We investigated a complaint from Ms W about whether the Housing Association responded appropriately to reports of damp and mould as well as repairs needed to electrics and whether it had appropriately managed the subsequent re-wiring of her home.
The investigation identified that the Housing Association had not responded to Ms W’s complaint in line with its complaints policy. We also found that the Housing Association did not have a repairs or maintenance policy.
The Housing Association was unable to provide sufficient evidence of its attempts to carry out repairs to Ms W’s property. It was also not adequately able to explain why the repairs had taken almost 2 years to complete.
We therefore upheld Ms W’s complaint and recommended that the Housing Association write to Ms W to apologise for the maladministration identified. We recommended that the Housing Association make a financial redress payment of£250 for the poor complaint handling and £500 for the delays and distress this had caused. In addition, we recommended that the Housing Association reimburse Ms W her rent from 16 October 2024. We also recommended that the Housing Association develop a repairs and maintenance policy and that it review its records management process.