Sovereign Network Homes (202227310)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202227310

Sovereign Network Homes

16 May 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 response to the resident’s:

1. Reports of damp and mould.
2. Reports of damaged belongings.
3. Concerns regarding her and her family’s health and wellbeing.
4. Complaint about the level of compensation.

Background

2. The resident has lived with her 2 sons in the 2-bedroom flat since 2017.

3. The resident reported damp and mould issues to the landlord on 15 August 2022. The landlord forwarded this email to the correct team the following day and booked a surveyor to visit on 1 September 2022. As the resident needed to take her son to the doctors, she contacted the landlord on 1 September asking for it to rearrange the appointment. The landlord advised it would take 5 working days for the new appointment to come through.
4. On 17 December 2022, the resident contacted the landlord again to say a surveyor had not attended. The resident complained she had mould in the living room, and it had ruined her Christmas presents. She advised it had become unbearable to live in.
5. The resident called the landlord on 29 December 2022 to report an issue with her window and the damp and mould. The resident raised a complaint on 26 January 2023. In the landlord’s stage 1 complaint response it advised a surveyor attended the property during January 2023, however the surveyor left the organisation without producing a report, therefore the landlord would have to repeat the survey. The landlord did this on 8 February 2023 and identified it needed to decant the resident.
6. Within a week the landlord moved the resident into a hotel for 2 nights, this was difficult for the resident, and she moved back to her property. The landlord offered the resident 2 decants and she accepted the third. She moved into the temporary decant around 15 March 2023. The landlord has carried out works in the resident’s property and a snagging list has been compiled. At the date of this report the resident remains in the temporary decant property.
7. The resident received the landlord’s final resolution letter on 20 March 2023. It offered the resident £450 in compensation, upholding her complaint.
8. The resident remains dissatisfied with the landlord’s response and has asked the Ombudsman to investigate. As a resolution the resident would like to remain in the temporary decant property but understands this is not an order the Ombudsman can make.

Assessment and findings

9. When investigating a complaint, the Ombudsman applies its Dispute Resolution Principles. These are high level good practice guidance developed from the Ombudsman’s experience of resolving disputes, for use by everyone involved in the complaints process. There are only 3 principles driving effective dispute resolution:
   1. Be fair – treat people fairly and follow fair processes.
   2. Put things right.
   3. Learn from outcomes.
10. The Ombudsman must first consider whether a failing on the part of the landlord occurred, and if so, whether this led to any adverse effect or detriment to the resident. If it is found that a failing did lead to an adverse effect, the investigation will then consider whether the landlord has taken enough action to ‘put things right’ and ‘learn from outcomes’.

Scope of the investigation.

11. Paragraph 42a of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme states that the Ombudsman may not consider complaints which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, are made prior to having exhausted a member’s complaints procedure. The Ombudsman can only address the issues raised up to the final resolution letter dated 20 March 2023.
12. The Ombudsman does not consider complaints about damaged belongings, and 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. Paragraph 42f of the Scheme states that the Ombudsman may not consider complaints which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion concern matters where the Ombudsman considers it quicker, fairer, more reasonable, or more effective to seek a remedy through the courts, other tribunal or procedure. Such matters are better suited via an insurance claim or the courts. The Ombudsman will address how the landlord responded to the issues raised.

The landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of damp and mould.

13. Under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 the landlord has responsibility to keep the structure and installations of the property and the communal areas, structure, and exterior in good repair. The landlord confirms this in its repairs policy and the tenancy agreement.
14. The landlord’s repair policy states it will aim to complete complex repair issues within 90 days. The landlord’s online damp and mould information states, following information being received about an issue it will complete an inspection, a specialist in house team will review and determine the next steps. This will allow the landlord to prioritise the most serious cases. In all cases the landlord will contact the resident within 2 weeks of the inspection date.
15. The resident initially raised her concerns about the damp and mould to the landlord on 15 August 2022. The Ombudsman has seen no evidence the landlord attempted to rebook the 1 September 2022 survey as requested by the resident.
16. The resident re-raised this issue twice in December 2022, the subsequent surveys had to be repeated as the surveyor left the organisation without filing the reports. The landlord completed this on 8 February 2023 deeming it would need to decant the resident. The resident stated she did not want to move into a hotel, but as the landlord was unable to find suitable alternative accommodation she moved into a hotel on 13 February 2023. The resident moved back into her property shortly after. The landlord tried to minimise the impact on the health of the occupants by mould washing the property and offering to do so when the mould reappeared. The landlord found suitable alternative accommodation which the resident moved into on 15 March 2023.
17. The landlord established what works were needed and began obtaining quotes from contractors to undertake this. The Ombudsman has seen evidence it has taken the landlord around a year to get the property and the block to the snagging stage. The resident has remained in the temporary decant property throughout.
18. Once the landlord completed the survey it acted appropriately in informing the resident, trying to secure suitable alternative accommodation, and trying to minimise the impact to the health of the occupants. Understandably the landlord took some time to find a suitable decant property due to its limited stock.
19. The resident experienced damp and mould issues for a longer period than she could have expected to when looking at the landlord’s policy. This lack of adherence to the landlord’s policy meant the resident would have experienced a loss of confidence in it.
20. The landlord’s repairs policy states it will complete complex repair issues in 90 days meaning the issue should have been resolved by 13 November 2022. The resident lived in the property for a further 17 weeks after this date. The landlord had completed the snagging list on 28 March 2024, though the Ombudsman has not received information as to whether the snagging has been completed. The Ombudsman understands the damp and mould was a block wide issue, however this remains outside the time frames of its repair policy. This and the landlord’s missed opportunities means the Ombudsman finds there was maladministration in the landlord’s response to the resident’s report of damp and mould.

The landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of damaged belongings.

21. The landlord’s repairs policy states while it insures the building, it is the resident’s responsibility to insure personal belongings.
22. The resident raised her concerns about damaged belongings in her escalation request dated 11 February 2023. In the landlord’s final resolution letter, it stated it would not award compensation for the resident’s damaged belongings. The landlord advised the resident to seek redress under any contents insurance she may hold, or through its insurance scheme.
23. Appropriately the landlord provided the resident with a link to its compensation policy and an email address to progress a claim under its insurance scheme.
24. The landlord responded to the resident’s request in line with its policy and as such the Ombudsman finds there was no maladministration in the landlord’s response to the resident’s report of damaged belongings.

The landlord’s response to the resident’s concerns regarding her and her family’s health and wellbeing.

25. The landlord’s compensation policy states it cannot consider awarding compensation for anything which would be dealt with as an insurance claim.
26. The resident formally raised her concerns about her and her family’s health in her escalation request dated 11 February 2023, though she had consistently mentioned this throughout. In its final resolution letter, the landlord stated the mould throughout the property was extensive. In the letter the landlord confirmed the resident had supplied it with information confirming health issues and it apologised for this, stating it always sought to provide safe homes and it was sorry it did not act more promptly in this case.
27. As the landlord identified an effect on the resident and her family, it would have been appropriate to signpost the resident somewhere she could seek appropriate help.
28. The landlord did not advise the resident to seek recompense through its insurance scheme. The Ombudsman finds there was a service failure in the landlord’s response to the resident’s concerns about her and her family’s health and wellbeing.

The landlord’s response to the resident’s complaint about the level of compensation.

29. The landlord’s compensation policy states it must have identified something has gone wrong which has affected the resident to be able to award compensation. It acknowledges it is a social housing provider and as such any award will generally be modest, though intended to be proportionate to the impact on the resident.
30. The policy states it will consider all aspects of the complaint, including the severity, length of time the resident was affected and any specific circumstances regarding vulnerabilities which may have increased the impact. It broadly splits awards into 3 categories, low, medium, and high. Awarding incrementally higher payments per week for the delay, distress, and time and trouble. This ranges between £5-20 for delays, £5-20 for distress and £1-5 for time and trouble per week for the lowest to highest impact.
31. In the landlord’s final resolution letter, it offered the resident £450. This was on 20 March 2023 when the resident had been in the temporary decant property for around 5 days. The landlord has not evidenced how it reached the figure of £450, however the Ombudsman believes it should have calculated this using the highest impact award in its compensation policy. The award will be made for the 17 weeks from when the landlord should have reasonably resolved the repair on 13 November 2022 to when the resident moved out around 15 March 2023. Therefore, weekly compensation will be awarded for this period at the high impact level of £20 for delays, £20 for distress, and £5 for time and trouble totalling £765.
32. The Ombudsman recognises at the point of the final resolution letter the landlord would not have wished or predicted the repairs would remain ongoing a year later. As the period the Ombudsman assesses should be up to the final resolution date of 20 March 2023, we will only assess to this point. However, the extended period the resident has been out of her property has been noted by the Ombudsman and will form a recommendation for the landlord to consider addressing with the resident.
33. The Ombudsman finds there was service failure in the landlord’s response to the resident’s complaint about the level of compensation.

Determination

34. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was:
    1. Maladministration in the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of damp and mould.
    2. No maladministration in the landlord’s response to the resident’s report of damaged belongings.
    3. Service failure in the landlord’s response to the resident’s concerns about her and her family’s health.
    4. Service failure in the landlord’s response to the resident’s complaint about the level of compensation.

Orders

35. The landlord is to pay the resident compensation totalling £765. This is inclusive of any compensation given to the resident in this matter.
36. The landlord is to provide the resident with its insurance details for her to consider making a personal injury claim regarding her concerns about her and her family’s health.
37. The landlord is to confirm compliance with these orders to the Ombudsman within 4 weeks of the date of this report.

Recommendation

38. The landlord is to consider compensating the resident for the inconvenience of the extended period she has been decanted out of her property.