London Borough of Camden Council (202541121)

Background

1. In February 2025, the resident reported leaks from the radiators in the bedrooms. By 20 March 2025, there was no heating in the bedrooms or living room. The landlord did not resolve the problems until 1 October 2025. The resident lives with arthritis, but the evidence shows the landlord was not aware of this at the time of the complaint. The resident has also raised concerns about the landlord’s complaint handling.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
   1. The heating issues.
   2. The associated complaint.

Our decision (determination)

3. There was:
   1. Maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the heating issues.
   2. Service failure in the landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.

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

Reasons

The landlord’s handling of the heating issues

4. The landlord is responsible for repairing and maintaining the heating system.
5. Under the landlord’s repairs policy, leaking radiators and loss of heating are emergency repairs requiring same-day attendance by 8pm. Between 2 February and 12 June 2025, the resident reported these issues on 5 occasions, but the landlord met its emergency timescales only once. These failures caused significant discomfort and distress, particularly as the issues began during winter and risked worsening the resident’s health condition.
6. On 20 March 2025, the landlord’s contractor removed the living room radiator and capped the heating barrel pipe supplying all bedroom radiators. This left the resident without heating to the living room and all 4 bedrooms and did not resolve the underlying problem.
7. Two repair appointments were booked for May 2025, but neither went ahead and the resident was not given notice in line with the repair policy. The landlord later acknowledged these failings and offered £50 compensation for the missed appointments, which was appropriate and consistent with its compensation policy.
8. The landlord did not acknowledge that the heating repairs were incomplete until the resident raised a stage 1 complaint on 16 September 2025. Heating was not fully restored until 1 October 2025, nearly 8 months after the issues were first reported, when 2 new radiators were fitted.
9. There is no evidence that the landlord considered the resident’s access to alternative heating during this prolonged period. The resident relied on his own electric heaters, which he said were costly to run and inadequate to heat the property. He has requested reimbursement for the increased electricity costs. As no evidence of these costs has been provided, the landlord has been recommended to request this information and respond within 2 weeks once received.
10. The resident pays a fixed weekly heating charge of £34.34. Although the landlord later paid him £422.50 for loss of heating, this only covered the period up to 9 September 2025, despite heating not being restored until 1 October 2025. The landlord is therefore ordered to pay an additional £52.50 in line with its loss of heating compensation policy.
11. The landlord also paid £710.66 as a heating cost rebate, but this did not cover the same period as the loss of heating compensation. There was a shortfall of 21 days, totalling £66.99, which the landlord is ordered to pay in line with its heating rebate policy.
12. The landlord’s offer of £100 for time and trouble was insufficient given the seriousness and duration of the failings. The landlord is therefore ordered to pay an additional £400 compensation for this. It is also recommended that the landlord updates its records to reflect that the resident lives with arthritis, to ensure this is considered in future service delivery.

The landlord’s handling of the complaint

13. The landlord operates a 2-stage complaints process. Its complaints policy says it will issue its stage 1 response within 10 working days and its stage 2 response within 20 working days.
14. The landlord received the resident’s complaint on 16 September 2025 and sent its stage 1 response on 25 September 2025. While it responded in line with its complaints policy, it did not address all the resident’s concerns. As a result, he was left without a complete response, contrary to our statutory Complaint Handling Code.
15. The resident escalated his complaint to stage 2 on 11 October 2025. The landlord did not issue its response until 1 December 2025, 16 days beyond its 20-working-day timescale. In addition, it again failed to address all the resident’s concerns, including the new points he raised at stage 2. The landlord also did not document the repairs it had completed between the stage 1 and 2 responses, nor the compensation it had given to the resident. These failures left the resident without clear explanations and caused him frustration and inconvenience.
16. Our compensation guidance says that payments of up to £50 are appropriate where a landlord did not appropriately acknowledge its failures. In ordering £50 compensation, we have considered the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident by the landlord’s complaint handling failures.

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.

Recommendations

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