Social housing, believed by some to be superior to private rental, is under the spotlight as two major landlords are to be investigated by the Housing Ombudsman.

They are L&Q and Haringey’s Labour-controlled council, which have been accused by the Ombudsman of “persistent poor performance over damp and mould complaints.”

L&Q featured in the Housing Ombudsman’s 2021 damp and mould report, with maladministration findings in 50 per cent of its damp and mould cases. 

The organisation also has 32 open cases with the Ombudsman that have been identified as high risk and involve complaints handling, the handling of damp, mould and leaks reports, or both issues.

The Ombudsman upheld nearly half of L&Q’s cases determined since April 2021 where complaints handling or leaks, damp and mould formed part of the investigation and over a third of the remaining cases were acknowledged during the landlord’s complaint process to having been poorly handled by the landlord.

For Haringey council, the Ombudsman has 13 open cases identified as high risk and involving leaks, damp and mould. Furth

It has upheld more than three-quarters of cases determined since April 2021 where leaks, damp and mould formed part of the investigation.

Ombudsman Richard Blakeway says: “After repeated failures in the past year by both of these landlords, we’ve seen a high number of cases concerning the landlords identified as high risk. Under the circumstances, I’ve asked my team to expedite these investigations.

“Other cases with us concern similar issues and may indicate a repeated failing. Conducting a further investigation, using our systemic powers under paragraph 49 of the Scheme to identify areas for both landlords to learn and improve, is therefore required.

“At the end of the monitoring period, we will publish a learning report highlighting any issues we have identified in the cases investigated and make recommendations to the landlords where appropriate.”