Woman lived with mould and damp for two years after ‘unacceptable’ delays at Hackney Council

Hackney Council has apologised for the distress caused

A woman’s health deteriorated as she waited more than two years for Hackney Council to deal with damp, mould and leaks in her flat.

“Substantial delays” made the problem worse, a housing watchdog ruled.

The Housing Ombudsman found the council guilty of severe administration over the delays in fixing problems at the woman’s flat and ordered it to pay her £1,500.

The complaint was first lodged to the council in late 2019 and the resident, known as Ms D, told it about mould and damp in the hall and kitchen.

Council staff said the hallway needed anti-fungal treatment and repainting, as well as an extractor fan in the bathroom and anti-mould treatment in the kitchen.

The Town Hall told the ombudsman that the repairs team could not get in, but it said the work was raised again – although there is no record of this.

Ms D chased them for nine months and asked to be moved.

In 2021, a virtual inspection discovered “significant amounts of mould” in the front room, kitchen, bathroom and hallway, and said it was probably caused by condensation.

A month later an inspection discovered leaks and said Ms D should be moved.

A leak from a washing machine was dealt with on the same day as inspectors checked nearby flats to find the source of the problem.

In desperation, Ms D contacted her ward councillor before lodging a complaint with the council.

Eventually she took her grievance to the Housing Ombudsman after waiting two years for the repairs. Hackney Council had offered her just £60 for the inconvenience.

The Housing Ombudsman investigated and said the council failed to follow its own timescales for dealing with repairs and did not keep Ms D updated or move her as a priority.

Ms D told the Ombudsman that “the situation had had a detrimental impact on her health and some of her belongings had been damaged by the leaks and mould”.

The Ombudsman’s report said: “The delay in attending the property, carrying out inspections, investigations and ultimately works to resolve the issues was unacceptable and inappropriate and is aggravated by the severity of the issues, which were left without remedy and contributed to further deterioration of the issues over time and had health and safety implications.”

It went on: “The delays contributed to further deterioration of the issues and had health and safety implications due to the significant amounts of mould affecting the front room, kitchen, hallway and bathroom of the property.”

The Ombudsman said that council staff did not make “all reasonable efforts” to look at emails or talk to colleagues, but blamed the October 2020 cyber attack for a lack of records.

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said: “In this case, the delay in attending the property, carrying out inspections, investigations and ultimately works to resolve the issues was unacceptable and inappropriate.

“The landlord missed opportunities to investigate what had gone wrong and to put things right accordingly.

“Following our decision, I welcome the landlord’s response on its learning from this case and the changes being made to improve its service. I would encourage other landlords to consider the learning this case offers for their own services.”

Hackney Council said: “We accept there were failures made while dealing with this case and that the service we provided fell well below what we expect to provide to our residents.

“We are sorry for the distress this has caused the resident.”

A spokesman said the council had been unsuccessful in getting access to the flat to do the work and had offered Ms D a temporary home while it sorted out the problem.