Ombudsman hits major housing association with two severe maladministration findings following damp and mould investigation 

The Housing Ombudsman has found two instances of ‘severe maladministration’ at Southern Housing after a resident lodged repeated complaints about damp and mould in her home for years.

The East London resident said she had made consistent complaints about the disrepair each year but the landlord’s responses fell short of fixing the issue permanently.

In response to her complaints, the landlord carried out mould washes and yearly over a five-year period, the Ombudsman said. But it failed to investigate and establish the root cause of the issue, resulting in the issue returning.

According to the Ombudsman, there was “little evidence” of an investigation into the issues of damp and mould being undertaken or works to resolve the issues permanently. It found there was no communication or expectation management by the landlord and the narrow and short-term focus led to the issues remaining unresolved for a period of years.

This saw a prolonged impact on the resident and her family, including unnecessary stress and inconvenience and damage to the landlord-tenant relationship, with confidence and trust in it completely eroded, the Ombudsman concluded.

Severe maladministration was found over the landlord's response to the resident’s reports of damp and mould. A second severe maladministration finding was made for the landlord’s communication and complaints handling.

In light of its findings, the Ombudsman recommended that Southern Housing increase its original offer of compensation to £1,095, apologise to the resident for its overall failures, and clearly communicate with the resident on the next steps, including housing options.

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said the landlord showed a “continued lack of listening to the resident and a lack of customer focused approach to get the issues resolved”.

He added: “The resident’s complaints were not progressed and responses unprofessional.

“Resolving an issue such as damp and mould requires a collaborative and investigative approach. In this case the landlord failed to investigate and establish the root cause of the issue over a protracted period. There is no evidence of attempts to thoroughly discuss the issues with the resident, evaluate the situation, bring specialist contractors together or to approach the issue in any joined-up or solution-focused way.”

Following the investigation, Southern Housing – one of England’s largest housing associations – said it had made a number of improvements, including providing the resident with an individual case manager.

It also temporarily re-housed her and her family to allow contractors to install a new heating system, bathroom and kitchen.

A monthly report detailing the time it takes for a complaint to be acknowledged and resolved is now published on its website, and a “deep-dive” on all damp and mould cases – each accompanied by an action plan – that were in its system has also been carried out.

In addition, it formed a ‘Service Improvement Team’ to ensure better oversight of complaint handling.

A spokesperson for Southern Housing Group said: “We’re very sorry that this issue wasn’t resolved much sooner and however complex it was we will learn what we can from the judgement. We have made a number of changes to our processes that will help address the findings and in making these improvements it allows us to continue to place the welfare and safety of our residents at the heart of everything we do.”

Adam Carey