Industry News


Significant failings led to unreasonable eviction of a resident


T


he Ombudsman has found severe maladministration by 3CHA aſter a resident living in supported housing was issued


with an immediate eviction notice, contrary to the landlord’s policy and without reasonable evidence for issuing the notice. Tis caused significant detriment to the resident.


Following an investigation, the Ombudsman ordered the landlord to strengthen performance monitoring of its managing agent, to apologise and pay the resident £1,800 in compensation. Te finding has raised further concerns about


exempt accommodation providers, particularly those operating in the Birmingham area. Tis type of accommodation is oſten used to house people with very few other housing options, such as prison leavers, rough sleepers, refugees and migrants, and those experiencing substance misuse issues. 3CHA is a registered provider of social housing,


with under 1,000 properties of mostly supported housing in the Midlands. It uses a number of managing agents for the day-to-day management and provision of services to its tenants. A managing agent for the landlord issued


the resident with an “Official Eviction Notice” asking her to leave her supported accommodation immediately otherwise further action would be taken. It said this followed verbal and written warnings, none of which were presented to the Ombudsman. Te eviction notice was against the landlord’s policy, in which evictions have to be signed off by a


senior manager, a notice to quit be completed, and a reasonable 28 day period of notice given. It was not clear if any of this was completed. Two reasons were given for her eviction – the


refusal to let a gas engineer enter the property without a face mask because of the Covid-19 pandemic and service charge arrears. Te landlord has subsequently said the resident was within her rights to refuse access and the Ombudsman has seen no evidence of any arrears. Te landlord acknowledged to the resident


it retained ultimate “responsibility” towards its residents, regardless of the fact the property was managed by the agent. Te landlord is therefore responsible for the significant failure of the managing agent to treat the resident fairly. In its learning from the case, the landlord said


it has undertaken additional quality assessment reviews and property inspections with the managing agent, as well as monitoring its eviction approval process. Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said:


“When we examined the relationship between landlords and managing agents, we found it was sometimes dysfunctional. Tis investigation demonstrates the detriment to a resident that can result from service failures and raises several significant concerns.” “We’re not the only ones concerned about the


quality of supported accommodation and we hope that some of the lessons from this case will drive improvements. Around the time of this case the


The landlord acknowledged to the resident it retained ultimate “responsibility” towards its residents, regardless of the fact the property was managed by the agent. The landlord is therefore responsible for the significant failure of the managing agent to treat the resident fairly


resident was also raising concerns about the “heavy handed” and “intimidating” behaviour of the managing agent’s staff.” “Te resident was treated unfairly, and the


landlord does not appear to have considered the seriousness of the situation in its responses at the time, or the detriment the resident would likely have been caused. Furthermore, it has not demonstrated that it sought to “put things right”. “I would urge the sector to revisit our Spotlight


report on dealing with private freeholders and managing agents, where we set out a number of good practice recommendations.”


London council failed to complete ‘high-risk’ fire safety work at thousands of its rental properties


A North London council put thousands of its tenants’ lives at risk by failing to complete essential fire and electrical safety works to its housing stock. In a regulatory notice the Regulator of Social


Housing concluded that Haringey Council breached the Home Standard and, as a result, there was potential for serious detriment to the council’s tenants. Following a self-referral from the council in


late 2022, the regulator confirmed that the council breached health and safety requirements. It had failed to complete a significant number of remedial fire safety actions, including 4,000 that were high risk. In addition, it did not have up-to-date electrical safety reports for thousands of its homes. Trough an investigation the regulator found that


over 100 of the council’s homes had serious hazards, known as ‘Category 1’ hazards, and nearly 5,000 of its homes did not meet the Decent Homes Standard. Te council decided last year to close its ALMO and bring the management of its housing stock under its direct control. Haringey Council is undertaking a full


condition survey of its tenants’ homes and has put a programme in place to rectify the issues, including the establishment of a new cross party Housing Improvement Board (chaired by the Chief Executive), a new tenant forum and a Housing Improvement Plan. Kate Dodsworth, director of consumer regulation


at RSH, said: “Haringey Council put thousands of tenants at potential risk by failing to meet


14 | HMMApril/May 2023 | www.housingmmonline.co.uk


health and safety requirements for fire and electrical safety.” “Our investigation has also revealed that a


significant number of Haringey Council homes do not meet the Decent Homes Standard. Te council needs to act urgently to put things right for tenants, and we are monitoring it closely as it does this.” Haringey Council Leader Peray Ahmet and


Chief Executive Andy Donald issued a statement saying the regulatory notice confirmed what they had expected, both in terms of serious shortcomings in key areas of safety compliance and that a significant number of homes do not meet the Decent Homes Standard. “We are very sorry that our residents have not


been receiving the quality of service that they should have done. What is important now is that we move quickly to change this.” All blocks that had a backlog of overdue fire risk


assessments have been cleared, electrical checks on all domestic properties are due to be completed by May and a five year programme of investing over £400 million in homes has been established.


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