On 28//01/22 Jack Simpson wrote in Inside housing about how landlords should handle damp and mould complaints, according to him,
The Housing Ombudsman’s latest Spotlight report on moisture and mould showed that social landlords handled complaints improperly. Richard Blakeway and Jack Simpson discuss how they may improve.
“There’s an element of inevitability from social landlords that wet and mould will occur,” says Housing Ombudsman Richard Blakeway.
“That shouldn’t be the case; we want the industry to adjust its thinking so that landlords have a planned response [to the challenges] and that inevitability shouldn’t exist.”
Mr Blakeway is interviewed by Inside Housing a month after the Housing Ombudsman, which was established to investigate resident complaints against social landlords, released its Spotlight report on damp and mould issues in social housing and landlords’ replies.
The research, which looked at 410 ombudsman inspections, sent shockwaves across the industry when it unveiled a list of the worst-performing landlords.
While the ombudsman’s new strategy to raising standards includes identifying and shaming, sharing best practises is just as important. As a result, the organisation has released comparable studies on themes that result in resident complaints since Mr Blakeway was appointed chief executive. So far, they’ve concentrated on managing complaints about cladding, maintenance, and heating and hot water.
The moisture and mould report, which was released in October, is likely the most significant to date. It’s Not Lifestyle, as the title suggests, refers to a frequent misconception that moisture and mould are caused by how renters live and maintain their homes. Mr Blakeway wishes to debunk this notion, stating that he hopes it is “banished from the language of landlords when discussing damp and mould.”
The study includes 26 suggestions based on investigations into 142 landlords and over 500 contributions to the request for evidence procedure.
The ombudsman’s main message is for landlords to treat wet and mould as a zero-tolerance situation. Mr Blakeway and his colleagues have discovered a culture in which landlords anticipate moisture and mould problems and respond, often inadequately, when they do. This is something he wants to improve, and he believes landlords can be more aggressive in their approach.
This involves routine inspections and the use of complaint data to anticipate problems.
The study includes 26 suggestions based on investigations into 142 landlords and over 500 contributions to the request for evidence procedure.
The ombudsman’s main message is for landlords to treat wet and mould as a zero-tolerance situation. Mr Blakeway and his colleagues have discovered a culture in which landlords anticipate moisture and mould problems and respond, often inadequately, when they do. This is something he wants to improve, and he believes landlords can be more aggressive in their approach.
This involves routine inspections and the use of complaint data to anticipate problems.
‘If we have this problem here, what does it mean for the rest of our portfolio?’ landlords should be considering.
he says,
“The occurrence of damp and mould will have been increased by retrofit measures, so as landlords carry out more of these works and develop their plans, they need to think of what the unintended consequences might be on things like this”
But, with the competing constraints of building safety and zero-carbon regulations, isn’t this tricky?
Mr Blakeway agrees that the current operational climate for landlords is complicated due to the numerous difficulties that need to be resolved. Nonetheless, he sees it as a positive opportunity. Landlords may have a better understanding of stock condition if they monitor their stock in a more concerted manner than ever before, for cladding and sustainability reasons.
He also believes that when planning and implementing modifications, humidity and mould must be taken into account.
“Retrofit measures will have increased the prevalence of moisture and mould,” Mr Blakeway continues. “As landlords carry out more of these works and expand their plans, they need to think about what the unforeseen repercussions might be on things like this.”
While more planned effort up front is required across the board, moisture issues will still arise. Landlords have had a difficult time engaging effectively and resolving issues when they have arisen.
As recent case studies from ITV News and Inside Housing have shown, there were widespread complaints process concerns, which were frequently tied to moisture and mould. Junior Jimoh, an L&Q renter with serious breathing problems who had been forced to live in an apartment with mould and wet all over the walls for years, was one of the examples.
Mr Blakeway believes that landlords must clearly express the timeframes for remedy to renters, and that communication and engagement with tenants is vital. A detailed structure should be in place at each landlord to cover how to accomplish this efficiently, as well as follow-up to confirm the activities worked. It should also be adaptable to a variety of settings.
He claims that landlords’ options for dealing with these situations are restricted. “This isn’t always the case,” he says, “but I believe landlords can be a little formulaic in their reactions and will not always evaluate the implications in unique cases.”
“You need to take into account the individual impact, like where someone had to move out of a property, for example, [and] that needs to be reflected in the response”
He gives the example of a resident who had basically lost an entire bedroom due to long-term wet and mould difficulties. The landlord employed a typical method of estimating how the tenant should be reimbursed in the ombudsman’s assessment, employing a calculation that estimated only the lost space.
Mr Blakeway says he understands why this method was chosen, but he believes it failed to account for the situation’s complexity. “You have to consider the individual impact, such as if someone has to move out of a property,” he says, “and that has to be reflected in the reaction.”
Is there a pattern in the characteristics of landlords who have damp and mould problems?
Those situated in London, notably councils, were high up on the list of poorest performers, evaluated by maladministration rate per 10,000 dwellings. The worst areas were Hammersmith & Fulham, Southwark, Lambeth, and Camden. Clarion, Sanctuary, and L&Q were also included on the list.
Despite accounting for only 19 percent of social housing, London accounted for 57 percent of all damp and mould maladministration instances, according to the research. While there was a higher proportion of incidents in metropolitan areas, Mr Blakeway was astonished by the range of the landlords who had problems.
“In reality, there are concerns with a variety of landlords of various proportions in various regions,” he continues. “One thing that struck me was that we broke down the maladministration rate between those with less than 10,000 homes and those with more than 10,000 homes, and both of them were at similar levels.
There’s also the issue of home life cycles, with homeowners’ concerns often being treated differently based on the age of their dwellings.
Residents in some high-profile cases have complained that they were being treated unfairly because their properties had been designated for rehabilitation. This was the case with Clarion’s Eastfields Estate, which had damp and mould issues and was covered on ITV.
Clarion apologised for the conditions, stating that the block had been designated for regeneration and that there was always a “balancing to be had in terms of how much short-term and long-term investment you make” when faced with redevelopment.
Mr Blakeway claims that this was not discovered as a systemic flaw in the company’s work, but that it had been discovered in isolated cases. “We mention it in the report that until those [regeneration] plans are completed, all inhabitants’ dwellings must be suitable and satisfy the appropriate criteria,” he says.
Whether they are living in inadequate property that is nearing the end of its useful life or brand new housing, it appears that more individuals are turning to the ombudsman for assistance.
Following the Grenfell Tower fire and the accompanying housing green and white papers, it became clear that, while the ombudsman existed, there was a lack of understanding of his or her presence and capabilities.
As a result, the ombudsman was strengthened. This resulted in a 52 percent rise in headcount, which was backed up by a 72 percent increase in revenue due to higher fees from landlords. This is already paying off, as the company now has a considerably larger footprint in the industry. As a result, compared to 2020-21, there has been a 32 percent increase in the number of orders issued against landlords as a result of complaints.
Mr Blakeway claims that tenant complaints about wet and mould increased by 50 percent at the time the Spotlight report was being drafted.
However, as Mr Blakeway points out, resolving disputes is only one aspect of the ombudsman’s mandate, therefore research and sharing best practises will be a major focus this year.
Many initiatives have already been brought to the ombudsman’s attention. This includes a detailed examination of circumstances in which housing associations are not the freeholders of newly constructed homes, as well as their interactions with managing agents. In a Spotlight report, it will also look into how race affects tenants’ access to the complaints process.
The latter was influenced in part by ITV’s efforts. One segment of the broadcaster’s research focused on racism and included case studies of persons who believed they were treated unfairly due to their colour.
Mr Blakeway continues, “It was horrible for everyone concerned, and it is an issue that we want to look into.” “It’ll take some time, but we’ve started looking into the accessibility of the complaints procedure, and are there any groups that are having specific problems accessing the complaints process?”
The study was also influenced by work done by the Dutch Ombudsman in the Netherlands, which looked at groups that were less ready to discuss difficulties.
Mr Blakeway has his own theories on why this is, including language hurdles, health issues, and the digitization of the complaints process. “We need to start thinking about how we can make the complaints procedure more accessible,” he adds, adding that it will be included in the Complaint Handling Code.
With these measures in place, it appears that the ever-expanding and increasingly powerful Housing Ombudsman will have another busy year in 2022.