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Manchester City Council (202332637)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202332637

Manchester City Council

19 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.

Background

  1. The resident holds a secure tenancy of the property, a 2 bedroom ground floor flat. The landlord is a local authority.
  2. The resident contacted this Service in December 2023 and said she had made numerous calls to the landlord about damp and mould in the property and that she was “being ignored”.
  3. The landlord sent a stage 1 complaint response to the resident on 8 February 2024 following contact from this Service on 30 January 2024. It acknowledged the complaint was about damp and mould in the property, mainly on the floorboards, and that the resident said the situation was affecting the resident’s health and the health of her daughter. The landlord confirmed that it had carried out numerous visits to the property in October, November and December 2023 and that it had found no evidence of damp and mould. It stated that it had carried out a further visit on 4 January 2023 to assess the floorboards, both on top and underneath, and had found no evidence of damp and mould. The landlord apologised for “some miscommunication in relation to the visits.”
  4. The resident escalated her complaint on 14 February 2024 and stated that the landlord had confirmed to her during a property inspection on 15 December 2023 that it could smell a strong odour coming up from the floorboards. The resident stated she regularly cleaned mould off the laminate flooring and was therefore not satisfied with the landlord’s stage 1 response.
  5. The landlord wrote to the resident on 14 March 2024 and confirmed that despite the inspections it had carried out, the resident was not satisfied with the outcome. It said it would appoint an independent consultant to carry out a survey of the property to attempt to identify the cause of the mould. The survey was carried on 3 April 2024 and recommendations were made for the landlord to remove and refit the WC window and to further inspect the kitchen extractor fan. A recommendation was also made that the landlord consider a cavity wall inspection and an inspection of the drainage to identify any potential leaks.
  6. The landlord sent its stage 2 response to the resident on 3 May 2024, along with a copy of the property survey. It said it had considered the findings of the survey and that it had generally found the property to be in “good order.” It said the survey had recommended work to the bathroom window, which included repointing brickwork, and to insect the kitchen extractor fan with a view to repairing or replacing it if required. It said the works would be carried out within 3 weeks.
  7. The landlord contacted the resident on 9 May 2024 to confirm a timetable for the works. It said that the essential works, which were to the WC window and kitchen extractor fan, would be carried out within 3 weeks. It said the recommended works for a cavity wall inspection and the inspection of the drainage would be carried out within 6 weeks. Furthermore, the landlord agreed to carry out a further survey of the property in December 2024.

Events after the end of the landlord’s complaints procedure

  1. The landlord issued works orders in June 2024 for all the suggested works within the property survey to be carried out. The cavity wall survey was carried out in July 2024. During the survey, the contractor discovered a leak under the bath and noted that the area was damp due to a “continuous leak.” The landlord replaced the bath at this time. The landlord inspected the drainage in August 2024, and it carried out a further independent survey of the property in September 2024 to check for dry rot on the floor timbers.
  2. The resident contacted this Service in August 2024 and said that she was still waiting for the repairs to the WC window and kitchen extractor fan and that the damp and mould issue had not been resolved. She said she wanted the repairs completed and the property to be inspected for dry rot.
  3. This Service contacted the resident in December 2024, and she confirmed that works recommended in the property survey of 3 April 2024 had been completed. The resident said there was still a damp odour within the property. She said she had requested a copy of the report of the dry rot inspection carried out in September 2024, but the landlord had not provided her with one.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. The resident has said that the presence of damp and mould adversely impacted her and her daughter’s health. However, it is beyond the expertise of this Service to determine if any ill health suffered by the resident or her family directly resulted from the landlord’s actions or lack of actions. Ultimately this would be a matter for the courts. However, the impact on the resident of the landlord’s actions will be considered in determining whether any compensation should be paid for distress and inconvenience. 

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould

  1. The landlord’s damp and mould policy provides no timeframes for when it will inspect or carry out work. It does state that it will “undertake effective investigations and implement all reasonable remedial repair solutions to eradicate damp, including managing and controlling humidity and condensation.” The policy states it will “Investigate to determine the cause of damp, mould and condensation and carry out remedial repairs and actions.”
  2. The resident reported a damp and mould issue to the landlord on 20 September 2023. The landlord carried out an inspection and completed remedial works to wash down and treat the bathroom and bedroom walls on 27 September 2023. It completed follow up works to the plastering on 12 December 2023. The landlord acted appropriately and carried out a swift investigation although there was some delay with completing the follow up works.
  3. Within the landlord’s stage 1 response, sent on 8 February 2024, it made reference to visits made to the property following reports of damp and mould. The landlord said it carried out visits on 6 and 23 October 2023 to “carry out some treatment”. It said it made a further visit on 15 November 2023 and 3 further visits in December 2023 and said that there was no evidence of damp and mould detected. The landlord carried out an inspection of the floorboards, both on top and underneath on 4 January 2024, and noted that no evidence of damp and mould was present. Following the resident’s first report the landlord acted appropriately by visiting the property to carry out remedial works in a reasonable timeframe, and then returning to assess the situation.
  4. Following the resident’s request to escalate her complaint to stage 2 in February 2024, the landlord wrote to the resident on 14 March 2024 and said it would carry out an independent survey of the property to check for damp and mould. This action was reasonable and demonstrated the landlord’s commitment to resolving the issue for the resident.
  5. An independent contractor carried out the property survey on 3 April 2024. The contractor noted that the property was in a “habitable condition” and said that it found no signs of mould growth on the top or underside of the floorboards or within the property. It also noted that it could not detect any foul odour coming up from the floorboards. The contractor also said that the walls of the property were dry, however it did note an area of dampness at low level within the WC and suggested this was due to a badly fitted window. The contractor advised the landlord to carry out the following essential works:
    1. To replace the WC window and repoint the external brickwork.
    2. To assess the kitchen extractor fan and repair or replace as required.
  6. The contractor also recommended that the landlord consider carrying out a cavity wall inspection to assess the condition of the insulation. The landlord acted reasonably by contacting the resident the following day, 4 April 2024, and agreeing to look over the report once received and contact her by 18 April 2024 to discuss the next steps. The contractor made a further recommendation, in an email to the landlord on 7 May 2024, that the landlord consider carrying out an inspection of the drainage concerning the resident’s reports of a foul odour.
  7. The landlord sent its stage 2 response to the resident on 3 May 2024 and confirmed the findings of the independent property survey. It said it would carry out the essential works listed in the survey to the WC window and kitchen extractor fan within 3 weeks, which was a reasonable timeframe. The landlord wrote to the resident again on 9 May 2024 and said the recommended works in the survey (to inspect the drainage and cavity walls) would be carried out within 6 weeks. This was again a reasonable timeframe. This Service notes that the landlord also agreed to carry out a further independent property survey in December 2024. This action was reasonable and demonstrated the landlord’s commitment to resolving the issue for the resident.
  8. Despite having said in its final response on 3 May 2024 that it would carry out the essential works within 3 weeks, the landlord did not raise the works order until 3 June 2024, which was over a week after the 3 week timescale it had agreed for completion.  The landlord also did not carry out the works to inspect the drainage and cavity walls within 6 weeks of its letter dated 9 May 2024, as it had agreed to. It carried out the cavity wall inspection on 18 July 2024, 4 weeks after the agreed 6 week timescale. The drainage inspections were carried out on 22 July 2024 and 16 August 2024. The inspections were delayed and took place 10 weeks and 14 weeks later than the 6 week timescale it had agreed. This was therefore a failing in what it said it would do in its stage 2 response.
  9. The work to replace the bathroom window was completed on 4 November 2024. This repair was significantly delayed however and was completed more than 5 months later than agreed. The resident has confirmed to this Service that the kitchen extractor fan has been tested and is in working order. It is not known when this was completed.
  10. The landlord acted appropriately by following its damp and mould policy and by carrying numerous independent surveys of the property. It carried out a further property survey after the resident had reported a dry rot problem and agreed to carry out a further independent survey of the property in December 2024. The landlord acted fairly by apologising for miscommunication within its stage 1 response. It is noted however that there were significant delays in completing all the actions proposed within the stage 2 response. This would have understandably been frustrating for the resident and added to her distress and inconvenience. The 4 week delay in carrying out the cavity wall inspection had a significant impact on the resident as this revealed the cause of the damp to be a leak in the bath. While the landlord replaced the bath immediately after it was found to be leaking the delay in carrying out the inspection added to the resident’s distress . Therefore, this investigation has found maladministration. We have made an order for the landlord to pay the resident £250 in compensation which reflects the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance where there was a there was a failure by the landlord which adversely affected the resident. We have also recommended that the proposed property survey be undertaken, and a copy of the dry rot survey carried out in September 2024 be sent to the resident.

Determination

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

Orders and Recommendations

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of the date of this report the landlord is ordered to:
    1. Pay directly to the resident £250 compensation for any distress and inconvenience incurred by the resident as a result of the landlord’s response to her reports of damp and mould.
    2. Confirm compliance with this order to this Service.

Recommendations

  1. It is recommended that the landlord:
    1. Carry out the independent property survey, due to be completed in December 2024, if it has not already done so.
    2. Provide the resident with a copy of the dry rot inspection carried out in September 2024.