been provided. It said they will remain in contact with both the resident and contractor providing updates when needed and managing the resident’s expectation as repairs progress.

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 of damp and mould and the related repairs.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the housing ombudsman scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of asbestos and replacement of flooring.
  3. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the housing ombudsman scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the associated complaints.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of the date of this letter the landlord is ordered to carry out the following:
    1. A senior member of the landlord’s to apologise for the failures identified in this report.
    2. Pay the resident the amount of £1844.69 broken down as:
      1. £600 (this includes the £400 offered on 4 October 2024) for the distress and inconvenience due to its handling of damp and mould in the property.
      2. £969.96 offered on 4 October 2024 for the distress and inconvenience due to its handling of asbestos in the property.
      3. £275 (this includes the £75 offered on 4 October 2024) for the time and trouble to the resident for its handling of the associated complaints.
    3. This is inclusive of the compensation previously offered by the landlord. Therefore, the landlord may deduct from the total any compensation that it may have already been paid in relation to the complaint.
    4. Contact the resident to discuss any further outstanding works in relation to damp and mould. Where necessary arrange an inspection of the resident’s home by a suitably qualified person and:
      1. Confirm its findings in writing and provide a copy to this Service.
      2. Provide a schedule of works to be completed with timescales to the resident and this Service.
  2. In response to our determination on a previous case, the landlord has recently advised us that record keeping is an area of the business which requires improving. It said it is taking steps to make changes. The landlord has also recently completed a self-assessment against our spotlight report on knowledge and information. We have therefore not made any further orders for these issues.

Recommendations

  1. The landlord advised the resident on 26 November 2024 that any additional complaints would not be covered in the stage 2 response. The landlord should therefore respond accordingly to any new issues raised by the resident about the removal of flooring in other areas of the property.