Summary: Miss X complained the Council failed to rectify a mould issue in her temporary accommodation. Miss X says this is impacting her and her son’s health and has caused damage to their belongings. We found the Council at fault for delays in responding to Miss X and for not addressing her claim of damaged belongings. The Council agreed to apologise to Miss X, make a payment to recognise the uncertainty caused, decide on what steps it will take next, and respond to Miss X’s claim of damaged belongings.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council has failed to rectify a mould issue at her property. Miss X says this is impacting her and her son’s health and has caused damage to their belongings.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
5. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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What I have and have not investigated

6. We cannot investigate complaints about events that took place more than 12 months prior to a complainant contacting the Ombudsman. We can only exercise discretion to look back further if there are good reasons to do so.
7. Miss X first moved into her property in 2020 and says she has been experiencing issues since 2021. However, Miss X did not bring her complaint to the Ombudsman until August 2023, and I have seen no reason to exercise discretion to look back more than 12 months.
8. Any reference below to events that took place before August 2022 are for reference only.

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How I considered this complaint

9. I spoke to Miss X about her complaint and considered information she provided. I also considered information received from the Council.
10. Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and guidance

11. If a council is satisfied an applicant is homeless, eligible for assistance, and has a priority need it has a duty to secure suitable accommodation for them. But there is no duty on councils to provide a permanent or secure assured tenancy. The accommodation provided under the main homelessness duty is called temporary accommodation.
12. The law says councils must ensure all accommodation provided to homeless applicants is suitable for the needs of the applicant and members of their household. (Housing Act 1996, section 206 and (from 3 April 2018) Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.2)
13. When deciding is accommodation is suitable, authorities must have regard to various statutory provisions, including the Housing Act 2004 which identified damp and mould as a hazard.
14. Councils have a duty to keep the suitability of accommodation under review. An applicant may ask a council to reconsider the suitability of their current temporary accommodation at any time if their circumstances change (for example, if there is a change in their needs due to a medical condition or disability or an increase in the size of the household). An officer should then make a suitability decision.

What happened

15. Miss X moved into temporary accommodation in 2020. The Council’s records show she made reports of damp and mould in 2021 and 2022 that were dealt with by the Council’s housing managing agents.
16. In January 2023 Miss X contacted the Council to report damp issues at the property. The Council notified its housing managing agents and they liaised with Miss X directly. The Council’s records show the managing agents identified mould was present, but it was not excessive and said it would clean the walls to remove this.
17. Miss X complained to the Council in January 2023. Miss X explained she had contacted the Council’s managing agents to explain the mould was a hazard and causing health issues for her and her son. Miss X said she did not think the Council or its managing agents were taking her situation seriously. Miss X said she felt cleaning the walls was only a temporary measure and would not help her in the long term. Miss X also told the Council the mould had damaged her belongings.
18. The Council responded to Miss X’s complaint in March 2023. The Council explained its managing agents had previously fitted an extractor fan to help airflow, which it hoped would stop the damp and mould from coming back. It said it had also installed window restrictors to allow Miss X to safely ventilate her home. The Council explained this ought to address the source of the mould, which its managing agents would now clean. The Council said it was satisfied its managing agents had taken the right steps to try and address Miss X’s issues.
19. As the managing agent had not cleared the mould, Miss X chased it in April 2023.
20. Miss X also made a second complaint to the Council that month. Miss X said the Council had not dealt with the issue properly or in a timely manner. Miss X said the extractor fan only assisted with condensation in the bathroom and would not do anything for the rest of the property. Miss X explained the mould had already caused damage to her belongings and she had to spend months chasing the Council’s managing agents to act. Miss X also explained there was still one window with no window restrictors, and she was still waiting for the managing agents to clean the existing mould as promised. Miss X said this situation was still causing health issues for her and her son and she did not feel the Council had done enough to help her.
21. That month, and again in June 2023, Miss X sent the Council photos of the mould to show it the situation had not been resolved.
22. The Council responded to Miss X’s complaint in June 2023. The Council explained it felt its managing agents had taken steps to prevent the mould from recurring and said it would be in touch that month to arrange to clean the pre-existing mould. The Council said if the mould recurred after that, it would consider sending a damp and mould expert to inspect the property. However, the Council accepted the final step of removing the mould had taken too long.
23. Miss X brought her complaint to the Ombudsman in August 2023. Later that month, the Council agreed to undertake a joint inspection with its managing agent.
24. In response to our enquiries, the Council explained it had not carried out the inspection due to a system error, but it would now do this.
25. The Council inspected Miss X’s property in December 2023. The inspection report says Miss X was now cleaning the mould and none was detected during the inspection. However, the inspection identified there were thermal efficiency issues with the property which may be causing condensation that resulted in mould. The inspection report recommended this be addressed by installing a thermal board system in the property to reduce heat loss, which would reduce the risk of condensation and the opportunity for mould to form. The Council said it would discuss this with Miss X’s landlord to see if they would agree to this.

Analysis

26. Following a report of damp and mould from Miss X, the Council’s managing agent inspected her property and installed an extractor fans and window restrictors to aid ventilation to prevent a recurrence going forward. After Miss X reported the issue was recurring the Council reinspected the property. While it did not identify any mould on this visit, the Council detected a possible cause for mould and set out what action it would take going forward to mitigate this. I do not find fault with the Council’s decision-making process. I say this because it inspected the problem as described by Miss X, took remedial action, and planned further action.
27. If problems persist once the Council has taken further remedial action, Miss X is free to raise this with it again so it can reassess. If, following a conversation with Miss X’s landlord, the Council decides not to take the further remedial action, Miss X is free to ask it to review whether the property remains suitable for her.
28. While I cannot find fault with the Council’s decision-making process, there were lengthy delays in responding to Miss X and a failure to clean the mould as promised within a reasonable timeframe. This is fault and caused considerable uncertainty for Miss X, which is injustice.
29. Miss X’s complaint about damage to her belongings is in effect that the Council has been negligent. We cannot decide whether a council has been negligent and have no powers to enforce an award of damages. For this reason, we would usually expect someone in Miss X’s position to seek a remedy in the courts, directly or through her insurers. That said, I would expect to see that the Council has addressed Miss X’s report of damage to her belongings, but I cannot see that it has. Failure to respond to Miss X’s report is fault and caused further uncertainty for her, which is injustice.

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Agreed action

30. To remedy the injustice identified above, the Council has agreed to carry out the following actions:
31. Within one month:
• Apologise to Miss X for the injustice identified above.
• Pay Miss X £250 to recognise the uncertainty caused by the delays in addressing her concerns and for not responding to her request for reimbursement for damage to her belongings.
• Write to Miss X setting out the Council’s position on whether it will reimburse Miss X for the damaged belongings.
32. Within three months:
• Liaise with Miss X’s landlord to reach a decision as to whether the remedial work identified in the inspection report of December 2023 will be completed, and update Miss X on this. If the decision is not to complete the work, the Council should offer to review the suitability of the accommodation for Miss X.
33. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

34. I found the Council at fault for delays in dealing with Miss X’s report of damp and mould and for failing to respond to her request to be reimbursed for damaged belongings. The Council accepted my recommendations and I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman