Applications are open to join the next Housing Ombudsman Resident Panel – find out more Housing Ombudsman Resident Panel.

London Borough of Lambeth (202322692)

Back to Top

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202322692

Lambeth Council

15 May 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

  1. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
    1. Window repairs.
    2. Boiler repairs.
  2. We have also investigated the landlord’s complaint handling.

Background

  1. The resident has been a secure tenant of the landlord, a council, since 1997. The property is a 1-bedroom maisonette.
  2. On 29 April 2022 the resident reported that the pressure on her boiler kept dropping, which meant she had no heating. She also reported her windows did not open and kept getting stuck shut. The landlord replied 4 days later and said it had asked its gas team to contact her about the boiler and for a works order to be raised for the window repairs.  
  3. Between August 2022 and July 2023 the landlord raised 6 jobs for heating and hot water repairs. It recorded 2 of these as completed and 4 as “no access”.
  4. On 4 August 2023 the resident contacted the landlord to:
    1. Report faults with her windows. The landlord raised a works order, which was later cancelled.
    2. Report she had no heating and hot water. The landlord noted it attended 3 days later and identified parts were required. It reattended on 15 August 2023 to install these and confirmed the heating and hot water were left in working order.
    3. Raise a formal complaint about these issues.
  5. The resident resubmitted her complaint to the landlord on 2 October 2023. She said:
    1. Since the boiler was installed several years before, it had repeatedly stopped working due to the pressure dropping. She reported this to the landlord and it had attended to reset the pressure, but it kept happening. The landlord attended in August 2023 and replaced parts within 2 weeks, which had resolved the issues. She felt no one had helped her.
    2. She had reported issues with her windows years ago and been told it was her responsibility to resolve. She had reported this again recently and an appointment was made, but no one turned up.
  6. In the landlord’s stage 1 response of 9 October 2023 it did not uphold the complaint. It confirmed it had attended in August 2023 to resolve the heating and hot water issue. It said there were no active works orders for the windows and it was the resident’s responsibility to maintain the window handles and locks.
  7. The next day the resident reported she had ongoing issues with no heating and broken windows. She said the landlord had messed her around for years and she was having a “meltdown” because of the issues. This was treated as a request to escalate the complaint to stage 2.
  8. On 1 November 2023 the landlord reraised the works order for the window repairs, previously raised on 4 August 2023.
  9. In the landlord’s stage 2 response of 20 November 2023 it said it had attended and completed works to resolve the heating and hot water issue. It confirmed it had raised a works order for the window repairs, with a target date of 11 December 2023. It subsequently noted these works were completed in July 2024.
  10. In the resident’s referral to us in November 2023 she said the landlord was not taking responsibility for the issues and had not been truthful in its complaint responses. She explained it had attended on a number of occasions to reset the pressure on the boiler, but had not fixed it properly. She confirmed this was now fixed but felt this should have been done years ago.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. The resident has told us that these matters have negatively affected her health. We do not doubt the resident, but we cannot determine whether there was a direct link between the landlord’s actions and her ill-health. She can seek independent advice on making a personal injury claim if she believes her health has been affected by any action or failure by the landlord. We have, however, considered any general distress and inconvenience the resident experienced as a result of any service failure by the landlord.

Handling of window repairs

  1. The landlord is responsible for some window repairs in line with its repairs manual. This said it was responsible for repairs to window frames, sills and vents. It said the resident was responsible for repairs to handles, locks and draught excluders.
  2. When the resident reported problems with her windows in 2022, the landlord said it asked for a works order to be raised. However, we have seen no evidence this happened or that any action was taken at that time. This is a significant concern as the resident reported the windows were stuck shut, which was a health and safety issue.
  3. In August 2023 the resident reported the windows did not close, the handles did not work and the latches were wobbling. In line with the landlord’s repairs manual, the resident was responsible for repairs to the handles and latches. However, her concern that they did not close properly was the landlord’s responsibility to resolve, as this was an issue with the frames. This was particularly important as the property was on the ground floor and so the windows not closing meant it was insecure. 
  4. Despite the resident telling the landlord this and it noting this on its repairs record, the landlord only raised a routine works order, which its repairs policy at the time said it would fix within 28 working days. This was inappropriate due to the health and safety risk. The landlord should have raised this as an urgent emergency, which its repairs policy at the time said it would attend within 2 hours and fix within 24. This was a failure by the landlord.
  5. While the landlord raised a works order, there is no evidence it attended and it subsequently cancelled the order. There is no record explaining why the order was cancelled, or that the resident was told about this. This was a failure by the landlord.
  6. The resident said the landlord had booked to attend on 21 August 2023, but did not turn up (presumably due to the order being cancelled). It is understandable that appointments may need to be rearranged or cancelled at times. However, when this happens, the landlord should inform the resident. There is no evidence the landlord did so here, which left her disappointed when no one attended. This was a failure.
  7. As part of her stage 1 complaint the resident told the landlord she had various health issues and that she had been in and out of hospital to have surgery. The landlord’s repairs manual said that vulnerable residents may be supported with certain repairs which would normally be their responsibility. It should consider the individual circumstances, including who else lived in the property, when deciding whether to carry out discretionary repairs.
  8. The landlord knew the resident lived alone and, based on the information provided in the stage 1 complaint, it should have considered helping her with the window repairs that were her responsibility. However, it did not do that and it told her in the stage 1 response that it was her responsibility to maintain the window handles and locks. This was inconsiderate of her individual circumstances and not in line with its repairs guide. This was a failure and left the resident feeling the landlord did not care about her health issues.
  9. The landlord reconsidered its position when the resident escalated her complaint to stage 2, and reraised the previously cancelled works order. This was appropriate. Despite telling the resident that the window repairs had a target date for completion of 11 December 2023, it did not complete these until 7 months later, in July 2024. This was an extended and unreasonable delay.
  10. During the period of our investigation, the resident first reported window repairs in April 2022. Despite contacting the landlord on at least 3 further occasions in 2023, including as part of her formal complaint, the landlord did not take action to carry out any repairs until more than 2 years later, in July 2024. This meant the resident was left living with faulty windows that presented a health and safety risk for a significant period, which was distressing for her.
  11. Considering the cumulative effect of the numerous failures highlighted in this report and the landlord’s failure to acknowledge or take responsibility for these; we have determined there was severe maladministration in the landlord’s handling of window repairs. We have made orders for the landlord to apologise to the resident and pay her £500 compensation. This is in line with our remedies guidance as the circumstances for severe maladministration apply but the redress needed to put things right is at the lower end of that scale.

Handling of boiler repairs

  1. The landlord is responsible for boiler repairs in line with its repairs policy. This says it will repair and keep in good working order any installation for supplying heating and water, including hot water; which includes the boiler.
  2. When the resident reported problems with the boiler in April 2022, the landlord said it had asked its gas team to contact her. We have seen no evidence it did this or that any action was taken at that time. This was upsetting for the resident and amounts to maladministration.
  3. In the resident’s complaint she said she had reported problems with the boiler repeatedly due to the pressure dropping, since it had been installed several years earlier. From the evidence provided, we can see that 6 jobs were raised for heating and hot water repairs between August 2022 and July 2023. However, it is not clear what specific issue these were raised for or their outcome, including if any works were completed.
  4. We asked the landlord to provide this information, but it failed to do so. It is unclear if this is because the records are no longer available or it just failed to provide the information to us within the required timescale. Either way, this is a concern and means we have been unable to make a full assessment of the landlord’s handling of this issue.
  5. Similarly, the landlord failed to thoroughly assess its handling of this issue prior to August 2023, as part of its investigation of the complaint. It was reasonable that the landlord may only consider its handling of the matter up to 6 months before, in line with its complaints policy at the time. However, in this case, the landlord did not do that, as it only considered its handling of the issue 3 months earlier.
  6. We have seen evidence that the landlord obtained repair records in November 2023, going back to 2021. This indicated it intended to consider its handling going back further than 6 months, which would have been sensible considering the resident had said it had been ongoing for several years. The repair records obtained were the ones subsequently provided to us and while not complete, they did show other jobs had been raised and visits completed.
  7. The landlord did not comment on these within its stage 2 response or explain why it had not assessed its earlier handling of the matter. It is unclear why the landlord would take the time to obtain these records but not comment on them and this left the resident feeling that it was not being truthful in its assessment. Whatever the landlord’s motivation, this was a missed opportunity for it to identify any failures and put things right for the resident. This amounts to maladministration and left the resident feeling that the landlord did not want to take accountability for its actions.
  8. The landlord has told us that a works order was raised on 4 August 2023, following a report from the resident that she had no heating and hot water. However, the repair records from the landlord’s gas contractor show a job was raised 3 days later, on 7 August 2023. This is a concern and suggests there was a 3 day delay in the matter being progressed. As the resident was without heating and hot water, the landlord should have treated this as an urgent emergency, which its repairs manual said it would attend within 2 hours and fix within 24 hours. Its failure to attend within the required timescale amounts to maladministration.
  9. Once the landlord identified that parts were required, on 7 August 2023, it arranged to reattend 4 days later, on 11 August 2023, to complete the repair. This was a reasonable timeframe. However, the resident rearranged this to 15 August 2023. As this change was made at the resident’s request, the overall timeframe in which the full repair was completed was reasonable.
  10. Overall there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of boiler repairs. It did not thoroughly investigate its handling and has restricted us in being able to do so as well. This is unfair for the resident and indicates that the landlord has not taken her complaints, or our investigation, seriously.
  11. In line with our remedies guidance, we have made orders for the landlord to apologise to the resident and pay her £300 compensation. This is reflective of a finding of maladministration, where the resident was adversely affected and the landlord failed to acknowledge this or put things right.

Complaint handling

  1. The resident said she raised a complaint with the landlord on 4 August 2023, and was given a reference number, which she provided to us. We asked the landlord for records of this contact but it said it only keeps call recordings for six months, so could not provide this. It is understandable that the landlord only keeps call recordings for a set period of time and so reasonable that it could not provide this call recording from around 2 years ago. However, it is a concern that it has been unable to provide any written records of calls at that time, for review as part of our investigation.
  2. From the records provided, we can see the landlord raised works orders for repairs on 4 August 2023, which confirms the resident did make contact with it on that date. However, there is no evidence her complaint was raised. When the resident emailed the landlord about her complaint in October 2023, she said she had been “passed around” by the landlord, suggesting she had made further attempts to raise this. Again, we have seen no record of this.
  3. The landlord should keep detailed written records of all contact to and from residents, but there is no expectation that residents should do the same. In this case, in the absence of any written contact records at that time to challenge the resident’s position that she raised a complaint on 4 August 2023, we are satisfied that she did. The landlord failed to properly record or progress this until further contact from the resident 2 months later, on 2 October 2023. This was frustrating for her and amounts to maladministration.
  4. The landlord sent its stage 1 response on 9 October 2023, 5 working days after the complaint was logged. However, this was 45 working days after the resident first raised the complaint. This was significantly over the 20 working day committed timescale for stage 1 responses, set out in its complaints policy at the time. This amounts to maladministration and caused the resident to lose faith in the landlord’s complaints process.
  5. The landlord escalated the complaint in response to her contact on 10 October 2023. This was sensible as she had expressed ongoing dissatisfaction with its handling of the issues. The landlord sent the stage 2 response in 8 working days, which was within the 20 working day committed timescale, set out in its complaints policy at the time.
  6. Overall there was maladministration in the landlord’s complaint handling. We have ordered it to apologise to the resident and pay her £150 compensation. This is in line with our remedies guidance to reflect the adverse effect on the resident, including the distress, inconvenience, time and trouble.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was:
    1. Severe maladministration in the landlord’s handling of window repairs.
    2.  Maladministration in the landlord’s handling of:
      1. Boiler repairs.
      2. The associated complaint.

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks the landlord is ordered to provide evidence that it has:
    1. Apologised to the resident for its handling of the window and boiler repairs and the associated complaint.
    2. Paid the resident £950 compensation, made up of:
      1. £500 for its handling of window repairs.
      2. £300 for its handling of boiler repairs.
      3. £150 for its complaint handling.