A woman has been awarded compensation and an apology after she fought a long battle for repairs over a damp and mouldy flat.
Janice Dawson says the mould in their flat in Birstall has affected the physical and mental health of her and her husband, Andy, as well as leaving left furniture, walls and carpets mouldy and damp.
Janice says the flat is smell and she has not been able to sleep properly. She says Andy has suffered with repeated chest infections and they have been unable to have guests around.
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The couple say they have been living with damp in their ground-floor flat at Birstall Park Court for eight years and have been complaining to their freeholder, Places for People, since it started becoming a problem. The couple pay around £1,800 a year in management fees.
Janice first reported the damp problem in January 2015 but has faced a long fight to get the management company, which is part of Places for People, to carry out necessary repairs.
She took her case to her local MP, Kim Leadbeater, and the Housing Ombudsman which has now ruled in her favour and awarded her compensation for ‘severe maladministration’ by Places for People Group.
Janice described how she had been ‘fobbed off’ many times and had felt she had suffered ‘gaslighting’ because property surveys had suggested she was responsible for the damp in the flat.
“I felt like they were trying to swat me away like a bothersome fly.”
She said the Ombudsman ruling felt like she had been finally been ‘vindicated’.
“The story here is how these companies deal with people – badly. It left us stressed out, fraught and not sleeping. We have just had to endure it.
“It has really brought us down. It has really destroyed us.”
Janice, who suffers from a degenerative condition, with her husband as her carer, said she had been sustained through the long fight by her Christian faith.
In a damning report, the Ombudsman concluded: “The landlord’s lack of adequate oversight of its managing agents actions resulted in a prolonged process for the resident, leaving her to live in a damp property for a number of years. The multiple damp surveys conducted with no action being taken following this was not appropriate. Taking the above and the length of time involved in this case into consideration constitutes a finding of severe maladministration.”
The Ombudsman has ordered the chief executive of Places for People to apologise in person to the Dawsons, and told the company to pay them £3,500 for the ‘distress and inconvenience’ caused by the failures in the handling of the reports of damp and mould. The company must also pay a further £1,500 compensation for ‘poor complaint handling’.
Janice and Andy were finally moved into temporary accommodation in the first week in January to allow the repairs on their home to take place.
Kim Leadbeater said: “This utterly damning report from the Ombudsman goes to the heart of the appalling treatment Janice has received at the hands of Places for People.
“Time and again they have brushed aside her complaints about the shocking state of her home, denied responsibility and offered the bare minimum by way of repairs.
“I took up Janice’s case soon after my election over two and a half years ago, although the damp was first reported as long ago as 2015.
(Image: PA WIRE)
“It is scandalous that it has taken this long for the company to finally take action and only because they have been forced to do so.
“The stress that Janice and her husband have been under has been intolerable and I am full of admiration for the way she has refused to take no for an answer and demanded that the company fulfil its obligations. But I know that has taken its toll, and sadly hers is not an isolated case. This report should be a warning to the whole industry that landlords must not put profit before people, and tenants cannot be left without help for years living in conditions that do terrible damage to their physical and mental health and wellbeing.”
A Places for People spokesperson said: “We’re really sorry to Mr and Mrs Dawson for how they have been treated throughout and for the conditions in which they have had to live. Their experience falls well below the standard we set ourselves and we will be complying in full with all orders and recommendations in the Ombudsman’s report, including of course providing them with compensation.
“We can confirm that the external structural works recommended by our surveyor were completed on 15 December 2023 and work will commence inside the property on 8 January to put right the internal damage. We have arranged temporary accommodation for Mr and Mrs Dawson while this is underway.
“We are confident that we’ll learn the lessons from Mr and Mrs Dawson’s experience so we can make sure this does not happen to anyone else.”
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