Citizen Housing (202318796)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202318796

Citizen Housing

12 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 the bathroom and toilet windows’ opening, closing, and damp and mould issues.

Background

2. The resident has lived in the 2-bedroom property since 2020. She lives with her partner and grownup child. The property is a bungalow and has roof light windows in the bathroom and in the separate toilet. Neither room has an extractor fan. The landlord has no vulnerabilities recorded for the resident’s household on its system, but it did record being told her grownup child is on immune suppressant medicines.
3. The resident told the landlord on 4 February 2022 about the property’s damp bathroom ceiling. The landlord attempted to complete a mould wash on 30 March 2022, but there was no answer at the resident’s door. It returned on 5 April 2022 and completed the mould wash. It reported back that an extractor fan might be needed, as the window was sealed shut. The landlord further noted on 30 May 2022 that the resident had no standard opening windows in either the toilet or bathroom. A vent was needed in both rooms, as there was none.
4. The resident raised a complaint to the landlord on 11 November 2022. She said the bathroom window did not open. The bathroom was mouldy due to no ventilation. She continued to say the toilet window was stuck open. This let in rain and was cold in winter. The resident complained that she had not heard anything from the landlord since its visit on 8 June 2022. The landlord responded on 25 November 2022. It said it had arranged for a surveyor to visit the following week to inspect. It would monitor progress until it resolved the situation.
5. The resident requested the landlord escalate her complaint on 5 April 2023. In its final response letter, it said a surveyor visited her on 12 December 2022. The surveyor raised a job to install an extractor fan. When the landlord visited on 9 February 2023, it thought a new window would be better. The landlord apologised that it had not progressed either the extractor fans or replacement windows.
6. The landlord had not been able to speak to the resident about its final response. It offered to discuss and re-issue the final response, which it did on 15 August 2023. When the landlord spoke to the contractor, they stated they were unable to replace the windows. The landlord had hoped to speak to its surveyor about the extractor fan but had not been able to. It would keep the resident informed about this. The landlord said it had failed to complete the repair in an adequate time, and it had failed to correspond with the resident. It offered the resident £100 compensation for the failing.
7. The resident then complained to the Ombudsman and confirmed to us that the landlord fitted a bathroom extractor fan. However, she remains unhappy and would like the landlord to complete the repairs, redecorate, and replace flooring. She has explained the issues have started to affect her family’s health. She would also like compensation to cover cleaning and decorating over the mould.

Assessment and findings

8. The landlord identified the cause of the mould on 5 April 2022, when it treated the mouldy bathroom ceiling. This was that the bathroom window was sealed shut and that the resident might need an extractor fan.
9. The landlord has provided us with evidence it wrote to the resident on 23 February 2024 offering her a smart thermostat and an extractor fan. We do not know the installation date of the bathroom extractor fan. However, the resident confirmed to us on 30 July 2024 that the landlord had installed it. Therefore, the installation date would be between February and July 2024. The landlord’s repairs guidance states it aims to resolve repairs in 28 working days. From the date the landlord noted the issue, 5 April 2022, its aim was to complete this by 18 May 2022. The landlord took approximately 2 years to resolve this issue.
10. The landlord has a policy which states it will deal with damp and mould in a holistic manner. It will consider vulnerabilities that may make the impact of damp and mould more acute and require a faster response. The landlord’s records show the resident informed it about her grownup child taking immune suppressant medication on 26 June 2023. We have not seen evidence the landlord considered this in its management of the damp and mould case. This is especially concerning, as the landlord has supplied us with evidence of a screenshot of its repairs log. This stated it categorised the damp and mould as severe. The resident has also said this has started to affect her family’s health.
11. The landlord did not work in line with its damp and mould policy, as it did not evidence it considered the vulnerabilities in the household, nor did it progress the repair in line with its published timeframes. This left the resident living with damp and mould for longer.
12. In her complaint dated 11 November 2022, the resident said the toilet window in the roof hatch was stuck open. She reported to the landlord that, when it rains, the floor becomes wet and is a slip hazard. The landlord was aware of a ventilation issue in the toilet before this in May 2022. In line with its repairs policy, the landlord would aim to complete this repair in 28 working days. The landlord has not provided us with any evidence it has resolved the issue with the toilet window. Therefore, it did not meet its repairs timeframe, and the repair is still outstanding.
13. Landlords need to make sure their homes are safe, warm, and free from hazards. When a resident reports a risk, the landlord should quickly inspect the property to check for hazards. It must determine if the home is safe and fit to live in. Ignoring hazards can lead to serious consequences for everyone involved.
14. We have not seen any evidence the landlord monitored the progress of the resident’s repair, as it promised in its stage 1 response. In addition, we have not seen evidence it kept the resident informed of what the surveyor said about the extractor fan following its second final response letter. We expect the landlord to follow through with any agreements it made in its complaint responses. This is because the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code says landlords must follow any remedies proposed in complaint responses through to completion. We have also not seen that the landlord offered the resident any resolutions to manage the damp while it tried to resolve the issue, for example a dehumidifier.
15. The landlord did not progress the repairs in line with its repairs guidance and the toilet window issue is unresolved. It also did not do what it promised to do in its complaint responses. Because of this, the landlord has not shown evidence it followed the Ombudsman’s dispute resolution principles to be fair, put things right, and learn from outcomes. As such, there was severe maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of the bathroom and toilet windows’ opening, closing, and damp and mould issues.
16. We have put in place orders which we have designed to put right the landlord’s failings. We have ordered the landlord to apologise to the resident and to further investigate a resolution to the toilet window issue. We have also ordered the landlord to pay the resident a total of £1,842.59 compensation. This includes £1,000 to recognise the distress and inconvenience she experienced. This is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance recommending compensation from this amount for a series of failures over a significant period of time that seriously affected the resident. Also, there is £842.59 to recognise the resident’s loss of enjoyment of her home based on the rent for the complaint period. The Ombudsman’s remedies guidance permits us to do this.
17. The £842.59 is made up of 5% of the resident’s rent from when both the bathroom and toilet ventilation were unresolved from 19 May 2022 to 19 May 2024. This is also based on of 2.5% of the rent when the toilet ventilation was an issue from 19 May 2024 to the present.
18. The above amount is broken down into 5% of the resident’s weekly rent of £112.13 (we have removed an estimated £5.00 of the gross rent for service charges) for 45.5 weeks in 2022–23, £119.46 for 52 weeks of 2023-24, £128.65 for 6.5 weeks of 2024-25, and 2.5% of her rent for the 42 weeks from 19 May 2024 to the date of this report. This also includes the £100 compensation the landlord previously offered for the failings it found in its final response letter.
19. We have also ordered the landlord to carry out a senior management review of its handling of the resident’s reports of the bathroom and toilet windows’ opening, closing, and damp and mould issues. This is to identify exactly why its failings in handling her damp and mould reports happened, and to outline exactly how it proposes to stop these happening again in the future. It shall present this to its senior leadership team and provide the resident and the Ombudsman with a copy of its review.

Determination

20. In accordance with paragraph 52. of the Scheme, there was severe maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of the bathroom and toilet windows’ opening, closing, and damp and mould issues.

Orders

21. The landlord is ordered to:
    1. Send the resident a written apology for the failings found in this report.
    2. Investigate the toilet window to ensure this can open and close. It is to report back its findings to us and the resident.
    3. Pay the resident compensation totalling £1,842.59. This is comprised of
       1. £842.59 to reflect the effect on the resident’s use and enjoyment of her property. This includes the landlord’s previous offer of £100.
       2. £1,000 for the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident.
    4. Carry out a senior management review of its handling of the resident’s reports of the bathroom and toilet windows’ opening, closing, and damp and mould issues. This is to identify exactly why its failings in handling her damp and mould reports happened, and to outline exactly how it proposes to stop these happening again in the future. It shall present this to its senior leadership team and provide the resident and the Ombudsman with a copy of its review.
22. The landlord is to confirm compliance with these orders to the Ombudsman within 4 weeks of the date of this report.