Southern Housing (202406992)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202406992

Southern Housing

31 July 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 ongoing issues with damp and mould at the resident’s property.

Background

2. The resident has been a tenant of the landlord in a 2-bedroom ground floor flat (the property) since 2020. She lives there with her family.
3. The resident has been reporting issues with damp and mould at the property for a number of years. The landlord’s contractors have undertaken various works to address the issue. However, the problem persisted and in January 2024 she contacted it again to complain about this.
4. The resident complained that she had been waiting to see a contractor’s report on the issue, had been living in poor conditions for almost a year and was unhappy with the landlord’s communications.
5. The landlord responded at stage 1 of its complaints process on 18 November 2024. It apologised for its delays and poor communication. It said it had arranged for a mould wash at the property and was putting together an action plan to address the issue. It offered the resident £730 for its failure to follow process, failings in complaint handling and for the inconvenience, time and trouble caused.
6. The resident asked to escalate her complaint to stage 2 of the landlord’s complaints process on 22 November 2024. She said:
   1. She had been living with the issue for 4 years and set out how she felt the damp and mould was impacting her family’s health.
   2. The landlord had only carried out an external survey.
   3. She wanted to move out of the property while the damp and mould was being addressed.
   4. She wanted more compensation.
   5. In a further email on 4 December 2024, she clarified that she sought compensation for damaged furniture and to cover the cost of decoration.
7. The landlord responded at stage 2 of its complaints process on 30 December 2024. It said:
   1. It acknowledged failings with its contractors and apologised.
   2. There had been a long history of unresolved damp and mould at the property from 2020.
   3. A visit on 2 December 2024 indicated that the problem may have been solved but it accepted there had been recurring damp and mould in the lounge.
   4. It had arranged a mould wash for 10 December 2024 and would arrange further treatment while it found a permanent solution.
   5. It would undertake a cavity survey and complete further mould washes in the lounge, kitchen, bathroom and front bedroom.
   6. It increased its offer of compensation to £820.
8. The resident brought her complaint to the Ombudsman, wanting more compensation and for the repairs to be completed. She said the landlord had failed to complete promised mould washes on a 2-weekly basis.

Assessment and findings

Scope of the investigation

9. The resident reported concerns about the condition of the property over many years. However, she did not raise this complaint with the landlord until February 2024. Complaints should be raised promptly so that landlords can take action to resolve the issues, and as time passes records become unavailable and memories fade. This investigation is therefore focused on the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of issues at the property from February 2023, up to her complaint and the landlord’s responses to it.
10. The resident said this situation had a detrimental impact on her and her family’s health and wellbeing.  The Ombudsman is unable to assess the cause of, or liability for, impacts on health and wellbeing. The resident may be able to make a personal injury claim if she considers that their health has been affected by the landlord’s actions or inaction. This is a legal process, and the resident may wish to seek legal advice if she wants to pursue this option. As this issue is more effectively resolved and remedied through the courts it will not be considered in this report.

On the landlord’s handling of ongoing issues with damp and mould at the property

11. At stage 1 the landlord acknowledged its failings in responding to the resident’s contacts. It acknowledged, for instance, that it had delayed in responding to her complaint. It did not provide the stage 1 response until 18 November 2024, more than 10 months after she complained. It offered £100 for failing to respond within agreed time scales.
12. However, this failed to fully acknowledge the length of the delay (the resident had first complained on 19 January 2024, not 23 February 2024) or fully address the complaint.
13. The resident said she had been reporting damp and mould since 2023, yet in its complaint response the landlord only addressed its handling of her reports since March 2024. It did not explain or address its earlier responses (or lack of), and therefore did not fully address the complaint.
14. The Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code, (the Code) sets out that landlords must address all points raised in the complaint. The landlord’s failure to acknowledge the details of the initial complaint as set out above, was contrary to the Code.
15. At stage 2 the landlord accepted that its stage 1 response had failed to acknowledge its failure to respond to reports in March 2023. It accepted it should have raised an order for a survey at that time. Its standard operating procedure for damp and mould says it should arrange for a visual inspection within 10 working days.
16. The landlord also apologised for its contractors’ delays and accepted that this was also because of a lack of monitoring on its behalf. It said it had had a formal discussion with contractors to prevent further failures.
17. The landlord said it had arranged another survey for 2 December 2024, which it said showed some of the earlier problems had been mitigated. It accepted that there was an ongoing damp and mould problem in the lounge, where the resident said her youngest son slept at night. It set out ways in which it hoped to remedy the issue, such as undertaking mould treatments and a full property cavity survey.
18. The records show the resident had to chase the landlord to complete a promised 2 weekly mould wash. A mistaken cancellation was corrected by the landlord and it did undertake mould washes. They also show there were delays completing the cavity survey. However, it kept the resident updated which was the appropriate thing to do in these circumstances. The works did not resolve the issue, which meant the landlord has more recently began further investigations. We would not criticise the landlord for its efforts to actively take steps to address the issue.
19. However, in its stage 2 response, the landlord failed to address a number of issues. These included not offering further compensation for its failure to act between March 2023 and March 2024. Given that it had offered £600 at stage 1 for the distress and inconvenience caused by its failure to respond since March 2024, it would have been consistent to have also offered compensation for the earlier period. It did not do so, despite recognising there had been what it described as a “significant impact” on the resident.
20. In her complaint, the resident explained how she considered the damp and mould had contributed to her children’s illnesses, and she asked to be temporarily moved. The landlord’s policy says that “in instances where the situation or property condition immediately causes a risk to a resident(s) health”, it will arrange temporary alternative accommodation. There is no evidence it considered such a temporary move, and it failed to respond to the resident’s request.  That was a significant failure to address the points raised in her complaint and follow the Code and its policy.
21. The landlord also failed to respond to the resident’s request for further compensation for the damage to her furniture in her clarification email of 4 December 2024.
22. Overall, there were significant failings in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports. In its complaint responses it acknowledged and apologised for its poor service but did not fully acknowledge the full impact of its failings, crucially failing to show any consideration for the resident’s request to be moved.

Determination

23. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports about damp and mould at the property.

Orders and recommendations

24. Within 4 weeks, the landlord must provide evidence it has:
    1. Paid the resident the sum of £1200 (inclusive of the £820 already offered at stage 2). This increased sum is in light of the unremedied delay between 2023 and 2024 and the other failings identified in this report. It also includes the landlord’s failure to consider moving the resident to temporary alternative accommodation, in response to her request in November 2024. It is in line with our Guidance on Remedies, which sets out that a payment of this level is appropriate where the impact of failings has been significant.
    2. Responded to the resident’s request for further compensation to reflect the damage she says damp and mould caused to her property. This is to include a response to her request for a payment to decorate the property.