The Housing Ombudsman has published a severe maladministration finding for London Borough of Lambeth, due to lengthy delays in repairing a window that left a resident with boarded up bedroom windows since June 2019. The finding comes months after the Ombudsman published a Special Report on Lambeth’s complaint handling, as a result of the volume and frequency of complaint handling failure orders issued and a series of formal investigations.
In the latest case the Ombudsman’s investigation found:
- severe maladministration by Lambeth in respect of its handling of the window repairs and
- maladministration in respect of its complaint handling.
The Ombudsman ordered Lambeth to:
- pay compensation to the resident of £700 for repairs to windows
- pay further compensation of £250 for distress and inconvenience caused by errors in its complaint handling and
- arrange for the windows to be replaced.
The Ombudsman had previously ordered Lambeth to consider its complaint handling policy and procedures, and recommended that it should review this case to see whether they need to be strengthened further.
Housing Ombudsman Richard Blakeway said: “It is simply not acceptable to expect a resident to live in a property in this situation for such a prolonged period. It is concerning again to see poor records management impeding an effective response. I have serious concerns that months after our special report we are continuing to see significant issues and such a high level of service failure”.