Places for People Group Limited (202309803)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202309803

Places for People Group Limited

28 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 response to the resident’s reports of damp in the property.
2. The Ombudsman has also considered the landlord’s complaint handling.

Background

3. The resident has been an assured tenant of a bungalow since 2014.
4. On 7 February 2023 the resident told the landlord there were damp patches in her property.
5. The landlord’s surveyor inspected the property on 13 June 2023. They confirmed there was no loft insulation and damp patches in the property.
6. The resident complained to the landlord about the damp in her property on 21 June 2023.
7. On 9 August 2023 the landlord sent its stage 1 complaint response to the resident. It offered £250 compensation and £268.79 towards her fuel bills.
8. The resident escalated her complaint on 13 September 2023.
9. The landlord sent its stage 2 complaint response to the resident on 14 November 2023. It offered a further £350 compensation.
10. On 15 November 2023 the resident contacted us. She said she remained unhappy with the landlord’s response to her complaint.

Scope of investigation

11. The resident has told us of the impact the damp has had on her and her health. Whilst this Service is an alternative to the courts, it is unable to establish legal liability or whether a landlord’s actions or lack of action have had a detrimental impact on a resident’s health. Matters relating to personal injury or damage to health are likely better suited to consideration by a court or via a personal injury claim. However, we can consider any general distress and inconvenience caused where there has been a failing by the landlord.

Assessment and findings

The landlord’s handling of reports of damp in the property

12. The resident called the landlord on 7 February 2023. She told it there were damp patches in the property, and she had high fuel bills as the property was cold. The landlord said it would call her to arrange inspection of the property by 23 March 2023. It did not do so. The landlord records say the resident called it again to request it take action. It did not record when she called.
13. Landlords need to make sure their homes are safe, warm, and free from hazards. When a resident reports a risk such as damp and mould, the landlord should quickly inspect the property to check for hazards. They must determine if the home is safe and fit to live in. Ignoring hazards can lead to serious consequences for everyone involved.
14. The landlord’s damp and mould policy states when it receives a report it should arrange an appointment to inspect the property and resolve the issue as soon as possible. It does not give a timescale for when an appointment should be arranged, but the landlord’s repairs policy classes damp and mould as a non-emergency repair. It aims to complete those repairs within 28 days.
15. The landlord’s surveyor carried out an inspection of the property on 13 June 2023. This was around 4 months later than the appointment should have occurred as set out by the landlord’s policy. The surveyor reported there were damp patches throughout, which were mainly on the ceilings. They said there may have been a leak in the roof and water in the loft. They added there was no insulation in the loft. The landlord did not arrange to carry out repairs following the inspection.
16. The resident complained to the landlord on 21 June 2023. She said it had not taken action regarding the damp in the property. The landlord called her the following day and acknowledged the complaint. It offered £100 compensation for not addressing the damp issue. The resident declined the offer.
17. The landlord’s records say the resident called it on 27 June 2023. She asked for an update following the surveyor’s inspection. It told her it had no record of the inspection. It also recorded she called the landlord around 2 weeks later. She said its operatives had attended her property, but no work was carried out as they had not been told what repairs were needed.
18. The landlord’s surveyor inspected the loft on 28 July 2023. They said there was a hole in the roof which had been repaired previously, but it needed to be checked. The landlord recorded the same day the resident had told it she had breathing problems since the damp patches appeared. It did not say when she told it that.
19. On 9 August 2023 the landlord sent its response to the resident at stage 1 of its complaint process. It upheld her complaint about its handling of her reports of damp in the property. It apologised for the inconvenience she experienced. It said its contractors would contact her to arrange to insulate the loft, complete a damp and mould inspection, and carry out redecoration works. It offered £200 compensation for the distress and inconvenience and its poor communication.
20. The landlord also said its surveyor had told it having no loft insulation meant 25% of the heat in the property was lost. It said the resident had provided her fuel bills from March 2022 to July 2023, which totalled £1,075.16. It offered £268.79 compensation, which was 25% of her fuel costs. 
21. A review of the landlord’s stage 1 complaint response shows it accepted it had taken insufficient action regarding the resident’s damp reports. It offered £200 for the distress, inconvenience and its poor communication, and also £268.79 compensation for the loss of heat in the property. Those offers were in line with its compensation policy.
22. The landlord’s records say its contractors were unable to gain access to the property when they attended on 22 and 24 August 2024. It is not recorded if they arranged with the resident to attend on those dates. The landlord has not recorded if a damp and mould inspection was completed, but loft insulation was installed, as was confirmed by the resident when she emailed it on 13 September 2023. She said the landlord had not carried out redecoration works. She told it she wanted to escalate her complaint.
23. The landlord sent its stage 2 complaint response to the resident on 14 November 2023. It upheld her complaint. It apologised it had not carried out remedial works. It said it would arrange for the outstanding works to be completed. It offered a further £350 compensation, although it did not specify what it was for.   
24. Analysis of the landlord’s stage 2 complaint response shows it accepted it had not taken the action it said it would. The landlord offered further compensation for its failings and said it would complete the outstanding works.
25. The resident contacted us on 15 November 2023. She remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s response to her complaint.
26. The landlord did not complete redecoration work at the property. The resident emailed her MP about the landlord’s lack of action, who in turn contacted the landlord on 16 May 2024. The landlord called the resident on 18 May 2024. It said it would arrange to complete the works as soon as possible. The landlord recorded the redecoration was completed on 28 July 2024.
27. In summary, in its complaint responses the landlord acknowledged it had not dealt with the resident’s reports of damp as it should have. Both responses recognised it took several months to take action regarding the damp in the property and its cause. Overall, it offered £550 compensation for the delays, plus £268.79 towards her fuel bills.  
28. When a failure is identified, as in this case, the Ombudsman’s role is to consider whether the redress offered by the landlord put things right and resolved the resident’s complaint satisfactorily in the circumstances. In considering this, the Ombudsman takes into account whether the landlord’s offer of redress was in line with the Ombudsman’s Dispute Resolution Principles: Be Fair, Put Things Right, and Learn from Outcomes, as well as our own guidance on remedies.
29. The £818.79 compensation offered by the landlord is in line with an award we would have made in these circumstances, when considering our guidance on remedies. However, such and award would also be contingent on the landlord taking action to undertake the required works and complete them within a reasonable timescale.
30. The landlord did not complete the outstanding remedial works until 8 months after its stage 2 complaint response. That was far outside of its repairs policy timescales and was unreasonable. As such, the landlord’s failure to put things right within a reasonable timescale leads to a determination of maladministration. An order for increased compensation has been made below.

Complaint handling

31. The landlord’s complaint policy states it will acknowledge complaints within 5 working days. It aims to respond to stage 1 complaints within 10 working days of acknowledging them and stage 2 complaints within 20 working days.
32. The resident complained to the landlord on 21 June 2023. It called her the following day and acknowledged the complaint. This was within its policy timescales.
33. The landlord sent its stage 1 complaint response to the resident on 9 August 2023. It apologised and offered £50 for the delay in replying outside of its policy timescales. This amount was in line with its compensation policy.
34. On 13 September 2023 the resident told the landlord she wanted to escalate her complaint. There is no evidence the landlord acknowledged the complaint, which was contrary to the provisions of its policy.
35. The landlord sent its stage 2 complaint response to the resident on 14 November 2023. It apologised for not replying as per its policy timescale, but it offered no financial redress. 
36. In summary, the landlord admitted it delayed responding to the resident’s complaint at stage 1 of its complaint process and offered appropriate redress for its failing. However, when the resident escalated her complaint, it failed to acknowledge the complaint and took too long and was beyond the timescales set out in its policy to send its stage 2 response. Although it apologised for its delay, the failure to offer redress for the delay was unreasonable. 
37. The failure to respond at stage 2 in a timely manner and offer appropriate compensation to reflect the inconvenience this caused leads to a determination of service failure in the landlord’s complaint handling. An order for increased compensation has been made below.

Determination

38. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould in the property.
39. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was a service failure by the landlord in its complaint handling.

Orders

40. Within 4 weeks of the date of this report, the landlord is ordered to:
    1. Apologise to the resident for the failings identified in this report.
    2. Pay £1,018.79 compensation to the resident (the landlord can deduct from this total any amount it has previously paid to the resident as part of its internal complaints process). The compensation must be paid directly to the resident and not offset against any rent or service charge account.
       1. £268.79 towards the resident’s fuel bills.
       2. £650 for the distress and inconvenience caused by the landlord’s handling of reports of damp in the property.
       3. £100 for the distress and inconvenience caused by the landlord’s complaint handling failures. 
41. The landlord should provide us with evidence of compliance of the above orders within 4 weeks.