Industry News


Ombudsman awards over £18,000 compensation as Hammersmith & Fulham Council issued with seven findings of severe maladministration


T


he Ombudsman has ordered Hammersmith and Fulham Council to pay residents over £18,000 in compensation aſter significant


failings led to one resident living in damp and mould for four years. A total of seven findings of severe


maladministration were made against the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham for various repairs failings in three cases. In Case A the council leſt a resident and his


young daughter living with water pouring down their walls in heavy rain and subsequent mould and damp for approximately four years, which damaged plaster, decorations, and belongings. Te landlord visited the home on multiple


occasions to take photographs and to treat the problem but failed to resolve it. Tere were also significant periods where the resident had to chase for updates and a number of issues raised by the resident were not addressed. At every stage of the complaint, the landlord’s


complaint handling was delayed and its offer of £150 compensation was completely inadequate and disproportionate. Instead it was ordered to pay the resident £5,080 in compensation and inspect other properties in the block. In Case B three findings of severe


maladministration were made for the landlord’s response to leaks, its complaint handling and its consideration of the residents’ vulnerability. Despite assurances made to the Ombudsman, the landlord failed to fix the leak coming in from


a neighbouring flat, causing significant distress, inconvenience, time and trouble to the resident over a five-year period. Te landlord repeatedly failed in its management


and oversight of the repair, and did not take into account the residents’ vulnerability, failing to offer any support or make appropriate safeguarding referrals which could have reduced the impact on the resident. Te landlord’s complaint handling was severely


inadequate, and the resident had to repeatedly chase a response which caused further distress. As in Case A, the landlord’s complaint response failed to acknowledge where it went wrong, identify areas of improvement, or provide evidence it can prevent similar failures happening again. Te landlord was ordered pay the resident £7,185.50 and carry out reviews into various policies, including on resident vulnerabilities. In Case C three findings of severe


maladministration were made for the landlord’s failure to make multiple repairs, its complaint handling and poor record keeping. Te failings in the repairs jobs meant damage


within the toilet was leſt unresolved for two years, damage to a bathroom caused by its contractors was not fixed for seven months and intermittent hot water outages that lasted for two and a half years caused significant distress for the resident – who was undergoing cancer treatment at the time. Te landlord’s complaints handling was poor and differed significantly from the timescales and


guidance in its complaints policy. On top of this, the landlord’s compensation offers were not detailed and did not go far enough to provide redress. Poor record keeping was found, including an


insufficiently detailed audit trail of its repairs, what action was taken, and what follow-up action was required. Te landlord was ordered to pay £5,950 to the


resident, apologise in person and ensure all follow up repairs are completed. In its response to all three cases, the landlord


said it has now completed the repairs to the homes, apologised to the residents and undertaken work to improve in multiple areas such as complaint handling and repairs. Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman,


said: “Te experiences of each resident engaging its landlord is shocking. Tere were significant, multiple and common failings across these cases, which raises serious concerns about the landlord’s services. In all three of the cases, there was a vulnerability present that the landlord either did not take into consideration or ignored. Tis is simply unacceptable from a social landlord. “Running through of all these complaints are


failings in repairs, which we see oſten in our casework. However, it is the length of time residents have been waiting in appalling circumstances that is of greatest concern. Tere were multiple opportunities for the landlord to resolve all of the issues uncovered in our investigations and yet the urgency to do so wasn’t there.”


More than 100,000 housed in temporary accommodation


Te number of households forced to live in temporary accommodation has exceeded 100,000 for the first time in nearly 20 years. Te latest published statistics on homelessness in


England, which cover the period between October and December 2022, show that on 31 December 2022, 101,300 households were in TA, an increase of 5.2% from the same day the previous year and the highest figure since 2005. Of the households in TA, 12,220 were housed in


B&Bs, an increase of 31% compared with the same time last year. Te number of households with dependent


children housed in B&Bs more than doubled in final quarter of 2022 compared with the same period the year before to 2,980, a rise of 129% in a year. Tere has also been a 50% rise in homelessness


due to no-fault evictions in the past year. Te statistics showed that 24,060 households


were threatened with homelessness as a result of a Section 21 eviction in 2022, 50% higher than in 2021. Section 21 evictions allowed landlords to ask a


tenant to leave with just two months’ notice and without having to give any reason for doing so. Tey are due to be outlawed under the Renters’


14 | HMMJune/July 2023 | www.housingmmonline.co.uk


Reform Bill. Overall in 2022, more than 290,300 households


faced homelessness in 2022 in England, a rise of 6% compared with the year before. Te data showed that between October and


December, there were 3,790 more households with children living in TA compared to the same period the previous year. Households with children in TA increased by


6.6% to 62,410, and single households increased by 3% to 38,890. Compared with the previous quarter, the number of households in temporary accommodation increased by 2.5%.


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