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9:38 AM, 23rd August 2023, About 9 months ago 21
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Just days after threatening private rented sector (PRS) landlords with taking control of properties they don’t license and look after; a council has been told to pay a tenant £5,400 in compensation.
The Housing Ombudsman announced the payment for prolonged damp and mould neglect in a home – a problem that ran for more than THREE years.
The Ombudsman’s investigation into Newham Council revealed a pattern of severe maladministration, with the council failing to provide timely resolutions and regularly neglecting to keep the affected resident informed about repair progress.
There were ‘distressing lapses’ in the council’s response and after several months of persistence from the tenant, council staff visited the property and left a dehumidifier.
Council workers identified a potential source of the issue as a leak behind the toilet, but this took a year to fix.
The Housing Ombudsman, Richard Blakeway, 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.
“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.”
He added: “Whilst there were severe delays to the repairs, the landlord also took too long to arrange temporary accommodation and to respond to the resident about his damaged belongings.”
Once the leaking shower had been fixed, the tenant regularly asked Newham Council when they would repair the damp and mould damage – but was told to clean it himself.
That’s despite flagging up issues of damp issues around the fuse box and light fittings.
After TWO years of enduring the problem, the resident wanted a move to temporary accommodation due to the overpowering damp odour and a rat infestation that he attributed to the mould.
Over the ensuing nine months, attempts were made to address the pests and damp within the bathroom.
However, the council still failed to respond to the resident’s inquiries and made when they did, made promises of action that didn’t take place.
A staggering three years and four months after the initial complaint, the council notified the resident – who had relocated to temporary housing just a month earlier – that the repairs had been finished.
However, upon returning to the property, the resident deemed the quality of repairs subpar and demanded an independent surveyor’s assessment to validate his concerns.
In addition to the financial compensation, which included a portion of the rent paid, the Ombudsman ordered a senior council officer to apologise to the resident.
The council was also ordered to tell the tenant what they are going to do about his damaged belongings and to carry out a thorough assessment of its service practices on damp and mould issues.
In a statement, Newham Council said: “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.
“We now have a well-established, proactive approach to tackling damp and mould across Newham, and we are prioritising driving up standards.”
toby marsden
10:14 AM, 23rd August 2023, About 9 months ago
incredible isn't it
the LL hating housing sector dept of councils will take any opportunity to punish LLs yet closer inspection on their own properties and care shows they need to get their own houses in order before picking on LLs.
Harvey Glenn
11:16 AM, 23rd August 2023, About 9 months ago
Just wondering how much the fine would have been if it had been a PRS landlord acting in such a manner
Stella
11:35 AM, 23rd August 2023, About 9 months ago
Reply to the comment left by Harvey Glenn at 23/08/2023 - 11:16
I was wondering that also about the fine but one thing you can be sure of is that it would be on every news channel and Shelter and Generation rent would be wheeled out at every opportunity for their comments!
Reluctant Landlord
11:36 AM, 23rd August 2023, About 9 months ago
Reply to the comment left by Harvey Glenn at 23/08/2023 - 11:16totally agree - and a lot higher no doubt
Hamish McBloggs
12:03 PM, 23rd August 2023, About 9 months ago
Landlords can personally receive £30,000 fines - for each offence.
Landlords can receive a criminal record.
Orders and recommendations in the report,
https://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/decisions/newham-council-202111993/
57 . Within four weeks of the date of this determination:
A) a senior member of the landlord is to formally apologise for failings identified in this case;
B) the landlord is to provide the resident with its position and any relevant information in relation to his concerns about damage to his personal possessions caused by the damp and mould;
C) the landlord is to provide the resident with a timeframe for a surveyor who is new to the case to inspect the works carried out at his property, and commit to providing him with the surveyor’s report. Should any additional works be recommended by this surveyor, the landlord is to provide the resident with a timeframe for the works to be completed within four weeks, or otherwise provide an explanation as to when it is reasonable for them to be completed in the circumstances;
D) a senior member of the landlord is to review this service’s spotlight report on damp and mould (linked above) and the report’s recommendation for a separate damp and mould policy. The senior member of the landlord is to subsequently provide the landlord’s position on such a policy to this service.
___________________________________
So all Newham Council have to do is find an appropriate stooge to apologise unreservedly and accept the Ombudsman's findings. No one is sacked, reprimanded, given a criminal record, fined. No personal government pensions are harmed, no salaries docked, no demotions.
Absolutley ZERO suggestion of the maximum £30,000 fine for each offence.
While a landlord has to self fund a defence against speculative fund raising penalties issued by Councils where, presumably, Newham use the people's hard earned Council Tax to pay their own legal fees and the fine.
Until the humans who work for a Council are made personally liable, just like private landlords, there can be no change.
Hamish
Alice Bock
13:29 PM, 23rd August 2023, About 9 months ago
Absolutely agree - its the endless double standard
MICHAEL REGAN
13:31 PM, 23rd August 2023, About 9 months ago
My understanding is the ombudsman has no powers to fine the local authority. This is recommended compensation for the councils ‘maladministration’ which the council is not legally obliged to pay but they usually do and then try and bury the report. To be clear the ombudsman looks at maladministration. If I were the tenant I would consider using the ombudsman’s investigation to take the council to court. The council would likely settle before court because the ombudsman’s report will have them bang to rights. I’d ask for £101k and settle for £30k. There are also possible criminal charges if the police decided to investigate ‘Nonfeasance’ in public office. The act of doing nothing knowing it will cause harm. The ombudsman’s report is essentially a blot on the CEOs leadership and in my experience there is likely to be other failings across the council which are desperately kept out of the public domain. Well done to this tenant for persisting as it won’t have been easy. FOI requests and especially SARs (Subject Access Requests) are useful tools if anyone is thinking of taking on a council.
Blodwyn
13:33 PM, 23rd August 2023, About 9 months ago
5 grand down to the ratepayers, a heap more of Newham had been fining you the private LL? Double standards occurs to one's mind?
Stella
14:02 PM, 23rd August 2023, About 9 months ago
Reply to the comment left by Blodwyn at 23/08/2023 - 13:33
I read that Newham received over £1000000.00 in fines from the PRS last year.
Tony Phillips
14:46 PM, 23rd August 2023, About 9 months ago
Reply to the comment left by Harvey Glenn at 23/08/2023 - 11:16They would have cancelled your licence, ordered at least twelve months rent return AND 'unlimited' fines for each and every breech of their regulations!
At least thats what I was threatened with for damp caused by my tenant who didn't report a dripping tap connection for 3 months.
Newham Council are a law unto themselves. I WILL be informing our local paper sbout this