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Leeds City Council (202327705)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202327705

Leeds City Council

6 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 the landlord’s handling of damp and mould and a blocked toilet at the resident’s property.

Background

  1. The resident is a secure tenant of the landlord.
  2. In October 2021, the resident contacted the landlord and reported a damp and mould issue within his property. In addition, in August 2022, the resident contacted the landlord and reported a blocked toilet at his property.
  3. On 28 September 2022, the resident submitted his complaint to the landlord. He explained there were outstanding repairs, including damp and mould and a blocked toilet. The resident stated that the repair issues had been ongoing for more than 2 years.
  4. The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response to the resident on 13 October 2022. It apologised that there was a reoccurring issue resulting in the resident’s toilet becoming blocked. The landlord confirmed it had booked an appointment for its contractor to attend the resident’s property on 17 October 2022 to identify the cause of the reoccurring blocked toilet and damp and mould.
  5. On 7 November 2022, the resident contacted the landlord and requested his complaint to be escalated to the next stage of the landlord’s complaints process. He explained that no one from the repairs team contacted him or attended his property as agreed in the landlord’s stage 1 response. The resident stated that he and his family could not live in these conditions any longer.
  6. The landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response to the resident on 29 November 2022. It explained that there had been multiple reports of a blocked toilet at the resident’s property, and, in response, emergency appointments were raised and attended by drainage operatives who cleared the blockage on each occasion. However, the landlord confirmed that it could not yet identify the cause of the blockage. In addition, the landlord explained it had previously completed works to treat the damp and mould. However, it confirmed that the mould reappeared. It confirmed it had raised a work order to install extractor fans in the resident’s kitchen and bathroom to resolve the damp and mould.
  7. The resident remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s response and submitted his complaint to the Ombudsman. He explained that his desired outcome was for the outstanding repairs at his property to be completed.
  8. On 19 January 2024, the resident submitted a legal disrepair claim to the landlord, which included the damp and mould issues and reoccurring blocked toilet. The disrepair claim is still ongoing, and no compensation has been offered at present as part of the disrepair claim.

Assessment and findings

Scope of Investigation

  1. This report will consider the initial damp and mould report the resident reported to the landlord as part of his complaint in September 2022. It will not investigate the new report of damp and mould which the resident and the landlord stated reappeared in the bathroom in September 2023. Approximately 5 months have passed since the repair was resolved in April 2024 and the new damp and mould issue in September 2024. Therefore, the Ombudsman cannot conclude definitively that the new damp and mould issue is linked to the previous report. In addition, the Ombudsman recognises the landlord should be given the chance to respond to the new report of damp and mould in line with its repairs policy. If the resident is unhappy with the landlord’s handling of the ongoing repairs, he can raise a new complaint about this to the landlord. 
  2. The resident explained to the Ombudsman that he has a rat and mice infestation which is still unresolved. The resident did not raise the issue about the rats and mice in his initial complaint to the landlord. And therefore, the landlord was not required to consider this issue through its complaints process. The Ombudsman will not consider it either, because we can only investigate matters which have been through the landlord’s complaints process. This is in line with Paragraph 42(a) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, which states the Ombudsman may not consider a complaint which is made prior to having exhausted a landlord’s complaints procedure, unless there is evidence of a complaint-handling failure, and the Ombudsman is satisfied that the member landlord has not taken action within a reasonable timescale. However, it is recommended that the landlord carries out an inspection and completes the necessary repairs to resolve the rat and mice issue. If the resident is dissatisfied with the landlord’s handling of the issue, he may be able to raise it as a separate complaint through the landlord’s complaints process. The resident may be able to refer the new complaint to the Ombudsman if he remains dissatisfied with the landlord’s final response about the rat and mice infestation.

Policies and Procedures

  1. The landlord’s tenant handbook states that the landlord is responsible for toilets and kitchen fittings. In addition, the handbook confirms that the landlord is responsible for resolving damp and mould at a property.
  2. The tenant handbook also includes the following response timescales for the following repair categories:
    1. Emergency repairs – the landlord will respond within 3 hours and complete an emergency repair within 24 hours.
    2. Priority repairs – the landlord will respond within 3 working days for specific repairs such as plumbing and draining faults and within 7 working days for repairs such as a roof leak.
    3. General repairs – the landlord will respond within 20 working days.
    4. Non-urgent repairs – the landlord will respond within 60 working days.
  3. The landlord’s damp and mould policy explains that the landlord will investigate reports of damp and mould to determine the cause and carry out remedial actions in accordance with the tenancy agreement and industry guidance.

Assessment

  1. On 6 October and 20 October 2021, the resident contacted the landlord and reported damp and mould within the kitchen and bathroom. The landlord took reasonable steps to respond to the report by completing a damp inspection at the resident’s property at the start of November 2021. Following the inspection, the landlord’s contractor raised a work order for a mould wash and treatment and for the affected areas to be painted. These works were completed on 14 December 2021 and resolved the damp and mould issue for a while. The landlord responded appropriately to the resident’s initial damp and mould report.
  2. On 11 August 2022, the resident reported to the landlord that the toilet within his property was blocked. The landlord’s records explained that the resident’s toilet kept becoming blocked and the cause of this needed to be identified. The landlord completed works to unblock the toilet on 18 August 2022. Considering there was only one toilet at the resident’s property, the Ombudsman would have expected the landlord’s contractor to unblock the toilet much sooner than it did.
  3. Although the landlord carried out works to unblock the toilet the blockage reoccurred, and the resident reported this to the landlord on 22 August 2022. The landlord responded promptly to the report and unblocked the toilet on 24 August 2022. In addition, there were 4 further reports that the resident’s toilet was blocked in August and September 2022. It was a positive step that the landlord’s contractor attended the resident’s property to unblock the toilet. However, as the blockage was reoccurring, it would have been appropriate for the landlord to carry out an inspection of the toilet and drain to identify the cause of the blockage. It would have been inconvenient for the resident to have to arrange repeated repair visits for the same issue within a short space of time.
  4. On 28 September, the resident submitted a complaint to the landlord. He explained that there were outstanding repairs at his property, including damp and mould and a blocked toilet. Shortly after, the landlord provided the resident with its stage 1 response on 13 October 2022. It confirmed that it had booked an appointment for its contractor to attend the resident’s property on 17 October 2022 to identify the cause of the reoccurring blocked toilet and the damp and mould. The landlord responded appropriately by booking the necessary inspection.
  5. The booked appointment did not go ahead on 17 October 2022. However, the landlord confirmed this was because the contractor could not access the resident’s property. In addition, they did not have a telephone number to contact the resident. The Ombudsman recognises that it not being able to gain access would have been outside the landlord’s control.
  6. Due to this, the resident asked his complaint to be escalated to stage 2 of the landlord’s complaints process, as he was unhappy that the repairs were still outstanding. The resident also reported that his toilet became blocked again during November 2022.
  7. The landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response to the resident on 29 November 2022. It stated that it could not yet identify the cause of the toilet blockage. The landlord also explained that it had previously completed works to treat the damp and mould. However, it confirmed that the mould had recently reappeared. It explained it had raised a work order to install extractor fans in the resident’s kitchen and bathroom to resolve the damp and mould. The landlord responded appropriately by explaining that it would install extractor fans at the resident’s property to help resolve the damp and mould. However, it was unreasonable that the landlord had failed to complete the necessary actions to identify the cause of the blocked toilet at the resident’s property. Furthermore, the landlord failed to offer compensation to the resident to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by delays in resolving the damp and mould and identifying the cause of the blocked toilet.
  8. After the landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response, there was a considerable delay in the landlord installing the extractor fans in the resident’s kitchen and bathroom and identifying the cause of the blocked toilet. The resident contacted the landlord in December 2022, chasing for an update on the installation of the extractor fans. The landlord responded at the start of January 2023 and confirmed that its contractor would contact the resident by the end of January 2023 with an appointment to install the fans. However, the landlord’s contractor failed to contact the resident with an appointment and the resident continued to chase this in February and April 2023. In April 2023, the resident also explained that the toilet blockage had still not been repaired. The delay was unreasonable and resulted in the resident and his family, including his young children, living with damp and mould in the property and a reoccurring blocked toilet for a considerable amount of time.
  9. On 24 April 2023, the landlord emailed the resident with an update on the outstanding repairs. It explained that it had escalated the outstanding extractor fans installation and stated that a glazer and electrician needed to attend the resident’s property at the same time, so the fans could be fitted to the windows. In addition, the landlord confirmed it had raised a work order to paint the bathroom ceiling with bio-based paint due to the black mould spots. In regard to the toilet, it explained that the previous repair order for the toilet had been closed due to no access, and it had raised a new order for the toilet to be repaired or, if necessary, replaced. The landlord acted appropriately by raising the necessary work orders and updating the resident. However, the length of time the repairs were outstanding was unreasonable.
  10. The landlord’s contractor attended the resident’s property in May 2023 and carried out some painting in the bathroom with anti-fungal paint. However, the installation of the extractor fans in the kitchen and bathroom were still outstanding. In addition, on 19 July 2023, the resident reported a further blockage to the toilet and the landlord’s contractor completed repairs to the toilet on 10 August 2023.
  11. The resident contacted the landlord in September and October 2023, chasing for an update on the installation of the extractor fans. The landlord informed the resident on 1 November 2023 that there was a delay in the landlord installing the extractor fans due to fire safety concerns and explained that it needed to check with its fire safety team whether the extractor fans could be installed at her property. In addition, the landlord confirmed it had booked a further damp inspection for 8 November 2023 to inspect the black mould spots in the property. The Ombudsman recognises the landlord identified potential fire safety concerns due to installing the extractor fans, and these needed to be addressed. However, these concerns were identified around 1 year after the landlord confirmed it had raised a work order for the installation of extractor fans, which was unreasonable and caused further delays.
  12. The landlord eventually installed an extractor fan in the resident’s bathroom on 6 December 2023. However, it could not install an extractor fan in the kitchen. As this would limit the opening of the window and would impact the existing ventilation and cause potential fire safety concerns. The landlord confirmed it would consider alternative options to the extractor fan if the damp and mould issues reoccurred in the kitchen. The landlord acted reasonably in this instance. However, there was a significant delay in the landlord installing the extractor fan in the bathroom and identifying that it could not install an extractor fan in the kitchen.
  13. On 19 January 2024, the resident submitted a legal disrepair claim to the landlord due to repairs remaining outstanding at his property including, the blocked toilet and other repair issues which were not raised as part of this complaint. A Scott schedule was created as part of the disrepair claim on 13 March 2024. The schedule stated the contractor had fitted a new kitchen and tiles around 4 weeks ago and there was no evidence of structural damp and mould in the kitchen. In regard to the bathroom, the schedule confirmed that the ceiling and the external wall behind the toilet had recently been plastered. However, the area behind the toilet was identified as damp and on further inspection, there was a leak identified from the bottom of the cistern, which had allowed water ingress to the external wall. The schedule confirmed due to this, the drains would be checked for a potential leak; the cause of the leak was from the cistern and possible drainage issues. The schedule also confirmed that the toilet should be removed, and refixed, and confirmed that the bathroom should be repainted with mould–resistant paint. The landlord confirmed all the repairs referenced on the Scott schedule were completed by 29 April 2024. Both the landlord and resident have confirmed that only the painting of the bathroom remains outstanding.
  14. The Ombudsman would normally order the painting of the bathroom to be completed. However, the landlord and resident have informed us that damp and mould has recently reappeared in the bathroom. The landlord has confirmed the cause of the new damp and mould is from a leak from a bathroom in the neighbouring flat above the residents. Considering this, the Ombudsman recommends that the landlord resolves the leak and the damp and mould prior to it completing the painting to the bathroom.
  15. The landlord acted appropriately by completing all the necessary repairs apart from the painting. However, there was a significant delay in the landlord completing the necessary repairs and the landlord failed to offer the resident any compensation to the resident in its stage 1 and 2 complaint responses. It has also confirmed that a monetary settlement has not yet been offered as part of the disrepair claim and confirmed that the disrepair claim was still ongoing. It would be appropriate for the landlord to offer the resident £600 compensation to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by delays in resolving the reoccurring blocked toilet and damp and mould at the resident’s property. The compensation awarded is in line with the Ombudsman’s approach to compensation, which is set out in our remedies guidance (published on our website). The remedies guidance suggests awards of £100 to £600 where there has been a failure by the landlord, which adversely affected the resident, but there may be no permanent impact. In this case, there was no permanent impact as the repairs to resolve the blocked toilet and damp and mould were eventually completed, although there was significant distress and inconvenience for the resident over a prolonged period of time before the repairs were completed.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of damp and mould and a blocked toilet at the resident’s property.

Orders

  1. The landlord is ordered to pay the resident £600 compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of damp and mould and a blocked toilet at his property.
  2. The landlord must comply with the above orders within 6 weeks of the date of this report, providing evidence to the Ombudsman that it has done so by the same date.

Recommendations

  1. It is recommended that the landlord completes the necessary works to resolve the new report of damp and mould caused by a leak from a neighbouring property. Once this has been resolved the landlord should complete the outstanding painting works to the bathroom.
  2. It is recommended that the landlord completes a pest control inspection and completes the necessary repairs to resolve the rat and mice issue at the resident’s property.