Public interest report: Trivallis (202402960)

This report is issued under s23 of the Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Act 2019.

We have taken steps to protect the identity of the complainant and others, as far as possible. The name of the complainant and others have also been changed.

Mr B complained about the way the housing association Trivallis (“the Association”) dealt with reports of repairs at his home. The Ombudsman investigated whether the Association responded appropriately to reports of damp and mould and a broken boiler.

The investigation found that the Association did not respond appropriately to reports of damp and mould in Mr B’s home. When Mr B reported issues to the Association, they were not dealt with in line with relevant policies and guidance. As a result Mr B lived in a home with outstanding repairs for nearly 7 years.

The Association did not respond appropriately to reports of a broken boiler in Mr B’s home and did not follow its repairs policy. During the period boiler repairs were awaited, Mr B was not able to heat his home to a comfortable level. A repair was eventually carried out after Mr B’s wife made a complaint to the Association.

Whilst not an issue specifically identified for investigation, the Ombudsman also had concerns about the way the Association responded to Mr B’s complaint. The Association failed to maintain accurate records which led to fundamental errors in the way Mr B’s complaint was addressed.

The Ombudsman was concerned that the failings identified in this case may be systemic. The Association did not provide an explanation as to why, despite Mr B making many repair requests, problems were not resolved sooner. The failings identified during this investigation are also significant. Association employees did not attend Mr B’s home to carry out an inspection of his roof; photographs from a previous visit were used to support the incorrect assertion that they did. The Association also failed to provide records requested as part of this investigation.

The Ombudsman made a number of recommendations which the Association accepted:

Within 1 month:

a) Provide evidence that the Association has acknowledged and apologised to Mr B for the failings identified in this report.

b) Provide evidence that the Association has offered Mr B a financial redress payment of £625 for the distress caused to him by the failings identified in this report. This is in addition to the £375 already provided, making total financial redress of £1,000. I have not considered redress for costs incurred by Mr B as this has previously been addressed by the Association.

Within 3 months:

c) Ensure that all relevant staff receive training to identify and respond appropriately to vulnerable customers.

d) Provide evidence that the Association has developed and implemented a damp and mould procedure.

e) Ensure that a scenario based training programme is delivered to all relevant staff to ensure that lessons are learned from this case and staff take account of individual circumstances where prioritising repairs.

f) Provide evidence that the Association has developed and implemented a process to ensure that repeated repair requests are identified, recorded and escalated for further investigation.

g) Review its records management process and make necessary changes to ensure it complies with the principles of “Good Records Management Matters”.

h) Share a copy of this report with the Association’s Assurance Committee which should oversee and monitor the Association’s compliance with these recommendations.

1. Mr B complained about the way the housing association Trivallis (“the Association”) dealt with reports of repairs at his home. The investigation considered:

a) Whether the Association responded appropriately to reports of damp and mould in Mr B’s home made between 2016 and May 2023.

b) Whether the Association responded appropriately to reports of a broken boiler in Mr B’s home made between November 2023 and April 2024.

2. I obtained comments and copies of relevant documents from the Association and Mr B, and considered those in conjunction with the evidence provided by Mr B. I have not included every detail investigated in this report, but I am satisfied that nothing of significance has been overlooked.

3. Both Mr B and the Association were given the opportunity to see and comment on a draft of this report before the final version was issued.

4. The Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 (“the Act”). Part 4 of the Act places obligations on landlords regarding the condition of the homes that they let. These include ensuring a dwelling is both in repair and fit for human habitation.

• Section 92 of the Act states that a “landlord under a secure contract…must – keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling”.
• Section 97 of the Act states that a landlord’s obligations under Section 92 do not arise until they become aware that repair works are necessary.
• Section 97 also states that a landlord has complied with the obligations of section 92 if it carries out the necessary works or repairs within a reasonable time.

5. Social Housing Conditions and Disrepair: Feedback to Social Landlords (“the Disrepair Feedback”), Welsh Government, February 2022. In relation to disrepair:

• “Think point 2” states that: “Social landlords should have processes, systems and a culture of ownership to enable issues to be readily identified and easily escalated to the attention of the right people”.
• “Think point 9” states that: “Social landlords should ensure measures are in place to specifically identify and address reported issues with damp and mould. This should include “investigations/inspections by default, ensuring condensation and its causes are accurately diagnosed, rectifying any defects as promptly as possible and supporting tenants with help and advice”.

6. The Welsh Housing Quality Standard (“the WHQS”) 2023 (introduced in 2002, last updated in April 2024) sets out the standards expected for social housing in Wales, against which landlords are measured. This requires homes to be “free from damp”, including persistent condensation. It also states that homes should have a heating system capable of heating it to a comfortable level.

7. Tackling Fuel Poverty 2021 to 2035, Welsh Government, March 2021 (“the Fuel Poverty Strategy”)¹. This defines a satisfactory heating regime for households that contain a disabled person as 23 degrees Celsius in the living room and 18 degrees Celsius in other rooms achieved for 16 hours in a 24-hour period. The definition of vulnerable households includes those where occupants are aged 60 or over and where occupants have a long term illness or disability.

8. The Association’s Repairs Policy, approval date 10 October 2023, which details timescales for undertaking repairs. It states that repairs relating to the total loss of space or water heating during the period 31 October and 1 May will be completed within 24 hours, as will leaking from a water or heating pipe, tank or cistern. It states that leaking roof repairs will be carried out within 7 working days. Repairs to be completed within 6-12 months include “All roofing repairs only following a temporary repair”.

9. The Association’s Complaints Policy (“the Complaints Policy”). This details the 2 Stages of the Association’s complaints process. Stage 1 is informal resolution, with a target for response of 10 working days. Stage 2 is formal internal investigation, and can be requested if a complainant is unhappy with a Stage 1 response. The Complaints Policy contains the commitment to “investigate once, investigate well”. It also states that all formal investigations will be logged.

10. All public bodies, and other bodies that carry out public functions, must comply with the Human Rights Act 1998, which incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights (“the Convention”) into UK law. Article 8 of the Convention provides individuals with the right to respect for private and family life.

11. The Equality Act 2010 (“the EA”) gives people, with protected characteristics such as a disability, general protection from discrimination. It defines disabled people as those who have a physical or mental impairment that has a “substantial” and “long term” adverse effect on their ability to do normal daily activities. It also imposes a public sector equality duty (“the equality duty”) on public bodies and other bodies that carry out public functions. The equality duty requires them to have due regard to the need to eliminate conduct prohibited by the EA, to advance equality of opportunity between people who have a protected characteristic and people who do not, and to foster good relations between those individuals. Public bodies and other bodies that carry out public functions must routinely consider each of these equality duty aims when taking decisions, designing policies and delivering services.

12. It is not my function to make definitive findings about whether discrimination has occurred or whether an individual’s rights have been breached. However, where a body fails to have regard to Human Rights and the Equality Act in performing its functions, I will comment on this.

1 Tackling Fuel Poverty 2021 to 2035

13. Living in Disrepair – a thematic report about housing disrepair and damp and mould complaints to PSOW (“the Thematic Report”)², Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, November 2024 which reported on complaints received regarding damp, mould and poor conditions in social housing. The Thematic Report also considered how housing providers respond to the needs of vulnerable occupants, and recommended that repairs be properly prioritised in accordance with published policies. Whilst this report had not been published at the time these events relate to the legislation and guidance it refers to was.

14. PSOW’s Principles of Good Administration – issued by my predecessor³, provides guidance for all public bodies in Wales to follow.

• Principle 2 is “Being Customer Focused” by dealing with people helpfully, promptly and sensitively, bearing in mind their individual circumstances.
• Principle 5 is “Putting Things Right” by acknowledging mistakes and taking prompt action to put things right.

Public Bodies in Wales must have regard to this guidance when discharging their functions.

15. PSOW’s Good Records Management Matters which sets out 7 principles of good records management⁴.

• Principle 2 is “Having effective records management systems” which includes having structured record retention systems, which demonstrate that any records destroyed were done so as part of normal business practice.
• Principle 3 is “Creating reliable records” which states that there should be clear audit trails in place to show when a record has been created or updated.
• Principle 7 is “Storing records securely so they can be readily accessed when needed”. This states that information should be “discoverable, accessible and usable”.

² Living in Disrepair

³ Principles of Good Administration – Under section 34 of the PSOW Act 2019

⁴ Good Records Management Matters

16. Records provided by the Association show that in January 2016 Mr B made a report of damp in his kitchen. Mr B provided a copy of an undated letter from the Association informing him that a repair to his roof was due to be carried out on 23 September. In January 2018 records show a further report of damp was made, but it is not specified where in Mr B’s home this was. In December 2019 Mr B reported damp in the hallway of his home. The Association has been unable to provide any details regarding these requests as the repairs recording system it was using at the time was de-commissioned in 2020 and it is no longer able to access data from it.

17. On 3 March 2022 Mr B reported damp in his home which he suspected was being caused by a roof leak or issue with the guttering. Officers from the Association visited Mr B’s home on 11 March, during which the presence of damp on the walls of the landing was confirmed. The cause was determined to have been an issue with the roof Work to Mr B’s roof to address this was carried out on 26 April.

18. On 24 August Mr B contacted the Association as he suspected the roof was leaking again, despite the work carried out in April. He said that he was also experiencing issues with damp in other areas on the ground floor of his home.

19. Officers from the Association attended Mr B’s home on 28 September. A wet area on a wall next to Mr B’s bathroom was attributed to failed bath seals. No defects were found with the roof and it was recorded that the “issue is condensation in stairwell”.

20. The Association recorded a relative humidity of 71.4% for the lounge of Mr B’s home, significantly higher than the recommended maximum of 60%. The skirting board was recorded as having a moisture content of 999. The walls were recorded as having a wood moisture equivalent of 999. These are the highest scores possible, indicating that they were extremely The wall temperature was recorded as 16.3°C.

21. Visual observations are recorded but it is not specified to which room or rooms they relate. It is recorded that mould growth, paint blistering, plaster erosion and decay of timber were all observed. Under a section headed “Diagnosis”, there is a handwritten symbol next to the entry “rising damp” and an “N” next to “condensation”. An inspection of the cavity wall was carried out, which did not identify the cause of the problem.

22. An inspection of the roof was reported to have been carried out on 19 October which found that the roof felt was correctly installed, that there were no issues with the roof and that damp was being caused by condensation in the stairwell. However, it was established during this investigation that an inspection never took place and Association employees used previous photographs to write their report.

23. On 4 January 2023 Mr B reported suspected damp to the front of his home. A surveyor from the Association attended Mr B’s home on 11 January and concluded that an inspection of the roof was needed. This inspection took place on 1 March. It found an ongoing issue with damp, but that there was no obvious cause. It stated that scaffolding would be required to further investigate the roof, as there was a need to remove some sections of tiles. Scaffolding was erected and Mr B’s roof was repaired on 2 May.

24. On 17 January 2024 Mr B made an out-of-hours repair report as his boiler was experiencing a fault. An officer from the Association attended that day and replaced an expansion vessel (used to regulate pressure when water heats and cools) on the boiler. On 3 February a second out-of-hours repair request relating to the boiler was made. An officer from the Association attended Mr B’s home the next day. Notes made at the time, state that the pressure in the boiler was topped up, that there was an ongoing issue with the isolation valve (this controls the flow of water into the central heating system) and that a further repair was needed.

25. On 14 February a further repair request relating to the boiler was logged. This refers to an urgent ongoing issue with a leak to the isolation valve and that a repair was required as soon as possible.

26. An undated letter from the Association sent to Mr B’s wife (Mrs B), refers to the repair as an “urgent ongoing issue” and that a “repair (is) required asap”. An engineer visited Mr B’s home on 20 February and repaired the isolation valve but notes record that they were unable to remove it and another visit was needed.

27. The Association stated that an attempt was made to contact Mrs B on 8 March to arrange an appointment for that day, but there was no answer. As a result an appointment was made for 12 March. On 12 March Mrs B telephoned to cancel the appointment as she needed to go to work. The appointment was re-scheduled for 3 April but was cancelled by the Association on 2 April as the engineer was unwell. A new date of 10 May was provided by the Association for an engineer to attend. Mrs B contacted the Association to complain about the delay in repairing the boiler. A supervisor visited Mr B’s home on 4 April to assess the works needed and the broken valve was replaced the next day.

28. On 11 January 2023 Mr B complained to the Association. He made complaints regarding several issues including that the Association had failed to inspect his roof as arranged on 19 October 2022 and that he was experiencing ongoing issues with damp and mould in his home.

29. The Association provided my office with a copy of its original Stage 1 response to Mr B’s complaint dated 23 January. The response states that 2 members of staff had inspected Mr B’s roof on 19 October 2022, taken photographs and found no issues with the roof or guttering. It said that black mould in Mr B’s home was being caused by condensation, rather than any issue with the roof. It said that as the cause of the mould had been incorrectly diagnosed as damp in the past, this had caused a delay in addressing the issue, therefore they did not uphold this part of the complaint.

30. Mr B provided a copy of the final response he received from the Association dated 20 March. In respect of the roof, the final response provided by Mr B initially repeats the same information given in the copy of the original response provided to my office by the Association. The final response, however, goes on to state that “having further investigated this it appears that the roofers did not attend to carry out an inspection and instead used an old visit as evidence”. It apologised for this and said the matter had been passed for investigation by management. It also said that a roof inspection would be carried out as soon as possible, with a view to carrying out repairs when the weather improved.

31. In respect of mould the final response states that “there is evidence of water ingress causing black mould”. There is no mention of condensation.

32. On 17 August Mr B contacted the Association. He said that following the issuing of the final complaint response of 20 March the investigating officer had said compensation would be considered, but he had not heard anything further.

33. On 17 November the Association issued a Stage 2 response to Mr B’s complaint. A section detailing the reason for the complaint contains much of the original Stage 1 response provided to my office dated 23 January. This includes the assertion that an inspection had been carried out on 19 October 2022 which found no issues with Mr B’s roof, and states that this part of Mr B’s complaint was not upheld. It also repeats the reference to condensation causing black mould, rather than water ingress.

34. It said that the first report in respect of Mr B’s roof was submitted on 6 July 2020 and that there had been numerous requests for roof repairs since this date. The response stated that “Roof in (sp) teams have visited and have stated that there have been no signs of repair works” which was why condensation was thought to have been an issue. It said that when efforts to treat condensation were unsuccessful, further investigatory works were carried out which led to the issue being identified and repaired in May that year. It acknowledged that repair works had been carried out in Mr B’s home due to water damage. It stated that “the tenant’s roof has been leaking from July 2020 – May 2023”. Mr B was offered £300 in compensation in recognition of this delay and the disruption and inconvenience caused to him.

35. On 4 April 2024 Mrs B contacted the Association to complain about the length of time it was taking to repair the boiler. On 17 April the Association sent Mrs B a response to her complaint. It apologised for the length of time it had taken to repair the boiler, which had since been repaired, and offered her a payment of £75 in recognition of the inconvenience she had experienced.

36. On 9 May Mrs B telephoned the Association to request that her complaint be escalated to Stage 2 of the Association’s complaints procedure. The Association responded on 7 June. It stated that the offer of £75 was a fair resolution to the inconvenience caused. Mr B complained to my office in July.

37. Mr B said that the issues with both repairs at his home and how the Association had responded to his complaints significantly impacted his physical and mental health. He suffers with arthritis (a condition that causes pain and inflammation in the joints) and osteoporosis (a condition that weakens the bones) and said that both of these conditions were made worse by cold and damp conditions. Mr B said that he and his wife were very proud of their home and did everything they could to maintain it. He said that years of contacting the Association to get repairs carried out was a huge source of stress and as a result of this he had been prescribed medication and referred for counselling.

38. Mr B said that when the Association undertook work to the roof he was informed that the problem with damp and mould was resolved. He would then arrange for redecoration works only for the damp and mould to re-appear, in a cycle he described as “heartbreaking”. Mr B said he incurred significant financial costs of over £800 in respect of these decoration works.

39. Mr B said that the way that the Association dealt with his complaint was a source of distress and confusion to him. He said that the Investigating Officer visited his home after the original Stage 1 complaint response of 23 January was issued. During that visit the Investigating Officer showed Mr B the photographs that had been submitted by Association staff as evidence that a roof inspection had taken place on 19 October 2022. Mr B pointed out that there was scaffolding visible in the photographs, and that no scaffolding had been in place on 19 October. Following that visit the revised complaint response was sent, dated 20 March.

40. Of particular concern to Mr B was the significant differences between the Stage 1 and Stage 2 complaint responses he received. He said that he did not understand why the Stage 2 response referred to his complaint about roof repairs not being upheld, when the Association had previously acknowledged that staff had lied about attending. He said this made him feel as though his concerns were not being taken seriously by the Association.

41. Mr B said that during the time they were awaiting boiler repairs, his home was extremely cold. As the boiler was not working properly, he was not always able to use the central heating system. He said that this was a particular issue for him due to his medical conditions and that he had to spend time elsewhere as the house was too cold for him to remain in.

42. When asked when it first received a report of a leaking roof at Mr B’s home, the Association said that it had a note dating back to January 2016 of a report of possible damp in the kitchen but it was unable to provide further details. This was because the repairs system used at the time was de-commissioned in June 2020 and specific repair information is no longer available.

43. When asked what led to the issue with Mr B’s roof being identified and repaired in May 2023, the Association said that it had attended several times before this to resolve roofing issues.

44. The Association said that a damp and mould procedure had been produced in December 2024. The copy supplied was in draft. When asked about this, the Association said that the procedure was later adopted, but it was established quite early on that the procedure was not adequate. The Association said that all repairs to the boiler were completed within the timescales set out in its repairs policy but acknowledged that a shorter timescale would have been more suitable. It said that at no point was Mr B left without heating or hot water, although it could not provide evidence to support this.

45. The Association confirmed it was aware that Mr B had said in September 2022 that he was disabled and that it was also aware that he was vulnerable.

46. When requested, the Association declined to provide copies or transcripts of repair requests made by Mr and Mrs B. It said that these would take a considerable amount of time and resource to provide.

47. After I started this investigation, the Association made contact with Mr B and offered him a payment of £1,500. This included costs incurred by Mr B in decorating his hall, stairs and landing, a payment for missed appointments and a payment of £300 in recognition of the inconvenience he had suffered.

48. In respect of the 2 Stage 1 responses sent to Mr B, the Association said that it appeared the final response had been issued by the Investigating Officer outside of the usual complaints process. As such the Complaints Team had no awareness that a revised Stage 1 response had been sent.

a) Whether the Association responded appropriately to reports of damp and mould in Mr B’s home made between 2016 and May 2023.

49. Mr B provided a copy of a letter from the Association informing him that works to repair his roof would be undertaken in September 2016, meaning that at the time Mr B’s roof was finally successfully repaired in May 2023 it had been leaking on and off for nearly 7 years. The Act requires landlords to carry out repair works in a reasonable time and to a reasonable standard. This was not done in Mr B’s case. It is also far in excess of the 7 working days target in the Repairs Policy for roof repairs.

50. In September 2022 an inspection of Mr B’s home found clear issues with damp and mould. The Association responded to this by inspecting the cavity wall, which did not identify the cause of the problem. I have not seen any evidence that the Association took further action after this inspection to determine the cause. Mr B continued reporting issues with damp and mould over the next 2 years.

51. The Association did not respond appropriately to reports of damp and mould in Mr B’s home. When Mr B reported issues to the Association, they were not dealt with in line with relevant policies and guidance. These are failings and an injustice to Mr B, who was not only distressed by these failings but lived in a home with outstanding repairs for nearly 7 years. Accordingly, I uphold Mr B’s complaint.

b) Whether the Association responded appropriately to reports of a broken boiler in Mr B’s home made between November 2023 and April 2024.

52. The Association said repairs to the boiler were carried out within the timescales set out in its repairs policy. Mr B reported an issue with his boiler on 17 January 2024. The isolation valve was noted as an issue on 3 February, with it being described as leaking. The repair was described as urgent by the Association. The Repairs Policy states that leaking from a water or heating pipe is an urgent repair that should be completed within 24 hours. Despite this, an appointment to repair the boiler was eventually arranged for 10 May, more than 3 months after the fault was identified.

53. I am concerned that the delay in carrying out repairs would have been even longer if Mrs B had not complained to the Association. This is a serious failing. Residents should not have to resort to making complaints to their landlord in order for urgent repairs to be undertaken. Once Mrs B complained, the repair was completed the next day, which indicates that this was not a complex issue and that it potentially could have been resolved much sooner.

54. Mr B has said that there were periods of time when he was left with no heating whilst waiting for the boiler to be repaired. The Association said that this was not the case. As the Association has not provided any evidence to support its assertion and has failed to provide transcripts of the repair requests, I am persuaded that Mr B’s account is credible. Of the Association’s records which are available, they support Mr B’s account because they refer to a loss of pressure, and leaks to a valve – which can reduce the efficiency of a boiler and can cause it to shut down. On the balance of the evidence available, I am therefore satisfied that Mr B was left without heating during this period.

55. During the period boiler repairs were awaited, Mr B was not able to heat his home to a comfortable level. This contradicts the WHQS. It is also contrary to the requirements of the Act as repairs were not carried out within a reasonable time. The Association did not respond appropriately to reports of a broken boiler in Mr B’s home and did not adhere to its repairs policy. This is a failing which caused an injustice to Mr B because he was unable to adequately heat his home. Accordingly, I uphold his complaint.

56. Whilst not an issue specifically identified for investigation, I also have concerns about the way the Association responded to Mr B’s complaint.

57. The complaint response sent by the Association to Mr B in November 2023 concluded that his roof had been leaking since July 2020, as that was the first record of an issue with the roof it held. However, Mr B has provided a letter to my office from 2016 referring to roof repairs.

58. I can only speculate that the Association incorrectly stated the first roof report was in July 2020 because in June 2020 it replaced its repairs system, and it was no longer able to access information from its old system. This is a significant loss of information, which clearly impacted the investigation of Mr B’s complaint. It is also contrary to my office’s “Good Records Management Matters” as it means that records were not retained and available for access. Furthermore, the loss of the information held on the previous system meant that the Association had no means of establishing what works it had previously undertaken on Mr B’s property.

59. In respect of records management, I am also concerned that the Association failed to provide a copy of the revised final Stage 1 response sent to Mr B, instead providing an earlier version containing a different outcome. This failure to maintain accurate records is serious, and contrary to the “Principles of Good Administration” issued by my office.

60. This is further compounded by the Stage 2 response not being consistent with the revised Stage 1 response Mr B received. The Stage 2 response referred to elements of Mr B’s complaint that were upheld at Stage 1 as not being upheld, and stated that there was no issue with the roof. Such a fundamental error calls into question the reliability of the Stage 2 investigation and Mr B was understandably confused and distressed by this.

61. This investigation has identified potential systemic issues with the Association’s repairs service. The complaint response issued in November 2023 acknowledged that Mr B’s roof had been leaking for nearly 3 years before it was repaired. This investigation has found that it actually took nearly 7 years to complete the repair. The Association has not provided an explanation as to why, despite Mr B making many repair requests, this issue was not resolved sooner. It has also been unable to detail what eventually led to a successful repair being carried out. As such I am concerned that lessons have not been learnt from this case, and such failings may occur again.

62. The issues identified during this investigation are significant. Association employees did not attend Mr B’s home to carry out an inspection of his roof. Photographs from a previous visit were used to support the incorrect assertion that they did. If the inspection had gone ahead then it is possible that the issue with Mr B’s roof would have been identified in October 2022. Instead Mr B had to endure another winter with a defective roof causing damp and mould in his home.

63. The inability of the Association to access records from the repairs system de-commissioned in June 2020, clearly hindered the investigation of Mr B’s complaint. I am concerned that other complainants may have been similarly disadvantaged. The Association’s failure to provide copies of the complaints made by Mr and Mrs B also raises questions about how thoroughly complaints are investigated as the information is not readily available.

64.  The Association has not supplied a copy of the revised complaint response sent to Mr B, or any other records of Mr B contacting the Association following the first response and the subsequent visit to his home by the Investigating Officer. Nor did it supply other correspondence, of which Mr B holds copies relating to repairs at his home, despite it being requested by my Investigation Officer. This suggests that there are either serious deficiencies in record keeping by the Association or that information has been deliberately withheld. Whilst I have statutory powers to require the production of documents which are relevant to an investigation, as I was able to draw conclusions from the information available, I did not consider this was necessary or proportionate in this case. I do however, expect the Association to be completely open and transparent in its dealings with my office.

65. I also consider that the failings identified in this case are ones from which other organisations can learn. This investigation has highlighted the importance of keeping full and accurate records. There were many missed opportunities to identify the repeated repair requests made by Mr B and failures to address these. I have seen no evidence that the Association considered Mr B’s needs in relation to his disability, or that it had a policy regarding repair requests from households containing vulnerable people. It is for these reasons that I consider this report to be of wider public interest.

66. Article 8 of the Convention requires public bodies, and other bodies which carry out public functions, to have respect for the homes and family lives of individuals. Respect includes ensuring homes are maintained in a good state of repair and listening and taking appropriate action when issues arise. I consider that Article 8 was engaged by the circumstances of this complaint, as the Association did not respond appropriately to Mr B’s repair reports. As such, a situation arose where the right of Mr B to have his home and family life respected may have been compromised.

67. The Association has acknowledged that in September 2022 Mr B reported that he had a disability. I have not seen any evidence that the details of this, or how it affected Mr B, were recorded at the time. The Association has not shown that it considered how it may need to adjust the service it provided to Mr B in light of this, such as whether the heating in his home was adequate for his needs. It is not for me to make a definitive determination regarding whether a body has complied with the terms of the Equality Act, but I can consider if an organisation has had due regard to its obligations. The failure to consider the needs of Mr B suggests the Association may not have paid due regard to its duties under the Act.

68. I recommend that within 1 month of the date of this report the Association should:

a) Provide evidence that the Association has acknowledged and apologised to Mr B for the failings identified in this report.

b) Provide evidence that the Association has offered Mr B a financial redress payment of £625 for the distress caused to him by the failings identified in this report. This is in addition to the £375 already provided, making total financial redress of £1,000. I have not considered redress for costs incurred by Mr B as this has previously been addressed by the Association.

69. I recommend that within 3 months of the date of this report the Association should

c) Ensure that all relevant staff receive training to identify and respond appropriately to vulnerable customers.

d) Provide evidence that the Association has developed and implemented a damp and mould procedure.

e) Ensure that a scenario based training programme is delivered to all relevant staff to ensure that lessons are learned from this case and staff take account of individual circumstances where prioritising repairs.

f) Provide evidence that the Association has developed and implemented a process to ensure that repeated repair requests are identified, recorded and escalated for further investigation.

g) Review its records management process and make necessary changes to ensure it complies with the principles of “Good Records Management Matters”.

h) Share a copy of this report with the Association’s Assurance Committee which should oversee and monitor the Association’s compliance with these recommendations.

70. I am pleased to note that in commenting on the draft of this report Trivallis has agreed to implement these recommendations.

Michelle Morris

Ombwdsmon Gwasanaethau Cyhoeddus | Public Services Ombudsman

23 October 2025