The Housing Ombudsman ordered an independent review of A2Dominion’s response to leaks, damp and mould following several severe maladministration findings that have made 37 recommendations for the landlord to improve.

The review follows 3 cases where residents experienced leaks for years, which damaged possessions and ruined the enjoyment of their homes. In one case, the resident first raised the issues with the landlord in 2016, leaving her in temporary accommodation for years, and in that and other cases the issues were not resolved until ordered by the Ombudsman. The review was undertaken earlier this year by the landlord, following the Ombudsman’s order at the end of 2023.

The review, called a wider order, was made using new powers that require landlords to take steps to prevent future service failure by improving its policy or practice. These powers are part of a range of interventions the Ombudsman uses to address areas of repeated service failure.

The report by A2Dominion found improvements were needed in various areas and showed how the landlord has already taken steps to drive positive change.

One of the main areas for improvement involved latent defects, with the report stating the landlord needed better control of the progression of cases and communication between residents, developers, and the contractor.

Previously, a third-party contractor carried out this work and the team managing them needed more resources to ensure agreed standards were met.

Following this review, the landlord has made sweeping changes to the way it manages third party contractors, adding new monitoring processes to keep check on their performance for customers.

This followed residents experiencing long delays, cancellations of works and a lack of clear communication. Some residents experienced problems with damp and mould for years due to these case management issues.

To improve on its repairs approach, the landlord is implementing an improvement plan, as well as introducing practical measures such as SMS confirmation and reminders for appointments, live tracking of operatives, and 2-way messaging to allow for greater communication.

This was due to limitations in the previous repairs system, which needed upgrading, and how non-urgent works were prioritised. Inconsistencies in record keeping contributed towards the failings, with repairs logs or schedules unable to be produced and the onus placed on the resident to follow up.

The report also highlighted issues with leaseholder management, and so the organisation has reduced manager caseloads. This change, as well as many others in their wider housing management transition, has seen a reduction in dissatisfaction, the number of stage 1 complaints being received and improved compliance with complaint response times at both stage 1 and 2.

A new system is being introduced to provide a more accessible way to record information, which will also include steps to improve resident data overall. Shortcomings in the organisation’s previous response to vulnerabilities were identified in the report, including a lack of clear data and too many systems in use.

Complaint handling was already under review by the landlord, partly promoted by a series of severe maladministration findings by the Ombudsman, as the landlord recognised it needed to go further with their active improvement plan.

The review pointed towards a lack of broad understanding of system capabilities and limitations, as well as a need for greater buy-in from managers and senior managers regarding organisational policy requirements. There were also concerns about the lack of awareness and understanding of its compensation policy.

To bring about change in this area the landlord has brought in new posts and there is now greater scrutiny at executive level of the organisation on a weekly basis.

In addition to complaint handling training, the landlord has also identified through this report that it needs to strengthen 3 other areas:

• effective use of the repairs system
• case management of planned and packaged works
• contractor management

The landlord has also undertaken work to learn from the Ombudsman’s Spotlight reports into knowledge and information management and damp and mould. The landlord acknowledged it needed to go further on its self-assessments of the reports, including identifying appropriate individuals to own the self-assessments and be accountable for embedding those findings.

Recommendations from the report include:

• Conducting a root and branch review of latent defect management to include colleagues from every team with a touch point on the process
• Setting standards for all repairs staff on resident communication, including when it is appropriate (or not) for residents to engage directly with our contractors or sub-contractors
• Setting expectations across the organisation on record keeping – anagers will be trained and equipped to be able to gain their own assurance that their teams are complying with standards, and performance managing staff where appropriate
• Reporting measures to highlight cases raised against a household with an identified vulnerability or support need to allow for quality checking of cases
• Updating letter templates to encourage more empathetic language and a more compassionate approach to responses. Prompts should be provided to ensure that, where there is a delay in responding at either stage, that an apology is provided together with a reasonable explanation for the delay
• Establishing ownership of both Spotlight report self-assessments and accountability for the implementation of the findings, to ensure they are embedded within existing or planned programmes of work

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said: “This is a frank, forensic and far-reaching assessment by the landlord to identify the root causes for repeated service failings. It is a powerful report which should be read by other landlords of all sizes who may be facing similar challenges handling repairs and complaints.

“That its review was conducted by its own staff but independent of the services involved both demonstrates the strong ownership that landlord is taking and that these steps will be more than fine words and residents should experience better services. In particular the report focuses on some key areas where even modest changes can effect positive change.

“I strongly welcome the landlord’s focus on culture and behaviours alongside process and systems. This can be the missing piece of the jigsaw when learning from complaints and turn a new policy into effective practice.”