Westminster City Council was ordered to pay £7,000 in compensation after not carrying out repair works at a resident’s home because “the quotes were too high”.
The Housing Ombudsman found that multiple surveys contradicted each other and led to conversations about value for money instead of repairing the resident’s home.
The case is one of the severe maladministration learnings included in the Housing Ombudsman’s latest report to help social landlords prepare for Awaab’s Law coming into force in October.
In this instance, the resident chased the landlord to say it was not fixed properly and needed more work following the initial works.
It took the landlord six months to inspect the roof, but this did not identify any recent repairs to the gutter and set out further recommendations to resolve the issue.
Guttering ‘too rotten’
When the landlord attended to carry out repairs, they said it could not be done as the guttering was too rotten. The landlord failed to inspect the home again after this and did not give any reason to the resident.
When asked why it did not carry out any works, the landlord said the quotes were too high and that its value-for-money obligations meant it was unable to undertake the repairs.
Six months after the contractor apparently resolved the issues, the landlord carried out another inspection and found heavy water penetration in the front bedroom and very
high damp readings.
Two members of the household were diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease during the period of this complaint, which the resident said was related
to the damp and mould.
The Housing Ombudsman said that the landlord has reviewed its approach to managing complex leaks to make sure they are referred for specialist review at an earlier stage when multiple repairs have been made.
It has also adopted a new vulnerability policy and now carries out household support reviews to better understand residents’ concerns.
‘Silences will need to stop’
Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, commented on the cases highlighted in the report: “We now know that Awaab’s Law will apply to social landlords responding to damp and mould from October 2025. The sector has seven months left to mobilise, and we know many landlords are doing so.
“Central to an effective response is the landlord’s diagnosis of what is causing damp and mould. This can be complex and can require expertise. These cases focus on landlords’ use of inspections, highlighting four common failings we see in our casework. This includes multiple inspections with no progress on repairs or repairs not reflecting the inspector’s recommendations.
“With Awaab’s Law, these silences will need to stop, with communication with residents being open, specific and accurate.”
