Housing association Plexus has made significant changes to how it prepares properties between tenancies after the Housing Ombudsman found severe maladministration in how it handled a complaint about damp, leaks and mould.

The ombudsman ordered an independent review using powers under the Social Housing (Regulation) Act after a Plexus resident, her young child and disabled parter were moved to another damp property. The move was due to damp and mould in their previous home.

Shortly after moving in, the resident reported several leaks and informed Plexus of significant repairs, severe mould and her son being hurt due to outstanding repairs. Despite the resident’s clear expressions of dissatisfaction, the landlord did not raise a complaint until the ombudsman intervened.

The ombudsman’s investigation found that the social landlord spent over £5,000 repairing the empty property before the family moved in. However, repair records showed a known leak, water damage and a professional recommendation for a damp survey. Plexus said a survey had taken place but not been recorded.

According to the ombudsman, the housing association failed to act on its recommendations, placing a vulnerable family in a home with an unresolved damp problem, and did not respond within its policy timescales when other issues were reported.

The review has led to Plexus committing to the following improvements to its void process, before residents move in:

• Supervisors will regularly review void repairs and sign them off before a property is let
• Staff will review relevant property documents during the void process to identify any historical issues
• All survey recommendations will either be raised as repairs, or formally recorded if not classed as an immediate priority, before any resident moves in.

The review also found that repairs took far longer than they should have done and were not prioritised effectively once the case became a complaint. In response, Plexus has committed to further improvements, including:

• Reviewing the process for follow-on works and key performance indicators
• Making adequate recordkeeping part of the performance framework for all staff
• Defining clear guidelines for when a supervisor must attend a repair
• Introducing a decant policy to provide temporary accommodation where properties require extensive repairs.

The ombudsman also asked Plexus to explore whether any other homes may have been affected by similar failures. It identified four cases which it dealt with immediately.

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said: “The void period is a vital opportunity for landlords to make sure a property is ready to be lived in and fix underlying issues with minimal disruption to a resident.

“This case shows what can go wrong when a landlord does not use that time well. It also highlights the importance of good knowledge and information management for landlords to be able to access a property’s full repair history, act on survey recommendations, and ensure nothing falls between the gaps between one tenancy and the next.

“This case is not isolated as we have seen others, involving both disrepair and other issues such as adaptations for disabilities. With Awaab’s Law now in force and the sector preparing for Decent Homes Standard 2, landlords need to think about what this means for void standards. There is not a consistent approach across social landlords. Landlords should use this period to get their processes in order. The expectation is clear: homes must be safe and decent before residents move in. We would urge landlords to examine their own void processes in light of this case.”

In its learning statement to the ombudsman, Plexus said: “Following this determination, we reviewed our voids process and standards and have a checklist in place to cover all aspects of the property before it is tenanted. The team also now work within our repairs division working much more closely together with operatives and housing officers.

“Our repairs service has also been centralised into one regional operation with more quality controls in place, recruitment of additional staff, enhanced one to one management of staff and has performance regularly reviewed through our governance structure.

“Our complaints team and staff that have a role to play in managing complaints and customer interaction have also undergone further customer service training to ensure the customer is central to all our service delivery. Complaint communication has been revised which includes more detail on how we intend to learn from complaints and share the feedback across our organisation.”