Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of reports of disrepair in her social housing or its handling of her housing register application. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council had failed to enforce disrepair by her registered social landlord. She said she had been living in a property affected by damp and mould for three years.
2. Ms X also complained her housing register application was initially referred back to her landlord, and that the officer who took her complaint by telephone was the same officer who signed off the stage 1 response.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

Disrepair

6. In late 2023, a Council officer visited Ms X’s property to consider an application for a disabled facilities grant (DFG). During the visit, Ms X mentioned damp and mould. The officer looked around but did not identify any damp and mould, so they advised her to report the matter to her landlord. Shortly after this, Ms X made a formal report of damp and mould to the Council. The Council did not consider a further visit was needed but did contact the landlord to ask them to investigate.
7. The landlord carried out some work to the property, but Ms X remained unhappy with the condition of the property. The Council carried out an inspection using the Housing Health and safety Rating System (HHSRS) in October 2024. It noted the landlord had carried out some work to address damp and mould and only identified minor disrepair. The officer gave Ms X advice about keeping trickle vents and/or windows open to improve ventilation as poor ventilation can cause damp and mould.
8. In its complaint response, the Council said the photos Ms X had provided did not indicate a real change since the previous inspection. It had advised her on several occasions there was no category 1 hazard, so no requirement for it to take enforcement action. It had also explained to her solicitor that the damp and mould she complained about did not amount to a category 1 hazard.

My assessment - disrepair

9. It is the landlord’s responsibility to address any disrepair in the property. Where a council identifies a category 1 hazard using the HHSRS, it has a duty to take enforcement action. Where it identifies a category 2 hazard it has a power, but not a duty, to take formal action.
10. In this case, the Council has inspected the property but did not identify category 1 hazards, which means it was not under a duty to take enforcement action. The Council informed the landlord of the minor works it considered were needed. It also informed Ms X she could make a complaint about the landlord to the Housing Ombudsman Service. There is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council in its actions or decision-making to justify further investigation.

Housing register application

11. The Council said that partner landlords such as Ms X’s landlord would usually deal with a housing register application as a transfer request initially, which is why it referred the application to the landlord at the outset. However, given the ingoing dispute between Ms X and the landlord, it had agreed to handle her application itself, although it was later passed back to the landlord.
12. Whilst Ms X is unhappy that the Council initially referred the application to her landlord, this was in line with its normal process. There is no indication this caused a delay in considering the application. There is insufficient evidence of fault causing sufficient injustice to justify further investigation.

Complaints handling

13. We do not investigate a council’s complaints handling unless we are also investigating the underlying matter. However, there is no indication of fault in the situation where the person who takes the complaint by telephone and then issues the stage 1 response.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault causing sufficient injustice to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman