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Sovereign Network Homes (Former Network Homes) (202331820)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202331820

Sovereign Network Homes (Former Network Homes)

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 an assured tenancy with the landlord, a housing association and lives in a 2-bedroom bungalow with her child.
  2. The resident raised reports of damp and mould in April 2022. The resident raised an initial complaint in March 2023 about the landlord’s initial actions regarding the damp and mould. This was responded to by the landlord on 28 March 2023 at stage 1. The resident then raised a further complaint on 12 December 2023 she said that:
    1. She was frustrated that she was still having to complain about damp and mould.
    2. That the landlord’s latest inspection carried out in November 2023 had not resolved the issues.
    3. That work was due to be carried out to her loft insulation, roof, and bathroom flooring, but she had lost faith in the landlord’s ability to find a permanent resolution.
  3. The landlord responded on 3 January 2024 to advise that the loft insulation had been dealt with in an appointment on 30 November 2023. However, the roofing and flooring works had not yet taken place and that the delay in completing this was unacceptable. The landlord offered £115 compensation to cover the delay and the distress and trouble caused to the resident.
  4. The resident escalated her complaint on 18 January 2024 that the roofing and flooring jobs were still open and that the stage 1 response did not offer a resolution to fix the issues. She also advised her bathroom extractor fan had broken and asked the landlord to cover the costs of the dehumidifier she had been asked to use.
  5. The landlord responded at stage 2 on 22 February 2024. The landlord gave a summary as to what had happened since 18 January 2024 and confirmed that replacement flooring was scheduled for 4 March 2024. Further jobs included rendering and changing an extractor fan, the landlord offered an increase in compensation to cover a further 6 weeks of delay and the cost of running the dehumidifier. The total compensation offered was £343 which was broken down as:
    1. £115 as agreed at stage 1.
    2. £90 for the dehumidifier costs.
    3. £60 for the delay.
    4. £60 for the distress.
    5. £18 for the time and trouble caused.
  6. Following further delays with the flooring, the landlord agreed to increase the overall compensation to £700 in April 2024. The resident was decanted in August 2024 for the flooring work to take place. The resident was paid £240 to cover expenses during the decant.
  7. On 15 October 2024 the landlord wrote to the resident to advise that it had made an overpayment in the compensation of £686. It said that rather than paying the increases, it had duplicated payments. Therefore, the resident had been paid:
    1. £115 at stage 1.
    2. £228 at stage 2.
    3. £343 at stage 2 in error.
    4. £700 in April 2024 instead of the increase of £357.
    5. £240 to cover the decant in August 2024.
  8. It said that it had paid the resident £1,626 compensation rather than £940. However, the landlord agreed that the resident could keep the overpayment of £686 as this would cover the additional distress and inconvenience caused by the delay between April and August 2024.
  9. The resident referred her complaint to this Service on 9 December 2023 and advised that as a resolution she wanted the landlord to conduct the required repair works to find a lasting resolution.

Assessment and findings

Scope

  1. It is noted that the resident raised a complaint in March 2023 about the actions of the landlord between April 2022 and March 2023. After the landlord responded at stage 1 of its process it advised that the resident had 30 days to escalate the complaint to stage 2 of its procedure. However, this was not done. Therefore, the issues raised in the complaint from March 2023 have not formed part of this investigation. This is because the Ombudsman may only consider complaints that have exhausted the landlord’s complaint procedure, unless there is evidence of a complaint handling failure. In this instance, there is no evidence of a complaint handling failure and therefore, the issues raised did not fully exhaust the procedure.
  2. The resident raised a further formal complaint on 12 December 2023 about the ongoing issues with damp and mould specifically relating to an inspection that took place in November 2023. Although it is noted that there is a long history of damp and mould reports, this investigation has primarily focussed on the resident’s most recent complaint that exhausted the landlord’s complaint procedure. While the landlord issued its stage 2 response in February 2024 it set out specific steps that it would take to try and resolve the issue. Therefore, this investigation has considered the actions of the landlord until these steps were completed in August 2024.
  3. To summarise, the scope of this investigation will deal with the landlord’s actions between November 2023 and August 2024. If the resident has any concerns about the landlord’s actions since August 2024, then she should raise this as a new complaint with the landlord.

Damp and mould

  1. On 1 November 2023 a surveyor was booked to inspect the resident’s property for damp. This inspection took place on 15 November 2023 and recommended work to the loft insulation, roof, and bathroom flooring. This initial action by the landlord was reasonable. It arranged an inspection at a convenient time and within its policy timescales of 2 weeks.
  2. At the same time as the inspection being booked, the landlord offered the resident a mould wash for the affected areas in the bathroom. It confirmed on 2 November 2023 that a contractor would be in touch with the resident within “a couple of days” to arrange this. The resident had to chase the landlord on 8 November 2023 as no contact had been made, and it was not until 21 November 2023 that a contractor called the resident to advise it would attend to conduct a mould wash alongside the initial bathroom flooring work. However, the mould wash did not take place as the landlord was unable to source a dehumidifier for the bathroom until January 2024.
  3. This delay in treating the affected areas was unreasonable. While the landlord was working toward a more permanent resolution following the inspection, it should have been more proactive in helping to manage the mould growth in the resident’s property. If a mould wash was unsuitable, alternative options should have been considered, or detailed advice provided to the resident on how the situation could be managed. This caused the resident some unnecessary distress and inconvenience early on in the landlord’s approach.
  4. A contractor attended on 30 November 2023 and carried out work to the loft insulation. This work was completed in line with its policy guidelines which state that it aims to complete most repairs within 1 calendar month.
  5. The work to the resident’s roof did not take place until 19 January 2024. This was 9 weeks after the inspection. This was outside of the landlord’s policy timescale of 1 calendar month and this unreasonable delay in conducting the works was made worse by the poor communication about the appointment. The resident had to chase the landlord 4 times before receiving a call on 15 January 2024 with an appointment date for 19 January 2024. This delay and poor communication caused the resident some significant distress and inconvenience.
  6. The initial work to remove the flooring in the resident’s bathroom was not completed until 19 January 2024. This was because the landlord needed to source a dehumidifier for the resident to dry out the room after the flooring was removed. However, while it is accepted that delays can happen, this initial phase of work was completed outside the landlord’s policy guidelines of 1 month. This was an unreasonable delay which caused the resident some distress and inconvenience.
  7. The resident chased the landlord on 22 January 2024 to ask how long she would need to use the dehumidifier as the flooring contractor had called her to advise that the appointments between 22 and 24 January 2024 would be cancelled as the dehumidifier had not been in the property long enough. Following an inspection by the landlord on 9 February 2024 which advised that the resident’s flooring was ‘virtually dry’, it was advised that the appointment to install new flooring was rescheduled for 4 March 2024.
  8. While this Service accepts that the landlord needed to allow time for the dehumidifier to take effect, the resident had been waiting for a resolution since 15 November 2023. The landlord should have acted with more urgency and arranged an appointment sooner for the resident after the inspection had noted the bathroom was ‘virtually dry.’ This delay of almost a month between 9 February and 4 March 2024 was unreasonable and caused further distress and inconvenience to the resident.
  9. There were further delays to complete the bathroom works as the contractor did not have the correct materials to complete the work on 4 March 2024, and then failed to attend the rescheduled appointment on 21 March 2024. Following this the resident chased the landlord on 22 March 2024 and 2 and 8 April 2024 before a new appointment for the works to be completed between 29 April and 1 May 2024 was confirmed. These further delays were unreasonable and the lack of regular and effective communication with the resident during this period did not align with the landlord’s damp and mould policy which says that the landlord would remain in regular and effective communication and that it would provide progress updates from “beginning to end.”
  10. The resident contacted the landlord on 29 April 2024 to advise that the contractor had not turned up for the flooring appointment. The landlord responded to the resident and agreed that this was not acceptable, and that despite the contractor’s stating that a call had been made to the resident, not enough effort had been made to attend the appointment. The appointment was rearranged for 3 to 5 June 2024. This unreasonable delay continued to increase the resident’s frustration and distress.
  11. The resident contacted the landlord again on 3 June 2024 as the contractor had failed to attend the property. It was confirmed that this was because the contractor was on annual leave and would instead only attend on 4 and 5 June 2024. This failure to communicate the rearranged appointment further increased the distress and inconvenience the resident was feeling.
  12. When the contractor did attend on 4 and 5 June it was able to complete some work. However, the contractor discovered that the original damp proof floor was very wet and follow on work was recommended. It was noted that the resident would need to be decanted due to the intrusive nature of the work. The landlord and resident agreed that the decant would take place between 12 and 16 August 2024. This was completed and a new floor fitted alongside other bathroom works to resolve the outstanding issue.
  13. The 7-month delay between the original inspection in November 2023 and the contractor discovering follow on work would be required in June 2024 was unreasonable. Had the landlord acted with more urgency and managed the appointments more effectively, then this discovery would have been made much sooner. This delay caused significant distress and inconvenience to the resident, as well as the time and trouble the resident took to consistently chase the landlord about the issue.
  14. The delays were especially significant as the resident had notified the landlord that the damp and mould may have been affecting her child’s health. On 1 November 2023, 12 December 2023 and 3 May 2024 the resident stressed the importance of completing the work quickly due to these health concerns. While the landlord was working toward a resolution, it showed a lack of urgency in completing the appropriate actions. This increased the resident’s distress and frustration at the situation she found herself in.
  15. When taking all the circumstances into account the Ombudsman would consider the landlord’s actions and what the landlord has done to acknowledge and rectify the failings in its service. As part of its complaint and ongoing review of its actions, it offered:
    1. An apology for its failings.
    2. Compensation to the resident which was broken down as:
      1. £1,296 for the delay, distress and inconvenience caused, and time and trouble.
      2. £240 for the expense related to the decant.
      3. £90 for the dehumidifier costs
  16. The landlord’s own compensation policy says that where there has been a ‘medium impact’ it would pay £10 per week for delay, £10 per week for distress and £3 per week for time and trouble caused. For ‘high impact’ this increased to £20 per week for the delay, £20 per week for the distress and £5 per week for the time and trouble caused.
  17. The Ombudsman has taken note that the landlord made an error in it’s offer of compensation and paid the resident more than it originally offered. The landlord’s original offer of compensation to the resident was a total of £700 which covered the delays, distress and time and trouble until April 2024. This figure is in line with the landlord’s policy for failings that have had a medium impact on the resident. The amount also aligns with this Service’s guidance on remedies where there has been maladministration and a significant impact on a resident.
  18. The offer of £700 was made after the stage 2 complaint response had been issued. This was due to further delays and the distress and inconvenience this had caused. It was appropriate for the landlord to reassess the level of compensation offered at this stage to account for the additional impact to the resident. Similarly, the offer of £240 for decant expenses was after the stage 2 but was an appropriate amount that the resident agreed to. Therefore, at the time both these offers were made, the compensation was proportionate and broadly in line with what this Service would recommend.
  19. After the landlord had agreed the offer of £700 compensation on 18 April 2024 the delays continued. The resident had to chase the contractor and landlord several times between 29 April and 3 June 2024 due to the contractor failing to attend appointments. When the contractor did attend in June 2024, the work could not be completed and follow on work was required. The work was eventually completed on 14 August 2024, which meant that there had been an additional 4-month delay. The landlord missed opportunities to consider if additional compensation was warranted for this delay. For example, when the decant payment was agreed in August 2024 this was an opportunity to reassess the distress and inconvenience the further delays had caused. There was also a missed opportunity for the landlord to show the resident it had considered the heightened impact to her because of the worry about her child’s health.
  20. The Ombudsman has considered whether the landlord offered reasonable redress. In October 2024 the landlord notified the resident that it had overpaid its compensation offer by £686 but did not request for this to be returned when it was discovered. It said that this additional amount would cover its actions between April and August 2024. However, discovering an accounting error 6 months after the compensation was paid, and 2 months after the issue was resolved, is not the same as properly considering the impact to the resident and providing redress. Given that the same failings were repeated throughout the 7-month delay despite the landlord reassuring the resident that appointments would happen on time and that she would be kept informed, the Ombudsman considers that this amounts to maladministration.
  21. To remedy this issue the Ombudsman has considered the total compensation the resident has received from the landlord for the delay, distress and inconvenience caused, which was £1,296. This total figure falls within the medium to high range of the landlord’s policy on compensation. The figure also aligns with this Service’s remedies for serious failings by the landlord which have had a ‘severe long-term impact.’ When taking the overall payment of compensation for distress and inconvenience, alongside the landlord’s payment to reimburse the cost of the dehumidifier and pay the resident’s decant expenses, the Ombudsman does not consider that an additional payment of compensation is required. Instead, the landlord should issue an apology to the resident for the failings identified between November 2023 and August 2024.

Determination

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

Orders

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of the date of this report the landlord is ordered to:
    1. Write an apology to the resident for the failings identified.
    2. Pay the resident £1,626 compensation, if it has not already done so, broken down as:
      1. £1,296 for the delay, distress and inconvenience caused, and time and trouble.
      2. £240 for the expense related to the decant.
      3. £90 for the dehumidifier costs.