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London Borough of Camden Council (202417323)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202417323

Camden Council

14 April 2025


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. The resident’s reports of a leak into his home and the associated repairs, including damp and mould.
    2. The resident’s complaint and the level of compensation offered.

Background

  1. The resident has been a secure tenant of the landlord since 2003. The landlord is a local authority. The property is a 1 bedroom flat. The resident lives on his own. The landlord has told us that it has a warning on its repairs system that the resident is registered for its enhanced repair service. Participation in the scheme allows the landlord to prioritise repairs to the resident’s home.
  2. The resident contacted the landlord on 2 April 2023 to report water leaking into his home. The landlord raised a works order for an emergency electrician to attend on both 2 and 3 April 2023. On 6 April 2023 the resident sent a video to the landlord to show the extent of the leak into his home. This showed water entering his bedroom, bathroom, and hallway cupboard. It also recorded water in the meter cupboard and on the floor of the communal hallway.
  3. On 11 April 2023 the landlord recorded that it had traced the leak to a neighbouring flat. It noted that there was damage to the resident’s home. It raised an order to carry out an inspection. Within its repair records the landlord has captured the detail of a conversation with the resident’s brother on 11 April 2023. It noted that he said that the leak had stopped but that his brother’s property was damaged. It recorded a request for the repairs manager to contact the resident.
  4. On 24 July 2023 the landlord raised a works order for an electrician following a report from the resident that water was still leaking from above. This followed contact from the resident using the landlord’s online chat function. In this he asked for a surveyor to attend as the leak had been ongoing since April causing damage to his home. On 14 August 2023 the landlord raised an order for a plasterer to attend. It inspected on 20 September and 5 December 2023. It then referred this to its “leak hub” on 6 December 2023.
  5. The resident raised a formal complaint with the landlord on 15 January 2024. He said that:
    1. There had been an ongoing issue of flooding into his home since March 2023 when he had first contacted the landlord’s emergency service.
    2. He had sent a video showing the extent of the leak and visited the landlord’s offices, but it had not resolved the issue.
    3. There was damp and mould within his home. Water had been dripping onto his bed, cupboard and in his bathroom. He had had to put towels and buckets on the floor to capture the water.
    4. He had asked that the landlord send a surveyor to his home to find the source of the leak and look at the damage caused. This had not happened. He said that an emergency plumber, an electrician, and a plasterer had all attended his home.
    5. This had been ongoing for 10 months. It was having an impact on his health, had damaged his belongings and he was unable to have his children visit him as his home was so damp.
    6. He wanted the landlord to fix the leak and renovate the property, putting right the damage done.
  6. The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response on 30 January 2024. It said:
    1. It was sorry that he had to complain. It upheld his complaint, apologising for the delay in fixing the leak and the poor service he had received.
    2. It set out the detail of the resident’s contact with it to raise the issue of the leak.
      1. It noted that it had received his first report on 3 April 2023. At this time, it had found a leak from a neighbouring flat, which was affecting other flats in the block. It had assumed that this was the source of the leak into his home.
      2. The resident had contacted the landlord again on 24 July 2024 as the leak remained ongoing. An electrician had attended and reported that a surveyor should attend.
      3. The landlord sent a plasterer on 14 August, 20 September, and 5 December 2023. The landlord recorded that the leak remained ongoing and that the walls were damp.
      4. It referred the leak into his home to its “leak hub” on 6 December 2023. It suspected that there may be 2 separate leaks.
    3. Having received the resident’s complaint, it had arranged for a new contractor to attend on 24 January 2024. It was pursuing access to the flat above and would continue to follow through until it had fixed the leak.
    4. It was to provide regular updates to ensure that the repairs were progressed and once completed it would arrange for follow on works to repair the internal damage.
    5. It offered the resident £300 compensation for the delay in fixing the repair. It calculated this as £20 per month from April 2023 to January 2024. This was a total of 10 months equalling £200. Together with £100 for the resident’s time and trouble in this matter.
  7. The landlord repair records show that it traced the leak to the flat above the resident on 29 January 2024.
  8. The resident replied to the landlord on 23 February 2024. He said that the landlord had not resolved the water damage to his home. The leak was ongoing, and water continued to drip into his home. He said that he wanted a surveyor to assess the damage, and that the landlord had not followed through on the resolution promised. He wanted the landlord to find and resolve the leak. On the same date he provided further video footage to the landlord which showed a continuing water leak and that the ceiling in his bathroom had partially collapsed.
  9. The landlord provided its stage 2 reply on 23 March 2024. It again upheld his complaint and apologised that the resolution to fix the repair arranged at stage 1 had not been successful. It explained that a leaseholder owned the flat above and that this made it difficult for it to gain access to that flat. It said that it would continue to pursue the repair. It said that once it had confirmed that the flat owner had fixed the leak, it would take responsibility for repairing the damage caused to the resident’s home. This included redecorating his flat. It said that it could not calculate the final amount of compensation while the leak remained. It said that it was “likely to increase the compensation amount to account for any additional time until the water leak is resolved”. It asked the resident to confirm if he wished to accept the amount already offered. It would then follow up with a further offer of compensation. It went on to tell the resident that he could make a claim against the landlord for the damage to his personal possessions. It provided him with a link to its website.

Events after the end of the landlord’s complaints process

  1. The landlord raised a new works order on 2 September 2024 to inspect the resident’s flat. It first arranged an appointment for 11 October 2024. Its contractor then attended on 27 September 2024 and found that there was still a leak into the resident’s home from above. The resident told it that he believed that the leak occurred whenever his neighbour let water out of their bath or showered. The resident contacted the landlord again on 10 October 2024 as the leak was continuing.
  2. The resident wrote to the landlord on 30 October 2024. He said that he was still waiting for it to fix the leak that had been continuing since 2023. He asked for a surveyor to assess the damage. He said that the leak was still going into his bedroom, bathroom, and cupboard. He said that he had to leave the heating on all the time due to the damp. He expressed his concern about the impact on his health and that as a result his children were unable to visit him. He asked the landlord to reply by 11 November 2024. He said that he would be contacting his MP. He copied this correspondence to this service. The landlord has not provided a copy of its response to this correspondence.
  3. The resident called the landlord on 25 November 2024. He said that the landlord had told him that the leak from the upstairs flat had now been fixed and that he should call it to arrange for a plasterer to attend. The landlord booked an appointment for 3 February 2025, as the earliest available appointment. It later rearranged this for 31 January 2025.
  4. This service accepted the resident’s complaint for investigation on 17 February 2025.

Assessment and findings

Landlord obligations, policy and procedure

  1. Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 creates an implied term in tenancy agreements that a landlord must carry out certain repairs. This places a statutory obligation on the landlord to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the property. It also has an obligation to keep in repair and working order the installations in the property for the supply of water, gas, and electricity. The law says that a landlord should repair a housing defect ‘within a reasonable amount of time’. This is not specific but depends on the circumstances and levels of urgency. This ensures that landlords keep rental property in a good state of repair. This obligation is underpinned by the landlord’s repair handbook which sets out its responsibility for repairs and provides timescales within which it will address repairs to its homes.
  2. The landlord defines repairs within 4 categories and sets out its response times as follows:
    1. Emergency – it will attend to these within 2 hours. This refers to repairs that present a risk to people or property.
    2. Urgent – it will complete these within 5 working days. This refers to repairs that it does not consider to be an emergency but if not completed quickly would cause a significant nuisance.
    3. Routine – it will complete these within 20 working days.
    4. Programmed – it will complete these within an agreed timescale. These may be more complex or require specialist works.
  3. 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 are a potential hazard and therefore the landlord must consider whether any damp and mould problems in its properties amount to a hazard and require remedying.
  4. The landlord has shared its self-assessment against our spotlight report on damp and mould completed in January 2024. Further it introduced a standalone policy on damp and mould in February 2024. This is available on its website. Its policy says that it will “work to ensure that residents live in a dry, warm, safe and healthy environment which is free from hazards” and that it will “comply with legislation, regulatory and contractual (tenancy and lease) obligations”. The policy gives a definition of damp as “the presence of excess moisture that should not be there”. It further includes a definition of “traumatic damp” that refers to damp caused by leaking water or flooding. It says that, following reports of damp and mould, it will visit a property and carry out an inspection, the timeframe for which will be determined by the seriousness of the damp and mould reported. It will undertake repairs identified in line with the timescales within its repairs policy. It further says that it will tell residents the estimated and actual timescale for repairs and the next steps. It will also request feedback from the resident on the completion of repairs.
  5. The landlord has a 2 stage complaints procedure. This says that it will acknowledge complaints within 2 days of receipt and respond at stage 1 within 10 working days. Where a resident is dissatisfied with the landlord’s initial complaint response, they can escalate their complaint, and the landlord will respond at stage 2 within 25 working days.

Reports of a leak into his home and the associated repairs, including damp and mould 

  1. The resident first reported a leak at the beginning of April 2023, providing a video to the landlord showing the extent of water leaking into his home. The landlord recorded that it had traced the source of the leak on 11 April 2023. It also recorded speaking with the resident’s brother at this time and noted that he said that the leak had stopped. There is however no evidence that it followed up with an inspection to assess the extent of the damage caused to the resident’s home. There is also no record to show that it contacted the resident directly to confirm that the leak had stopped. This was a missed opportunity to ensure that its actions had stopped the leak into the resident’s home and that it had correctly located the source of the leak. It should also have taken steps to arrange for the repairs required to address any damaged caused.
  2. It raised a new works order in July 2023 following contact from the resident to say that the leak into his home was continuing. In his contact with the landlord the resident asked for a surveyor to inspect his home. Reviewing the landlord’s repair records shows that it arranged for electricians, plumbers, and plasterers to attend the resident’s property. It then referred this to its “leak hub” on 6 December 2023. A total of 8 months after the resident first reported the leak. It recorded having traced the leak to the flat above the resident on 29 January 2024. It confirmed that the leak had been fixed on 25 November 2024, a total of 19 months after the resident first reported the issue.
  3. Throughout this period, it left the resident with water entering his flat through the ceilings into his bedroom, bathroom, and hallway. It affected the cupboard which held his fuse box and electricity meter. Although the landlord sent out electricians, there is no evidence that it disconnected the resident’s electrics. It took no steps to provide the resident with dehumidifiers to dry out his property or consider the possible need to decant him given the level of water entering his home. The landlord has provided evidence of the resident’s contacts with it through calls to its call centre and use of its online chat function. These arranged for different trade operatives (plasterer, electrician, plumber) to attend his flat but did not arrange for a wider inspection. There is no evidence of contact from its repairs manager with the resident as requested within its repair records on 11 April 2023. The landlord has provided no evidence that it contacted the resident to follow up the outcome of his complaint. That it left the resident having to pursue it for the required repairs was a significant failure by the landlord.
  4. It eventually found that the leak was coming from the leasehold property above the resident’s home. It placed responsibility for the repair on the owner of that flat. It set out the difficulties in gaining access to this flat in its stage 2 complaint response but has provided no evidence of the steps it took to follow up to ensure that the leaseholder completed the repair in a reasonable time. From the evidence provided the landlord appears to have had little oversight of the repairs to the resident’s home. It did not carry out a wider inspection, despite requests from the resident for a surveyor to attend. It made assumptions about the source of the leak initially and did not effectively follow up with the resident to ensure that the leak had stopped after its interventions. Having raised further orders in July 2023 it did not find the source of the leak until January 2024. A further 10 months elapsed before the leak was fixed. This was a significant failure by the landlord in dealing with a serious leak and a failure to recognise the impact on the resident and his home.
  5. The resident has told this service that he spent time away from his home due to the continuous leak as he felt that it was not safe. He has said that he put in place his own dehumidifiers to dry out the property. There is no evidence that the landlord took steps to proactively support the resident while the leak into his home was ongoing. Further the landlord does not appear to have considered the potential for damp and mould within the property because of the continuing leak. While it noted that it had referred the issue to it “leak hub” in December 2023 there is no evidence of the action taken at that time. Although he highlighted that there was damp and mould in his property as part of his complaint, it did not arrange an inspection in line with its own procedure. There was a significant failure by the landlord to address this issue at the earliest possible opportunity.
  6. As an outcome to his stage 1 complaint the landlord offered the resident £20 for each month that the leak was ongoing in recognition of its service failure. It said at stage 2 that it would consider and increase in this offer. It has provided no evidence however that it has revisited this. Given that the leak affected the resident’s bedroom, bathroom and hallway cupboard and continued over such an extended period, the landlord’s approach was disproportionate to the circumstances. This impacted on the resident’s use and enjoyment of his home and his ability to have his children visit him through this time.
  7. The landlord did not address the repairs to the resident’s property within a reasonable timeframe. The leak continued over a period of 19 months causing added damage within the resident’s home which we understand is still outstanding. This was inappropriate and a failure to meet its responsibilities as set out within the Landlord and Tenant act. This amounts to severe maladministration.
  8. An award of compensation totalling £3099.64 has been made in line with the Service’s guidance on remedies. In calculating the compensation, the Service has considered that the resident experienced water leaking into both his bathroom and bedroom from April 2023 to November 2024, impacting his use of these rooms within his home. The calculation has been based on 40% of the resident’s average weekly rent of £178.83 for a period of 10 months.
  9. In addition, an order has been made for the landlord to inspect the resident’s home and draw up a schedule of works to put right the damage caused by the leak, including redecorating the property. It should also ensure that the source of the leak has been effectively dealt with. This should include ensuring that all aspects have fully dried out and that it addresses the potential for future mould growth.

The complaint and the level of compensation offered

  1. When investigating a case, the Ombudsman applies its Dispute Resolution Principles. These are high level good practice guidance developed from the Ombudsman’s experience of resolving disputes, for use by everyone involved in the complaints process. There are only three principles driving effective dispute resolution: be fair – treat people fairly and follow fair processes, put things right, and learn from outcomes.
  2. The resident first raised a formal complaint with the landlord on 15 January 2024 and the landlord responded on 30 January 2024. There is no evidence that the landlord acknowledged the resident’s complaint. It provided its response 1 day outside its target of 10 working days. The landlord upheld the resident’s complaint and said that it had arranged for a new contractor to investigate the leak. It said that they would follow through until it was fixed and promised to provide regular updates and arrange the follow on works to repair the internal damage once the leak was fixed. It further offered the resident compensation of £300. While the landlord appropriately acknowledged its failure, there is no evidence that it then did as it said it would and follow through the actions set out within its response. This was a failure to put things right for the resident.
  3. The resident asked the landlord to escalate his complaint on 23 February 2024 as the leak remained. The landlord gave its stage 2 response on 23 March 2024. Again, the landlord has not provided evidence that it acknowledged the resident’s complaint. It provided its response at the end of its targeted response time. It again upheld the resident’s complaint. It committed to considering additional compensation once the leak was fixed and said that it would repair the damage caused to the resident’s home, including redecorating. It also told the resident that he could make a claim for the damage to his personal possessions, providing a link to its website.
  4. The landlord’s responses were in line with its complaints policy and appropriately upheld the resident’s complaint at each stage. It acknowledged the service failure in that the leak had continued over an extended period. However, it did not deliver an appropriate resolution for the resident. It did not track the outstanding actions to ensure that the leak was fixed or engage further with the resident.
  5. The landlord did not put things right for the resident. It has provided no evidence of the follow up steps it took to ensure that the leak from a leasehold property into the resident’s home was repaired once it had identified the source of that leak. Furthermore, there is no evidence that it maintained regular contact with the resident as it said it would, and it has not presented a revised compensation award. The landlord’s complaints process failed the resident as it did not deliver a solution to the ongoing repair or provide the necessary follow up. The Service considers that there was a maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was severe maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of a leak into his home and the associated repairs, including damp and mould.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint and the level of compensation offered.

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of the date of this report the landlord must:
    1. Apologise to the resident for the identified failings, in line with the Service’s Guidance on Remedies. This should be sent from its chief executive.
    2. Pay the resident a total of £3899.64 compensation calculated as follows:
      1. £3099.64 in recognition of the loss of use of areas of the resident’s home because of the ongoing leak.
      2. £ 550 in recognition of the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident by the delays in remedying the leak and carrying out the related repairs, together with addressing areas of damp and mould.
      3. £250 for the failure in follow up through its complaint handling.
      4. This replaces the offer of £300 made by the landlord as an outcome in its stage 1 complaint.
  2. Within 6 weeks of the date of this report the landlord must:
    1. Undertake an inspection of the resident’s home and document all outstanding repairs. It should then draw up a schedule of works to put right the damage caused by the leak, providing a clear action plan to the resident as to the repairs it will carry out and the dates on which it will do these. It should ensure that all aspects have fully dried out and that it addresses the potential for future mould growth. This should include redecorating those areas of décor damaged by the leak, damp, and mould.
    2. Further it should confirm that the source of the leak has now been fully repaired.
    3. Depending on the extent of the repairs identified through its inspection, the landlord should give consideration to providing the resident with temporary accommodation while the works are carried out.
    4. The landlord should provide a copy of its inspection report and timed action plan to show its compliance with this order.