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East Midlands Housing Group Limited (202341469)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202341469

East Midlands Housing Group Limited

19 December 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

  1. The complaint is about:
    1. The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould and her request for compensation.
    2. The landlord’s handling of repairs to the resident’s bathroom.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord since 9 August 2021. The property is a 2-bedroom ground floor flat.
  2. The resident reported an issue with her windows on 14 December 2022. The landlord completed a repair on 24 January 2023. The resident then reported that she had green mould around her bedroom window and that it was letting damp in on 28 March 2023. She also reported a leak in her bathroom. The landlord treated the mould and completed repairs to the window in April 2023. It then completed the bathroom repairs in September 2023. The resident reported further issues with mould and her windows in October, November and December 2023
  3. The resident complained to the landlord on 13 November 2023. She requested reimbursement of £2,500 for items she had replaced due to mould damage. The landlord provided its stage 1 response on 13 December 2023. It declined her request. The landlord explained that it had responded to all reports relating to damp, mould and windows in a timely manner. However, it acknowledged that did not complete the repairs to the resident’s bathroom until 11 September 2023. It offered £150 compensation for that delay.
  4. The resident escalated her complaint on 14 December 2023. She disputed the accuracy of the landlord’s response. In addition, she considered that her windows were still faulty and that the landlord had not taken action to address the mould in her property.
  5. The landlord provided its stage 2 response on 23 January 2024. It advised that:
    1. Its contractor confirmed on their last visit that all windows operated as they should, with it completing a repair to one window and door.
    2. The resident should keep her property ventilated and at a temperature between 19-22 degrees during colder weather to avoid condensation building up.
    3. It offered £250, as a gesture of goodwill to help the resident with replacing some of the items she had disposed of due to possible mould damage.
    4. It maintained its offer of £150 for the delay in it completing bathroom repairs.
  6. The resident contacted this service on 15 February 2024 to request that we investigate her complaint. She explained that damp and mould had impacted her family’s health, she was unhappy with the compensation offered by the landlord, and she wanted it to stop damp and mould returning.
  7. On 12 June 2024, the resident advised this Service that she had no mould currently, as it comes in winter. The landlord advised this Service on 15 October 2024 that it had completed work to resolve the issue.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. As part of her complaint to the Ombudsman the resident has said that her family’s health has been affected by the presence of damp and mould within her home. It is outside of the Ombudsman’s remit to establish links between a landlord’s actions or inaction and alleged health impacts.
  2. Matters of liability for damage to health are better suited to a court or liability insurance process to determine. This is in line with paragraph 42.f of the Scheme, which says the Ombudsman may not consider matters where the Ombudsman considers it quicker, fairer, more reasonable, or more effective to seek a remedy through the courts, other tribunal, or procedure. Because of that the resident’s health concerns are not considered in this report.
  3. Paragraph 42.a. of the Scheme says that the Ombudsman may not consider complaints, which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion are made prior to having exhausted a member’s complaint procedure.
  4. The resident has reported further issues with her property after the landlord’s final response on 23 January 2024, such as her concern that mould may return in future winter seasons. If that were to occur the resident would need to report the problem to the landlord, and then raise a complaint with it if she is dissatisfied with its responses. If she remains dissatisfied following the landlord’s complaint replies she has the option of asking the Ombudsman to start a new investigation. A new Ombudsman investigation could potentially assess the landlord’s consideration of the resident’s concern that the problem reoccurs each winter.
  5. Because of that, and in accordance with paragraph 42.a. matters that have arisen after January 2024 will not be considered in this report.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould and her request for compensation

  1. When a resident reports a repair, including damp and mould, a landlord is expected to take prompt action and inspect the property at the earliest convenient opportunity, in line with its repair obligations. The landlord should then have a process in place to follow up on any repairs that have been identified and carry out further investigative work if needed. It is important to note that when trying to resolve issues with damp and mould, it can sometimes take time to find the right solution and different repairs may need to be attempted before the problem is fully resolved.
  2. The evidence shows that the landlord responded to and addressed the resident’s reports of mould growth and problems with her windows in December 2022, March 2023, April 2023, October 2023, November 2023 and December 2023. The landlord’s repair policy states that for appointed repairs it will carry out a repair at a time and date agreed with the tenant. The landlord arranged repairs in accordance with its policy. At the November visit the landlord identified works required to an extractor fan, front door and window, which the landlord arranged repairs to. It completed work to the extractor fan on 17 November 2023 and to the front door and window on 24 November 2023.
  3. The landlord provided advice and recommendations to the resident about ways she could try to prevent the mould reoccurring, such as appropriate heating, and steps to reduce condensation.  It arranged for a specialist damp and mould contractor to inspect the property in December 2023. That inspection did not proceed due to what appears to be miscommunication between the landlord and resident about its purpose. The landlord subsequently arranged an inspection of the windows in the property, which the resident believed were a source of the mould problem. She disputed some of the landlord’s recommendations, but these actions were relevant and proportionate to the issues she was reporting.
  4. In September 2023 the resident asked the landlord to reimburse her for furniture she said had been damaged by mould. The landlord declined her request because she had already disposed of the furniture and she provided no evidence in support. She complained to the landlord on 13 November 2023 about its decision and provided photographs of the damaged items. In its response it gave the same decision, explaining that it would not compensate for damage to contents, unless there had been a service failure from it.
  5. The landlord’s compensation policy states that it will not consider compensation when:
    1. Evidence of the damage to the tenant’s personal property or goods is not available.
    2. It is not notified of the damage within three working days of it occurring (to allow for inspection).
    3. Damaged items have been disposed of by the tenant before 10-working days has elapsed since notification of such damage.
  6. As the items had already been disposed of the landlord did not have the opportunity to inspect or to try to clean the damaged items. In addition, there is no record of the resident reporting any further issues with mould after the visit in April 2023 until she reported the damaged belongings in September 2023. Because of that the landlord was unaware that its repairs in April 2023 had not resolved the issue. The landlord’s decision was therefore reasonable, based on the facts, and in line with its policy.
  7. In its stage 2 response the landlord offered the resident £250 as a gesture of goodwill to help replace items damaged by mould. In the circumstances of there being no clear evidence of the damage, or of the damp and mould being due to the landlord’s lack of action, its offer was fair, reasonable and resolution focussed. It demonstrated the landlord’s awareness of the resident’s frustration and the inconvenience she had experienced
  8. Overall, the landlord was responsive to the resident’s reports of faults with her windows and mould growth within her property.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s bathroom repair

  1. The resident reported that a pipe connected to her toilet was leaking and that her bathroom fan was not working on 28 March 2023. The landlord replaced the extractor fan on 26 May 2023. It then completed a temporary repair on 6 June 2023 to the toilet before completing a permanent repair on 20 July 2023. However, it noted that a carpenter needed to replace the boxing covering pipes, as it had rotted. The landlord completed this repair on 11 September 2023.
  2. It took the landlord 115 working days to complete all the repairs to the resident’s bathroom from 28 March 2023. The landlord acknowledged in its stage 1 response that the repairs took longer than it would expect. The landlord apologised and offered compensation of £150. However, the landlord’s compensation policy states that for repairs that take 60 working days or above to complete past its due date, it will award compensation of £250. The landlord’s due date was 7 May 2023. It took the landlord 88 working days past this date to complete all repairs to the bathroom.
  3. The landlord’s internal emails show that it acknowledged that it took it over 60 working days to complete a repair. The landlord gained approval to offer £250 compensation. However, it only awarded the resident £150 for the delay in it completing bathroom repairs.
  4. It was appropriate that the landlord acknowledged and apologised for the delay completing bathroom repairs. However, it did not award compensation in line with its compensation policy.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould and her request for compensation.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s bathroom repairs.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. In light of the failing found in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s bathroom repairs it is ordered to pay her compensation of £250. This includes the £150 it has already offered.
  2. Evidence of payment must be provided to the Ombudsman within 5 weeks of this report.

Recommendations

  1. If it has not done so already the landlord should now pay the resident the £250 goodwill compensation it offered in its final complaint response.