One Vision Housing Limited (202209853)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202209853

One Vision Housing Limited

22 November 2022

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 and mould in a bedroom in the property, and its handling of the remedial repairs.

Background

2. The resident is an assured tenant, the landlord is a housing association. The property is a two-bedroom ground floor flat.
3. The resident first reported damp and mould in her property on 22 January 2021. The report was passed to the landlord’s surveyor; however, due to the surveyor leaving the business, no jobs were raised. The resident further reported damp and mould to the landlord on 8 October 2021. An inspection was booked for 2 November 2021, however, the contractor did not attend. Repairs were completed on 4 April 2022.
4. The resident raised a formal complaint on 11 February 2022 as she was dissatisfied with the landlord’s handling of repairs, and missed and cancelled appointments. The landlord issued a stage one response on 14 February 2022, where it acknowledged the delays, apologised and offered £200 compensation.
5. The resident requested an escalation of her complaint on 8 April 2022 as she was dissatisfied with the landlord’s offer of compensation and requested further compensation for the loss of use of the bedroom and the damage to her bedroom carpet.
6. The landlord issued a stage two response on 20 April 2022, reiterating its apologies for the delays and increasing the compensation to £300.
7. The resident referred her complaint to this Service as she was dissatisfied with the level of compensation awarded.

Assessment and findings

8. The Ombudsman notes that the resident raised concerns about the impact of the damp and mould on her son’s health. The Ombudsman does not doubt the resident’s comments regarding her son’s health, but this Service is unable to draw conclusions on the causation of, or liability for, impacts on health and wellbeing. The Ombudsman has therefore made no comments in relation to this. Given the nature of the resident’s report, i.e. damp and mould, should the resident wish to pursue this matter, it may be better dealt with as a personal injury claim through the courts, or as an insurance claim, where appropriate professional medical evidence can be properly reviewed.

Damp and mould

9. The landlord’s repair policy states when damp and mould is reported, the landlord will complete an inspection to determine the cause and severity of the issue. The landlord’s repairs policy further states that where damp is caused by a repair issue, rising damp, penetrating damp or bridging of the damp course, the landlord will respond with reactive or planned maintenance depending on the severity, potential for further damage to the property or disturbance to the tenants on a case-by-case basis. The Ombudsman would expect the landlord to carry out such repairs within a reasonable time.
10. In this case, it is not disputed that there had been an unreasonable delay by the landlord in completing the required works. The resident first reported having damp and mould in the property on 22 January 2021; however, all the required works were only completed on 4 April 2022.
11. After the resident reported damp and mould in the property on 22 January 2021, while the landlord appropriately booked an inspection to assess the resident’s property within a timely matter, the issue was left unresolved until October 2021, when the resident chased the landlord. The landlord inspected the resident’s property in February 2021; however, no jobs were raised due to the surveyor leaving the business and not raising the required remedial works.
12. While such mistakes can occasionally occur and that, as per the evidence provided, it appears that the resident made no contact with the landlord for nearly nine months, the Ombudsman would expect a landlord to monitor any outstanding repairs regularly and, if the status of such repair is uncertain, to make contact with the resident to ascertain whether the required repairs had been completed. However, the landlord failed to do so, and this resulted in unnecessary time and trouble to the resident in pursuing the matter.
13.  After the resident’s report in October 2021, the landlord appropriately booked an inspection on 2 November 2021; however, due to the contractor having transport issues, the appointment was not attended. While the landlord should have ensured that, given the previous delays, the appointment was duly attended, the Ombudsman understands that such issues may occasionally occur and that the landlord appropriately put things right by apologising in its formal responses and by promptly booking another inspection on 4 November 2021.
14. Following the inspection on 4 November 2021, however, no job was raised until 15 December 2021 and an appointment not then booked until 2 February 2022. However, due to an administrative mistake, the job was booked for one contractor, where two were needed. While administrative mistakes can occasionally occur, given the previous landlord’s failure, such repeated failure is unreasonable and a result of the landlord’s poor record keeping and poor communication between its contractors, which in the Ombudsman’s opinion is considered unreasonable. It is noted that these repeated mistakes led to further months of delay and caused distress to the resident.
15. The landlord acted appropriately by acknowledging its failings in its formal responses and by apologising to the resident. The landlord also attempted to put things right by offering £300 compensation in recognition of the delays in repairs and the inconvenience caused to the resident. Whilst these steps by the landlord were reasonable, it is the Ombudsman’s opinion that additional compensation should be awarded to reflect the extent of the delays and the inconvenience caused to the resident. Furthermore, when repeated failures occurred throughout the process, the Ombudsman would expect a landlord to take additional steps, such as training staff with regard to appointments and record-keeping, to reduce the likelihood of a similar situation occurring in the future.
16. It is noted that the resident sought additional £400 compensation for the damaged furniture and carpet. The landlord reasonably requested a receipt for the carpet to ascertain whether further compensation could be awarded. However, the resident advised the landlord that the carpet was not purchased yet. Given that the landlord took an unreasonable time to address the damp and mould in the resident’s property, it would have also been appropriate for the landlord to signpost the resident to its liability insurance.
17. With regards to the resident’s requested compensation for the loss of a room. The landlord investigated the resident’s report by requesting photographic evidence of the affected room and relying on its contractor’s qualified opinion. While such investigation may be appropriate in certain circumstances, it is the Ombudsman’s that the landlord, in this case, should have conducted further inspections as to whether the bedroom was usable or not. It is the Ombudsman’s opinion that, on this occasion, the landlord did not effectively investigate the resident’s concerns and only relying on photographic evidence was not sufficient.
18. In summary, there were unreasonable delays by the landlord in inspecting and treating the damp and mould in the resident’s property which had been caused by the landlord’s poor record-keeping and poor communication. The landlord further failed to effectively inspect whether the resident’s bedroom was usable. Even though the landlord acknowledged its failings, apologised and offered compensation in its stage two response, it is the Ombudsman’s opinion that the £300 compensation offered by the landlord was not proportionate to the failings identified in our investigation, given the landlord’s repeated failings and the level of distress and inconvenience caused to the resident.
19. As that is the case, a finding of maladministration has been found and an order made for the landlord to increase the compensation payable to the resident to £500. This amount being considered proportionate and in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance.

Determination

20. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in respect of its response to the resident’s reports of damp and mould in a bedroom in the property, and its handling of the remedial repairs.

Orders

21. That within 28 calendar days of this determination, the landlord is to
    1. Pay the resident £500 for the distress and inconvenience caused to them by its failures. This is inclusive of the landlord’s previous offer of £300, if this has not already been paid.
    2. Contact the resident and provide its position with regard to compensation for the loss of the bedroom. The landlord is also to provide its position with regard to a potential claim against its liability insurance for the carpet damage.
    3. To review of its record keeping in light of the findings in this report and consider whether additional training might be necessary to reduce the likelihood of a similar situation occurring in the future.
    4. Confirm to this service that it has complied with the above orders.