London Borough of Lewisham · Case 202503271 · 20 January 2026
London Borough of Lewisham — case 202503271
The resident complained about the landlord's handling of reports of damp and mould, poor communication and the impact on her. The Ombudsman found the complaint outside its jurisdiction and did not investigate it, because the resident had issued legal proceedings and the court approved an agreement staying the disrepair claim on agreed terms covering the same subject matter.
Findings by complaint head
Summarised automatically from the decision below. The Ombudsman's decision text is the authoritative record.
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Landlord's handling of reports of damp and mould
Outside jurisdictionThe complaint was about the landlord's handling of damp and mould reports since November 2022, together with poor communication and the impact on the resident's mental health. The landlord addressed the issues at stages 1 and 2 of its complaint process and offered £100 compensation. The resident later sought legal representation and issued a disrepair claim; on 13 May 2025 the court approved an agreement staying proceedings on agreed (confidential) terms addressing the disrepair issues, which form the basis of the complaint to the Ombudsman. As the resident had the opportunity to raise the subject matter in legal proceedings and proceedings were issued at court, the Ombudsman will not investigate the complaint.
The full determination
Decision Case ID 202503271 Decision type Jurisdiction Landlord London Borough of Lewisham Landlord type Local Authority Occupancy Secure Tenancy Date 20 January 2026 Background The resident moved into the landlord’s property in November 2022. In December 2022, the resident reported damp and mould in several rooms. The landlord said it would arrange works to address the issue. The resident later stated that the problem was worsening and complained. What the complaint is about The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of reports of damp and mould.
Our decision (determination) After considering the evidence, we have found the complaint is outside of our jurisdiction. As a result, we have not investigated it. Summary of reasons The resident complained that she had been dealing with damp and mould issues at the property since November 2022. She reported that the mould caused damp floors, a bug infestation, and damage to her personal belongings. She also raised concerns about poor communication from the landlord. She said the situation affected her mental health.
The landlord addressed the issues through stage 1 in March 2023 and stage 2 in May 2023 of its complaint process and offered £100 in compensation. At the time, it operated a 3-stage complaint process, but the resident’s complaint did not progress to stage 3. The resident sought legal representation and issued legal proceedings. We have not seen the claim form and so cannot say if the issues raised were exactly the same as those raised in this complaint. However, it is clear that a disrepair claim was raised and that on 13 May 2025 the court approved, among other things, an agreement that legal proceedings were stayed on agreed terms.
The terms are confidential and so we have not repeated them here. However, they addressed disrepair issues. Those issues form the basis of the complaint taken to the Ombudsman. The order stated that either party could apply to the court to enforce the agreement without issuing a new claim. As the resident had the opportunity to raise the subject matter of the complaint as part of legal proceedings and legal proceedings have been issued at court, we will not investigate this complaint.
This is a structured summary of a published determination. The official decision is the authoritative record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.