Richmond Housing Partnership Limited (202305819)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202305819

Richmond Housing Partnership Limited

29 August 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

The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
1. The resident’s reports of damp and mould in the property.
2. Repairs in the property.
3. The resident’s complaints.

Background

The resident has been an assured shorthold tenant of the landlord, a housing association, since 2021. The property is a 2-bedroom, ground floor maisonette. The resident advised her & her dependent’s health was impacted by condition of the property.
The resident told this Service and the landlord that a water pipe leak caused external damage in January 2022. The resident stated she first reported the issue to the landlord in August 2022. However, no evidence has been provided to this Service.
On 25 October 2022, the resident reported a smell in the property caused by mould and damp on the walls. The landlord’s records show a repair was raised for 2 December 2022.
On 25 November 2022, the resident raised a formal complaint to the landlord advising:
1. The water leak was reported to the landlord in January 2022, and it took the landlord a month to resolve the issue. During this time water had been absorbed into the brickwork. The landlord had told the resident this would dry out by itself.
2. The resident had since found extensive damp and mould in the hallway of the property.
3. The landlord had conducted an inspection and noted damage to the exterior brickwork and pointing, which was allowing water to penetrate. The landlord advised that it needed to resolve this before it could treat the internal damp and mould.
4. External repairs were not scheduled to be carried out until January which she felt was not soon enough and asked for it to be brought forward.
5. Although the landlord had arranged a mould wash for 12 December 2022, the mould would return until the external works were completed.
On 8 December 2022, the landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response. It advised:
1. The dates on which it would conduct the mould wash treatment and repairs in the property. The landlord advised it was unable to bring the dates forward.
2. It apologised for the service received by the resident as it had resulted in poor communication, delay in completing the repairs and the upset it may have caused the resident.
3. The landlord had highlighted the service failure to its repair team and contractors to improve its service going forward.
4. The landlord offered the resident compensation totalling £100. This was £25 for the poor service received, £50 for the inconvenience caused by the landlord’s poor communication, and £25 for the delay in completing the repairs.
On 13 December 2022, the resident confirmed to the landlord the mould wash treatment had taken place the day prior. She also accepted the landlord’s offer of compensation.
On 20 January 2023, the resident raised a further complaint to the landlord advising the external works were now complete, but there had been no update on repairs to the interior of the property. She said she had contacted the landlord repeatedly to chase this up but had made no progress. When she would speak to the landlord, it would lead to confusion, misinformation, and a lack of progress. This resulted in the resident receiving poor customer service.
On 20 January 2021, plastering work in the hallway and the landing were carried out by the landlord to repair the damaged ceiling and wall.
On 20 February 2023, the landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response advising:
1. The damp and mould repairs were completed on 12 December 2022.
2. The interior repairs had been scheduled for the 7 April 2023.
3. While it had completed the repairs previously highlighted in its stage 1 complaint response, the landlord acknowledged the delay in completing the remaining repairs.
4. The landlord upheld the resident’s stage 2 complaint and offered a further compensation of £100. This was for the time taken by the resident to chase the complaint, and the distress and inconvenience she experienced.

Post Complaint Process

On 4 May 2023, the resident reported to the landlord that the contractor had not attended the property the day prior as scheduled to carry out the repairs . Therefore, the landlord raised a new repair request.
On 17 May 2023, the resident called the landlord as she had not received communication regarding a new appointment. On the same day, the resident made an online complaint to this Service as she remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s response.
The landlord called the resident on 17 May 2023. The resident advised she had referred her original complaint to this Service. The resident wished to complain about the poor communication received from the landlord following the stage 2 complaint response. The resident confirmed in a further call on 24 May 2023 that she wished to proceed with her complaint.
On 8 June 2023, the landlord issued a stage 1 complaint response, it said:
1. A new job had been raised on the 17 May 2023 regarding plastering works to the internal wall. This was scheduled for the 6 June 2023; however, the landlord had not been able to allocate a subcontractor and where still looking for one to complete the job to the appropriate standard.
2. The landlord apologised for the level of service received by the resident.
3. The landlord offered the resident compensation of £50 for not taking swift action in getting the plastering work completed following the stage 2 complaint.
On 14 July 2023, the plastering work to the hallway and landing internal walls were completed.
There are no records of when the repairs had been completed, but on 19 September 2023, the resident advised that the mould and damp as well as works required to the internal and external wall had been resolved. The resident has advised this Service that she believes the repairs were completed on the 25 June 2023.

Assessment and findings

Scope of Investigation

The resident’s asserts that the landlord’s handling of the damp and mould, repairs in the property and her complaint negatively impacted her health and her family’s health. While the Ombudsman is sorry to hear this, it is beyond the expertise of this Service to determine a causal link between the landlord’s actions (or lack thereof) and the impact on the resident and her family’s health. Such a determination is more appropriate through an insurance claim or by a court. Should the resident wish to pursue a claim relating to the impact on her and her family’s health, she has the option to seek legal advice.
The Ombudsman has considered the general distress and inconvenience that the landlord’s service delivery may have caused.
This report has not considered the resident’s complaint on the 17 May 2023. This complaint was after the landlord’s stage 2 complaint process and following her referral to this Service. Furthermore, this complaint has not completed the landlord’s internal complaint process.
However, the report does consider the overall communication from the landlord in its handling of the repairs in the property, the resident’s reports of damp and mould, and the resident’s complaints. If the second complaint has completed the landlord’s complaints process, she is able to refer it to the Ombudsman for an investigation.

Policy

The landlord has a statutory duty under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the property.
The resident’s tenancy agreement states the landlord must keep the structure and exterior of the resident’s home in good repair. Further, the landlord must repair any damage that has not been caused by the resident or someone living with or visiting her.
The landlord has a responsibility under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, 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 is required to consider whether any damp and mould problems in its properties amount to a hazard and require remedying.
The landlord’s repairs policy provides the following guidance for types of repairs, depending on their urgency:
1. Emergency repairs – the landlord aims to attend within 3 hours with an objective of completing the repair within 24 hours.
2. General repairs – the landlord aims to complete repairs within 10 working days.
3. Emergency out of hours repairs – the landlord aims to attend within 3 hours with an objective of completing the job within the next working day.
4. Repairs exclusions – the landlord aims to complete the repair within 20 working days.
The landlord’s complaints policy states it has a two stage process. The landlord logs and acknowledges a resident’s complaint within 5 working days of receipt and sets their understanding of the complaint and the outcomes sought by the resident. The landlord aims to reach a resolution, agreed with the resident at stage 1 of the process within ten working days. It also aims to resolve all stage 2 complaints within 20 working days. If extensions are required, it will let the customer know by explaining the reasons for delay and the extension will not exceed an additional 10 working days.
The landlord’s policy says it may try and resolve complaints in several ways. These include:
1. Acknowledging where things have gone wrong.
2. Providing an explanation to the resident.
3. Apologising.
4. Acting if there has been a delay.
5. Reconsidering or changing a decision.
6. Amending a record.
7. Providing a financial remedy.
8. Propose procedural changes if appropriate.
9. Signposting the resident to supporting agencies.
The landlord states when considering resolutions it will consider a range of factors:
1. The length of time a situation has been ongoing.
2. The frequency with which something has occurred.
3. The severity of any service failure or omission.
4. The number of different failures.
5. The cumulative impact on the resident or the impact on the resident’s circumstances or vulnerabilities.
6. Any quantifiable losses in any financial settlement.
7. The landlord will consider any discretionary payment to acknowledge service failures.
The landlord’s policy states it will need to receive a complaint within 6 months of the problem occurring. The landlord advises it will review and apply discretion to any complaint made outside of this period.

Damp and Mould

While the resident has indicated the water pipe leak caused damp in the property, the landlord only became aware of the issue when she first reported it to the landlord on the 25 October 2022. It is reasonable for the landlord to carry out an inspection to determine the repair or action required. While this Service has not seen evidence of the date an inspection was carried out, communication between the resident to the landlord indicates an inspection of the property to assess the damp and mould was arranged and carried out before the mould wash treatment.
The landlord’s records show the damp and mould repair was scheduled for the 2 December 2022. There is no evidence to explain why this did not take place and why it was delayed to the 12 December 2024. It is reasonable for a landlord to re-arrange a date if it make the resident aware of the delay and new date. Communication between the landlord and resident indicates she was aware mould wash treatment was due to be carried out on the 12 December 2022.
The landlord’s mould policy states treatment should be carried out in 48 hours for an extreme case of mould and wash treatment while a mild treatment should be completed in 28 days. The mould wash treatment was not carried out until 48 days after the resident had reported the mould to the landlord. The landlord failed to carry out the mould wash treatment in keeping with its policy.
The landlord in its stage 1 complaint response apologised for the delay. It confirmed the new date for the mould wash treatment, advised that it would provide feedback to its repair team to improve its service, and made a discretionary offer of £100 to the resident for the delay and poor service she received.
As the delay was confined to a single incident and the duration of the failure was brief, the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance suggests the level of redress should be between £50-£100 for a service failure. The level of compensation offered in the landlord’s stage 1 complaint response was in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance. The Ombudsman therefore finds that the landlord’s offer amounts to reasonable redress of the resident’s report of damp and mould in the property.

Repair

The issue was reported to the landlord in October 2022. The landlord carried out an inspection of the interior and exterior of the property to assess the repairs required. The Ombudsman finds this action from the landlord was reasonable. No date has been given of when the initial inspections were carried out. The external repairs were scheduled for 5 January 2023 by the landlord. The landlord’s repair policy says “there are some jobs that our customers may contact us to repair that are not part of our repairs and maintenance service. These will be larger jobs that may require a survey to enable the ordering of materials and the works to be planned in for instance, window replacement; door replacement; kitchen unit replacements, replacement of floor coverings, rewiring, major structural works, works requiring scaffolding and the installation of disabled adaptations.” The external repairs could be considered to fall under this category and the repairs scheduled for January would have been reasonable. The resident confirmed in her stage 2 complaint that the external repairs had been completed.
However, the landlord failed to arrange internal works in a timely manner after the external works were completed. It resulted in the resident repeatedly contacting the landlord to pursue this and escalate her complaint. The landlord in its stage 2 complaint response gave dates for when internal repairs would be completed, which it failed to keep. Due to the delay, the resident repeatedly contacted the landlord (on 20 January 2023, 4 May 2023, 17 May 2023, 2 June 2023, 20 June 2023, and 5 July 2023). She also referred her complaint to this Service.
The landlord’s repair policy states avoiding missed appointments is essential to providing an effective and efficient repairs service. Further, the landlord is responsible for the any services provided on its behalf from contractors. There was failure from the contractor to attend scheduled appointments and it was the resident who informed the landlord the contractor had not attend the property and the scheduled dates. There were repeated failures from the contractor in contacting or completing call back requests to the resident despite being raised by the landlord per its internal records. This led to further delays, confusion and the resident receiving poor customer service.
No specific date was given as to when the repairs were completed. The resident was of the view the repairs were completed in June 2023, while the landlord’s repair record implies the repairs were completed on 14 July 2023. This is more than 8 months since the repairs were reported by the resident. The landlord failed to repair all issues in a reasonable time as set out in its repair policy. The landlord failed to provide an efficient repair service in line with its policy.
The landlord’s internal records advise the contractor had a backlog. However, due to previous delays and the issue had led to damp and mould in the property, the landlord should have raised this as an urgent matter. The landlord should have ensured and raised the importance of repairs being completed on the dates given in the stage 2 complaint response as there had been a failure to complete repair on the date given in the stage 1 response. Had it done so, this could have prevented further delays in completing repairs in the resident’s property.
The landlord’s stage 2 complaint response had offered compensation of £100 for the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident. However, it failed to take into consideration the length of the delay in completing the repairs, the missed appointments and failure from the contractor in contacting the resident as requested.
The Ombudsman therefore finds there was maladministration by the landlord in its handling of the repairs in the property and makes an order for further compensation as outlined below.

Complaint Handling

The Ombudsman’s complaint handling code expects landlords to acknowledge a stage 1 complaint within 5 workdays and then to issue its stage 1 complaint response in 10 working days. Further, it is expected that landlords acknowledge a stage 2 complaint within 5 working days and issue a stage 2 complaint response within 20 working days.
The stage 1 complaint was submitted on the 25 November 2022. The landlord sent acknowledgement of the complaint to the resident within 1 working day (28 November 2022). The stage 1 complaint response was issued within 8 working days (8 December 2022) of the landlord’s complaint acknowledgement email.
The stage 2 complaint was submitted on the 20 January 2023 and the landlord sent a complaint acknowledgment to the resident within 1 working day (23 January 2023).
The landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response within 20 working days (20 February 2023) of its complaint acknowledgement. The landlord did respond within the timescales set out within its complaint policy and the Ombudsman’s complaint handling code.
The landlord’s policy says it will try to fix what has gone wrong, explaining what happened and apologising for any problems it has caused. The landlord did apologise for the service received by the resident, it did advise it would feed this back to its repair team to improve its service. It did raise repair actions to resolve the damp and mould as well as making relevant repairs to the property. Even though the repairs were delayed it was reasonable from the landlord to assume the date the repairs would take place as advised in its complaint responses. The landlord made a discretionary offer to the resident for the issues, which she accepted. The landlord’s complaint responses were in line with its policy and this Service’s complaint handling code.
On 17 May 2023, the resident contacted the landlord advising she wished to raise a new complaint. This was confirmed in a further call on the 24 May 2023. The resident advised this was not regarding previous repair issues but the landlord’s communication following its stage 2 complaint response. While the resident requested it to be raised as a new complaint, the landlord could have considering dealing with it as part of its post internal complaint process. The landlord had previously addressed the service and communication issues in its stage 2 complaint response.
There was however no detriment to the resident by the landlord raising a new stage 1 complaint. A complaint response was issued within 11 working days (8 June 2023) of the resident’s complaint. The landlord awarded £50 compensation to the resident for its identified communications failings after its stage 2 complaint response on 20 February 2023, which was appropriate. The Ombudsman finds there was no maladministration by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s complaint.
We encourage landlords to self-assess against the Ombudsman’s Spotlight reports following publication. In March 2019 we published our Spotlight on complaint about repairs. The evidence gathered during this investigation shows the landlord’s practice was not in line with that recommended in the Spotlight report. We encourage the landlord to consider the findings and recommendations of our Spotlight report unless the landlord can provide evidence it has self-assessed already.

Determination (decision)

In accordance with paragraph 53 of the Scheme, there was reasonable redress by the landlord concerning the resident’s reports of damp and mould in the property.
In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord’s handling of repairs in the property.
In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was no maladministration by the landlord with its handling of the resident’s complaint.

Orders and Recommendations

Orders

The Ombudsman orders the landlord to pay the resident compensation of £300 for the distress and inconvenience caused by the maladministration in its handling of repairs to the property. This is in addition to the £100 compensation awarded by the landlord in its stage 2 complaint response. The compensation is calculated as follows:
1. £100 for the delay by the landlord in conducting repairs to the property.
2. £100 for the distress caused to the resident.
3. £100 for the time and trouble taken by the resident to chase the repairs with the landlord.
The compensation must be paid directly to the resident and the landlord must provide this service with evidence of the above payment within four weeks of the date of this determination.

Recommendations

The Ombudsman recommends that the landlord self-assess against the spotlight report on complaints about repairs.