Decision Report 201403226

Summary

Mrs C complained that her daughter (Ms A) had been complaining for a number of years about the dampness affecting her flat but the association had not attended to the problem properly. She also complained that, unlike other tenants, Ms A's front door was not replaced.

We found that Ms A had complained to the association about water penetration during periods of bad weather in the winter. Necessary work was carried out within a month. After an incident in January 2013, the association took the view that it would probably be appropriate to remove the chimney head. They wrote to other owners in the building asking them for permission to do this and to confirm that they would contribute to the cost. The association received no replies and as the work was not deemed to be an emergency, they could not go ahead without permission from the other owners. In January 2014, there was another leak and this time the association decided that the repairs could be considered an emergency. They removed the chimney head at their own cost. Meanwhile, Ms A had complained that her front door lock was faulty and it was repaired. Although Mrs C said that other tenants had had their front doors replaced, Ms A's door had been made lock fast and there was no evidence to show that was not serviceable.