Lambeth Council (202224500)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202224500

Lambeth Council

19 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

  1. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of damp and mould and associated repairs.

Background

  1. The resident has a secure tenancy of a 3-bedroom house which started on 7 July 2014. The landlord is a local authority.
  2. The resident lives at the property with her children. The resident and her children have asthma.
  3. The resident made a disrepair claim to the landlord. The resident was represented by solicitors who sent a letter of claim for disrepair on 22 April 2022. This was followed by an expert’s report on 13 June 2022. The expert’s report:

a.     Assessed that there were category 2 hazards in the property.

b.     Identified mould to the porch, living room, kitchen, dining room, bedrooms and in the bathroom.

c.      Provided a schedule of works to resolve the identified hazards.

  1. On 30 November 2023, a settlement was agreed between the landlord and the resident. This stated that the works identified in the schedule of works be completed within 120 working days (by 23 May 2024). In addition, a financial payment was to be made to the resident of £3,500 in full and final settlement of all claims for damage, disrepair and alleged loss. The resident has confirmed the payment was paid to her rent account.
  2. The resident complained to the landlord on the same day (30 November 2023) that the repairs to remedy the damp and mould in the property remained outstanding.
  3. In its complaint responses of 3 January 2024 and 7 February 2024, the landlord advised that it was sorry to hear of the resident’s experiences. It explained that:

a.     It had completed repairs to stop a leak to the kitchen taps and it intended to clear the guttering which would resolve the issues with the roof.

b.     With regard to the reports of damp and mould, it advised that the resident had refused offers of alternative accommodation it had made – 2 permanent offers and 1 offer of temporary accommodation (between May and September 2023).

c.      Its records showed that the resident had refused to provide access for a pre-works inspection in August 2022.

d.     It had scheduled the works outlined within the expert’s report to start on 5 February 2024.

  1. After the complaint process ended, the following happened:

a.     On 15 February 2024:

  1. The guttering was cleared to the front of the property.
  2. A mould wash was carried out to the hallway walls, living room, back door, kitchen walls and landing walls.
  3. The contractor informed the landlord that there was too much mould in the property for it to be completely resolved with the resident in occupation.

b.     The resident informed the landlord on 27 March 2024 that she had refused the offers of accommodation as they were not suitable – one was near to an abusive partner and the other to her place of work (which was at a young person’s referral unit).

c.      The landlord noted that the resident had refused to confirm access on 6 May 2024 for the repairs to be carried out. The resident advised before the works were due to start that she needed to be moved. A request was made for the resident’s solicitors to be contacted.

  1. The resident remained dissatisfied and escalated her complaint to this Service. The resident stated that her preferred outcome was to be moved to another property. In addition, the resident has advised that she no longer has legal representation.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. The resident has expressed that she has been living with the damp and mould in the property for a long time. The Ombudsman encourages residents to raise complaints with their landlords at the time the events happened. This is because with the passage of time, evidence may become unavailable and personnel involved may have left an organisation, which makes it difficult for a thorough investigation to be carried out and for informed decisions to be made. Taking this into account, and the availability and reliability of evidence, this assessment has focused on the period from November 2022. Reference to events that occurred prior to November 2022 are made only to provide context.
  2. The resident has told this Service that she is asthmatic and her children have the same condition. While this Service is an alternative to the courts, 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. Nor can it calculate or award damages. The Ombudsman is therefore unable to consider the personal injury aspects of the resident’s complaint. These matters are likely better suited to consideration by a court or via a personal injury claim.
  3. The resident’s disrepair claim was settled by agreement on 30 November 2023 prior to the repairs being raised through the complaints process. This Service will not assess the landlord’s handling of repairs and the negotiations between it and the resident’s solicitors up to November 2023. However, we will consider the landlord’s handling of the damp and mould repairs required to the property from that date. It is not within this Service’s remit to assess the offers and counter offers made or the sum that was agreed to settle the disrepair claim. If the resident is dissatisfied with the terms of the settlement agreed by her solicitors, this should be pursued with her solicitor or by obtaining independent legal advice.
  4. The Ombudsman’s Dispute Resolution Principles are:

a.     be fair;

b.     put things right;

c.      learn from outcomes.

  1. This Service will apply these principles when considering whether any redress is appropriate and proportionate for any maladministration or service failure identified.

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

  1. Landlords have an obligation to maintain a property to a reasonable standard and respond to reports of repairs in a reasonable time frame under Section 11 of the Housing Act 1985. The obligation is confirmed in the landlord’s repair policy so that the property is fit for human habitation throughout the tenancy.
  2. It is not disputed that the property is in disrepair. The resident made a disrepair claim to the landlord on 22 April 2022. An expert was engaged by the resident’s solicitor who submitted his report setting out the defects to the property and a schedule of works showing the repairs required to each room and to the roof. The landlord and the resident’s solicitor agreed on 30 November 2023 that the repair works to remedy the damp and mould would be completed within 120 days of the agreement – 23 May 2024. Compensation of £3,500 was paid to the resident in full and final settlement of all claims for damage, disrepair and alleged loss.
  3. The resident reported that there was a leak from the kitchen tap on 5 January 2024 – this was not listed in the repairs proposed as part of the settlement. The landlord in its final complaint response advised that the repair had been completed. However, the operative notes state that, due to the condition of the kitchen, he was unable to change the tap. Also, the landlord’s records show that the valves and handles to the kitchen tap were not replaced until 20 February 2024. This is not appropriate as the repair was not completed within the landlord’s published timeframe. This meant that the resident experienced an unreasonable delay which affected the use of the kitchen.
  4. On 9 January 2024, the resident reported that rainfall caused a leak close to her electrical sockets. A surveyor inspection took place on 26 January 2024, followed by attendance by an electrician on 6 February 2023 to make the electrics safe. These was appropriate actions to ensure that the landlord met its repairing obligations, especially as the settlement schedule of works had identified that works were needed to the kitchen electrics.
  5. Following reports of dampness in the small bedroom in April 2023, it was assessed that works were required to stop the water ingress by repairing the party wall and guttering. The first record of a works order being raised is 2 February 2024. The landlord in its final complaint response on 7 February 2024 acknowledged that the roof repairs had not been completed. Around a week later, on 15 February 2024, specialist equipment was used to remove debris from the guttering. The landlord took too long to act to prevent the water ingress into the small bedroom used by the resident’s child. This is not reasonable.
  6. The purpose of the pre-action protocol is to promote the speedy completion of the remedial repairs that the landlord is responsible for. It is noted that the landlord tried to carry out mould washes to the property to the property. There were missed appointments on 18 May 2023, 5 June 2023, 22 June 2023, 26 June 2023, before it carried out a mould wash on 10 July 2023. The landlord’s records show that it tried to carry out a further mould treatment in January 2024 to mitigate the risk to the resident and her family.
  7. This Service’s damp and mould spotlight report (October 2021) expects landlords to have a zero-tolerance approach to the eradication of damp and mould. Given that the landlord was aware of the condition of the property, there was a lack of progress in getting the damp and mould removed. After the settlement was agreed in November 2023, it took a further 12 working days before the landlord was notified by its contractor on 18 December 2023 that contact had been made with the resident. The contractor advised that the earliest start date would be 5 January 2024, with a pre-inspection 7 days before.
  8. The resident stated on 18 December 2023 that she would not provide access for the repairs agreed in the schedule of works as she was unaware that these would start with her and her family in occupation. Correspondence of 6 September 2023 sent to the resident by her solicitors refers to the provision of temporary accommodation and the landlord had made 3 offers of either permanent re-housing or temporary accommodation during 2023. However, the resulting settlement agreement did not specify that this was required. It was reasonable for the landlord to expect the resident’s legal representatives to keep her informed and updated about the information contained in the settlement agreement. The landlord appropriately confirmed in its final complaint response its intention to complete the works while the resident remained in occupation of the property.
  9. Further efforts were made by the landlord to agree a convenient start date for the repairs to be carried out with the resident on 22 January 2024 and 25 January 2024. However, the resident did not agree to provide access for the repairs to be completed unless she was moved to alternative accommodation. Under the terms of the tenancy agreement, the resident is required to provide access for the landlord to carry out repairs. It is noted that the resident maintained that the difficulties with access to her property related to the landlord’s contractor not attending pre-arranged appointments. In order to reach a resolution regarding appointment times, the landlord tried to engage directly with the resident and with her solicitor.
  10. The landlord’s temporary decant policy states that residents will move for a short period of time and will always return to their permanent property. Furthermore, the need for a temporary decant will not be used as a means to provide larger accommodation and will be allocated in line with the Council’s allocation scheme.
  11. The landlord’s temporary decant policy says that it will try to take into account a resident’s preferences about where they would like to live and to offer accommodation that is located within 1 hour of a resident’s place of employment. The temporary accommodation offered during 2023 was not accepted by the resident. The temporary decant policy says that it will make 1 offer of temporary accommodation and a further property can be made in exceptional circumstances.
  12. Although the settlement did not outline a requirement for temporary accommodation, when the resident raised concerns about the previous offer and why she had rejected this (proximity to her place of employment), the landlord should have considered these and decided whether a further offer could be made in line with its temporary decant policy. There is no evidence that it did so or that it responded in detail to the resident’s stated reasons for rejecting the past offer. This was not appropriate as its records should evidence the reasons for its decision making.
  13. The landlord decided that it would not make any further offers of temporary accommodation to the resident as finding this would cause further delays to the completion of the repairs. The types of properties to be considered on a temporary basis are outlined in its temporary decant policy which includes hotel accommodation. In this particular case, the landlord did not appear to consider the use of a hotel as a short-term measure for the repairs to be completed. This was a missed opportunity, considering the time taken to agree a convenient start date for the repairs and its contractor’s later assessment that for the works to be completed, the resident needed to vacate the property.
  14. Through its communications and complaint responses, the landlord did not show sufficient empathy to the resident’s living conditions and its complaint responses did not demonstrate that it had established how to avoid similar failings in the future. The landlord displayed little understanding about the impact to the resident and her family of living in the property in its current condition.
  15. In summary, there is no dispute about the work to be carried out to the property as this was detailed in the schedule of works as part of the November 2023 settlement. As the resident had engaged a solicitor, it was reasonable for the landlord to treat her representative as the point of contact. However, the landlord has not demonstrated that it subsequently acted with the necessary urgency given the reports it had received regarding the condition of the property.
  16. There was an unacceptable delay from November 2023 until 15 February 2024 before the repairs started to the property. It is acknowledged that some delays were partly caused by the resident’s refusal to allow access but the landlord’s decision-making and communications about temporary accommodation also contributed to this.
  17. The landlord’s decision not to offer temporary accommodation was contradicted by its contractor’s later assessment that works could not be done with the property in occupation. There were also delays in completion of repairs that were not part of the settlement. Works to the property remain incomplete and the landlord has not evidenced to this Service the action it proposes to take to resolve the damp and mould in the property.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s report of damp and mould and associated repairs.

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of the date of the decision, the landlord is to:

a.     Write to the resident to apologise for the service failures identified in this report.

b.     Pay the resident £500 compensation for the further distress and inconvenience caused by the failings in its handling of damp and mould and associated repairs.

c.      Consider the resident’s stated reasons for rejecting the 2023 temporary accommodation offer and its contractor’s assessment that works cannot be done with the property occupied; it should decide whether it can therefore make a new temporary accommodation offer.

d.     If it has not already done so, obtain legal advice about appropriate steps it may take to enforce the terms of the tenancy agreement to gain access to complete the repairs agreed in the expert’s report of June 2022.

  1. Within 6 weeks of the date of this decision, the landlord should write to the resident explaining out how it intends to progress the damp and mould works required to the property. This should include the decision on whether it intends to make another offer of temporary accommodation and the length of time that this is likely to be required for.
  2. The landlord is to write to this Service with evidence of compliance with these orders within the timescales set out above.