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Hyde Housing Association Limited (202337396)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202337396

Hyde Housing Association Limited

16 April 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:
    1. reports of water penetration and associated damp and mould, including internal and external works.
    2. requests for compensation for damage to personal property.
    3. associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident has lived in a 3-bedroom house as an assured tenant since July 2005.
  2. The resident receives mental health support from a mental health support service, and she has advised us she has mobility problems and chronic pain. The landlord is aware that the resident is vulnerable and receives mental health support.
  3. The resident reported to the landlord that there was visible mould in the lounge on 27 July 2023.
  4. The resident complained to the landlord on 28 July 2023. She said she had made requests over 12 years for the external brickwork and painting to be repaired as it was badly weathered. She also explained there was exposed mortar, cracks, and holes in the brickwork which had led to the living room and bedroom becoming damp and mouldy. Additionally, she reported this was  causing her distress and also damage to her personal belongings.
  5. The landlord acknowledged the resident’s complaint on 28 July 2023 and said  that it would make enquires about the external works required, arrange a mould wash to the affected areas, and investigate any service failings over the past 6 months.
  6. The resident further reported to the landlord on 31 July 2023 that there was mould damage to a newly decorated bedroom, mould stains through the paintwork, water leaking in around a window, damage to carpet, furnishings, clothing, curtains and pantry food. She added that the inside of kitchen cupboards were “stained and damp smelling”.
  7. The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response on 9 August 2023. It acknowledged the resident had been reporting the brickwork for a “long time now”. It apologised for the delays and distress caused to the resident. It acknowledged it should have acted sooner to complete repairs and it could have communicated better. It offered £500 compensation for customer effort, delays, and distress and inconvenience. It also said that it had arranged for appointments to take place on 7 August and 18 August 2023 to firstly inspect the brickwork and windowsill, and secondly complete a mould wash to the affected areas.
  8. The landlord in its stage 1 complaint response also advised the resident of its insurance approach and how to make a claim to its insurers if the resident did not have home and contents insurance.
  9. On 17 August 2023 the landlord raised a repair to attend to overhaul the kitchen units and carry out any minor kitchen repairs as required. This work was completed on 11 October 2023.
  10. On 18 August 2023 the landlord rearranged the mould wash appointment for 11 September 2023 and spoke to the resident about concerns applying the mould wash to her paint. The resident said that she wanted to complete her own mould wash on 11 September as she had concerns about the abrasiveness of the paint and the poor workmanship to date.
  11. The resident escalated her complaint to the landlord’s stage 2 process on 25 October 2023. She was dissatisfied it had not attended to the issues as promised in its stage 1 complaint response, and particularly related to the insulation. In further correspondence as part of her escalation she said she wanted to know the breakdown of planned works, and the stages and time scales. She requested that the decoration was completed following the external works.
  12. On 26 October 2023 the landlord said over email to the resident that the scaffolding would start on 6 November 2023. Also the external brickwork and decoration would start on 8 November 2023.
  13. The landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response on 21 November 2023. It apologised for the further difficulties caused to the resident. It increased the compensation amount to a total of £750. It stated it had arranged for insulation to be replaced by 21 November 2023. It said it would start the brickwork repair and decorations on 21 November 2023 and complete a mould wash to the bedroom and lounge at a suitable time to be arranged with the resident.
  14. On 21 November 2023 a mould wash was raised for the bedroom and lounge. This was completed on 24 November 2023. 

Events after the end of the landlord’s complaints process

  1. The landlord’s repair logs show that it had identified a leak with the boiler in December 2023. Following this there were a considerable number of repairs raised and attended to by the landlord. The Service has seen evidence of an inspection report on 20 February 2024. This report identified a number of internal repairs related to the effects from damp and mould to the kitchen, lounge, bathroom and bedrooms. The report also shows that the surveyor identified the exterior being in good condition but the decoration to the exterior done in November 2023 was peeling off and bubbling.
  2. The landlord’s repair logs suggests that lounge repairs and bedroom mould washes were completed in February 2024, and the window sills in the lounge were replaced in May 2024.
  3. In bringing her complaint to us in July 2024, the resident reported that a number of repairs to her kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms were outstanding. She confirmed this in a recent contact with us from April 2025. 

Assessment and findings

Scope of the investigation

  1. The resident raised a complaint on 28 July 2023 and stated that she had reported outstanding external repairs for 12 years. In its responses, the landlord confirmed that the issues had been ongoing for a “long time” but it could only look into the 6 months prior of the issue arising.  This was consistent with paragraph 42.c of the Scheme in place at the time which stated that residents were expected to raise complaints with their landlord normally within 6 months of the matters arising. This has since changed to 12 months. This is so that the landlord has a reasonable opportunity to consider the issues whilst they are still ‘live’, and while the evidence is available to reach an informed conclusion on the events that occurred. As such, this investigation has primarily focused on the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of issues leading to her formal complaint in July 2023 that were considered in the landlord’s final response. We have also considered some events following the end of the internal complaints process related to the works raised.
  2. Following the end of the internal complaints process on 21 November 2023, we have seen evidence of the resident raising new repairs related to a boiler leak and works to the kitchen. Furthermore, in an inspection from February 2024, the landlord identified damp and mould to additional areas in the bathroom, kitchen, bedrooms and lounge. In her recent contact with us the resident explained that the damp had caused mites infestation in her kitchen.
  3. In accordance with paragraph 42.a. of the Scheme the scope of this investigation is limited to the issues raised during the resident’s formal complaint. Any new issues or repairs raised and completed following the end of the landlord’s complaint process will not be considered as part of this investigation. This is because the landlord needs to be given a fair opportunity to investigate and respond to any reported dissatisfaction with its actions prior to our involvement. Any further issues that have not been subject to a formal complaint can be addressed directly with the landlord and progressed as a new formal complaint if required.

The landlord’s response to reports of water penetration and associated damp and mould, including internal and external work

  1. Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 places a statutory obligation on the landlord to keep the structure and exterior of the property in a good state of repair. The landlord also has a responsibility under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System to assess hazards and risks within its rented properties. Damp and mould growth are a potential category 1 hazard and therefore the landlord is required to consider whether any damp and mould problems in its properties amount to a hazard and require remedying.
  2. In line with its repairs procedure the landlord will complete standard repairs within 20 working days. The procedure supplied to us does not capture complex repairs. Its responsive repairs operational procedure provides that the landlord is responsible for “Internal decorations. Making good decorations following a repair, to affected elevations only”.

External works

  1. Although the Service has only seen evidence from July 2023 that there was a damp and mould issue, the file suggests that the resident previously raised issues with water penetration and damp and mould prior to 31 July 2023. The landlord also acknowledged this in its stage 1 complaint response and stated that the resident reported this for “long time”.
  2. The landlord agreed to inspect the brickworks in line with its repairing obligations. It was appropriate to book inspections to look at the brickworks and window sill on 7 August. However, the landlord failed to attend on this date. The next inspection for the external work was not arranged until 18 September 2023 (36 days after the repair was raised by the resident). Although the landlord attended this appointment, it only repaired the window. The resident had to again report the brickwork had not been looked at on 29 September 2023. This was unreasonable and caused further frustration in the resident.
  3. The landlord did acknowledge delays in responding to the resident and lack of communication in its stage 1 response of 9 August 2023.
  4. On 21 November 2023 in its stage 2 complaint response, the landlord agreed that it had not repaired the external brickwork when it should have and did not communicate about this or provide assurance to the resident that the issues raised would be rectified. It provided new dates for repairs to take place in November 2023, but it did not provide a breakdown of the works, the stages of works or timescales, as requested by the resident in an email of 1 November 2023. This added further uncertainty about the works and compounding stress to the resident.
  5. It is not clear from the evidence what work was done to the brickwork. The landlord’s evidence refers to appointments for the brickwork, however it does not actually detail what work was done to resolve the issue. This is not appropriate as it does not clarify that the work has been attended to or resolved to the satisfaction of a professional.
  6. Additionally the landlord failed to correctly diagnose the cause of the damp or take action to repair it for an unreasonable amount of time. The property was inspected (internal and external) by a surveyor 8 months after the resident had raised the damp and mould issue. This is evidenced by the surveyors damp and mould report of 20 February 2024, which also demonstrated the quality of the repair to the exterior decoration work completed in November 2023 was failing. 

Internal works

  1. Given that mould is one of the hazards identified in the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, the landlord was expected to have arranged for the mould to be removed sooner and to have clear records of such. The resident raised concerns about mould in the lounge and bedroom in July 2023 and the kitchen in August 2023, the first mould wash took place in November 2023. The removal of the mould was therefore delayed. Numerous appointments were made to do the work but it does not appear successful in all areas affected, which was unreasonable given the health risks associated with mould.
  2. The landlord recorded that an inspection would be needed in its repair notes of 31 July 2023. However, it did not address or breakdown the specific issues in its stage 1 complaint response of 9 August 2023, and it generally referred to arranging a mould wash in the affected areas on 18 August 2023. It would have been appropriate at this point for the landlord to engage a professional to investigate what areas required attention and assign an action plan to address all identified areas. This is particularly important given the mould was at the time affecting the kitchen, a bedroom and the lounge.
  3. The inspection of 18 August 2023 for the mould wash did not take place and it is not entirely clear why this appointment was cancelled and whether the resident was updated at the time. The landlord should have explained the reason for the delay and apologised to the resident at this time. Additionally, the outcome of the inspection from February 2024 shows that in addition to the new works identified there were some outstanding works related to damp and mould in the lounge and kitchen. The landlord’s repairs log suggests that the landlord completed works to the lounge, windows sills and bedrooms in February and May 2024. However, it is unclear whether the issues were fully resolved.
  4. The resident had to live with ongoing repairs to the lounge, kitchen, bedroom and bathrooms for an unreasonable period of time following the end of the landlord’s final response.
  5. The reasons for those delays are unclear and the landlord’s has not been provided with a reasonable opportunity to respond to those. The landlord should consider the further resulting impact on and disruption caused to the resident. As such, we have made a recommendation for the landlord to consider compensation for any delays that occurred following the end of its complaints process.
  6. The landlord’s stage 2 response did acknowledge that it tried to repair internal works but that it could not be fully completed until after the external works were completed. It further acknowledged delays in completing the external works too and poor communication in relation to them.
  7. Where there are admitted failings by a landlord, the Ombudsman’s role is to consider whether the landlord followed the dispute resolution principle of putting things right, learning from the outcomes and resolving the resident’s complaint satisfactorily and fairly in the circumstances. The landlord did also seek to put things right in its stage 2 complaint response providing a total  compensation of £750. The compensation offered is proportionate and in line with our remedies guidance which says such sums are appropriate where failings by the landlord have caused the resident to suffer a significant impact. The compensation further reflects the level of its failures up to its stage 2 response and the period of time the resident experienced this from July 2023 until November 2023. 
  8. However, we have not seen evidence of any learning taken in relation to repairs handling or any improvement in the landlord’s communication with the resident. The landlord did not identify the reasons leading to its failures and any gaps in its record keeping practices so that it can prevent any similar failures in future.
  9. Overall the landlord did not improve its communication with the resident in setting expectations for the repairs taking place, and outlined how these repairs would be scheduled alongside the other works. There was confusion around the repairs and delays. Although the landlord did try to put this right by assigning new appointments, and offering further compensation, it did not adequately address the repairs to a suitable standard. As such the Ombudsman finds maladministration for the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of water penetration and associated damp and mould to the exterior and interior of the property. The Ombudsman requests the landlord to pay additional compensation of £200 for its further failure in communication about the repairs schedule.

Requests for compensation for damage to personal property

  1. The landlord’s compensation policy details that insurance claims are excluded as these will be dealt with under its insurance policy. The policy states that “We expect our customers to take out adequate home contents insurance for their furniture, decoration and personal possessions to insure them against accidental damage, loss, fire or water damage”. Although the policy does allow for discretionary compensation in recognition of loss to a customer in certain circumstances.
  2. For clarity, the Ombudsman is only placed to review the actions of the landlord, and is unable to comment on the outcome of insurance claims.
  3. On 31 July 2023 the resident raised concerns with her complaint that there was damage to her carpet, furnishings, clothing, curtains and pantry food as a result of the moisture and mould.
  4. In the landlord’s stage 1 complaint response, of 9 August 2023, it provided advice about how to make an insurance claim where there was damage to the residents personal belongings. This included advice if the resident did not hold contents insurance, where it listed the evidence to supply to make a claim to the landlord’s insurer and the steps to take to lodge a claim. This was an appropriate step to take given the residents’ concerns raised about damage to her personal belongings in July 2023.
  5. The resident has informed us that she has not yet made an insurance claim because the mould affecting her belongings is still ongoing and wanted to make sure the claim fully captured the extent of the damage. 
  6. We recommended that the landlord assesses the resident’s reports of damage in accordance with its discretionary compensation provisions (taking in account the considerations listed at paragraph 10.22 of the policy) to consider whether it should offer a contribution towards the cost of the residents personal belongings. Alternatively, it may assist the resident in raising an insurance claim with its insurers. 

Associated complaint

  1. The resident raised the complaint on 28 July 2023, the landlord acknowledged it within 1 working day, within its policy timeframe. It provided its stage 1 response on 9 August 2023 which was within 10 working days in line with its policy and the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code). It identified some of its failings and offered redress.
  2. The resident escalated the complaint on 25 October 2023. It acknowledged the escalation on 1 November 2023, within 5 working days. It’s stage 2 response was provided on 1 November 2023 (within 19 working days) in line with its policy and the Code.
  3. The resident explained to this Service in an email of 24 July 2024 that her complaint had been closed by the landlord and labelled as ‘resolved’ before the landlord had signed off the work to the property. It is reasonable for the landlord to close complaints that have been addressed by its 2 stage process within the timeframes set out in the Code. Additionally, responding to the complaint does not prevent the landlord from following up on its response and completing repairs. It is however, understandable, the frustration and worry this caused to resident.
  4. The resident has also told us that the landlord phoned her and pressured her to withdraw her complaint around the time of her stage 2 complaint. We have not seen evidence of this, so we are unable to make a finding in relation to this claim. Although we do encourage landlords to have fair practises and to empower residents throughout its complaints process.
  5. Although the landlord could have communicated better with the resident about its complaint handling process and what to expect, overall it acted within its timeframes set out in its policy and its complaint decisions were clearly communicated. Therefore we the find that there was no maladministration by the landlord in its complaint handling.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in relation to the landlord’s handling of reports of water penetration and associated damp and mould to the exterior and interior of the property.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was no maladministration by the landlord in respect of its handling of requests for compensation for damage to personal property.
  3. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was no maladministration by the landlord in respect of its handling of the complaint.

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of the date of this report, the Ombudsman orders the landlord to:
    1. Provide a written apology to the resident for the failures identified in this report.
    2. Pay directly to the resident a total of £950 (minus any sums previously paid) made up of:
      1. £750 the landlord has already offered in its stage 2 complaint response for delay, customer effort, and distress.
      2. £200 for the distress and worry and time and trouble caused to the resident by its failings in handling the internal and external repairs, and associated damp and mould.
  2. The landlord must produce an independent specialist surveyor’s report within 8 weeks on:
    1. Whether the exterior works have been remediated to prevent further water ingress.
    2. Whether the interior works have been restored to a safe and usable condition.
    3. Provide a copy of the surveyors report to us and the resident including a clear plan of action and timeframes for any repairs identified.
  3. Confirm compliance with these orders to the Service.

Recommendations

  1. We recommend that the landlord considers its discretionary compensation policy and whether it can make compensation payments in relation to the cost of replacing the residents personal belongings or assist the resident in submitting her claim with its insurers.
  2. We recommend the landlord to consider further compensation towards the delays in completing internal repairs following its stage 2 response of November 2023.