This month we made, 612 decisions on complaints and published 12 investigations, ten of which were upheld.
In one case, we found that The City of Edinburgh Council failed to ensure a property was in a reasonable condition before a disabled tenant moved in.
After the tenant reported widespread damp, a survey identified extensive remedial works and recommended they be temporarily rehoused. However, the works were not completed until almost a year after the complaint was made.
Our investigation also found evidence of longstanding damp issues, including an earlier survey recommending repairs that had not been carried out before the tenancy began.
The damp significantly affected the tenant’s chronic health conditions and the delay in moving them to alternative accommodation worsened the situation. We also found that the council was slow in responding to the complaint and the content of the response was dismissive.
As a result of our investigation, we made recommendations to improve how the council responds to repair requests and ensure repairs are completed within a reasonable timeframe. We also asked the council to apologise and to make our decision available to the council’s insurers to support any claim the tenant may pursue in connection with their losses.
This case reflects a growing number of complaints we are receiving about damp and mould in social housing, as highlighted in our recently published statistics. Many of these complaints relate to delays or a lack of action in addressing mould issues.
Two complaints progressed to full investigation were upheld, requiring the relevant local authorities to develop action plans to complete remedial works.
In other cases, we were able to resolve complaints at the preliminary investigation stage by securing commitments from housing associations or local authorities to carry out further damp investigations. In one instance, this resulted in the complainant being decanted to allow for intrusive inspection after significant issues were identified.
Complaints more generally about housing have more than doubled since 2021-22, with significant increases in the last year suggesting a sector under growing strain. Our investigations help identify these emerging pressures and drive improvements that can prevent similar harm happening to other tenants.