Camden Council (202400812)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202400812

Camden Council

28 February 2025

Our approach

The Housing Ombudsman’s approach to investigating and determining complaints is to decide what is fair in all the circumstances of the case. This is set out in the Housing Act 1996 and the Housing Ombudsman Scheme (the Scheme). The Ombudsman considers the evidence and looks to see if there has been any ‘maladministration’, for example whether the landlord has failed to keep to the law, followed proper procedure, followed good practice or behaved in a reasonable and competent manner.

Both the resident and the landlord have submitted information to the Ombudsman and this has been carefully considered. Their accounts of what has happened are summarised below. This report is not an exhaustive description of all the events that have occurred in relation to this case, but an outline of the key issues as a background to the investigation’s findings.

The complaint

The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
1. the residents reports of repairs needed to a roof following a leak into the property, including:
  1. water ingress into the property.
  2. repairs to damage in the kitchen/lounge area.
2. the associated complaint.

Background

The resident is an assured tenant under an agreement dated March 2021. She has lived in the property since March 2018. She lives in a one-bed flat on the third and top floor. The landlord is a local authority. The landlord has no record of the resident having any vulnerability.
The landlord had known about the leak from the roof into the building since 2019. The resident made a complaint about the leak and delay in resolving the repair on 13 April 2022. The landlord upheld this complaint on 29 April 2022. It acknowledged service failure in the recording and actioning of repair work. It apologised for the significant delay, and it said that it expected all works to be complete by May 2022. The landlord awarded compensation of £25 per month from November 2019 to December 2021 plus £150 for time and trouble (£775 total).
The resident made 7 reports of a leak going into the property between 4 November 2022 and 20 March 2023. She expressed dissatisfaction with the service on 4 November 2022. The landlord attended on several occasions to investigate between December 2022 and February 2023, but did not conduct repairs. The landlord reported the roof was still under guarantee and therefore original contractor was required. In February 2023, the contractors and an independent surveyor attended the property and investigated the roof. Following this, the landlord said that earlier repairs had not fixed the roof leak, and that it needed to replace the roof.
The resident raised a complaint using the landlords online form on the 7 January 2023. She said:
1. that no effective repairs had been completed, and the water leak and damp problem had got worse with damage to lounge/kitchen area, floor and bedroom.
2. she was experiencing stress and anxiety because of the leak.
3. she wanted a rent reduction whilst repairs were ongoing.
4. she wanted to ask that compensation already agreed be paid to her regularly whilst awaiting repairs, rather than being awarded once all repairs were completed.
5. she wanted the landlord to complete permanent, effective repairs to the roof.
The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response on 24 February 2023. The landlord upheld the complaint and apologised for the ongoing delay. It referenced the earlier complaint about the same issue from April 2022. The landlord said;
1. it had now found that the roof needed to be replaced, and it was tendering for this work.
2. it recognised it had previously given a completion date of 5 May 2022. However, it was now unable to provide timescales for the roof works.
3. the resident was welcome to contact the repairs team directly for updates.
4. that it was unable to authorise a rent reduction as requested by the resident.
5. that the resident should be awarded compensation, but it was unable to calculate this until the roof repair was fully resolved.
The resident escalated the complaint to stage 2 on 20 March 2023. They said that:
1. water was coming into the property when it rained.
2. they were unable to use a large part of the kitchen/lounge area due to water ingress.
3. they were experiencing stress and anxiety related to the leak and repairs.
4. they were worried about the impact of damp in the flat on their health.
5. they were unhappy with the complaints handling process and how compensation would be paid. She requested the landlord pay it a regular basis whilst works were ongoing.
6. they requested a rent reduction whilst repairs were ongoing.
On 24 March 2023 the resident asked the landlord for an update on repairs. There is no evidence that this update was given.
The landlord responded to the stage 2 response on 4 May 2023.
1. It partially upheld the complaint, acknowledging the water leak since 2019 and the protracted timeframe.
2. It said that the resident would be updated on progress with the works and timescales, as appropriate. It said it hoped that work would begin soon, and that it hoped work would be completed within a reasonable timescale.
3. It did not uphold the resident’s complaint about complaints handling and reoffered £25 per month from January 2022 until repairs were complete. It said the final sum would be confirmed and paid once the works were completed.
The resident continued to report water leaks and damp to landlord throughout Autumn 2023 and to ask the landlord for updates on the ongoing repairs. On the 1 December 2023 the landlord conducted roof inspections and water testing with a structural engineer. The landlord recorded repairs to the roof in March, July, August and September 2024.
On 5 March 2024 the resident contacted the landlord to ask about receiving compensation from January 2022 to completion. They expressed dissatisfaction with the carrying out of external repairs and stated internal repairs were still needed to flooring, ceiling, doors and windows following water damage.
On 7 April 2024 the resident contacted this Service. In referring her complaint to the Ombudsman, the resident said that:
1. repairs to the roof had been ineffective.
2. she wanted the landlord to conduct effective repairs to the roof and replace if necessary.
3. there was a lack of communication from the landlord, with her requests for update often being ignored.
4. she wanted to the landlord to paid the compensation agreed in May 2023 and the amount increased in recognition of the delay and duration of the repair.

Assessment and findings

Scope of the investigation

The resident first reported the leak in 2019. The resident complained on 13 April 2022 about the issue. The landlord acknowledged a service failure in the repair actions it took and records it kept between 2019 and January 2022. It offered compensation for this period and undertook some roof repairs in Summer 2022. The complaint raised in 2022 did not exhaust the landlord’s internal complaints procedure.
Accordingly, after considering the evidence and looking at what is fair in the circumstances of the case, this investigation will focus on events after 4 November 2022. This was when the resident reported the roof was still leaking after repair work in Summer 2022. Any reference to dates prior to this will be made for context purposes only.

The landlord’s handling of repairs to a roof following a leak at the property.

Under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, landlords have a statutory duty to maintain the structure and exterior of its properties. This includes the roof. Once notified of a defect, landlords must make a lasting and effective repair in a reasonable time.
What is a reasonable time will depend on the circumstances of a case. The landlord’s repairs policy states:
1. that roof leaks and temporary repairs to make safe and stop leaking are ‘urgent.’ Urgent repairs should be completed within 5 working days.
2. roof repairs are structural repairs and are ‘programmed.’ Programmed repairs may be complex or involve specialist work. The landlord should complete these within an agreed timescale.
The landlord said it expected all programmed roof repairs to be complete by May 2022. It apologised for the delay in April 2023 but did not provide a revised completion date. In its stage 2 complaint response the landlord said that it had ‘fervent hope that works can commence soon and be complete within a reasonable timescale.’ The landlord did not follow its repairs policy and provide an agreed timescale for the roof repairs. This was not appropriate.
The landlord’s roofer arrived at the property 22 working days after resident reported the leak on 4 November 2022. Due to concerns over voiding the roofs guarantee, they did not conduct any repair work. This was repeated on the 17 February 2023. Between December 2022 and March 2023, the resident reported the leak seven times. The resident reported the water leak and damp twice in Autumn 2023. The landlord has not provided evidence that it undertook other urgent repairs to make safe and stop leaking into the property.
Despite multiple investigation visits, roof repairs did not begin until 14 March 2024. The landlord has not evidenced that it made temporary repairs within 5 days to stop the leak and make safe prior to this. It failed to adhere to its’ repairs policy.
On 27 January 2023, the landlord acknowledged internally that the roof needed to be replaced. The landlord ordered roof repairs on 29 February 2024. Its records show that it made repairs in March, July, August 2024 and completed in September 2024.The resident reports that there have been no further issues with leaks, damp or mould into her property. It is unclear why there was a delay of 13 months. It was not reasonable for the landlord to withhold an agreed timescale for the programmed roof repair. This may show it did not have a clear plan for permanent repairs.
As requested by the landlord in its complaint responses, the resident continued to report and ask for updates on the repair progress. On multiple occasions she explained the negative impact that the repair issues and the damp and mould had on her wellbeing. Whilst programmed repairs were needed to renew the roof, the landlord’s policy states it should have ensured that it made temporary repairs to stop water and damp entering the property. The landlord failed to adhere to its policy in respect of urgent repairs.
The Ombudsman understands that complex repairs may require additional time for the landlord to complete them. However, the Ombudsman’s spotlight report on repairs highlights the need to inform resident of delays and the reasons for these. The evidence shows that this did not happen. In its stage 1 response the landlord said that the resident was welcome to contact the repairs team for updates. In its stage 2 response the landlord said it would update the resident on progress, with timescales, as appropriate. There is no evidence that the landlord followed its proposed remedy through to completion and this was a failure.
The Ombudsman’s spotlight report on Knowledge and Information Management (KIM is available on our website. This further highlights the need for effective record keeping with recommendations which include:
1. a minimum standard for key data recording, to ensure quality records are available to support the wider business processes.
2. ensuring that the landlord can easily interrogate databases, and that data can be extracted when needed.
Evidence showed that the landlord struggled on multiple occasions to identify what repairs had taken place and within which timeframes. Evidence shared with this Service was incorrectly timestamped. The landlord acknowledged record keeping failures prior to January 2022, but did not show it had learned from this. This lack of records affected the landlord’s ability to make a fair appraisal on:
1. whether (if any) ongoing temporary fixes had taken place
2. the effectiveness of any temporary fixes.

This was a failure and the landlord’s record keeping was not appropriate in this case.

The landlord failure to keep its repair records up to date which caused unnecessary delays and worsened the situation for the resident. The resident has described not being able to sleep when it was raining. She said she had to keep changing towels to mop up the water coming into the property.
The landlord acknowledged that there had been delays. However, it failed to put things right for the resident. The landlord disregarded its policies and procedures and there is no evidence that it learned from outcomes. In addition, the resident explained that the issues had a significant impact on her ability to enjoy her home. She said the process of having to repeatedly chase the landlord about the repairs caused her distress and inconvenience.
The Housing Ombudsman remedies guidance states that landlords should acknowledge when something has gone wrong. It should and set out the actions it has already taken, or intends to take, to put things right. Remedies offered must clearly set out what will happen and by when. The landlord should follow its proposed remedies through to completion.
The landlord apologised for ongoing delays to resolve the issue in its stage 1 and stage 2 complaint response. It acknowledged distress and inconvenience caused to the resident because the leak and repairs lasted longer than expected. The landlord offered the resident compensation of £25 per month until it completed the works. The landlord attempted to put things right with its offer of compensation.
The landlords’ remedies policy states that they aim to make any financial remedy payments within 20 working days of receiving valid bank details. The policy does not say that works must be complete before the landlord can make payments or that there are restrictions on it making payments in stages for ongoing issues.
In February 2025, the resident said she has not received any compensation payment for between November 2022 and September 2024. There is no evidence the landlord has since discussed the offer of compensation with the resident, or that it provided a final breakdown of the compensation amount. The landlord failed to follow its proposed remedy through to completion. We are therefore unable to assess whether the landlords offer was reasonable in the circumstances.
The Ombudsman acknowledges that the landlord may have wanted to ensure it was awarding sufficient compensation. However, it would have been reasonable to offer compensation based on the failures up to the date of the final response and then revisited its offer when the works were complete. This was in line with its remedies policy and 1.59 of the Code. The landlord failed to adhere to the agreed compensation actions they agreed in its complaint responses.
In summary, the landlord:
1. the landlord failed to attend within 5 working days when there was a report of a leak into the property on 4 November 2022.
2. failed to evidence if it completed temporary repairs to contain the leak between November 2022 and September 2024.
3. apologised for the long delay in completing repairs, however it did not give an agreed timescale or update the resident about when it would complete the work.
4. whilst the landlord made permanent repairs in Summer 2024, it did not follow its proposed remedies about communication with the resident and compensation through to completion.
The Ombudsman considers this did amount to maladministration and therefore the landlord should pay the resident compensation to recognise its failures impacted her.
The resident has explained the distress, upset and frustration she experienced due to the number of years that the leak was affecting her property. She has also explained the impact of the landlords lack of communication. She said she felt like no one was listening to her and that she could not get help with the issue.
Having considered the landlords original compensation proposal and the landlords remedies policy. We therefore order the landlord to pay £850 for the distress and inconvenience caused by the failures found in this investigation. The compensation is calculated by:
1. £550 for 22 months (Nov 2022 – September 2024) at £25 per month for failure to provide a service.
2. £300 for distress and inconvenience

The landlord’s handling of associated complaints

The Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code) defines a complaint as ‘an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the stand of service, actions or lack of action… affecting a resident’.
The expressed dissatisfaction with the service on 4 November 2022. The landlord did not recognise this as a complaint. This was not appropriate.
The landlord’s complaints policy says it will:
1. Acknowledge all complaints within 2 working days.
2. respond to all stage 1 complaints within 10 working days.
3. respond to all stage 2 complaints within 25 working days.
The Code states that landlords should issue a final response to stage 2 within 20 working days of it acknowledging the complaint. The landlord’s policy is now in line with the Code.
This investigation has not seen evidence that the resident received an acknowledgement to her stage 1 complaint. The landlord sent its stage 1 response on 24 February 2023. This was 34 working days after the resident sent her complaint. It did not acknowledge the delay in response. This was an unreasonable delay.
This investigation has not seen evidence that the resident received an acknowledgment to her stage 2 complaint. The landlord sent its stage 2 response on 4 May 2023. This was 31 days after the resident escalated her complaint. The landlord did not acknowledge the delay. The landlord failed to follow its complaint policy.
The Ombudsman considers this did amount to maladministration and therefore the landlord should pay the resident compensation to recognise its failures impacted her.
In line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance the landlord should pay £200 for complaints handling failures. These include:
1. not recognising expressions of dissatisfaction made on 4 November 2022 and 5 March 2024.
2. not acknowledging the complaints made in January 2023 and March 2023.
3. not responding to the stage 1 or 2 complaints within its’ complaints policy timeframe.
4. not following its proposed remedies about communication and compensation through to completion.

Determination

In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlords handling of the repairs to the roof and damage to the interior of the property.
In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

Within 28 days of this report, the landlord is ordered to apologise to the resident in writing for the failures identified in this report. The landlord should provide a copy of the letter to this Service.
Within 28 days of this report, the landlord is ordered to pay the resident a total of £1050 compensation. The compensation is comprised of:
1. £550 for failure to provide a service between November 2022 and September 2024, as agreed by the landlord in April 2023.
2. £300 for the distress, frustration and confusion caused by the landlord’s handling of repairs to the roof leak and interior damage.
3. £200 for its failure to follow its proposed complaints remedy to completion.
The landlord is to provide documentary evidence of compliance with the above orders to this Service within 28 days of the date of this report.
Within 6 weeks of this report, the landlord should set out in a separate letter what it will learn from this case and how it is going to prevent it from happening again with this resident and others. The landlord should focus on the importance of communicating with residents throughout the repair process to the completion of a repair. The landlord should provide a copy of the letter to this Service and to the resident.

Recommendations

This Service has seen evidence that the landlord proposed to pay £25 per month from January 2022 – October 2022. This is outside the scope of this investigation. However, the Ombudsman recommends that the landlord honour this offer and pay £175 for this period.
It is noted from the records that the landlord provided that no payments to the resident have been made, even after the repairs have been completed. This was outside of the ICP; however, a recommendation is made for the landlord to fulfil its complaints policy obligations to pay the resident £20 per month for delay.