Lambeth Council (202226724)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202226724

Lambeth Council

18 March 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 the landlord’s handling of the resident’s:
   1. Reports of damp and mould.
   2. Reports of outstanding repairs at the property.
   3. Associated formal complaint.
   4. Record keeping.

Background

2. The resident is the assured tenant of the landlord which is a local authority. The property is a 3-bedroom house that the resident lives in with her son. The resident was represented by her son when bringing the complaint to the landlord and this Service. For convenience, we refer to the resident and her son jointly as “the resident” throughout this report.
3. The resident complained to the landlord about damp and mould throughout the property and other outstanding repair issues on 5 October 2022. She said the landlord had repeatedly failed to solve these problems since 2015.
4. The landlord did not respond to the complaint but raised an order for works at the property including works intended to solve the damp and mould problem such as installing thermal board in the living room wall, removing sections of plaster in 4 rooms, and treating with mould wash before redecorating. The order also included general repair items including kitchen units, a radiator, and the shower. The landlord attended in late October 2022 and mended a radiator and an electrical socket.
5. In February 2023, the resident wrote to this Service saying he had yet to receive a complaint response and the works had not been carried out. We contacted the landlord on 5 April 2023, and it sent a stage 2 complaint response to the resident on 13 April 2023. It apologised for its failure to carry out the repairs and stated that it would begin works shortly. It offered the resident £450 in recognition of the delays, the inconvenience caused, and the time and trouble caused to the resident. The landlord carried out the works between April and July 2023
6. The resident remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s response and brought the complaint to this Service. He said there was “substantial, pervasive, mould and damp” and other repair problems such as broken kitchen cupboards and an ill-fitting bedroom door. He asked for financial compensation and “a home swap” as he said the landlord had not rectified the problems for 8 years.

Assessment and findings

Scope of the investigation

7. The resident told us that the landlord failed to respond adequately to her reports of damp and mould over many years. In accordance with paragraph 42(c) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme (the Scheme), the Ombudsman may not investigate complaints which were not brought to the attention of a landlord as a formal complaint within a reasonable period. This would normally be within 6 months of the matters giving rise to the complaint. We have not seen evidence to suggest that the matters had been raised previously with the landlord, giving it the opportunity to respond. Therefore, this report only considers matters from October 2022, when the resident raised her complaint.
8. The resident has said that the condition of the property has had an impact on her family’s health. However, this Service is unable to establish a causal link between reports of the health issues experienced by complainants and the actions of landlords. The resident may wish to seek legal advice about this, as a personal injury claim may be a more appropriate way of dealing with this aspect of her complaint. Nonetheless, we have considered the general distress and inconvenience which these events may have caused.

Reports of damp and mould

9. The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, as amended, says, at section 9A, that landlords have a duty to ensure that properties are fit for human habitation. Section 10 sets out a list of “hazards” which, if present, may indicate that a property is unfit for human habitation. Damp and mould are included in this list.
10. The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 introduced a requirement that rented properties are fit for human habitation at the start of a tenancy. This means, among other things that they must be free from damp and mould, secure, have sufficient heating and hot and cold water and be free from hazards.  A list of hazards is set out in the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), introduced by The Housing Act 2004. This Act requires landlords to assess hazards and risks within their rented properties. Damp and mould are also included in this list.
11. Landlords should be aware of their obligations under HHSRS, and they are expected to carry out additional monitoring of a property where potential hazards are identified.
12. In this Service’s spotlight report on Damp and Mould, published October 2023, the Ombudsman made 26 recommendations for landlords to self-assess against. The landlord in this case has done so and, as a result, issued a “damp charter” which recognises that damp and mould are a problem for many of its tenants. It says it will arrange a visit to diagnose problems within 28 days and agree an action plan to resolve damp and mould issues which will include a commitment to a set timeframe for repairs.
13. The landlord’s repairs priorities document sets out timeframes for the completion of repairs at its properties. Priority 1 emergency repairs should be completed within 24 hours. Priority 2 repairs should be carried out within 2 working days. Priority 3 repairs should be completed within 5 working days. Priority 4 repairs should be completed within 30 working days and priority 5 should take no longer than 90 working days.
14. While we do not dispute the resident’s claims that he reported damp and mould over a number of years, no evidence was provided by either party to demonstrate any reports made prior to 5 October 2022. The landlord inspected the property on 11 October 2022, which was within its service standard timescales. It arranged a schedule of works, which included the damp and mould treatments and other repairs on 17 October 2022. It said these works should be completed by July 2023.
15. According to the landlord’s policy on repairs, the maximum amount of time that should be taken to carry out repairs is 90 days. On the contrary, it did not start the works for 6 months and did not complete them until 9 months after the inspection. This was particularly inappropriate given this Service’s guidance to landlords which states that damp and mould should be treated as priorities. The landlord did not give adequate priority to these works as it did not appear to have fully considered the impact on the resident. This was an inadequate response to the resident’s complaint.
16. This Service’s guidance on remedies states that payments up to £600 are generally adequate to recompense a complainant in circumstances such as these. Considering the events in this case, this Service conclude that the landlord’s apology and offer of £450 in recognition of its failings was in line with this guidance. The landlord therefore offered reasonable redress for its failures in this case.

Reports of outstanding repairs

17. The landlord’s repairs policy divides repairs into 5 priority categories which range from Priority 1, emergencies, which must be dealt within 24 hours to Priority 5 which must be dealt with in 90 working days. It also has priorities R1 and R2 which, on the evidence, it considers to be less urgent than priority 5. The landlord placed the repair works in category R1.
18. The landlord repaired a radiator and an electrical socket in October 2022. However, it did not commence the other repairs: replacement of kitchen units and work surfaces, replacement of the shower and the ill-fitting bedroom door or repairs to windows until April 2023. More than 6 months after the resident raised them with the landlord. This was, again, an inadequate response to her reports of repairs required at the property.
19. While the resident’s main concern was the pervasive mould at the property, she stated that the other repair issues also caused her and her family problems. The kitchen units were unusable until the repairs were carried out and the ill-fitting door caused drafts.
20. The landlord accepted that it failed to complete these works within an acceptable timeframe. It offered compensation of £450, as is stated above, which was in line with this Service’s remedies guidance. We therefore find that the landlord offered reasonable redress for its failures and the distress and inconvenience they caused.

Complaint handling

21. The landlord’s complaint policy contains a 3-stage complaint handling process. The first stage is ‘early resolution’. The policy says, “When we want to resolve complaints straight away, these will be passed to the officer who can resolve the issue. It will contact the resident and agree actions to resolve the issue and agree timescales. At this stage, the resident will not receive a written response however should they wish for a written response this will become a Local Resolution”.
22. Thereafter, there are 2 further stages in the process, stage 1 local resolution and stage 2 review. The policy says the landlord should respond to stage 1 complaints within 20 working days where possible. Where a complainant is not satisfied with the stage 1 response, they can apply for a review. This, again, should be provided within 20 working days if possible.
23. The Ombudsman acknowledges that an informal resolution stage may be useful and appropriate in certain circumstances. However, landlords must ensure that efforts to resolve a resident’s concerns do not obstruct access to the complaints procedure or result in any unreasonable delay. It is not appropriate to have extra named stages (such as ‘early resolution’) as this causes unnecessary confusion for residents. When a complaint is made, it must be acknowledged and logged at stage 1 of the complaints procedure within 5 days of receipt. The landlord’s policy, which says that early resolution complaints will not be logged or responded to, therefore, is not appropriate.
24. The Ombudsman is also clear that informal resolution must not be used to resolve a complaint when the resident’s concerns span several years. In this case, the resident’s complaint stated explicitly that her concerns stretched back to 2015. For this reason, informal resolution was not appropriate.
25. It is likely that the use of the informal resolution system led to the delay in responding appropriately to the complaint. This Service has seen no evidence that the complaint was logged, as it should have been. There is no evidence that the landlord told the resident that it had closed her informal complaint through “early resolution”. The resident was not aware that her complaint had been closed which is why he came to this Service seeking a complaint response. When this Service asked the landlord for a response, it responded at stage 2 despite not having ever issued a stage 1 response. This was inappropriate as it had not issued a stage 1 response.
26. The landlord failed to log the resident’s complaint from the outset or respond appropriately to her concerns. For this reason, this Service finds maladministration in the landlord’s complaint handling and has made an order below.

Record-keeping

27. Clear record keeping is a core function of repair and wider landlord services. It allows evidence to be provided to the Ombudsman when requested. More importantly, clear record keeping is essential to enable landlords to monitor outstanding works, contractor performance, and provide effective services to its residents. A landlord should have systems in place to maintain accurate records including, but not restricted to, resident repair reports, attendances, findings, and actions.
28. The Ombudsman issued a spotlight report, Spotlight on Knowledge, and Information Management, in May 2023. In it, the Ombudsman stated that poor knowledge management can lead to delays, confusion, and uncertainty for residents. The landlord in this case was found, in that report, to have been responsible for maladministration in its record keeping in several cases. This was prior to our special investigation and subsequent report on this landlord which is mentioned below.
29. In accordance with paragraph 10 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord is must provide copies of any information requested by the Ombudsman that is, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, relevant to the complaint. This may include the member’s policies and procedures, internal files, documents, and correspondence. As part of this Service’s evidence request we asked the landlord to provide inspection, repair, and other records, relevant to the resident’s complaint. However, it provided very few relevant records.
30. This Service expects landlords to maintain contemporaneous records of the resident’s reports, along with records of its attendances, findings, and actions. Aside from providing the landlord with a ready means to evidence events to the resident and this Service, it is also reasonable to conclude that its poor record keeping contributed to the service failings detailed below. The Ombudsman has therefore found maladministration with the landlord’s record keeping and has made an order in this regard.

Conclusion

31. The Ombudsman completed a special investigation on this landlord and published a report in January 2024 in which we reviewed its handling of complaints handling and made recommendations which also referred to its record keeping and handling of repairs. The Ombudsman has therefore not made further orders (other than for financial redress) or recommendations around these aspects of service in this report but expects the landlord to take all relevant learning points from this case into account in its overall reviews of complaint handling, record keeping, and its repairs service.

Determination

32. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme (the Scheme), there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s:
    1. Complaint handling.
    2. Record keeping.
33. In accordance with paragraph 53(b) of the Scheme, the landlord has offered reasonable redress to the resident prior to the investigation for its failures in handling her reports of:
    1. Damp and mould.
    2. Other outstanding repairs at the property.

Orders and recommendations

34. Within 4 weeks of the date of this report, the landlord is ordered:
    1. To pay the resident £600 broken down as follows:
       1. £300 for its failures in handling the resident’s complaint.
       2. £300 for its failures in record keeping.
    2. To write to the resident and apologise for its failures of complaint handling.

Recommendations

35. The landlord should pay the resident £450 offered in its stage 2 response if not already paid.