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London landlord compensates resident after pests damaged late daughter’s belongings
Two findings of severe maladministration have been made against a London landlord for how it handled a vulnerable resident’s pest infestation and the complaints to resolve the issue.
The Housing Ombudsman has ordered Metropolitan Thames Valley (MTVH) to compensate a Lambeth resident with thousands of pounds after its investigation revealed a prolonged and distressing experience.
MTVH was found to have failed to adequately respond to the resident’s reports of an infestation of mice and the damage caused by these pests.
This led to a lengthy period of distress for the resident, who had to cut the bottom of her sofa as the mice kept nesting in it.
The resident also explained that some of her damaged personal items had belonged to her late daughter.
Even after a year of contractors attending and making inspections on behalf of the 57,000-home group, the infestation continued.
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MTVH said it regretted “the significant distress the resident has experienced and believe we could have done more to take account of their additional needs”.
The ombudsman said the landlord did not show any urgency or empathy for the delays to the works for the resident and cited COVID-19 as an issue, which did not explain some of the delays.
This case is the second severe maladministration finding the ombudsman has made regarding the landlord’s response to pests, following an investigation into its handling of silverfish in August last year.
During this latest incident, the ombudsman explained how MTVH failed to respond to a stage-one complaint about a leak in the resident’s property, and escalated the complaint to stage two without providing a stage-one response.
By the time the landlord issued its stage three and final response, a total of 20 months had elapsed since the complaint was escalated.
This delay caused significant distress and inconvenience to the affected resident, said the ombudsman, adding that the landlord also missed a chance “to work with the resident and put things right”.
The ombudsman also found maladministration in how the landlord responded to repairs in the kitchen and a leak, as well as how it handled the resident’s vulnerability.
Due to the stress caused, and lack of urgency and empathy from MTVH, it was ordered to pay £3,650 in compensation, apologise to the resident, and complete all the necessary repairs.
Richard Blakeway, the housing ombudsman, said: “The ombudsman often sees significant distress in cases involving pest problems, as happened to this family.
“There was also a concerning lack of empathy shown for the distress caused to the resident by the damage to items belonging to her late daughter.
“Despite repeated complaints and requests for action, the landlord failed to take any meaningful steps to improve the living conditions of their resident.
“No one should have to suffer from stress and anxiety over the condition of their home.
“This case serves as a reminder to all landlords to take the necessary steps to provide decent homes for their residents and handle repairs with care and consideration of their vulnerabilities.”
The landlord was ordered to review the case and strengthen its pest infestation policy.
In its learning statement on this issue, MTVH said: “There are few things as upsetting as the presence of rodents around your home and we have every sympathy with the resident.
“We have worked hard to attempt to resolve these issues, with frequent visits to the resident’s home which have taken account of their requirements. However, we are left knowing that they remain dissatisfied with the service we provided, and that we haven’t met their expectations.”
The landlord explained that it had reviewed both its pest control policy and complaints-handling process as a result of this case.
It added: “We now ensure greater priority is placed on helping residents understand what to expect from our pest-control service at the outset, and we have made the identification of, and response to, additional needs a key part of the process.
“In this case, the resident was at various stages provided with multiple points of contact in the organisation, leading to confusion and frustration. Following this case, we have amended our complaints-handling process to provide a single point of contact for cases such as this.”
Earlier this year, MTVH reported a drop-off in annual surplus of nearly a fifth, as its development pipeline was cut to reduce its exposure to “market uncertainty”.
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