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Lewisham Council (202346860)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202346860

Lewisham Council

5 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 the resident’s reports of damp and mould.
  2. The Ombudsman will also investigate the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint.

Background

  1. The resident is a leaseholder of the landlord. The property is a 2-bedroom ground floor flat, which the resident has owned since March 2004. The landlord does not have any vulnerabilities recorded for the resident.
  2. The resident arranged for a damp and mould survey to be carried out on 22 December 2020. She sent this to the landlord via email on 20 January 2021 and said that there were ongoing issues in the hall cupboard, asking what was behind that wall. The resident chased a response on 3 April, and the landlord replied on 6 April to say it had passed the information on to its repairs team. On 27 October the landlord forwarded the report internally to its damp and mould team.
  3. On 21 June 2023 the resident raised a complaint to the landlord. She said she had repeatedly chased the landlord for a response to her report and had received no answer.
  4. The landlord sent its stage 1 response on 27 October 2023. It apologised for not taking any action upon receipt of her report. It said it would conduct its own inspection on 7 November, and would arrange any repairs or further investigations as required.
  5. The landlord’s inspection report said that the resident should consider replacing the bathroom extractor fan and installing one in the kitchen and noted defects with the double glazing. The resident asked for the complaint to be escalated on 15 December 2023, as she said the landlord’s inspection had ignored issues it was responsible for, only focussing on what she was responsible for.
  6. On 25 January 2024 the landlord sent its stage 2 response, in which it said that it had failed to have her report to hand when conducting its inspection. It agreed to arrange a reinspection. The resident did not feel this resolved matters and asked for the complaint to be escalated to stage 3 the same day.
  7. The landlord sent its stage 3 response on 22 February 2024, in which it said:
    1. It did not act in a timely manner and offered £150 compensation to acknowledge the avoidable frustration caused.
    2. It would carry out an inspection and within 3 weeks of receiving the report decide what action it would take.
    3. It would then provide the resident with a projected timeline of work, or a clear explanation if no work was required. It committed to providing monthly updates until work was completed.
  8. On 19 March 2024 the resident contacted this Service and asked us to investigate as she had received no updates from the landlord.

Assessment and findings

Damp and mould

  1. The lease states that the resident must keep the inside of the property in good and substantial repair and is responsible for the window glass within the property. The landlord is responsible for maintaining the main structure of the building in good and substantial repair, including all exterior and party walls and window frames.
  2. The landlord’s repairs policy says that it will complete emergency repairs within 24 hours, urgent repairs within 3 working days and routine repairs within 20 working days. The landlord’s damp, mould and leaks policy says it will:
    1. Treat all reports of leaks, damp and mould seriously.
    2. Ask key questions to help determine the cause of a leak, damp or mould issue and to help it understand the extent of any risk.
    3. Follow up with remedial action to solve the problem.
    4. Communicate clearly and keep residents informed of what action it will be taking, why and when.
  3. The resident was experiencing issues with damp and mould and arranged for her own surveyor’s report on 22 December 2020. This report identified a number of recommendations to reduce condensation within the property, which the resident accepts are her responsibility. It also said that there was no apparent evidence of a water leak in the bathroom, but it could not eliminate the possibility of water ingress from the adjoining property/external wall. The report recommended that the possibility of leaks from outside of the property be ruled out by further investigation.
  4. The resident sent a copy of this report to the landlord on 20 January 2021. She said there was an ongoing problem in the hallway cupboard and asked what was behind that wall. She did not receive a response and chased the landlord on 3 April. The landlord acknowledged her email on 6 April and said it had been passed to its repairs team who would contact her directly.
  5. The landlord forwarded the report and the resident’s emails to its damp and mould team internally on 27 October 2021. However, there is no evidence that any of the landlord’s teams involved contacted the resident to discuss the report with her or arrange an investigation. The landlord has failed to demonstrate that it took any action within the timeframes set out in its repairs policy. It also failed to take the resident’s report seriously, in line with its damp, mould and leaks policy.
  6. On 21 June 2023 the resident emailed the landlord. She said she had sent the report in January 2021 and repeatedly chased this up and received no response. She asked for a complaint to be raised. The landlord responded on 22 June and apologised for the delayed response. It said it had chased this with the damp and mould team who would respond directly.
  7. On 27 October 2023 the landlord sent its stage 1 response to her complaint. It apologised that it had not taken any action when she provided her survey report in January 2021. It said it had arranged a survey for 7 November and would arrange any repairs for further investigation as required.
  8. The survey was conducted as agreed on 7 November 2023. This noted that there was no discernible mould growth visible, but that the resident said it had been kept in check with spirit vinegar. It said that several double glazing units had defective vacuum seals, resulting in condensation building up overnight. The report recommended that the double glazing defects be repaired, the bathroom extractor fan be replaced and an extractor fan be installed in the kitchen.
  9. On 11 December 2023 the resident emailed the landlord as she said she had been told she would receive the report within a week, but had heard nothing. The landlord sent her a copy of the report on 15 December. She responded the same day to say that the report only talked about what she could do to reduce condensation and did not mention the landlord’s obligations in relation to the fabric of the building. The landlord responded to say it would escalate her complaint.
  10. In its stage 2 response of 25 January 2024 the landlord said that its surveyor had not had a copy of her report to hand whilst on site and it would arrange a re-inspection. This was inappropriate, as the surveyor did not have all information available to them, leading to further delays for the resident. The landlord said it would inspect the neighbouring property to rule out a leak and rising damp.
  11. The resident responded the same day to say that the complaint was not resolved, and the outcome of the further inspection would determine whether matters had been resolved. She asked for the complaint to be escalated to stage 3.
  12. The landlord sent its stage 3 response on 22 February 2024 in which it acknowledged that it did not act in a timely manner and offered £150 compensation to recognise the avoidable frustration caused by delays. It said it would carry out a further inspection and let the resident know what works, if any, were required. It said it would provide a projected timeline for any works and keep her updated monthly.
  13. This Service has seen no evidence that the landlord has carried out a further survey or updated the resident since sending its stage 3 response, again failing to act in line with the commitments set out in its damp, mould and leaks policy. It has recently told us that ‘the fabric of the building will be looked at’, but it has not provided any information about what investigations it intends to carry out, or when, which is not appropriate. It has failed to comply with its obligations under the lease agreement and has not kept the promises made in its stage 3 response. It has told this Service that any internal damage is the resident’s responsibility as a leaseholder.
  14. The Ombudsman considers there to have been maladministration by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould. The resident and landlord’s surveys both set out that there are steps the resident can take to reduce the build-up of condensation in the property. It is possible that if these steps were to be taken by the resident, the mould problem could be resolved. However, the resident’s survey set out a clear recommendation that the possibility of a leak from outside the property needed to be ruled out. Almost 4 years after the resident sent this report to the landlord, it still has not carried out any investigations to rule out a leak or rising damp.
  15. Whilst the landlord offered compensation, the amount was not proportionate to its failings, nor does it account for the continued delays since it concluded its internal complaints process. An order has been made for the landlord to pay the resident additional compensation of £350 to recognised the distress and inconvenience caused by the ongoing delay. This brings the total compensation for this issue to £500. This award had been made with the landlord’s compensation policy in mind, which allows for compensation from £251-£1,000 where the resident has suffered inconvenience and/or distress because of a serious or repeat service failure.
  16. Orders have also been made for the landlord to carry out an inspection of the hallway wall to look for a leak or rising or penetrating damp. If an issue is found, the landlord should set out a clear schedule of works and provide the resident with its insurer’s details to allow her to make a claim against its insurance for any internal damage, should she wish to.
  17. In this investigation, failures have been identified in the landlord’s handling of its repairs and record keeping which are similar to those identified in case 202124577. We have not, however, made any further orders for the landlord to improve this. This is because a wider order was made as part of case 202124577 which the landlord has now complied with. We expect the landlord to take forward the lessons and improvements it shared with this Service following the wider order and will monitor the progress of this. Moreover, the Ombudsman is currently undertaking a special investigation into the landlord. This is conducted under paragraph 49 of the Scheme and allows the Ombudsman to investigate beyond an individual complaint to establish whether there is evidence of systemic failings. The findings of this report will therefore contribute to the outcome and action needed following the completion of the investigation.

Complaint handling

  1. Landlords must have an effective complaint process to provide a good service to their residents. An effective complaints process means landlords can fix problems quickly, learn from their mistakes and build good relationships with residents.
  2. The landlord’s complaints policy at the time the complaint was raised said that at stage 1 it would acknowledge the complaint within 5 working days and respond within 10 working days. It said it would acknowledge a stage 2 escalation within 5 working days and respond within 20 working days. It also had a third stage, at which it would acknowledge within 2 working days and respond within 20 working days.
  3. The resident first raised the complaint on 21 June 2023. The landlord responded to her email on 22 June, but did not acknowledge that she had asked to raise a complaint. It did not send its stage 1 response until 27 October, more than 4 months after she raised the complaint. It did not acknowledge the delay in responding in its stage 1 letter, or provide any explanation for this. This response was not in line with its policy and represented an unreasonable delay.
  4. On 15 December 2023 the resident asked the landlord to escalate the complaint. It acknowledged this request the same day. It sent its response on 25 January 2024, which was 6 days outside of its policy timescale. Its response did not acknowledge the delay, which would have been appropriate for it to do.
  5. The resident responded the same day asking for the complaint to be escalated to stage 3. This Service expects landlords to have a 2 stage complaints process, in line with the Ombudsman’s complaint handling code. It is noted that the landlord’s up to date complaints policy does now have a 2 stage process in line with the code.
  6. The landlord sent its stage 3 response on 22 February 2024, which was in line with its policy timescale. However, this response failed to acknowledge any earlier complaint handling delays.
  7. The Ombudsman considers there to have been maladministration by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s complaint. It did not acknowledge that she had asked to raise a complaint or provide any response for more than 4 months after she had raised it. This led to the complaints process taking more than 8 months to complete, delaying her being able to refer the complaint to this Service. It also missed opportunities to identify its failings and put things right during its internal complaints process.
  8. An order has been made for the landlord to pay the resident compensation of £200 to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by its complaint handling failure.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in its handling of:
    1. The resident’s reports of damp and mould.
    2. The resident’s complaint.

Orders

  1. The landlord to pay the resident compensation of £700, less any amount already paid during its internal complaints process, broken down as follows:
    1. £500 in relation to damp and mould.
    2. £200 in relation to complaint handling.
  2. A senior manager at the landlord to provide the resident with a written apology.
  3. The landlord to provide evidence to this Service of compliance with the above orders within 28 days of this report.
  4. Within 8 weeks of this report, the landlord to:
    1. Arrange for a suitably qualified person to carry out an inspection of the hallway wall to check for a leak or rising or penetrating damp. A copy of this report should be provided to the resident and this Service.
    2. If a leak or damp are found, a schedule of work with projected timeframes to be provided to the resident and this Service.
    3. If a leak or damp are found the landlord to provide the resident with details of its insurer in order for her to make a claim for any internal damage.