Summary: Miss Y complained the Council failed to respond to, or take proper action regarding, her reports of disrepair at her private rented property. We have found fault by the Council in its delays and service failures in the period from April to August 2022, causing injustice. We have not found fault with the Council’s response and action from August 2022. The Council has agreed to remedy the injustice caused by making payments to reflect Miss Y’s distress and worry, time and trouble, and the impact on her and the family of living with the disrepairs during the period in which it failed to take proper action. It has confirmed the measures it has taken to stop the service failures happening again.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I am calling Miss Y, complains about the Council’s response to her reports of serious disrepair at her private rented property. She reported her concerns in April 2022. These were not followed up until May 2022. Records were not kept of action taken and the Council did not take any further action until she complained again in August 2022.
2. Miss Y says:

• There was poor communication and persistent delay by the Council;
• The Council failed to follow proper procedure and keep proper records;
• The Council failed to take effective enforcement action;
• The landlord was allowed unreasonable time to complete repairs; and
• She was excluded from conversations between the landlord and one of the Council’s officers because they weren’t conducted in English.

3. The Council’s delays and failure to enforce the completion of the work have caused her stress and anxiety. She is increasingly concerned about the effect on the health of her daughter, who suffers with asthma.
4. Miss Y wants the Council to take legal action against the landlord to ensure all the work is completed and compensate her for the impact of its failures on her family’s health and wellbeing.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

5. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these.
6. We will consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
7. 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 an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
8. 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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How I considered this complaint

9. I spoke to Miss Y, made enquiries of the Council and read the information Miss Y and the Council provided about the complaint.
10. I invited Miss Y and the Council to comment on a draft version of this decision. I considered their responses before making my final decision.

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What I found

What should have happened

The law

11. Private tenants may complain to their council about a landlord’s failure to keep their property in good repair. Councils have powers under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) introduced by the Housing Act 2004 to assess the condition of residential housing and take enforcement action where appropriate.
12. The HHSRS looks at the risks to the health and safety of occupants or visitors to a particular property. The HHSRS calls these risks hazards. There are Category 1 and Category 2 hazards. Category 1 hazards are the most serious.
13. The Housing Act 2004 places a duty on councils to take enforcement action when it identifies a Category 1 hazard. The action a Council must take includes:
• Serving an Improvement Notice
• Making a prohibition order
• Serving a hazard awareness notice
• Taking emergency action to reduce or remove the risk
14. An Improvement Notice requires the person on whom it is served to take the action set out in the notice to address the hazards. The action must be enough to make sure the hazard is no longer Category 1 but can go further. In private rented properties, it is usually served on the landlord.
15. Where the Council identifies a Category 2 hazard, it can take enforcement action but does not have to.

The Council’s private sector housing enforcement policy

16. This policy says the Council will:

• attempt to educate and encourage landlords, where it is reasonable to do so in its opinion, and facilitate compliance through a positive and proactive approach;
• only take enforcement action where attempts to secure compliance have failed and/or the seriousness or risk to health and safety means informal action is not appropriate; and
• if it decides to take enforcement action, always consider and determine the most appropriate form of action, taking into account the facts and circumstances of each individual case.

What happened

Background

17. I have set out a summary of the key events below. It is not meant to show everything that happened.

April 2022 – Miss Y’s first report to the Council

18. Miss Y reported the following issues at her rented property to the Council in April:

• Water leak
• Electrical problems

May 2022 – Miss Y’s first complaint

19. In May, a representative from a free advice organisation complained to the Council on Miss Y’s behalf and said:
1. The Council had failed to take any action in response to the issues Miss Y reported to it in April; and
2. The current issues at the property were:

• Water leaking through the hallway ceiling, which was falling down;
• Light switch in the washroom had exposed wiring;
• Leak from the bathroom into the fuse box shorting the electrics;
• A newly fitted toilet had been left unsecured to the floor;
• Black mould and damp in two bedrooms;
• No smoke alarms in the property;
• Last gas safety check was two years ago; and
• Boiler losing pressure.

20. An officer from the Council’s private sector housing team inspected Miss Y’s property on 17 May.
21. The Council replied to Miss Y’s complaint on 30 May. It said:

• Miss Y’s report in April had been missed due to a software change:
• It arranged an inspection as soon as it was contacted again in May;
• The officer’s inspection on 17 May found the property to be in disrepair but it was not deemed to be in an uninhabitable condition;
• The officer had advised there was no structural collapse only evidence of a historic water leak. There was a broken socket which had been badly repaired. The toilet had been replaced and secured to the floor, but the cistern was not secured properly. There were several other items of general disrepair, poor maintenance and the standard of workmanship was poor;
• The officer had contacted the landlord about the disrepair and given them 21 days to carry out the repair work; and
• If the landlord failed to carry out the necessary repairs and the work was not completed to a satisfactory standard, the officer would look to serve an improvement notice and the Council would consider the next steps in line with its enforcement policy.

August 2022 – Miss Y’s further contact with the Council

22. Miss Y contacted the Council and asked the officer who had carried out the inspection in May to get in touch with her. She was told the officer no longer worked for the Council.
23. Miss Y complained to the Council and said:

• The officer had not provided copies of the letters they said had been sent;
• The officer told her they had given the landlord time to complete the work, but that was some weeks ago. Since then, they had heard nothing from the landlord or the officer;
• Her daughter had asthma, and her condition had deteriorated because of the damp and back mould; and
• She had been let down by the team.

24. The Council asked Miss Y for details of the outstanding issues. It contacted the landlord on 4 August about the following:

• Broken fencing in the garden;
• Missing door handles;
• Missing roof tiles;
• Damp and black mould in all rooms;
• Hallway ceiling falling in;
• No smoke alarm or carbon monoxide alarm;
• Unsecured toilet;
• Extremely old fuse box, cracked plug sockets in kitchen, live wires dangling loose;
• No fire door in kitchen;
• Cracks in window frames and no safety locks on windows;
• No vent in bathroom

25. The Council asked the landlord to provide Gas Safety and Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) certificates, and to confirm if they were aware of the items listed above and the steps taken to address them.
26. The landlord said none of the issues had been brought to their attention, apart from the hallway ceiling which had been fixed. The fence next door was the neighbours’ responsibility. They were not aware of any inspections by the Council.

August to September 2022 – the Council’s response to Miss Y’s contact

27. The Council replied to Miss Y’s complaint. It apologised for the poor service. Its officer had left its service without records of the action taken. It had now arranged for two other officers to inspect Miss Y’s property. They would serve an improvement notice if this was the appropriate course of action.
28. The officers contacted the landlord and Miss Y and arranged to inspect her property, with the landlord, on 12 August.
29. Following the inspection, the officer completed an HHSRS report detailing the hazards identified at the property. The officer identified two category 1 hazards (electrical hazards and no working smoke alarms) and seven category 2 hazards (including damp and black mould).
30. On 19 August the Council sent the landlord a notice with details of the hazards identified and a schedule setting out the remedial work required. It told the landlord work to remedy category 1 hazards or serious category 2 hazards must be carried out in a timely way. If it had not heard from the landlord within 28 days it would consider taking formal action, which was likely to be an improvement notice.
31. The landlord had told the Council on 16 August their electrician had fitted smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and repaired the consumer unit and light fitting. Miss Y and the landlord updated the Council on the progress of the repairs. The Council told Miss Y on 26 September it understood she had confirmed the gas safety check had been done and bathroom leak fixed (in addition to the items completed on 16 August).
32. There was an issue about the validity of the first EICR certificate provided by the landlord. The Council referred this to the local Trading Standards Office and arranged for a further check by another company. A new, satisfactory certificate was provided.

The Council’s final response to Miss Y’s complaint

33. On 5 October the Council sent its final complaint response. It said:

• It explained its procedure in response to reports of issues by tenants in private rented accommodation. Following an inspection an officer will decide the appropriate course of action. This may be to try to get the landlord to carry out the work within a reasonable time and issuing a schedule of repairs;
• If a landlord does not complete the repairs within a reasonable time, the Council may then take formal action to deal with category 1 and high category 2 hazards. Officers will use their professional judgement to decide best course of action;
• It was unacceptable there was no record of the action taken following its officer’s visit in May;
• It acted as soon as Miss Y complained in August. Its officers had decided the best course of action was to issue a repair schedule. It would continue to monitor the outstanding repairs;
• The schedule of repairs referred to evidence of black mould throughout the property. There was no extraction in bathroom and the kitchen extractor was broken. Its officers believed the cause of the mould was excess moisture in the air and inadequate ventilation. The landlord had taken action to clean the walls and ceilings and treat them with fungicidal emulsion; and
• It apologised for the service failure. It had put measures in place to make sure this didn’t happen again. It offered Miss Y £250 to acknowledge the poor service.

Further inspection and action by the Council

34. The Council completed a follow up inspection of Miss Y’s property on 12 October. It reviewed the work which had been completed and what was outstanding.
35. On 13 October, it sent the following confirmation to Miss Y and the landlord:
1. The majority of the works on the schedule issued in August had been completed. The landlord’s outstanding jobs were:

• New lock and handle of the lounge window;
• Removal or rebuilding of the uneven brick wall in the garden;
• Replacement of broken floor tiles in the dining area;
• Ensuring all kitchen cupboard doors were capable of being opened and closed as necessary; and
• Door in the hallway cupboard and downstairs toilet needed adjusting.
2. Miss Y was also asked to carry out a number of jobs including:
• Ensuring all areas of the property were ventilated and items of furniture were kept a few inches away from the walls to prevent condensation and mould growth.
3. Miss Y and the landlord should keep it updated about the progress of the work.

Miss Y’s complaint to us

36. Miss Y’s representative contacted the Council on her behalf about its response of 5 October and proposed a meeting to discuss its offer of a payment of £250. The Council said it was satisfied all the work had now been completed within a reasonable time. It agreed to meet with Miss Y as requested and asked her representative to provide details of the issues she wanted to discuss and come back to it about a meeting date.
37. Miss Y’s representative did not contact the Council again.
38. Miss Y brought her complaint to us on 28 October.

My findings – was there fault by the Council causing injustice?

39. My findings are based on the evidence I have seen, including the records provided to me by the Council in response to my information request. I have summarised the relevant evidence in the “what happened” section above.
40. Our role is to review the process followed by the Council in response to Miss Y’s complaints about her landlord’s failure to keep her property in good repair. We can find fault with councils, if (for example) they do not follow an appropriate procedure or take account of relevant information. We cannot question the merits of a council’s decision if it has properly followed its procedures and considered the relevant information.

The delays and service failures from April to August 2022

41. The Council has accepted, and I agree, it failed to respond to Miss Y’s first report of issues in April, and the officer who inspected her property in May, failed to keep records and follow up on the action they said they had taken. These failures were fault by the Council.
42. The Council apologised to Miss Y for its service failures. It also offered Miss Y £250 to acknowledge the injustice they caused. However, I do not consider this offer meets the expectations in our published guidance on remedies.
43. The disrepair in the property is the responsibility of the landlord not the Council. But because of the Council’s delays and service failures, Miss Y was left uncertain and worried about the action being taken to resolve the repair issues in the four months from April to August. She was also concerned about the effect of the damp and mould on her daughter’s health and had to spend time and trouble chasing the Council for action.
44. And I consider the Council’s delay in taking effective action regarding the hazards and items of disrepair identified when it inspected the property in May and August, caused Miss Y and her family to live with these issues for longer than necessary.
45. As these issues included electrical hazards and fire risk (category 1 hazards) and damp and black mould (a category 2 hazard) and other serious disrepair, I consider they had an impact on the suitability of the accommodation for Miss Y and her family.
46. We may recommend a financial remedy in cases in which a council’s fault has caused a complainant to live in unsuitable accommodation. This is likely to be in the range of £150 to £350 a month. I note Miss Y did not complain about damp or mould in her first report in April, but included this, together with a number of additional issues, in her report in May. I propose to recommend a remedy of £150 for the first month’s delay and £300 a month for the further three months delay to reflect the impact the Council’s fault had on Miss Y and her family.

The Council’s actions from August to October 2022

47. The Council’s policy says it will, where reasonable to do so in its opinion, facilitate a landlord’s compliance through a proactive approach. It will only take enforcement action where attempts to secure compliance have failed and/or the seriousness or risk to health and safety means informal action is not appropriate. If it takes enforcement action, it will determine the most appropriate form of action.
48. In this case, I consider the Council promptly arranged an inspection, in response to Miss Y’s contact in August, and identified the hazards at the property. The landlord co-operated with, and attended, the inspection, and arranged for an electrician to carry out some of the repair work immediately. The landlord had told the Council these issues had not been raised with them before and there were no records of any contact by the previous officer with the landlord.
49. The Council’s officers decided the best course of action, in the circumstances, was to issue the landlord with notice of the hazards and a detailed schedule of the remedial work and timescale for this. On the basis of the evidence seen, I consider the Council properly considered its policy and I have not found fault in the way it made its decision about the action it should take.
50. The Council monitored the progress of the work and communicated with Miss Y and the landlord about this. When it re-inspected the property in October it determined the majority of the repairs in the schedule, including the work to remedy the category 1 hazards and the damp and mould, had been completed. It confirmed this to Miss Y and the landlord and advised on the outstanding items. It later confirmed to Miss Y’s representative it was satisfied all the specified work had now been completed.
51. I appreciate Miss Y believes the Council allowed the landlord an unreasonable amount of time to complete the repair work. But, based on the evidence seen, my view is the Council followed its procedures from August, by monitoring and taking action to ensure the repair work in the schedule served on the landlord was properly completed within an appropriate timescale.
52. I have not found fault by the Council in the way it responded, after August 2022, to Miss Y’s reports of disrepair.

Complaint Miss Y was excluded from a conversation between a Council officer and landlord

53. Miss Y’s representative complained to the Council, on her behalf, one of its officers attending the inspection in August spoke to the landlord in a language other than English, so excluding her from this conversation.
54. In its response to this complaint, the Council has told us its officer only spoke to the landlord in English.
55. There is a dispute between Miss Y and the Council about this. The inspection was not recorded and I have not been provided with any independent evidence about what happened.
56. I do not consider I have sufficient evidence to make a finding about this complaint.

The Council’s action to ensure failure to respond to a report of disrepair does not happen again

57. The Council said, in its response in October, it put measures in place to ensure this situation did not happen again.
58. We asked it to confirm the action taken. It told us:

• It carried out a complete audit of the private sector housing service as soon as this case came to light;
• It has implemented robust processes including a triage system for categorising all requests for service based on risk to occupants, timescale targets set against each category, full caseload reviews with officers and monthly reviews; and
• Officers were being continuously trained. Monthly training on damp and mould growth was in place. Competency frameworks were also now in place.

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Agreed action

59. The Council has already apologised to Ms Y for its service failures. And, to remedy the injustice caused by the above faults and, within four weeks from the date of our final decision, the Council has agreed to:
1. pay Miss Y £250 to reflect the distress, worry and uncertainty caused by its delay and service failures between April and August 2022. This is a symbolic amount based on the Ombudsman’s published Guidance on Remedies;
2. pay Miss Y £200 to reflect her time and trouble contacting the Council about its failure to respond or respond effectively to her reports in April and May 2022. This is a symbolic amount based on the Ombudsman’s Guidance on Remedies; and
3. Pay Miss Y £1,050 to reflect the impact on her and the family of living with the disrepair during the period in which the Council failed to take proper action to respond to her reports. This amount is based on the Ombudsman’s Guidance on Remedies.
60. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

61. I have found fault by the Council causing injustice. I have completed my investigation on the basis the Council will carry out the agreed action above as a suitable way to remedy the injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman