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

London Borough of Newham (202318465)

Back to Top

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202318465

London Borough of Newham

20 March 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
    1. Handling of the resident’s reports of repairs to the exterior of her property.
    2. Complaint handling.

Background

  1. The resident is a secure tenant with the landlord, a local authority. The property is a 3-bedroom mid-terrace, in a row of interlocked neighbouring properties.
  2. The landlord attended to inspect a hole in the rear external wall of the resident’s property on 6 May 2022. It attended again on 31 May to inspect 3 damaged fence panels. The landlord took no action as the resident was not home on each occasion.
  3. The resident raised a complaint on 4 February 2023. She said the landlord was not completing outstanding repairs and there was damp and mould in her property. She also asked it to install a step in her garden due to her health. The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response on 16 February. It confirmed it would attend on 21 February to inspect the property and repair the fence. It awarded £100 compensation.
  4. On 1 March 2023, the resident escalated her complaint. She said the landlord was ignoring her about repairs and that the step to her garden was an emergency. The landlord provided a further stage 1 complaint response on 30 March. It confirmed it inspected the property on 21 February and 24 March and was awaiting repairs. It awarded additional compensation of £250.
  5. The resident escalated her complaint again on 31 March 2023. She said the hole in her external wall was causing damp and mould. She said the landlord had not arranged or completed repairs at the property.
  6. The landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response on 21 June 2023. It confirmed repairs to the fence and step were complete. It said significant work was required to repair the holes in the external wall. It advised it would rehouse the resident but could not say how long this would take. It offered financial support for any move. It also offered £1500 compensation for the delays in completing the repairs and the inconvenience caused.
  7. The landlord acknowledged on 12 October 2023 that it was delayed in paying the compensation award to the resident. It awarded an additional £50 compensation and paid the total compensation to the resident.
  8. The resident told the Ombudsman on 13 March 2025 she remained at the property. She confirmed works to repair the exterior of her property began in September 2024 and were ongoing. She felt the landlord had ignored her and she had to cover the holes in her wall herself and the damp had affected her health.

Assessment and findings

Scope of assessment

  1. The resident has complained that her health was impacted by the repair issues in her home. The landlord directed her to make a personal injury insurance claim regarding her knee injury. The Ombudsman is unable to assess the cause of, or liability for, impacts on health and wellbeing. In accordance with paragraph 42.f. of the Scheme, this issue is more effectively resolved and remedied through the courts. It will not be considered in this report.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of repairs to the exterior of her property.

  1. The landlord’s repairs policy confirms it will respond to and complete urgent repairs in 3 or 7 days. It says these are repairs which may affect the comfort of the resident or may caused damage to the property if not repaired urgently. It will respond to routine repairs within 20 working days. It says these repairs are not urgent but may cause inconvenience.
  2. In her initial complaint of 4 February, the resident reported repairs to replace her damaged fence and holes to the exterior of her wall remained outstanding. She said the holes in the wall were causing damp and mould within her property and this was affecting her health. She said she had called several times about each repair and felt it was ignoring her. She also asked the landlord to install a garden step due to knee problems.
  3. The landlord’s stage 1 response of 16 February 2023 acknowledged its delay in completing the repairs to the fence and wall hole. It confirmed its surveyor would assess the repairs to the wall and step on 21 February. It also confirmed its repairs team would repair the fence. These were appropriate steps to progressing the repairs.
  4. The complaint response offered £100 compensation, this was £50 each for the delay and the service the resident received. Its compensation policy suggests this was low impact of 1 to 2 months. Evidence shows the resident initially reported the fence repair on around 31 May 2022 and the hole in the external wall on 6 May 2022. As such the compensation offered at this point was inappropriate.
  5. The landlord inspected the property on 21 February 2023 but failed to communicate the outcome with the resident. It acknowledged this failure in its further stage 1 reply of 30 March. Its reply confirmed it had inspected the property again on 24 March and raised a quote for the further works for the fence and step repairs.
  6. The landlord said it would raise the repairs by the end of that week. It appropriately managed the resident’s expectations at this point. It confirmed it would follow this up with the resident on 3 April to ensure it had notified her. This signalled its intention to effectively manage the repairs to the fence and step.
  7. The landlord’s reply managed the resident’s expectations further confirming the repair to the exterior wall required major works. It appropriately explained it needed to complete a tender process for the works due to the scale.
  8. The landlord offered £200 compensation, made up of £100 each for the delays in completing the repairs and for the service it offered the resident. In accordance with its compensation policy this suggested the impact was no more than 4 months long. However, the fence and hole issues were over 9 months old at this point. Therefore, it inappropriately applied its policy.
  9. In its reply the landlord appropriately responded to the concerns about needing a step to the garden. It provided her with the appropriate forms to raise a personal injury claim as she said her knee was injured. Its stage 2 reply would confirm it could not award compensation for personal injury, despite the resident’s request. This was in line with its compensation policy.
  10. The landlord’s stage 2 complaint reply of 23 June 2023 confirmed it had completed the repair to the outdoor step and the fence on 11 April 2023.
  11. The landlord managed the repair to the step appropriately between 4 February and 11 April 2023. It attended to complete appropriate inspections within the timescale in its repairs policy. It completed the repair promptly following this.
  12. The landlord did not appropriately manage the repair of the fence between 31 May 2022 and 11 April 2023. Its reply acknowledged it had taken no action between 31 May 2022 until its complaint response of 16 February 2023. It appropriately acknowledged its delay in completing the repair and for its lack of response on the matter.
  13. The landlord clarified about the wall hole in its reply. It explained the scale of the work required, confirming it needed to complete work to the external structure of all the interlocked wooden properties. This included the resident’s and neighbours’ properties.
  14. The landlord confirmed it would take supportive steps as the repair to the holes would be prolonged. This included confirming it would offer alternative permanent accommodation. It said it could not confirm when this would take place, managing the resident’s expectations. It also appropriately confirmed it would support the resident in moving her items and would offer disturbance and downsizing payments.
  15. The landlord offered £1400 in compensation. This was £1000 for the length of time to complete the building survey and inform the resident of its plan. It was £300 for the time to complete the repairs and £100 for the inconvenience of chasing the repairs. The landlord did not clarify if its award was instead of its previous compensation awards. However, this compensation award was in accordance with its compensation policy. It reflected the prolonged inconvenience and distress caused to the resident.
  16. The landlord also confirmed it would offer additional compensation once it completed the repair. It said this was to account for the total time to complete the repair of the holes. The resident told the Ombudsman in March 2025 that the repair had begun in September 2024 and was still ongoing. There is no evidence further compensation has yet been considered.
  17. The landlord acknowledged it had failed to temporarily cover the hole to prevent weather damage and apologised. The resident had told it she had placed a temporary cover over the hole but water was coming into the property. The landlord failed to state if it would inspect or complete any further temporary repairs. Its failure to do this prolonged the impact felt by the resident in her property.
  18. The landlord has confirmed it completed a self-assessment relating to the Ombudsman’s spotlight on damp and mould. It states it has a damp and mould taskforce that will manage the process end to end from a report. It confirms it will use a damp and mould surveyor to assess how it should manage the issue.
  19. The resident had reported damp and mould in her property in her initial complaint of 4 February 2023 as well as her escalation on 31 March. She told it the damp and mould was affecting her respiratory health issues. There is no evidence the landlord took any steps to manage the resident’s reports at any point. This was a failure to follow its process and support the resident in her property.
  20. In summary the landlord completed the garden step repair appropriately. However, it was delayed in completing repairs to the fencing and the holes in the exterior wall. It apologised for this and offered appropriate compensation. However, it acknowledged it failed to complete a temporary repair of the holes but took no further steps to remedy this. It also failed to follow its damp and mould process and did not manage the problem reported in the property.

Complaint handling.

  1. The landlord provided two stage 1 complaint responses to the resident. This was not in accordance with the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code). The Code states if the resident is dissatisfied with the landlord’s stage 1 response it must progress the complaint to stage 2 of its procedure.
  2. The landlord should have treated the resident’s correspondence of 1 March 2023 as an escalation request and responded accordingly. Its failure to do this prolonged its complaints process and denied the resident the opportunity to escalate to the Ombudsman at the earliest opportunity. The landlord did not acknowledge this failing in its later replies or offer of redress.
  3. The landlord’s stage 1 reply of 30 March 2023 exceeded its 10-working day timescale by 11 working days. Its stage 2 reply of 21 June exceeded its 20-working day timescale by 34 working days.
  4. The landlord offered £50 in its stage 1 response of 30 March 2023 for its delayed response. It offered a further £100 in its stage 2 response of 21 June. This was for its delayed stage 1 (30 March) and stage 2 reply. This was appropriate compensation for the delay and this was in accordance with its compensation policy.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme there was service failure in respect of the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of repairs to the exterior of her property.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 53.b of the Scheme the landlord has offered redress to the resident prior to investigation which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, satisfactorily resolves the concerns about its complaint handling.

Orders

  1. In light of the failings found in this report the landlord must pay the resident compensation of £2150 within 4 weeks of this report. This comprises of:
    1. £300 for its failure to complete temporary repairs or manage the reports of damp and mould at the resident’s property.
    2. £1850 it previously offered to the resident if it has not already paid this. This comprised £100 on 16 February 2023, £250 on 30 March 2023 and £1500 on 21 June 2023.
  2. Within 8 weeks the landlord must inspect the resident’s property for damp and mould. It must show the resident and this Service evidence of this along with its plan for addressing its findings. This must include taking any interim measures such as weatherproofing holes, whilst work is ongoing. The resident can make a new complaint to the landlord and then this Service if she is unhappy with the landlord’s eventual handling of any work it says it will do, post inspection.
  3. Evidence of compliance with these orders must be provided to the Service by their respective deadlines.

Recommendations

  1. The landlord should confirm to the resident and Ombudsman its intentions to consider further compensation to the resident, for the time taken to complete the major works to her property.