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Amplius Living (202434001)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202434001

Amplius Living

15 May 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 damp and mould repairs.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the property, a 3-bedroom house. She has lived there since March 2020.
  2. On 20 July 2023 the landlord issued a stage 2 response to an early complaint from the resident, which listed a number of repairs it would complete to address the damp and mould in her property. The resident did not submit this complaint to us.
  3. On 9 January 2024 the resident contacted the landlord to say she was still having issues with damp and mould and some of the repairs it had promised to complete were still outstanding. The landlord inspected the property on 24 January 2024 and identified several repairs that were needed. It returned to complete a mould wash on 31 January 2024.
  4. The resident made a formal complaint to the landlord on 21 March 2023. She said the damp and mould was now affecting 6 rooms in the house and repairs from the previous stage 2 response remained outstanding.
  5. On 28 May 2024 the landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response. It apologised for the level of service the resident had received and the delays to the repairs. The landlord committed to completing the outstanding repairs and offered the resident £200 compensation for the delays and the distress and inconvenience caused.
  6. The resident escalated her complaint with the landlord the same day. The landlord issued it stage 2 complaint response on 1 July 2024 and further apologised for the delays and poor service received. It said it had taken learning from previous communication break downs with its contractors and set out how it would prevent this happening with the remaining repairs. The landlord confirmed repairs were still outstanding to the bathroom, loft area, cladding, and the external drains, and offered the resident a further £350 compensation. The landlord told the resident it would consider if further compensation was required once the repairs had been completed.
  7. The resident remained dissatisfied and brought the complaint to us. She told us that while most of the repairs have since been completed, she feels the level of compensation offered does not reflect the distress and inconvenience caused to her family while living with the damp and mould over a prolonged period.

Assessment and findings

  1. Paragraph 53.c. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme states that, “The Ombudsman may determine the investigation of a complaint immediately if satisfied that the member has made an offer of redress following the Ombudsman’s intervention which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily.”

The Ombudsman’s intervention

  1. This Service contacted the landlord on 6 May 2025 and provided it with a summary of the Ombudsman’s understanding of the events. This included the Ombudsman’s provisional comments as to what the landlord could do to resolve the resident’s complaint.

The landlord’s offer of redress

  1. On 7 May 2025, the landlord provided this Service with evidence that it had acted on the Ombudsman’s provisional comments which would involve:
    1. Paying the resident a further £1,000 compensation.
    2. Completing the damp and mould treatment to the eaves of the property.
  2. The resident has informed us she is satisfied with this as a resolution to his complaint.
  3. The Ombudsman is therefore satisfied, following the intervention of this service, that the landlord has now taken actions to remedy the matters raised which resolve the complaint satisfactorily.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53.c. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress, following the Ombudsman’s intervention which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily.

Recommendations

  1. The landlord should pay the sum of £1,000 to the resident and complete the damp and mould treatment to the eaves of the property, if it has not already done so.