London Borough of Lambeth (202319330)

Decision
Case ID	202319330
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	London Borough of Lambeth
Landlord type	Local Authority
Occupancy	Secure Tenancy
Date	24 February 2026

 

Background

1. The resident is elderly and lives in a flat. She reported a leak from her bedroom ceiling on 23 April 2023. She complained to the landlord on 8 June 2023 as she was unhappy with the landlord’s handling of repairs to resolve the leak. She also complained about the landlord’s handling of repairs to the kitchen, including to the window, ventilation, and stopcock.

 

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
   1. The resident’s reports of a leak from the bedroom ceiling.
   2. Repairs to the kitchen.
   3. The resident’s complaint.

 

Our decision (determination)

3. There was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of a leak from the bedroom ceiling.
4. There was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of repairs to the kitchen.
5. There was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint.

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

 

Reasons

What we did not investigate

6. The resident confirmed that the landlord’s repairs resolved the leak through the bedroom ceiling. The resident has since reported leaks through the ceiling of another bedroom. This happened after the landlord issued its final response to the complaint. As such, we have decided not to investigate the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of leaks from the other bedroom ceiling. This is because the leaks may not be connected, and the landlord has not had the opportunity to resolve this issue through its complaint procedure. The resident can make a new complaint to the landlord if she is unhappy with its response to her reports of leaks through another bedroom ceiling.

 

The resident’s reports of a leak from the bedroom ceiling

7. The landlord accepted its responsibility for repairs to resolve the leak in line with its responsibilities for the structure and exterior in the tenancy agreement and its repairs policy.
8. The landlord’s repairs policy sets out that it will attend urgent emergency repairs within 2 hours and fix them within 24 hours. It will complete routine non-emergency repairs within 28 days.
9. The resident reported a leak from her bedroom ceiling on 23 April 2023. Positively, the landlord prioritised this as an emergency and attended the same day. It was unable to trace the cause of the leak due to the resident’s belongings in the loft restricting access. It asked the resident to move these to clear space so it could attend again and trace the cause of the leak.
10. There is no evidence that the landlord or resident followed this up until the resident contacted the landlord again on 9 May 2023 reporting a leak from the bedroom ceiling. The landlord attended the same day again, which was appropriate. It believed the leak was coming from a water tank in the loft, as the landlord had recently carried out works to the heating system. It decided to ask a specialist heating contractor to attend. However there is no evidence that the landlord made a referral to its heating contractor after attending. This showed a lack of oversight over the repairs and further delayed a resolution.
11. The resident reported a leak from the bedroom ceiling again on 20 June 2023. The landlord booked a routine repair and attended on 5 July 2023. It realised the leak was being caused by a roof leak, not the tank in the loft. The operative who attended described it as a major roof leak. He noted that the resident had shown him a video of water pouring out of the ceiling above her bed the day before. The landlord asked its contractor to get a quote for scaffolding 2 days later. This delay was unreasonable given the severity of the leak and the impact it was having on the resident.
12. The landlord said in its final response to the complaint that it completed roofing repairs on 21 August 2023. Its repair records showed that the roofing repairs were completed on 7 September 2023. In any event, the landlord took significantly longer than 28 days to provide a lasting resolution to the issue. Some events were outside of the landlord’s control, such as items in the loft preventing access. Scaffolding was required and it is reasonable that this would have taken some time to arrange. However, the landlord failed to follow up on the repair on 2 occasions, which delayed it diagnosing the repair as a roof leak.
13. These failings meant the resident was left with a serious leak through the bedroom ceiling for an unacceptable length of time, which caused her considerable inconvenience and distress. The landlord did not offer any compensation for this impact. Together, these failings amount to a finding of maladministration. We have ordered the landlord to pay the resident £300 to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of repairs to resolve a leak from the bedroom ceiling. This is in line with our remedies guidance where there was a failure which adversely affected the resident, and the landlord failed to address the detriment this caused her.

 

Repairs to the kitchen

14. The landlord accepted its responsibility for repairs to the kitchen in line with its responsibilities for the structure, fixtures and fittings for electricity in the tenancy agreement and its repairs policy.
15. The resident said in her complaint that she noticed a leak from the stopcock after the kitchen was replaced. The landlord booked a routine repair for this, which was reasonable given that the leak was containable. Its records showed it fixed the leak on 7 June 2023, but they did not show when the leak was reported. However based on the repair reference and the dates we know other repairs were reported, it appears this was reported between 9 May 2023 and 20 June 2023. It is therefore likely that this repair was completed within the timescales set out in the landlord’s repairs policy for routine repairs.
16. The resident said in her complaint that the landlord told her in April 2023 that a new kitchen window with ventilation had been ordered, but this hadn’t been installed. She told us that the landlord had agreed to fit this as it had removed her own cooker hood as part of the kitchen refurbishment. The cooker hood provided ventilation and without it the only way of ventilating the kitchen was by opening the window.
17. The landlord apologised in its stage 1 response that the kitchen window with ventilation had been missed and said a new appointment had been booked for 19 July 2023. Its records show that it attended this appointment and fitted new springs to the window, but it did not fit a new window with ventilation, or fit separate ventilation. The resident escalated her complaint and said the landlord had failed to address all the complaint issues. The landlord said in its final response a further repair had been booked for windows on 16 October 2023. It listed the windows as the front room, bedroom and bathroom, but failed to mention the kitchen window. This showed a failure to communicate effectively with the resident to understand and resolve the repair issues.
18. In summary, the landlord failed to communicate effectively with the resident to resolve the repairs to the kitchen. The landlord did not fit additional ventilation when it repaired the kitchen window, and the issue of ventilation remains unresolved. This failing amounts to a finding of maladministration. We have ordered the landlord to pay the resident £150 to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of repairs to the kitchen. This is in line with our remedies guidance where there was a failure which adversely affected the resident, and the landlord failed to fully acknowledge its failings and put them right. We have also ordered the landlord to carry out an inspection of the kitchen to assess whether additional ventilation is required.

 

Complaint handling

19. The landlord’s complaints policy sets out that it will:
    1. Acknowledge stage 1 and 2 complaints within 5 working days.
    2. Respond at stage 1 within 10 working days of the acknowledgement and at stage 2

within 20 working days of the acknowledgement.

3. Request an extension to provide responses where needed. This would not exceed a

further 10 working days at either stage.

The policy is in line with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code.

20. The landlord provided its stage 1 response on 6 July 2023, 20 working days after the initial complaint. This was a minor delay but the landlord failed to recognise this in its response.
21. The resident escalated her complaint on 7 July 2023 and the landlord acknowledged the stage 2 complaint on 11 July 2023. It provided its stage 2 response on 27 September 2023, 58 working days after the escalation request. This was a significant delay. The landlord apologised for the delay but failed to offer any redress for the time and trouble this caused the resident.
22. The resident said in her complaint that the landlord replaced the boiler after the old boiler stopped working during the recent kitchen installation. She complained that the landlord had not compensated her for the time she had no heating and hot water. The landlord failed to address this issue in its complaint responses, other than confirming the new boiler was fitted on 20 April 2023. We asked the landlord for records showing when the resident first reported having no heating and hot water, but its records did not show when this was. As such we have been unable to investigate how long the resident was without heating and hot water. This showed a failure to address all the issues raised in the complaint and raises concerns about the landlord’s record keeping.
23. In summary, the landlord’s complaint handling was poor. It failed to fully understand and respond to all the complaint issues and failed to offer appropriate redress for a significant delay at stage 2. This amounts to a finding of maladministration. We have ordered the landlord to pay the resident £100 to recognise the time and trouble caused by the complaint handling failings. This is in line with our remedies guidance where the landlord failed to acknowledge its failings or attempt to put things right.
24. We have also ordered the landlord to provide a final response to the resident’s complaint about her reports of no heating and hot water. This is because the landlord failed to respond to this issue in its final response to this 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 member of staff. 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 24 March 2026
2	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £550 made up as follows: £300 for the distress and inconvenience caused by the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of a leak from the bedroom ceiling. £150 for the distress and inconvenience caused by the landlord’s handling of repairs to the kitchen. £100 for the time and trouble caused by the complaint handling failures. 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 24 March 2026
3	Complaint response order The landlord must provide a final response to the resident’s complaint about their reports of no heating and hot water. The landlord must ensure: It responds in writing, in line with the requirements set out in the Complaint Handling Code (The Code). It sets out its decision on the complaint, and its reasons for any decisions made. It includes the details of any remedy offered to put things right, and any outstanding actions. It sets out how to escalate the matter to the Ombudsman if the resident is not satisfied with the response. If the landlord is not accepting the resident’s concerns as a formal complaint, please ensure a complaint response is provided that confirms the landlord’s decision, clarifying the reasons why and referring the resident to this Service. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of its response by the due date.	No later than 03 March 2026
4	Inspection order We have made an inspection order because the resident said in her complaint the landlord agreed to fit ventilation in the kitchen after it removed the cooker hood when it replaced the kitchen in 2023. She told us that she still has no way of ventilating the kitchen other than opening the window. What the landlord must do The landlord must contact the resident to arrange an inspection of the kitchen to assess whether improved ventilation is required. The landlord must take all reasonable steps to ensure the inspection is completed by the due date. A suitably qualified person must complete the inspection. If the landlord cannot gain access to complete the inspection, it must provide us with documentary evidence of its attempts to inspect the property no later than the due date.	No later than 24 March 2026

 

Recommendations

Our recommendations are not binding, and a landlord may decide not to follow them.

Our recommendations
We recommend that the landlord reviews our Centre for Learning for Landlords. This has a wealth of e-learning and webinars on a wide range of topics including issues included in this report. The Centre for Learning can be found on our website at Centre for Learning | Housing Ombudsman Service