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Lewisham Council (202309984)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202309984

Lewisham Council

26 September 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;
    1. Reports of various repairs to the resident’s shower room.
    2. Reports of damp and mould.

Background

  1. The resident is a secure tenant of the landlord.
  2. In June 2022, the resident reported several repairs required to her shower room, including a leak from the waste pipe. In March 2023, the resident informed the landlord that the repairs remained outstanding in the shower room and advised that there was damp and mould in the property.
  3. On 17 June 2023, the resident raised a complaint. She said that she had reported repairs on several occasions, but the landlord had not completed any work. The resident said that the damp and mould had affected her belongings, as well as her physical and mental health. She asked to be rehoused due to the level of disrepair in the property.
  4. The landlord issued its stage one response on 3 July 2023. It said that the damp and mould team would conduct a visual inspection on 5 July 2023 and explained that the resident could discuss rehousing options with her housing officer. At the visual inspection, the landlord noted that there was damp and mould in various rooms, including the shower room which had been caused by a leak in the shower tray.
  5. On 17 July 2023, the resident escalated her complaint via her MP due to her increasing frustration at the landlord undertaking repeat inspections, but no work being undertaken. The resident also said that an operative had told her on 13 July 2023 that the shower room required replacing, but no one had contacted her.
  6. The landlord issued its stage two response on 17 August 2023. The landlord confirmed that a thorough damp and mould inspection had taken place on 26 July 2023, and it thanked the resident for facilitating the inspection. With regards to the shower room, it advised that repairs were raised on 6 July 2023 but due to human error, it had not been picked up by contractors. It assured the resident that contractors would contact her to schedule the repairs.
  7. The resident escalated her complaint on 19 August 2023 as she believed that the landlord had failed to act in accordance with its obligations under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).
  8. On 20 September 2023, the landlord’s independent adjudicator issued its stage three response. It acknowledged that delayed repairs to the resident’s shower room caused inconvenience and an unpleasant environment. It recommended that repairs were completed without delay. It apologised and awarded the resident £75 compensation in recognition of the delayed repairs to the shower room. The repairs were completed on 10 November 2023.
  9. While the repairs have since been completed, the resident remains dissatisfied because of the delayed repairs, and she wishes to be compensated for the damage that the damp and mould caused to her belongings.

Assessment and findings

Scope

  1. This Service is aware that the resident reported damp and mould in April 2022. However, the resident did not raise her formal complaint about the landlord’s handling of the damp and mould until 17 June 2023.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 42c of the Scheme, the Ombudsman may not consider complaints which were not brought to the attention of the landlord as a formal complaint within a reasonable period.
  3. Subsequently, this investigation will focus on the landlord’s handling of the reported issues from 1 March 2023, which is the first time that the resident raised issues with damp and mould to the landlord’s since 2022, and the final complaint response, issued on 20 September 2023.
  4. The resident referenced in her communication with the landlord that the unresolved damp and mould had affected her health and wellbeing. While the Ombudsman is sorry to hear of these concerns, it is beyond the expertise of this Service to determine a causal link between the landlord’s action (or lack thereof) and the impact on the resident’s health and wellbeing.
  5. Often, when there is a dispute over whether someone has been injured or a health concern, the courts are able to rely on expert evidence in the form of a medico-legal report. This will give an expert opinion of the cause of any injury or affect on health and wellbeing. This would be a more appropriate and effective means of considering such an allegation and so should the resident wish to pursue this matter, she should do so via this route.
  6. This investigation will only consider whether the landlord acted in accordance with its policy and legal obligations, and fairly in the circumstance.

Shower room repairs

  1. The period between works being carried out in 2022 and the resident raising her complaint in June 2023 suggests that the repairs carried out resolved the issues temporarily. Therefore, this investigation will assess the reasonableness of the landlord’s actions after the resident raised her concerns again in March 2023.
  2. The landlord’s repairs policy set out that it would attend to routine (non-urgent) repairs within 20 working days, although recognised that completion of work may fall outside of this timescale in some cases, for example where inspections were required to make a diagnosis.
  3. The resident informed the landlord on 1 March 2023 that repairs were required in her shower room. In accordance with its repair policy, the landlord should have at least inspected the problem by 29 March 2023. It failed to do so, which was unreasonable.
  4. The inspection that took place on 5 July 2023 identified required repairs, which the landlord said it raised to contractors on 6 July 2023. This Service has seen no evidence of the repairs being raised to contractors. Nevertheless, repairs should have been undertaken by 2 August. In its complaint responses, the landlord acknowledged that the repairs had not been picked up due to human error. While frustrating and inconvenient for the resident, the landlord apologised and assured her that works had been raised again, which was appropriate in the circumstances.
  5. The repairs were carried out on 10 November 2023; 179 working days after the resident informed the landlord of the repairs and 93 working days after the landlord inspected and logged the required repairs. Even considering the above mentioned delay, this was inappropriate, and the landlord has provided no explanation as to why it took so long to pursue completing the repair. This inevitably caused the resident distress and inconvenience.
  6. When repair timeframes are exceeded for relevant reasons the landlord’s primary focus should be on taking clear and appropriate steps to resolve the issue in a reasonable timeframe (i.e. as soon as possible), arranging temporary fixes in the interim (if possible), keeping the resident appropriately up to date, and managing their expectations.
  7. There is no evidence that the landlord kept the resident up to date, nor is there evidence of the landlord explaining the further delays after its stage two response and managing the resident’s expectations about when the repairs would be done. This was inappropriate and caused the resident significant frustration.
  8. For its failings, the landlord’s independent adjudicator offered an apology and £75 compensation in recognition of the delayed repairs. Considering the significant delays, this was not sufficient compensation to remedy the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident.
  9. Overall, the landlord failed to undertake the repairs promptly, resulting in the resident experiencing distress, inconvenience, and frustration. As such, the Ombudsman has concluded that there was maladministration in it’s handling of the resident’s reports of outstanding repairs in her shower room.

Damp & Mould

  1. Landlords must ensure that the accommodation they provide is free from serious hazards, including damp and mould, and that homes are fit for habitation. They must treat cases of damp and mould with the utmost seriousness. Furthermore, the landlord has a responsibility under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), introduced by the Housing Act 2004, to assess hazards and risks within its rented properties. Damp and mould growth pose a health risk to residents and therefore the landlord is required to consider whether any mould problems in its properties amount to a health hazard that may require prompt remedy.
  2. The Ombudsman’s Spotlight Report on Damp and Mould (published October 2021) provides recommendations for landlords, including that they should “adopt a zero-tolerance approach to damp and mould”. The report notes that it is imperative that residents are not left living with damp and mould for an extended period. If damp and mould is not dealt with at the earliest opportunity this will likely increase the frustration and discomfort of the resident and can lead to problems worsening and becoming more complex and intrusive to resolve.
  3. The landlord was aware of damp in the property from 1 March 2023. The information shared internally was limited regarding the extent of the problem so this Service would expect as a minimum that the landlord would have contacted the resident to discuss further and arrange an inspection. There is no evidence that it did, which is inappropriate.
  4. After the resident raised her complaint, an initial inspection was conducted on 5 July 2023; 87 working days after the resident’s report. This is significantly outside the timescales published within its repair policy, and an unreasonable length of time to undertake an inspection of a reported issue.
  5. The evidence supplied to this Service is limited concerning the resident’s reports of damp and mould. Notably absent from the evidence is any information regarding;
    1. The inspection report from 26 July 2023.
    2. The action taken by the landlord to deal with the damp and mould.
    3. Evidence of any post inspections to confirm that the issue had been resolved.
  6. A landlord should have systems in place to maintain accurate records of repair reports, responses, inspections, investigations and communications with contractors. Good record keeping is vital to evidence the action a landlord has taken and failure to keep adequate records indicates that the landlord’s repairs processes are not operating effectively. The landlord’s lack of effective record keeping regarding damp and mould has been highlighted in this case by the independent adjudicator.
  7. The lack of records has prevented the Service from determining whether the landlord acted in line with its repair obligations. Therefore, we cannot conclude that it has acted reasonably in resolving the damp and mould. Furthermore, the significant delay between the resident reporting the issue and the landlord conducting an inspection evidences a lack of urgency from the landlord, causing the resident distress and discomfort.
  8. The resident has indicated that the damp and mould has been resolved. Nevertheless, the landlord failed to resolve the resident’s damp and mould issues promptly, resulting in the resident experiencing ongoing distress, inconvenience, and significant frustration.
  9. As a result of this investigation, the resident wants the landlord to reimburse her for belongings damaged by damp and mould. The Ombudsman recognises it must have been difficult for the resident dealing with her belongings being damaged. However, the landlord would only be responsible for reimbursing the residents for their possessions if there was sufficient evidence to confirm the landlord was directly responsible for the residents’ possessions being damaged through its action or inaction. This Service has issued a recommendation to the landlord to provide the resident with its insurance details to enable the resident to pursue a claim, should she wish to do so.
  10. Consideration of the delays endured, and the lack of information to evidence the action taken by the landlord has led the Ombudsman to conclude that there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of various repairs to the resident’s shower room.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. The landlord is to pay the resident a total of £300 compensation within 4 weeks of the date of this determination, consisting of
    1. £75.00 offered to the resident previously, if this has not already been paid.
    2. An additional £125.00 in recognition of the distress and inconvenience endured due to the delays in completing the required repairs in the resident’s shower room.
    3. £100 for the distress and inconvenience, and delays experienced in the landlord resolving the damp and mould in property.
  2. Evidence of compliance with the above orders must be sent to this Service within four weeks of the date of this determination.

Recommendation

  1. The landlord should provide the resident with its insurer’s details to enable her to submit a claim for damage to her personal belongings, should she wish to do so.