The Ombudsman has published a report about an investigation of the SA Housing Trust (the SAHT).
The investigation considered the SAHT’s failure to respond to a tenant’s concerns about mould contamination at their property for several years.
The Ombudsman’s investigation found that the SAHT had erred by:
- failing to take substantive action to address the mould contamination over a period of 4 years. The Ombudsman found that this was unreasonable and meant that the SAHT failed to meet its obligations to the tenant to ensure the property met reasonable standards of health and safety.
- failing to properly address the tenant’s formal complaint about the mould contamination lack of action by the SAHT. The Ombudsman found that there was a 1.5-year delay in communicating with the tenant about the complaint; the issues at the core of the complaint do not appear to have been considered; and the SAHT ended its consideration of the complaint despite the issues remaining unaddressed.
The Ombudsman made several recommendations including that the SAHT implement a policy addressing the remediation of properties contaminated with mould, and that it amend its complaint handling procedure to ensure that matters concerning health and safety issues are escalated within a timely manner. This is the second investigation the Ombudsman has completed this year concerning SAHT’s failure to address mould in properties in a timely manner.
The SAHT has accepted the Ombudsman’s views and agreed to implement her recommendations.
