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London council pays out £6,500 in compensation to family left with damp and mould for nearly six years
A ruling of severe maladministration has been made against a London council after a resident and her family were left for six years with damp and mould because of a leaking roof.
The Housing Ombudsman has ordered Lambeth Council to pay £6,500 in compensation to the resident following its judgement.
The watchdog also found severe maladministration for the landlord’s record-keeping after it failed to keep track of the complaint after its stage two response.
During the ombudsman’s investigation, the landlord said that it would monitor the roof leak after making several attempted repairs.
This included “limited” repairs ordered by the court after a successful disrepair claim by the resident against Lambeth a few years earlier. However, over the next two years, the leak continued in multiple rooms in the house.
The damp and mould conditions caused anxiety for the family, who were worried about their three-year-old living in the property who had severe eczema.
During attempts to fix the issue, the landlord left scaffolding outside the home that blocked natural light for 27 months.
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The landlord also did not appropriately respond to a safeguarding enquiry from the children’s school, taking five months to act on it.
In the enquiry, the school said there was black mould in the kitchen and red/orange mould in the living room.
The school also had concerns about woodlice in the property and a window pane held in position with sticky tape.
Lambeth’s record-keeping failures also impacted its repair and complaint-handling operations.
Missing information also hampered the ombudsman’s investigation, with the landlord unable to provide a tenancy agreement or any inspection reports.
The ombudsman explained that “this was a key factor in the landlord’s poor performance overall”, and Lambeth “was unable to improve” because it failed to keep track of the situation following its stage two response.
On top of the compensation, the ombudsman ordered the landlord to apologise to the resident in person, carry out an inspection and complete works needed to the home and review relevant processes and policies to help prevent future service failings.
Richard Blakeway, the housing ombudsman, said: “It is intolerable that a mother had to spend six years getting her landlord to respond to serious issues which were causing considerable anxiety for her family.
“The landlord’s response was contrary to its legal obligations and its failure to engage with the damp and mould issue, despite the health and safety severity, was inappropriate.
“It should not take intervention from the ombudsman to carry out fundamental repairs. I am also concerned the landlord was slow to respond to the school’s safeguarding enquiry who were worried about the conditions at the home.
“This investigation includes one of the first severe findings for poor information management, with the landlord unable to locate basic documents like the tenancy agreement. Information mismanagement is a challenge for most landlords and our latest Spotlight report provides important lessons for this landlord and the sector.
“Whilst the landlord has made good progress on a variety of issues since our special report, this case shows how far it has yet to go. The issues evident in this case of excessive delays, poor repairs and inadequate records were apparent in previous investigations.
“I welcome the council hosting a Meet the Ombudsman session with residents in September to learn the lessons from this report and wider learning we’ve shared.”
This latest investigation comes as the landlord continues to engage with the ombudsman following its report from 2021. The ombudsman and Lambeth Council will be holding an open forum with residents in September to discuss issues in the borough.
In its learning statement, Lambeth acknowledged that its management of the repair was inadequate, and said it recognises the need for greater communication with its tenants.
The council said: “An independent surveyor has inspected the property, and all of the works required in this case have now been completed. In line with the ombudsman’s findings we have apologised to this tenant for the failings identified.
“We acknowledge that a proactive approach is crucial when addressing water penetration and damp issues, as these can be highly disruptive for our residents and have the potential to escalate.”
The council said it is working on improving communication between its repairs service and tenants, while looking at whether it can broaden the scope of available sub-contractors by investigating more efficient methods for conducting external works.
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