Ombudsman launches two more wider investigations into landlords following “persistent poor performance” over damp and mould complaints

The Housing Ombudsman has launched an investigation into L&Q and Haringey Council, to see if damp and mould issues are “indicative of wider failings” at the organisations.

The Ombudsman has revealed it has 13 open cases identified as high risk and involving leaks, damp and mould for Haringey.

It has upheld more than three-quarters of cases for the council determined since 1 April 2021 where leaks, damp and mould formed part of the investigation.

L&Q featured in the Ombudsman’s 2021 damp and mould Spotlight report, with maladministration findings in 50% of its damp and mould cases.

The organisation also has 32 open cases with the Ombudsman that have been identified as “high risk and involve complaints handling”, “the handling of damp, mould and leaks reports”, or both issues, the Ombudsman revealed.

The Ombudsman upheld nearly half of L&Q’s cases determined since 1 April 2021 where complaints handling or leaks, damp and mould formed part of the investigation and over a third of the remaining cases were acknowledged during the landlord’s complaint process to having been “poorly handled by the landlord”.

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said: “After repeated failures in the past year by both of these landlords, we’ve seen a high number of cases concerning the landlords identified as high risk.

“Under the circumstances, I’ve asked my team to expedite these investigations.

“Other cases with us concern similar issues and may indicate a repeated failing. Conducting a further investigation, using our systemic powers under paragraph 49 of the Scheme to identify areas for both landlords to learn and improve, is therefore required.”

Blakeway said that at the end of the monitoring period, the Ombudsman would publish a learning report highlighting any issues identified in the cases investigated and make recommendations to the landlords where appropriate.

A spokesperson for L&Q said, “We take every intervention by the Housing Ombudsman extremely seriously. Since we were notified, we have been working with them to understand the scope of their investigation, and will cooperate fully with their report.

“We introduced our Healthy Homes programme in 2020 in partnership with ZapCarbon. This sees us focus on tackling the root causes of mould and damp in homes and carrying out any repairs needed to prevent damp and mould from reoccurring. So far we have visited over 14,000 of our residents homes as part of this programme, although the cases highlighted by the Ombudsman today reflect that there is more to do.”

Cllr Dana Carlin, Haringey’s Cabinet Member for Housing Services, Private Renters and Planning, said: “We are very sorry that we have failed our residents in the cases identified by the Ombudsman and fallen short on the high standards our tenants should expect and deserve. We must do better and are committed to improving the situation as rapidly as we can. 

“We brought our ALMO Homes for Haringey in-house on June 1, 2022, in order to improve standards and to bring housing services under direct control. We want all our residents to know that we are committed to improving our services and we are working hard to assess all our tenanted homes – our council homes, those in temporary accommodation, and also those in the private rented sector. The safety of our residents is, and always will be, our number one priority.

“We are reviewing all reported cases of condensation, damp, and mould from the past two years and putting in additional interventions to address and resolve any outstanding issues.”

Cllr Carlin also said that the council was reviewing its complaints handling process to ensure issues are resolved quickly and effectively.”

Lottie Winson