London Borough of Ealing (202434090)

Decision
Case ID	202434090
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	London Borough of Ealing
Landlord type	Local Authority / ALMO or TMO
Occupancy	Leaseholder
Date	23 October 2025

Background

The resident lives in a 2-bedroom first floor flat. The resident has complained to the landlord that it had not completed repairs to an external wall and it did not keep him updated during periods of delay. The resident asked us to investigate because he was not satisfied with the landlord’s final response.

What the complaint is about

The complaint is about:
1. The landlord’s response to reports of cracks to an external wall.
2. How the landlord responded to the complaint.

Our decision (determination)

There was maladministration by the landlord’s response to reports of cracks to an external wall.
There was service failure by the landlord in its handling of the complaint.

We have made orders for the landlord to put things right.

Summary of reasons

In summary, the Ombudsman found that the landlord:

Reports of cracks to an external wall

Completed an inspection within a reasonable timeframe in June 2023.
Delayed in raising the repair for the cracks in the external wall.
Delayed in completing the repairs to the external wall.
Did not manage communications with the resident about the progress and timescales associated with some of the repairs which resulted in him having to chase the landlord for updates.

Complaint handling

Delayed in responding to the resident’s stage 2 complaint.

Putting things right

Where we find service failure, maladministration or severe maladministration we can make orders for the landlord to put things right. We have the discretion to make recommendations in all other cases within our jurisdiction.

Orders

Landlords must comply with our orders in the manner and timescales we specify. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of compliance with our orders by the due date set.

Order	What the landlord must do	Due date
1	Apology order The landlord must apologise in writing to the resident for the failures identified in this report. The landlord must ensure: The apology is provided by a senior manager. The apology is specific to the failures identified in this decision, meaningful and empathetic. It has due regard to our apologies guidance.	No later than 20 November 2025
2	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £850 made up as follows: £800 for the landlord’s handling of the repair to the external wall. £50 for the landlord’s handling of the complaint. This must be paid directly to the resident by the due date. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date. The landlord may deduct from the total figure any payments it has already paid.	No later than 20 November 2025
3	Completing the works The landlord must take all steps to ensure the repair to the external wall is completed promptly and in any event by the due date. If the landlord cannot complete the works in this time, it must explain to us, by the due date: Why it cannot complete the works by the due date and provide evidence to support its reasons. It must provide a revised timescale of when it will finish the works; or Explain the steps it has taken to ensure the works were completed and provide supporting evidence. It must provide a revised timescale if it is able to or explain why it cannot. Whether suitable alternative accommodation is necessary and will be made available to the resident until the work is completed.	No later than 20 November 2025

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
5 June 2023	The resident reported cracks on an external wall which was causing humidity and occasionally letting water into his property.
2 November 2023	The resident raised his complaint about the repair to the external wall. He said the landlord had inspected the wall in June 2023 but he had not received an update, despite him contacting the landlord every week. He wanted the landlord to complete the repair. The landlord acknowledged the complaint on the same date.
21 November 2023	The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response. It said it would inspect the property and decide on how to remedy the affected areas. It apologised for the time taken to resolve the matter, lack of updates, and for the inconvenience caused.
6 December 2023	The resident escalated his complaint. He said the landlord had not resolved all the issues including the poor communication. The landlord acknowledged the escalation on the same date.
19 January 2024	The landlord sent its stage 2 complaint response. It said it had been unable to complete any repairs in June 2023 because it needed to erect scaffolding. There was then a delay because its contractor did not pass this information back to the landlord. Following the most recent inspection it had raised the necessary repairs, which it would monitor to completion. It apologised for the delay, poor communication with the resident, and any inconvenience caused.
Events after stage 2	In August 2024 the landlord told the resident it needed to remove some shrubbery from the base of the building before it could complete the repair to the wall. In November 2024 the resident told us the landlord was preparing a section 20 consultation process, due to the repair costing more than £250 per leaseholder. The landlord started this process in July 2025. It raised the repair for the external wall on 5 September 2025 with an appointment for 28 October 2025.
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident told us he had to repeatedly chase the landlord for an update on the repair. He said he repaired the wall himself approximately 4 times to prevent the damp coming into his property. As an outcome the resident wanted the landlord to repair the cracks in the external wall. He also wanted the landlord to pay compensation for the delays, poor service, and the financial impact of him having to repair the wall himself.

What we found and why

The circumstances of this complaint are well known by the parties involved, so it is not necessary to detail everything that’s happened or comment on all the information we’ve reviewed. We’ve only included the key information that forms the basis of our decision of whether the landlord is responsible for maladministration.

Complaint	The landlord’s response to reports of cracks to an external wall.
Finding	Maladministration

The resident said the situation affected his partner’s health. Questions about illness or personal injury need to be decided in court, where medical experts can give independent evidence and witnesses can be questioned. The Ombudsman cannot look at health impacts, but we have considered the distress and inconvenience the resident has experienced because of any failures by the landlord.
Under the terms of the lease the landlord is responsible to keep in good repair the structure of the building. The landlord’s repair policy does not give a timeframe for completing inspections. However, we would expect landlords to complete inspections within a reasonable timeframe. In this case, the resident reported the repair on 5 June 2023 and the landlord completed an inspection around the 13 June 2023. This was a reasonable timeframe.
The landlord’s contractor did not update the landlord following the inspection. The landlord then failed to monitor the repair and therefore did not know it was outstanding until the resident raised his complaint in November 2023. This resulted in a delay of approximately 5 months in it raising the repair to the external wall (from June 2023 until November 2023).
The landlord completed some repairs in February 2024 and May 2024. This did not include the repair to the external wall, which remained outstanding up to the date of this investigation.
We have not seen the landlord’s major works policy and its repair policy does not give a timeframe for when it will complete complex works, such as these. However, we would expect landlords to complete such works within a reasonable period of time. In this case there were some delays due to the landlord having to remove shrubbery and complete a section 20 consultation. The landlord said the section 20 process was delayed further due to a staff member leaving the business and it had no record that they had started the consultation process. Considering the actions the landlord had to take 6 – 9 months would have been a more reasonable timeframe to complete the works. 2 years and 5 months (from June 2023 to October 2025) was not reasonable. In the interim the landlord did not take any action to mitigate the effect of the cracks in the resident’s property, such as a temporary fill of the crack, on a periodic basis, which the resident had to do himself.
The landlord attempted to put things right by apologising for the delays and poor communication. It also raised repairs which it said it would monitor through to completion. The landlord’s response failed to put things right and did not reflect the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident, who had to repeatedly chase it for updates. Further to this, whilst we have not assessed the landlord’s actions after stage 2, the repair to the external wall was outstanding at the date of this report. This caused the resident additional distress and inconvenience. To reflect this we have ordered the landlord pay the resident £800 compensation (£600 for the delay, £50 for the lack of updates, and £150 to consider the repairs completed by the resident). This is in line with our remedies guidance.
We have awarded an amount at the higher scale for maladministration. This is because the resident continued to be significantly impacted by damp in his property, which was caused by the cracks in the walls, whilst he was waiting for the landlord to complete the repair.
We have also made an order that the landlord ensures it completes the repair to the external wall promptly.

Complaint	The handling of the complaint
Finding	Service failure

The Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (‘the Code’) sets out when and how a landlord should respond to complaints. The relevant Code in this case was the 2022 edition (April 2022). Our findings are:
1. The landlord’s published complaints policy at the time of the resident’s complaint was not compliant with the terms of the Code in respect of timescales.
2. The landlord had 15 working days to respond to the resident’s complaint (5 working days to acknowledge the complaint and 10 working days to provide its response). It acknowledged the complaint on 2 November 2023 and sent its stage 1 response on 21 November 2023. This was 14 working days which was compliant with the Code.
3. The landlord had 25 working days to respond to the resident’s escalation (5 working days to acknowledge the complaint and 20 working days to provide its response). The landlord acknowledged the complaint on 6 December 2023 and sent its stage 2 response on 19 January 2024, which was 30 working days. This was not compliant with the Code.
4. Although this was over the Christmas holiday period, when the landlord’s office may have been closed, the landlord should have explained this to the resident and given him a clear timeframe when it would send the response. It did not do this which was not compliant with the Code.
Due to the delay at stage 2 there was service failure which caused the resident inconvenience. The landlord failed to recognise any failures in its complaint handling. To reflect this we have ordered the landlord pay the resident £50 compensation which is in line with our remedies guidance.

Learning

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

The landlord’s systems should enable them to keep accurate and accessible records of repair reports, responses, inspections, and investigations. The landlord was unable to access information when staff members left the business which caused additional delays in this case. This indicates a recording keeping failing.

Communication

The resident had to repeatedly chase the landlord for updates in relation to the repairs. Whilst the landlord responded to some contacts, its communication and updates could have been better. The landlord should ensure it identifies complex cases, such as this, at an early stage and has a strategy in place for keeping residents informed.