From 13 January 2026, we will no longer accept new cases by email. Please use our online webform to submit your complaint. This helps us respond to you more quickly.

Need help? Call us on 0300 111 3000

London & Quadrant Housing Trust (202403494)

Back to Top

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202403494

London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q)

30 January 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 leaks and subsequent damp and mould.
    2. the associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord. The property is a 1-bedroom ground floor flat. The tenancy began in 2015.
  2. On 21 April 2023 the resident reported damp and mould affecting the walls and ceiling near his bathroom. It is unclear when the landlord attended. However, the evidence suggests that subsequent investigations determined the soil stack needed to be replaced.
  3. On 3 September 2023, the resident chased the landlord for an update. He was told that work would commence on 11 September 2023 and that he and the other residents would be notified in writing. The work did not begin on the proposed date and the resident chased the landlord again.
  4. The resident raised a formal complaint on 4 December 2023. He said that:
    1. He was unhappy that the soil stack repair had not been completed. This had caused him “significant inconvenience and distress”.
    2. The landlord’s communication had been poor, and it had failed to provide any updates.
    3. Incorrect trades had been sent causing further delays.
    4. In resolution, he wanted the repairs to be completed as soon as possible.
  5. The landlord acknowledged the resident’s complaint the following day. It arranged an inspection for 3 January 2024 and said that once the repairs were complete the resident would receive decorating vouchers.
  6. On 11 January 2024 the landlord provided its stage 1 response. It apologised for the delay in repairing the soil stack. It said that additional work had been identified and as a result a variation order was awaiting approval. In recognition of the delays, the landlord offered the resident £320 compensation.
  7. The resident remained dissatisfied and escalated his complaint on 3 May 2024. He said that:
    1. Despite numerous “promises, apologies, and excuses”, the issues were ongoing, leaving him in a state of “dismay and frustration”.
    2. The failure to carry out the repair had resulted in continuous leaks, the collapse of the ceiling in the large storeroom, “rampant black mould” on the walls, and a foul odour that permeated the living spaces.
    3. In addition, he was also dealing with an influx of slugs and insects in the bathroom daily.
    4. The situation had taken an “immense toll, both emotionally and financially”.
    5. In resolution, he wanted immediate action to rectify the soil stack issue and address the extensive damage to the property. Furthermore, he asked for a more appropriate compensation offer to reflect the seriousness of the situation and the distress it had caused.
  8. Following intervention from this Service, the landlord provided its final response on 22 August 2024. It said that:
    1. Further works had been identified and a further variation order was therefore required. It would try to resolve the matter as soon as possible.
    2. In resolution it increased its offer of compensation to £800, broken down as follows:
      1. Inconvenience – £300
      2. Time and trouble – £40
      3. Poor complaint handling at stage 1 – £160
      4. Delays to carry out repairs – £300 (15 months x £20 per month)
    3. It would revisit the compensation offer once the work had been completed to reflect any further delays.

Events post complaint

  1. Following some difficulty arranging access via a neighbouring property, the landlord completed the soil stack repair at the end of October 2024.
  2. The resident continued to experience issues with excess moisture in the storage cupboard. Following a further inspection on 24 January 2025, the resident has informed this Service that further works have now been identified by the landlord.

Assessment and findings

Leaks and subsequent damp and mould

  1. Under the terms of the tenancy and section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, the landlord is obliged to keep the structure and exterior of the property as well as internal walls in repair and working order.
  2. The landlord’s repair policy states routine day to day repairs should be completed in an average of 25 calendar days. It adds it may adjust its service standards for vulnerable residents where a delay would put them at risk because of their condition.
  3. The resident first reported his concerns on 21 April 2023. Due to the lack of evidence provided by the landlord, the Ombudsman is unable to determine how promptly the landlord responded or on what date it attended. Therefore, we are unable to conclude that it acted appropriately in line with its obligations following this initial report.
  4. It is not disputed that the disrepair to the external soil stack contributed towards the leaks experienced by the resident. Although it is unclear exactly when this was identified by the landlord, the evidence shows that this was sometime between April 2023 and September 2023. The soil stack repair was not completed until 24 October 2024. This was an unacceptable delay in excess of 12 months, and significantly outside the repair timeframes as outlined within the landlord’s repairs policy. It is acknowledged by this Service that the repairs were subject to some delays outside of the landlord’s control. In such cases, this Service would expect to see evidence of proactive communication from the landlord to the resident.
  5. The landlord is a large organisation and its system for approval and progression of works was protracted. Delays were often attributed to variation orders which required manual approval. A member of staff was required to proactively project manage the process, which was not consistently the case. This caused distress and inconvenience to the resident, which was exacerbated by further inconsistency in the landlord’s communication.
  6. The landlord’s damp and mould policy dated May 2023 states it will consider a range of interventions to tackle and, where possible, eliminate damp and mould. It provides examples such as mould washes and regular monitoring of the situation, with follow–up calls and additional visits where appropriate. In this case, it is acknowledged that the landlord did carry out a mould wash of the affected areas. However, the resident continued to report damp and mould. This suggested that the substantive repair may not have resolved the issue. An order has been made below in relation to this.
  7. In summary, the landlord failed to carry out the soil stack repair within a reasonable timeframe. Therefore, it did not meet its repair obligations. It did not effectively communicate these delays with the resident, nor did it go far enough to help the resident to manage the subsequent damp and mould. At the time of this investigation, the resident has informed this Service that he continues to experience issues with damp and mould. These failures amount to maladministration.
  8. The landlord awarded £640 in its final response for the distress, inconvenience, time and effort caused by its handling of his reports of leaks and the subsequent damp and mould. The Ombudsman finds that this sum was not sufficient for the level of distress and inconvenience caused by unnecessary delays and poor communication by the landlord. Additional compensation of £250 has been ordered to account for this and the fact that the resident continues to experience issues. This is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance where failings have had a significant impact on the resident.

Complaint handling

  1. The landlord operates a 2-stage complaints procedure. It aims to provide a response to stage 1 complaints within 10 working days of receipt. At stage 2, it aims to issue its final response within 20 working days of the escalation request. If the landlord is unable to respond within the timescale, it will write to the resident to explain why and provide the response within a further 10 working days.
  2. The resident raised his initial complaint on 4 December 2023. The landlord did not provide its stage 1 response until 11 January 2024, 25 working days later. This exceeded the timeframe set out in the landlord’s policy. Furthermore, the landlord failed to appropriately address this delay within its response.
  3. The resident escalated his complaint on 5 May 2024. The evidence shows that this was not acted upon by the landlord until this Service intervened in August 2024. This was an unacceptable delay of over 3 months.
  4. Within its final response on 22 August 2024, the landlord acknowledged its failures at stage 1 and offered the resident £160 compensation for this. This was reasonable. However, the landlord did not acknowledge its additional delay in escalating the resident’s complaint. It would have been appropriate for it to apologise for this failure and provide further redress in recognition of the distress and inconvenience caused.
  5. It is also noted that, within the landlord’s final response, it said that it would re-assess its offer of compensation following the completion of the repairs. There is no evidence that this has happened. Therefore, the landlord failed to do as it said it would.
  6. In summary, the landlord’s complaints process took too long. This was not in line with the timescales in its complaints policy. This resulted in a protracted complaints process for the resident, delaying both the resolution and his access to an investigation by this Service. The landlord partially acknowledged its delays and offered compensation of £160 in an attempt to put things right. However, the compensation offered by the landlord did not go far enough to account for the multiple excessive delays. The resident experienced the distress and inconvenience of waiting for a response over a prolonged period while following up on his complaint.
  7. For the reasons set out above, there was service failure in the landlord’s complaint handing. A total amount of £260 compensation has been ordered. This includes the £160 already offered by the landlord during the complaints process. Our award is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance where a failing has adversely affected a resident and the offer to put things right was not proportionate.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of leaks and subsequent damp and mould.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s complaint handling.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

Within 4 weeks of the date of this report, the Ombudsman orders the landlord to:

  1. Apologise to the resident in writing for the failings identified in this report.
  2. To pay the resident compensation of £1,150. This amount includes the £800 compensation it offered during the complaint process. Compensation not already paid should be paid directly to the resident, and not offset against any arrears. The compensation comprises of:
    1. £890 for the distress and inconvenience caused by the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports about repairs.
    2. £260 for the inconvenience, time and trouble caused by the landlord’s poor complaint handling.
  3. The landlord is to arrange an inspection of the property to identify any outstanding repairs, to include (but not limited to) the roof, damp and mould and the storage cupboard ceiling, if it has not already done so. The landlord is to provide the resident with the expected timescale for the completion of any works identified in line with the timescales in its repairs policy.

Recommendations

  1. Once the works are complete the landlord should consider the provision of a decorating voucher as offered prior to its stage 1 response.