Ombudsman finds ‘severe maladministration’ for housing association handling of bathroom ceiling repair and asbestos

The Housing Ombudsman has issued a severe maladministration finding for Believe Housing after it failed to repair a bathroom ceiling, leaving the house in an “unacceptable state of repair”.

The Ombudsman found the social landlord also did not respond efficiently enough to reports of damp and mould in the property.

The landlord has been told to pay the resident £1,500 in compensation and to undertake a “formal review of its practices regarding how it deals with, responds to and monitors reports of asbestos”.

The resident behind the complaint first reported the repair stating how plaster was falling off the walls and how the bathroom was covered in mould in her Durham property.

However, due to the Covid-19 lockdown, the appointment for the works was cancelled.

It was nearly a year later that the landlord acknowledged, in its stage one complaint response, that the works were still outstanding and that it would action them, including an outstanding “asbestos scrape”, the Ombudsman found.

The report notes that the resident explained that her son, who is autistic with sensory issues, would no longer use the bathroom due to fear of the ceiling collapsing.

Nine months later and after chasing from the resident, the works still had not been completed and therefore the landlord visited the property.

It noted that the bathroom was “terrible” and subsequently undertook a full survey, said the Ombudsman.

Between then and when the works were completed four months later, the resident said she was “unable to use the bathroom for an extended period”.

The Ombudsman investigated and concluded that the landlord’s delay in addressing and completing the repairs to the resident’s bathroom was “considerable”, and its communication at times was “poor”.

The Ombudsman said hat while Believe Housing apologised and offered the resident £100 in compensation, its explanations that the delays were “largely attributed to the pandemic” did not go far enough.

To remedy the injustice caused, the landlord was told to pay the resident a total of £1,500 compensation, made up as follows:

• £400 for the distress and inconvenience caused by the considerable delay in the landlord addressing the repair
• £400 for the failure to act quickly on the asbestos concerns relating to the damaged ceiling
• £300 for the time and trouble to the resident of having to repeatedly chase the landlord for the repair to be completed
• £300 for the landlord’s failure to consider the individual circumstances of the resident and her family, and the full impact the ongoing situation would likely have had
• The £100 the landlord has already offered in its complaint response, which it must now pay to the resident if it has not already done so.

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said: “In this case there were considerable unexplained periods where the landlord did not demonstrate that it took any robust action in attempt to progress the repairs.

“Therefore, the landlord has not demonstrated that the delays on its part were wholly unavoidable, and it was unreasonable that the resident had to raise multiple complaints to prompt the landlord into taking the necessary action.

“The landlord did not only leave the resident’s bathroom in an unacceptable state of repair for approximately two years, but it excessively delayed in taking action to investigate the resident reports of damp and mould, and it has not demonstrated that it gave adequate regard to the safety of the resident regarding its handling of asbestos."

He added: “It would have been appropriate for the landlord to acknowledge in its final response the full impact the ongoing situation would likely have had on the resident and to have considered the individual circumstances of the resident and her family.

“Its failure to do so was particularly notable, given that it had had a call with the resident where she was clearly distressed by the ongoing situation and the impact it was having on her son who has autism and sensory needs.”

In a statement Believe Housing said: “We’re sorry that our service fell short of expectations on this occasion and have apologised to the customer for not resolving the issue sooner and for the stress it caused. Compensation has been paid.   

“We’ve made a number of service improvements, based on this customer’s experience and the Ombudsman’s findings, and continue to learn from this case. We recognise that this customer deserved better communication from us and are now more proactive when making appointments and providing regular updates."

The housing association added: "Working with an external consultant, we’ve reviewed how we handle complaints and are implementing service improvements and staff training in this area. A new triage process has enhanced our approach from the outset, helping us understand a customer’s specific issues and the resolution they want. 

“And our new aftercare procedure includes follow-up calls to ensure we’ve completed agreed actions, that customers are satisfied with the outcome and to check a problem has not returned. These improvements will help us deliver a more convenient service, minimising stress and not losing sight of the individual.  

“Despite having evidence there was no asbestos in this customer’s home, we didn’t adequately reassure her of this and are truly sorry for the unnecessary distress this caused. "

The landlord said it has updated its asbestos policies and procedures in May 2022, as part of a cyclical review. "A further review, completed in November 2022, incorporated learnings from this complaint so customers can feel confident we’ll keep them safe.”

Lottie Winson