Review ordered by ombudsman under new powers makes 15 recommendations for landlord

The power to make a wider order goes beyond providing redress on individual complaints and extends fairness and protection to other residents. 

The watchdog ordered Orbit to review how it responds to requests for damp and mould repairs last October after it found “repeated” poor performance in this area. 

Its investigations uncovered residents living with damp and mould for as long as four years, and consistent failure to address physical or mental health needs in its response. Failings in inspections, oversight of repairs and record-keeping were common across many of the cases, the ombudsman found. 

One case involved Orbit failing to act quickly enough to address leaks in a home, despite being aware of the residents’ vulnerabilities – she was blind and her son was deaf.

During this time, the resident told Orbit that the situation was “dangerous” but the landlord failed to respond in a way to show that it understood her circumstances or vulnerabilities, the ombudsman said. The ombudsman ordered Orbit to pay £11,533 in compensation and for the chief executive to write an apology.

The review involved seven cases of damp and mould where the ombudsman had found maladministration and severe maladministration. It found that while there was a lot of focus at Orbit on learning from damp and mould, there was not so much in other key areas, such as repairs.

It also identified a significant lack of complex case management and that although mechanisms are currently in place to improve, “these do not fully resolve some of the concerns identified”.

A lack of in-house technical skills has also hampered some of the responses to damp and mould, with it resulting in clashes with technical advisors and residents.

The review found that there was not enough evidence of resident involvement in the learning and delivery plans for improvements and similarly little evidence of further training plans for staff past the initial set of courses.

It did find that the landlord’s systems for registering, tracking and analysing damp and mould cases are fit for purpose and that any key performance indicators are robust for case monitoring and management.

Richard Blakeway, the housing ombudsman, said: “It is essential for landlords to tackle the root causes of complaints to drive service improvements and reduce the higher rate of maladministration we are finding.

“I welcome the positive way the landlord has embraced this review to improve its handling of disrepair and damp.

“Its open and transparent approach to sharing the lessons of the review will support other landlords to focus on how they can improve their own services and address these issues.”

Mr Blakeway said it was “clear from the repeated failings in these cases” that the landlord’s damp and mould policy was not producing positive outcomes for residents when applied in practice.

“Without the review, other residents may have experienced similar service failings and the learning from our investigations and the review will help the landlord to take targeted action to improve the experience of residents,” he said, adding that the power to order a wider review is “one the most significant changes to the way the ombudsman operates”.

Minister for Social Housing, Baroness Scott said: “The Housing Ombudsman’s findings are a clear warning to all social landlords they must act swiftly to tackle dangerous hazards, including damp and mould, in people’s homes.

“This is the first time the Ombudsman has been able to take this action, thanks to powers we gave them through the Social Housing Regulation Act. We will also go further and introduce Awaab’s Law to make sure landlords address all hazards such as mould, faulty pipes and unsafe electrical wiring within strict timeframes or face the consequences.”

A statement provided by Orbit is included below.