Posted 11.01.22
Housing Ombudsman Service: Further reading
The London Borough of Ealing's complaint handling failures led to a finding of severe maladministration by the Housing Ombudsman after a resident experienced lengthy and frustrating delays in getting a response to her complaint.
The resident, a leaseholder of a flat, complained in 2019 that she had been affected by extreme mould throughout the property for a number of years.
The landlord had previously identified that the roof needed to be replaced following an inspection in 2015. It said this would be included in its next planned programme of works but would complete temporary work to address the leak from the roof that was causing damp.
The resident complained that the temporary work to resolve the issues was of a poor standard and about ongoing dampness and the impact on the property, her health and her finances.
In its response to the complaint, the landlord focused on the single issue of the delay to the roof replacement works, referring to procurement issues and then COVID-19 related issues. It failed to address the other issues raised by the resident.
The landlord also failed to escalate the complaint as requested by the resident and missed her response to its stage two complaint. This resulted in a protracted and unsuccessful complaints process.
The Ombudsman found severe maladministration for the landlord's complaint handling and maladministration for its response to the resident's reports about water coming into her flat and the repairs carried out.
He ordered the landlord to pay the resident compensation of £3,600 for the unreasonable delay in completing major works to the building, for the standard of temporary works to resolve the issues and for its complaint handling.
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