Failures left mum and three kids living in 'uninhabitable home' full of damp
A mum and her three young kids were left in an "uninhabitable home" full of damp and rot due to "shocking" failures by the council.
The Housing Ombudsman has ordered Manchester council to pay the family more than £5,000 for housing them in such poor conditions. Despite knowing about a rotten kitchen floor and damp in four rooms, the property in Wythenshawe was still let out, according to the ombudsman.
After moving in, the family complained about mould on the walls and plaster peeling off when they tried to decorate. One of the children even tripped on an unsafe garden path and cut their lip, said the ombudsman. The property used to be managed by Northwards, but now the council runs the housing provider directly.
The house was deemed inhabitable (Housing Ombudsman)
Mould by the window of the Wythenshawe property (Housing Ombudsman)The ombudsman said the housing provider did not look into the cause of the dampness and mould, showing a lack of care for the family's well-being and safety. In a report, the body also stated that the landlord did not properly consider if the property was fit to live in and did not investigate these issues for several months.
The resident was forced to return the keys to her home and move in with relatives due to unresolved issues, including a roof leak that took over a year to fix. The landlord did not offer any alternative accommodation, according to the ombudsman.
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Despite the resident's efforts to get repairs done, problems persisted, such as water seeping through the kitchen floor, dampness, mould, and roof leaks. A few months later, she moved her children into the house to prepare them for school.
However, a surveyor's report revealed that many repairs were still pending, including fixing the kitchen and bathroom floors - a major concern as the resident had a crawling baby. It took the landlord ten months to admit that the house was not up to standard, showing poor communication throughout, said the ombudsman.
The resident, frustrated with the lack of action, hired a solicitor. However, instead of resolving the issues, the housing provider used "legal proceedings" as an excuse to delay repairs, according to the report. The landlord also took too long to adjust the rent due to these problems and even sent the resident a hefty arrears notice of £1,000.
Despite nine attempts to communicate the severity of the situation, the resident's concerns were largely ignored. She ended up doing much of the repair work herself, costing her thousands. Despite being aware of this, the landlord did not offer to reimburse her.
Damage inside the property (Housing Ombudsman)
There were issues outside the house (Housing Ombudsman)Manchester council's chief executive was ordered to personally apologise to the resident, who received £5,000 for the distress and inconvenience caused. The council was also told to calculate and reimburse the costs of the work the resident had to undertake herself.
The ombudsman called for a detailed review to prevent such failures in the future, including how cases involving solicitors are handled, procedures for letting vacant properties, and oversight of contractors. The council has now completed all repairs on the home and added extra insulation as requested by the resident. Manchester council has now brought Northwards in-house in a bid to drive further improvements.
Housing Ombudsman Richard Blakewa said: "There were widespread, multiple and serious failings in this case and the landlord has to undertake significant learning to prevent similar future failure. The combined failings led to a young family being left essentially homeless due to an inhabitable home. The fact the home was unfit to live in before the family even moved is shocking, but the landlord then failed to make things right for the residents with the subsequent repairs needed."
He added: "There were widespread, multiple and serious failings in this case and the landlord has to undertake significant learning to prevent similar future failure. The combined failings led to a young family being left essentially homeless due to an inhabitable home. The fact the home was unfit to live in before the family even moved is shocking, but the landlord then failed to make things right for the residents with the subsequent repairs needed.
"These failings included extensive delays, lack of competency in inspections, poor quality works and inadequate coordination and oversight. This caused serious adverse effect on the household. The landlord's response was hindered by its treatment of the resident's pre-action letter where instead of resolving the complaint it suspended repairs. We have been clear in our guidance on Pre-Action Protocol for Housing Condition Claims and service complaints that this should not be the case.
"These failings included extensive delays, lack of competency in inspections, poor quality works and inadequate coordination and oversight. This caused serious adverse effect on the household. The landlord's response was hindered by its treatment of the resident's pre-action letter where instead of resolving the complaint it suspended repairs. We have been clear in our guidance on Pre-Action Protocol for Housing Condition Claims and service complaints that this should not be the case.
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Inside the property (Housing Ombudsman)"On top of these failings, the complaint handling also let the landlord down. It took six months to provide a complaint response, denying the resident's right to have her concerns heard, and failing to issue a response within the timeframe set out in its complaint procedure. There was also little evidence to show that the landlord learned from the outcomes of the case."
The Ombudsman also found maladministration for the landlord's record keeping, with failings in this area causing a cumulative impact on the residents who suffered additional time, delay, and distress and inconvenience as a result. In all cases of severe maladministration, the Ombudsman invites the landlord to provide a learning statement.
Manchester council said: "Our focus is delivering the best possible service for our residents and we must fully accept the Ombudsman's findings in this case. Our actions in managing this home on behalf of our tenant did not match the high standards we expect of our housing service.
"Our tenants should never feel that they have no other option other than to escalate repair issues to the Ombudsman and we have since visited the resident on a number of occasions to apologise in person for the distress she has experienced, and we immediately engaged a chartered surveyor to undertake a comprehensive assessment of any outstanding issues at the home.
"We can confirm that following the development of a project plan in collaboration with the residents, all repairs have now been completed at the property, along with further insulation works requested by the tenant. We have also reimbursed the resident for costs incurred in tackling some of the issues at their home.
"In 2021, the Council approved the decision to bring Northwards Housing back in-house, which in large part was to improve standards and management of Council-owned social housing. We are already seeing tangible improvements under the guidance of a new leadership team, and we strive to avoid future failings of the kind the resident has experienced. We would like to take this opportunity to apologise again to them and their family."
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]
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