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Landlord left tenant sleeping on floor for three months after it failed to tackle mould
A North West housing association left a tenant sleeping on the floor for at least three months as it failed to respond to reports of spreading mould.
Torus was hit with two findings of severe maladministration by the Housing Ombudsman in this instance.
As a result, the watchdog ordered the association to pay the resident £2,900 and asked that its chief executive, Steve Coffey, apologise to the tenant.
In a report, the ombudsman criticised Torus’ “excessive delays” in works to remedy the damp and mould issue. Work did not start until nearly nine months after the issue was first reported in January 2022.
When damp progressed through the property, the landlord failed to replace the resident’s bed quickly, leading to the resident sleeping on the floor for at least three months.
Torus claimed it cancelled the order for repair works in August 2022 after three failed attempts to gain access to the property, but the watchdog said there was not enough evidence to support this claim.
The association did not record any consideration of removing the resident from the home, despite “evident distress and inconvenience” for the tenant.
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Communication was poor throughout, the ombudsman said, and the landlord frequently failed to communicate its plans with the resident and left him to call for updates.
The landlord also did not apply its complaints process in line with its policy or the Complaint Handling Code. Its response to enquiries made by the resident’s MP failed to fully acknowledge the seriousness of the situation.
Meanwhile, the association wrongly told the resident that he would have to wait for eight weeks before he could take his complaint to the ombudsman when changes to the law meant that restriction no longer applied.
Eventually, Torus representatives visited the flat in September 2022 and the landlord arranged to pay the resident £500 in damage compensation. Torus’ records showed the only furniture in the flat was a blanket on the floor and a sofa.
The works were completed by October 2022.
The ombudsman also ordered a senior management review of the case, with a particular emphasis on how the landlord responds to decant requests.
Torus said it had created a specialist complaints team and a 24-point plan around culture and behaviour, housing management and communication to improve its services.
It said that tenants are now offered to be decanted “at an early stage” to ensure they are not left in “unsatisfactory conditions”.
Richard Blakeway, the housing ombudsman, said Torus’s actions “fell short of what we expect”.
He said: “Despite early reports of the issue, it took too long for the landlord to act and delays could not be justified by COVID-related impacts or access issues, with all repairs not confirmed as completed until this time last year.
“Additionally, the landlord failed to act quickly to replace the resident’s bed, which had been destroyed by damp, leaving him sleeping on the floor.
“Landlords should be empathetic with their residents and investigate and resolve complaints in a timely and effective way.
“Residents must not be left living in substandard conditions for months before a decant is considered, and any vulnerabilities of the resident must be considered.”
Mr Blakeway added that it was “concerning that landlords are still not getting response times right or treating complaints in an informal way”.
Under the new Social Housing Regulation Act, the Housing Ombudsman will be able to monitor compliance with the Complaint Handling Code.
In its response, Torus said: “This case occurred almost two years ago and has provided Torus with many lessons on how to ensure that the shortcomings are not repeated. We have been proactive and robust in our response and the changes we needed to make.
“All actions are either delivered or on track. This work will provide our tenants and leaseholders with the high-quality services and safe and secure homes they expect and deserve.”
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