Applications are open to join the next Housing Ombudsman Resident Panel – find out more Housing Ombudsman Resident Panel.

Lewisham Council (202321345)

Back to Top

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202321345

Lewisham Council

14 June 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. This complaint is about how the landlord handled the resident’s reports of damp and mould in her property.

Background

  1. The resident is a secure tenant of the landlord. The tenancy began on 4 October 2021. The property is a ground floor flat.
  2. The resident made a complaint on 10 July 2023. She said there was excessive damp in the property, and that it had returned following a leak from the flat above during the previous year. She said the walls of the kitchen, bathroom and second bedroom were black with mould, the property smelled of damp, the walls were starting to bubble, and the kitchen ceiling was flaking. She said she reported it in April 2023 but received no response despite chasing on multiple occasions.
  3. The landlord issued its stage 1 response on 25 July 2023. It apologised for its lack of communication, and told her it had booked a survey for 2 August 2023. It said the surveyor would schedule any follow-on works directly. It upheld the complaint, and accepted it had failed to complete repairs in a timely manner.
  4. The resident escalated her complaint on 23 August 2023. She said the landlord had arranged a survey and identified a list of works, but had taken no action since then.
  5. The landlord issued a stage 2 response on 13 September 2023. It said it had raised a repair for a replacement extractor fan in the bathroom on 9 August 2023, but had not scheduled the repair due to an administrative error. It said it had since scheduled the replacement for 20 September 2023, and upheld the resident’s complaint as it had not completed repairs in a timely manner.
  6. The resident escalated her complaint on 30 September 2023. She said the landlord had replaced the bathroom extractor fan, but carried out no other works. She said the kitchen ceiling looked like it was ‘going to cave in’, and when she contacted the repairs team on 20 September 2023 she was promised a call back which then did not happen. She said her belongings were being ruined by the damp, and that she had significant concerns about her health, and that of her daughter, as a result of the damp and mould.
  7. The landlord issued a stage 3 response on 30 October 2023. It acknowledged that it took 4 months to take any action following the resident’s report, that it only did so following a complaint, and that it had not carried out any investigation into the cause of the damp, or carried out any follow-on works. It said that replacing a single fan was clearly not going to resolve the issues, and that it was concerned about the resident’s safety given that the kitchen ceiling had started bulging. It apologised for the failings identified, offered £250 compensation, committed to providing a schedule of works with timescales, and referred the resident to its insurers for any damage to her property. It confirmed it would support the claim by providing any relevant information to the insurer promptly, and provided the resident with a claim form.
  8. The resident referred her complaint to the Ombudsman on 9 November 2023. She said all issues remained outstanding, and the only action taken since April 2023 had been to install a new extractor fan in the bathroom, which had made no difference to the damp. She said the damp had since spread to the kitchen cupboards, drawers and counters, and there had been no investigation into the cause of the damp. She said the kitchen ceiling had started actively leaking, and the insurance claim form required receipts, which she was unable to provide.

Assessment and findings

Policies and procedures

  1. The landlord’s guide to repairs says it is responsible for repairing the structure and exterior of the property, the walls and the ceilings, and resolving any leaks. Its repairs policy says it will carry out repairs in the following timescales:
    1. Emergency repairs should be completed within 24 hours.
    2. Urgent repairs should be completed within 3 working days.
    3. Routine work should be completed within 20 working days.
  2. The landlord’s damp, mould and leaks policy says it will take all reports of damp, mould and leaks seriously. It says it will determine the cause of any damp, mould and leaks, communicate clearly, and keep residents informed.
  3. Under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, the landlord must ensure the dwelling is fit for human habitation throughout the tenancy. The landlord must also ensure that the homes it provides meet the Decent Homes Standard. Section 5 of the Decent Homes Standard says the landlord should ensure that its properties are free of category 1 hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). Damp and mould is listed as a potential category 1 hazard.
  4. The landlord’s complaints policy has 3 stages. The policy says that stage 1 responses will be issued within 10 working days, and stage 2 and 3 responses will be issued within 20 working days of an escalation request.
  5. The landlord’s compensation policy sets out when it will pay compensation, and how that compensation is calculated. It provides the following compensation guidelines:
    1. Up to £50 for service failures with a limited impact on the resident.
    2. £51 to £250 if a resident suffers distress or inconvenience because of a service failure with a medium impact on the resident.
    3. £251 to £1,000 if a resident suffers distress or inconvenience because of a serious or repeated service failure.

Damp and mould

  1. The landlord has acknowledged that there were multiple failings on its part. It offered the resident £250 compensation, referred her to its insurers to claim for damage to her belongings, and committed to providing her with a schedule of works and a timescale for the repairs. The resident does not believe the landlord has done enough to put things right. She said the £250 offered is insufficient for the level of failings by the landlord, and that the compensation should also be increased to account for lost clothes as she cannot evidence those losses for an insurance claim. She also told the Ombudsman that the landlord had not carried out any repairs. It is common ground that as of 26 April 2024, no repairs had been arranged.
  2. The resident reported damp and mould in the property on 5 April 2023. When making her report, she included photos which showed significant black mould and obvious water damage to the kitchen ceiling. She then chased a response from both the landlord’s damp and mould team and her housing officer on multiple occasions before raising her complaint in July 2023. All of the resident’s emails to the damp and mould team were ignored, as were her housing officer’s attempts to chase a response from the relevant team. This was despite the resident having raised concerns about the safety of her child, and that the ceiling may collapse. The landlord took no action regarding the damp until nearly 4 months had passed, and then only carried out an inspection in response to the resident raising a complaint. This is clearly a significant failing.
  3. The operative who inspected the property on 2 August 2023 identified heavy brown water staining on the kitchen ceiling and external wall, with both flaking and blistering, elevated moisture levels as a result of a leak, and that the construction of the property was leading to condensation. The landlord logged repairs for a mould wash (which it did not carry out) and a replacement bathroom extractor fan. It did not log any follow-on works to identify the cause of the leak mentioned in the survey. It also failed to contact the resident to arrange any works until she escalated her complaint on 23 August 2023. It said this was due to an administrative error.
  4. Following the resident’s escalation request, the landlord logged the repair for the replacement extractor fan a second time. This went ahead on 20 September 2023. It did not attempt to arrange any other follow-on works identified during the survey, or any further inspections to identify the cause of the leak. Its actions at this stage were not in line with either the recommendations of its surveyor, its repairs policy, its damp and mould policy, or standard industry practice. It has provided no explanation for why it only replaced a single bathroom extractor fan as a remedy to damp in multiple rooms, and which its surveyor said was caused by a leak.
  5. When issuing its stage 3 response, the landlord acknowledged that it took 4 months and a complaint for it to take any action in response to the resident’s reports of damp and mould. It said that ‘clearly replacing one extractor fan is not going to resolve issues such as the kitchen ceiling’, and accepted that further works and investigations into the cause of the damp and mould were needed. It agreed with the resident’s concerns that the kitchen ceiling looked like it was ‘going to cave in’, and committed to providing the resident with a schedule of works, together with timescales, for outstanding works and investigations.
  6. Having made some steps to try to put things right, however, it then failed to arrange for any repairs until the end of April 2024, after the Ombudsman had accepted the complaint for investigation. This demonstrates that, in addition to the multiple serious failings identified above, the landlord then failed to learn from the complaint.
  7. The Ombudsman’s Spotlight Report on damp and mould sets out what the Ombudsman expects from landlords where damp and mould are concerned. It says landlords should take a zero-tolerance approach to damp and mould, carry out proactive intervention, communicate effectively with residents, and, where significant works may be required, it should consider whether the resident should be moved from the property at an early stage. The landlord has provided no evidence to show it took any of those steps.
  8. There was no sense of urgency on the part of the landlord to resolve the issues despite damp and mould being a potential category 1 hazard in accordance with the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). It has also provided no evidence of any assessment into whether or not the property was fit for human habitation. By the time of the stage 3 response, the landlord had left the resident and her young child living with a potential category 1 hazard for almost 7 months, only taking action when the resident made or escalated her complaint.
  9. Landlords are expected to be sympathetic and understanding of residents’ needs. They are also expected to be proactive when responding to concerns, especially in respect of housing safety. The evidence provided by the landlord shows a lack of care and attention in its treatment of the resident, and its records do not demonstrate that it took reports of significant damp and mould seriously either before or after its inspection. The £250 compensation offered also does not adequately address the detriment the landlord’s inaction caused the resident. The landlord’s handling of reports of damp and mould at the property was so poor it warrants a finding of severe maladministration.
  10. The Ombudsman has assessed what an appropriate level of compensation would be, taking into account the circumstances of the resident’s complaint, the resident’s rental liability, and this Service’s remedies guidance. This has been calculated as follows:
    1. The resident’s net rent is £105.94 per week.
    2. The resident has reported that the damp affected the kitchen, bathroom, and second bedroom. She has not suggested that any other rooms have been affected.
    3. Although all of the rooms in question were not rendered unusable, the Ombudsman notes that the resident has provided photographic evidence of significant black mould within the property, and has reported being unable to fully use the kitchen because of the mould and the leak damage to the ceiling.
    4. By the time of its final complaint response, the landlord had been aware of the resident’s reports of excessive damp for 29 weeks. The landlord’s repairs policy says it has 20 working days to complete a routine repair, leaving 25 weeks of avoidable and unreasonable delays. The landlord should therefore pay the resident 20% of the rent for 25 weeks of delays from 5 May 2023 up to the date of its stage 3 response.
    5. The total compensation for loss of use due to delayed repairs for damp and mould should therefore be £529.70.
  11. The Ombudsman has also considered the distress and inconvenience experienced by the resident as a result of the landlord’s handling of the repairs. The landlord has offered the resident £250 for the distress and inconvenience caused. This is not in line with either its compensation policy (which recommends £251 to £1,000 for serious failings) or the Ombudsman’s published remedies guidance.
  12. In this case, the landlord initially ignored the resident’s reports of excessive damp and mould in her property for 4 months. Throughout that time, the resident had to repeatedly chase the landlord for a response, while growing increasingly concerned about the impact the damp could have on her own health, as well as that of her daughter. She then had to repeatedly chase repairs throughout the complaints process, despite having raised safety concerns about the kitchen ceiling. She said she could not leave anything uncovered in the kitchen due to the paint flaking from the ceiling, could not have visitors (including play dates for her child) due to the mould, and could taste the mould any time she ate or drank. The surveyor also noted that there was a strong and pervasive smell of damp throughout the property.
  13. Taking all the circumstances of the case into account, the Ombudsman considers that the landlord should pay the resident £1,400 for the distress and inconvenience caused by its poor handling of damp and mould. This is in line with the Ombudsman’s published remedies guidance for serious failings which have had a seriously detrimental impact on a resident.
  14. The Ombudsman notes that the resident believes the landlord should offer additional compensation for her damaged belongings. However, an insurer would be best placed to assess the cause of the damage and the value of the damaged items, and the landlord has appropriately referred the resident to its insurer and provided a claim form. The Ombudsman would only expect the landlord to consider compensation for the losses if its insurer would not cover the claim, for example if the cause of the damage was not covered under the policy. As the resident has not yet made such a claim, it would not be appropriate to order any additional compensation at this stage. However, the Ombudsman has made a recommendation in this regard below.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there has been severe maladministration with regard to the landlord’s handling of reports of damp and mould.

Orders

  1. Within 2 weeks of the date of this determination, the landlord is ordered to:
    1. Issue a written apology to the resident for the failings identified in this report. The apology must be issued by the landlord’s Chief Executive.
    2. Arrange for an appropriately qualified surveyor to carry out a full building survey of the property.
  2. Within 2 weeks of the survey ordered above, the landlord must write to the resident to set out its action plan with regard to the damp and mould. It must confirm the following:
    1. What the surveyor identified as the likely cause of the damp and mould.
    2. What works are needed to resolve the damp and mould.
    3. When it intends to carry out those works, how long it anticipates the works will take, and whether it considers the property is fit for human habitation in the meantime.
    4. The name and direct contact details for a specific point of contact who will oversee the repairs.
    5. Whether it considers that the resident and her daughter can remain in the property during the works, or if she needs to be temporarily decanted to another property. It must also set out its reasoning for its decision.

The landlord must provide the Ombudsman with a copy of the letter.

  1. Within 4 weeks of the date of this report, the landlord is ordered to pay the resident £1,929.70 in compensation for the failings identified in this report. The is inclusive of the £250 offered as part of the complaints process, and is broken down as follows:
    1. £529.70 for the delays in completing the repairs and the associated impact on the resident’s use of the property while paying full rent for it.
    2. £1,400 for the distress and inconvenience caused by its poor handling of the damp and mould.
  2. The landlord is to reply to this Service to provide evidence of compliance with these orders within the timescales set out above.

Recommendations

  1. It is recommended that the landlord review its actions since the stage 3 response and assess whether any additional compensation should be paid to the resident in light of its confirmation that it did not carry out the repairs after its complaint response. It should write to the resident to set out its decision in this regard, together with its reasoning. 
  2. It is recommended that, if the resident makes a claim for damaged items on the landlord’s insurance and that claim is declined, the landlord consider offering further compensation for damage to her belongings and write to the resident with an explanation of its decision.
  3. The landlord should reply to this Service within four weeks of the date of this report to confirm its intentions in regard to the above recommendations.