An East London council has been ordered to pay a resident £5,400 after it took more than three years to fix a mould and damp issue and failed to update them on repairs.
Newham Council told the resident to clean the mould and damp themselves and took too long to carry out repairs and arrange temporary accommodation, a report by the Housing Ombudsman found.
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The housing watchdog found significant failings against the council and said the resident had been left to live among damp and mould for ‘an unreasonable amount of time’.
Over the course of more than three years, the resident contacted and chased the council multiple times and asked to be kept updated on repairs however it had failed to do this.
While the council did fix a leak within a year of it first being reported, the damp and mould problem continued to wreak havoc in the tenant’s home and was affecting the light fittings and the area around the fuse box. According to the resident, the council wouldn’t carry out specific works on the damp and mould and instead told him to clean it himself.
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The ombudsman report noted: “Whilst the resident continued to complain about damp and mould, the [council] continued to fail in updating him on what was happening with his home and actions that could be taken to fix it.”
Two years after first reporting the issue to the council, the resident had asked to be moved into temporary accommodation because his home smelt strongly of damp and believed a rat infestation was infiltrating his home because of the mould problem.
Having only been in temporary accommodation for a few weeks, the council told the resident the repairs were finished and he could move back however when he returned he believed the repairs were below standard.
After the ombudsman investigated the resident’s complaint, the council was ordered to apologise to the resident and pay £5,400 in compensation which included some of the rent during the period of service failure.
Richard Blakeway, the Housing Ombudsman, said: “There were significant failings throughout this case which left the resident living with damp and mould for an unreasonable amount of time. On multiple occasions throughout the course of the complaint, a lack of proactive action and poor communication, both with the resident and internally, contributed to significant delays.”
Mr Blakeway said the council took too long to arrange temporary accommodation and took ages to respond to the resident about his damaged belongings. He added: “Despite repeated issues with communications from its repairs team, the landlord did not change its approach and take ownership of the resolution of the issues.
“I welcome the landlord’s response to the lessons from this report and its extensive efforts to put in place a stronger and more proactive approach to addressing damp and mould.” Newham Council said in a statement: “Our priority is providing safe, decent homes for our residents and dealing with any issues brought to our attention swiftly, effectively and with compassion. We apologise unreservedly for failing to meet our high standards in this instance.
“We fully accept the ombudsman’s findings and have acted on each of the orders made. We have also found alternative accommodation for the household involved and will continue to work with them to find a suitable permanent solution.” The council went on to say that it has taken a “well-established, proactive approach” when tackling mould and damp issues across the borough and that it has invested in a “dedicated” mould and damp task-force.
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