The Ombudsman has made two findings of severe maladministration in two different cases for Southwark Council – one for failures in damp and mould with the other for poor complaint handling.
One case relates to the complaint handling after heating loss, with the other concerning damp and mould.
In Case A the landlord was issued with a severe maladministration for its complaint handling after reports of heating loss during winter months by a resident who was pregnant and had a young child. We further found maladministration for the loss of heating.
The landlord’s delays in handling the complaint meant the resident was left without heating for six months in the coldest period of the year. The complaint responses were delayed, did not address the concerns of the resident, did not follow its own complaint policy and were issued without any apology or empathy.
Other failures included not escalating the resident’s complaint to stage two, instead creating a new stage one complaint underneath her existing complaint. This was only resolved after the Ombudsman and local MP got involved.
Finally in this case, the landlord’s offer of compensation was too low and delayed. The Ombudsman ordered the landlord to apologise to the resident and pay £2,000 in compensation.
In Case B severe maladministration was found for how the council responded to a leak and damp and mould. There was also maladministration for the landlord’s complaint handling and record keeping.
The resident and his young family were left with a worsening leak which impacted multiple rooms for 11 months, with the landlord refusing his requests for rehousing and compensation.
The damp and mould side of the complaint was not fixed for 17 months, which was particularly distressing for the resident whose children had eczema and allergies.
The landlord was ordered to pay the resident £7,541 in compensation, respond to the residents’ rehousing request and carry out a full inspection on the damp and mould in the home.
The landlord has said that since the Ombudsman’s investigations it has established a dedicated damp and mould team, improved its voids process and carried out a review of its complaint handling.
Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said: “These two cases concern different services the landlord provides but, in both instances, it fell well short of how it should have responded. Residents deserve repairs to be fixed within correct timescales and for complaint responses to be appropriate in tone.
“It’s inexcusable for young families to live with disrepair for an extended period. The council is a significant landlord in the capital and it is crucial for it to apply the lessons from these cases to help respond to the pressures on its services and to prevent residents experiencing avoidable detriment.”