Lewisham Council (202335234)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202335234

Lewisham Council

30 August 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;
   1. The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould in her property.
   2. The associated complaint handling.

Background

2. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord.
3. On 31 May 2022, the resident reported to the landlord that the kitchen and bathroom walls were damp. This was discovered by contractors on site that were replacing her kitchen and bathroom. The landlord conducted an inspection on 10 October 2022.
4. The resident raised a complaint on 24 November 2022. The resident was unhappy that despite a survey taking place, the landlord had not contacted her since to arrange any repairs. The resident advised that the damp and mould was getting worse in the cold weather, and she had been forced to regularly bleach the walls.
5. On 14 December 2022, the landlord issued its stage one response. It apologised and scheduled for a further inspection to take place on 5 January 2023.
6. Following the inspection, the resident sent several chaser emails to the landlord regarding when repairs would take place. Due to the lack of response and action from the landlord, the resident escalated her complaint.
7. On 31 March 2023, the landlord issued its stage two response. It confirmed that ventilation fans needed to be fitted in the resident’s property. Following installation, it would monitor the damp and mould in the property. It advised it would contact the resident to arrange a suitable date to install the fans.
8. Again, the resident chased the landlord on numerous occasions requesting an update. In that time, the resident advised the landlord that she had paid for remedial work herself to manage the increasing damp and mould. The landlord advised that a further inspection was required, so the resident escalated her complaint.
9. On 6 December 2023, the landlord’s independent adjudicator issued a stage three response. It acknowledged that the damp and mould had taken too long to resolve, and its communication had been poor. It advised that the landlord should;
   1. Apologise to the resident.
   2. Reimburse her for the costs incurred treating the damp and mould.
   3. Pay £350 compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused.
   4. Provide the resident with a schedule of works within 2 weeks of the response in order to resolve the outstanding issues.
10. The resident remains dissatisfied as she has advised this Service that the damp and mould remains unresolved. While the resident is doing all she can to manage it, the landlord has not taken any action to diagnose the issue or taken steps to resolve it. This has caused the resident considerable frustration, inconvenience and financial stress. The resident also said the damp and mould was having a detrimental impact on her daughter’s health.

Assessment and findings

Scope

11. The resident referenced in her communication with the landlord and this Service that the unresolved damp and mould had affected her daughter’s 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 and her children’s health and wellbeing.
12. 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.
13. This investigation will only consider whether the landlord acted in accordance with its policy and legal obligations, and fairly in the circumstance.

Damp & Mould

14. 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.
15. 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. 
16. 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.
17. The resident reported damp in the property on 31 May 2022. An initial survey was conducted on 10 October 2022; 92 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.
18. A further inspection was conducted on 5 January 2023; 152 working days after the resident raised the issue. It is concerning that no work was undertaken in this time, and the resident received no contact from the landlord as promised. It is of concern that it was the resident’s complaint that prompted the landlord to take further action; this Service does not expect that residents should need to raise complaints to have outstanding repairs addressed by the landlord.
19. The landlord confirmed that ventilation fans would need to be installed, with continued monitoring of the home to manage and alleviate the damp and mould. Despite this, the resident had to persistently chase the landlord, receiving no updates from the landlord after the stage two response. This was unreasonable and caused the resident distress and frustration.
20. The resident confirmed that she had arranged for remedial work to be done at her own expense. This meant that the landlord needed to inspect the problem for a third time. While understandable, this undoubtedly caused the resident a significant degree of frustration, distress, inconvenience, as well as financial detriment due to paying for repairs that are the landlord’s responsibility. Had the landlord adhered to its repair obligations and attended to the reports in a timely manner, the resident would not have had to seek independent assistance.
21. For its failings, the landlord’s independent adjudicator offered an apology, £350 compensation and committed to scheduling the required repairs within two weeks. While an apology was offered and this Service understands that compensation was paid, there is no evidence that repairs were scheduled.
22. The resident has advised this Service that no work was undertaken until 8 July 2024, where a mould wash was completed. It is imperative to note that this was the first action undertaken by the landlord; 534 working days after the resident reported damp and mould in the property. The time it took for the landlord to undertake any remedial work was completely unreasonable and showed no consideration for the potential impact on the resident’s wellbeing.
23. Furthermore, a mould wash does not diagnose the cause of the damp and mould. This Service would expect that a mould wash would be completed as a quick time action to mitigate the visible signs of mould and alleviate the resident’s discomfort. However, this did not occur in this case. This landlord’s lack of action and delayed attempts to remedy the problem are inadequate.
24. This Service understands that no further work has been undertaken, including the installation of ventilation fans as per its stage two response. The resident has purchased a dehumidifier to manage the persistent damp and mould. As above, this is unreasonable and has caused the resident financial stress, as well as inconvenience and frustration. This Service has not received any information from the landlord to explain what action it intends to take to diagnose and permanently resolve the damp and mould.
25. Overall, the landlord has failed to resolve the resident’s damp and mould issues appropriately or promptly, resulting in the resident experiencing ongoing distress, inconvenience and significant frustration. The landlord has additionally failed to identify the root cause of the issue and as such, it has failed to put in place a lasting and effective fix, as per its obligations under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.
26. Consideration of the outstanding work required, the significant delays endured and the emotional impact that the issues have had on her has led the Ombudsman to conclude that there was maladministration, for which the landlord will be ordered to offer an appropriate remedy for.

Complaint handling

27. At the time of the complaint., the landlord’s complaint policy outlined that it operated a three-stage complaints process. The landlord ought to provide a stage 1 response within 10 working days of a complaint being raised, and a stage 2 response within 20 working days of a complaint being escalated. Should the resident remain dissatisfied, an independent adjudicator would review the complaint and issue a stage three response within 20 working days. These timescales are in accordance with this Service’s complaint handling code (CHC).
28. The Ombudsman’s CHC is a document that sets out the Ombudsman’s expectations for how landlords should handle complaints. The code encourages landlords to adopt a positive complaint handling culture that enables them to resolve disputes, improve the quality of the service it provides to residents, and ensure that complaints provide an opportunity for learning and positive improvement.
29. The landlord issued its stage one response on 14 December 2022; 15 working days after the resident raised her complaint. While this is marginally outside the timescales outlined in its policy and the CHC, it is not assessed that this minor delay had any detrimental impact on the resident.
30. This Service has not seen any formal evidence of the resident escalating her complaint to stage two, albeit we have reviewed emails where the resident’s dissatisfaction of how the landlord was handling the matter was apparent. In its stage two response, the landlord referred to the resident escalating her complaint on 3 March 2022. This Service has seen no evidence of this.
31. Nevertheless, the landlord issued a stage two response on 31 March 2023; 29 working days after the resident’s last email contact with the landlord (that’s been reviewed by this Service). As above, while this is outside the timescales outlined within its policy and the CHC, it is not deemed that the delay had a negative impact on the resident, nor is there evidence of the resident raising her dissatisfaction at this delay.
32. The independent adjudicator issued a stage three response on 6 December 2023; 20 working days after the resident formally escalated her complaint to stage three. This was reasonable.
33. Positively, this Service is aware that the landlord’s complaint policy has been updated since the resident raised her complaint, reducing this to a two-stage process. Its complaint handling policy is now in line with this Service’s Complaint Handling Code.
34. Overall, while there were short delays in the landlord’s complaints process, they were not significant enough to impact the resident negatively or hinder her ability to bring her complaint to the Ombudsman for independent investigation for an unreasonable length of time. Subsequently, there was no maladministration in the associated complaint handling.

Determination

35. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in respect of the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould in her property.
36. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was no maladministration in respect of the landlord’s associated complaint handling.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

37. The landlord is to pay the resident a total of £650 compensation within 4 weeks of the date of this determination, consisting of:
    1. £350.00 offered to the resident previously, if this has not already been paid.
    2. An additional £300.00 in recognition of the significant distress and inconvenience endured due to the delays in resolving the damp and mould issue in the property.
38. Within 4 weeks, following receipt of invoices and/or receipts from the resident, the landlord should refund the resident for any reasonable expenses that she incurred when treating the damp and mould. This includes the dehumidifier purchased in 2024. The landlord must confirm to the Ombudsman in writing that it has refunded the resident.
39. The landlord must provide the resident and this Service with a specific plan of action it intends to take to address the damp and mould in the property. It must also set out a date that all work will be completed. The completion date of all works must be within 6 weeks of this determination.

Recommendations

40. As per the stage three response, the landlord should review its systems to ensure that all damp and mould inspections are followed up promptly to check that any repairs are raised and followed up in accordance with its repair policy.