London Borough of Redbridge (202540932)
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Decision |
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Case ID |
202540932 |
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Decision type |
Investigation |
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Landlord |
London Borough of Redbridge |
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Landlord type |
Local Authority / ALMO or TMO |
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Occupancy |
Leaseholder |
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Date |
29 May 2026 |
Background
- The resident reported a roof leak in April 2024. The landlord completed some roof repairs, but these did not resolve the leak. The resident lives in a second-floor 3-bedroom flat with his wife and adult son.
What the complaint is about
- The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of a roof leak.
- We have also considered the landlord’s complaint handling.
Our decision (determination)
- We found:
- Maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the roof leak.
- Service failure in the landlord’s complaint handling.
We have made orders for the landlord to put things right.
Summary of reasons
Roof leak
- The landlord delayed arranging repairs and did not maintain oversight of the work or communicate effectively with the resident.
Complaint handling
- The landlord delayed responding to the complaint and did not agree an extension with the resident. It awarded appropriate compensation for this delay. But it did not identify or provide a suitable remedy for failings in its handling of the roof leak.
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.
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Order |
What the landlord must do |
Due date |
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1 |
Apology order The landlord must apologise in writing to the resident for the failures identified in this report. The landlord must ensure:
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No later than 26 June 2026 |
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2 |
Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £2,423.26, made up as follows:
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 26 June 2026 |
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3 |
The landlord must provide the resident with a point of contact for works and update him about any change to timescales. If work is delayed it must arrange an inspection and consider appropriate temporary repairs. |
No later than 26 June 2026 |
Our investigation
The complaint procedure
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Date |
What happened |
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10 June 2025 |
The resident complained to the landlord. He said the roof was still not repaired following his report in April 2024. He said that 3 rooms were affected by leak and he was unable to use 1 bedroom due to the issues. |
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13 November 2025 |
The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response. It said it had completed repairs in July 2024 to the guttering and to address slipped roof tiles. However, it said it now considered roof repairs under a planned programme was appropriate. It apologised for the delays in its complaint response. It awarded compensation of £325 for this and the repair delays. |
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13 November 2025 |
The resident escalated his complaint. He asked for increased compensation of £6,500. He described the distress and inconvenience he had experience over 18 months due to the roof leak. He said scaffolding had been up for an extended period and the leak had returned after each of the repairs completed by the landlord. |
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12 December 2025 |
The landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response. It acknowledged poor customer service and lack of timely action to address the roof issues. However, it said its complaint response, and the compensation it had awarded, was appropriate. |
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Referral to the Ombudsman |
The resident referred his complaint to us as he remained unhappy with the level of compensation awarded by the landlord. He wanted repairs completed and increased compensation. |
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.
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Complaint |
The landlord’s handling of a roof leak |
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Finding |
Maladministration |
- The landlord raised a repair on 29 April 2024 after the resident reported a leak. It attended on 2 May and identified scaffolding was needed. It recorded this repair as planned work. It has no set timescale for such repairs. But it was unlikely to meet its 28‑day target for routine repairs. However, the landlord failed to inform the resident what it was doing and took no apparent steps to arrange scaffolding until 3 July 2024, when the resident chased the repair. This caused delay in repair progress.
- The landlord stated in its stage 1 response that scaffolding was erected on 8 July 2024. Records detail that work to clear gutters and address slipped tiles was completed on 2 September 2024. This was an unreasonable period of time following scaffolding being erected. There is no evidence to support the extended timescale. The leak persisted after this repair, and further work was raised on 14 October 2024, noting ongoing issues and that tile replacement may be needed.
- The landlord raised the October 2024 work as a routine repair. But there is no evidence/detail about the work completed and it provided no updates to the resident. Despite the resident reporting continued leaking on 6 November 2024, the landlord did not request contractor follow-up until 26 November 2024.
- After the resident chased the repair again on 9 December 2024, the roofing contractor told the landlord that it had not identified the leak and requested a joint inspection with the landlord’s surveyor. While the landlord then acted promptly, earlier oversight should have prompted action sooner, particularly given the unresolved leak since April 2024
- The landlord recorded that work identified in December 2024 was completed on 10 January 2025. But it recorded no outcome on tile replacement. The resident remained unclear and chased the landlord about this work on 15 January 2025. The landlord failed to follow up with its contractor or explore support to the resident while ongoing leak issues continued.
- Further works in late February and early March 2025 did not resolve the leak. After the resident’s wife raised concerns on 23 April 2025, the landlord arranged a roof survey on 28 April, which identified more significant works including re-battening and re-laying tiles. It recorded the additional repairs were completed on 1 August 2025, but there is no evidence the landlord checked with the resident if work resolved issues. The resident told us that the leak continued.
- By April 2025, the landlord identified the need for a roof replacement. This required Section 20 consultation. Although it issued a notice of intention to complete this work on 15 July 2025, it delayed issuing estimates of work until 20 February 2026 without explanation. The resident experienced poor communication throughout, often having to chase updates. He said he found it difficult to find out what was happening with work. The landlord’s failure to provide proactive or effective communication would have increased frustration and uncertainty for the resident.
- In April 2026, the landlord confirmed roof replacement works would begin in May 2026. We acknowledge that work was partly delayed/prolonged due to factors like scaffolding, asbestos checks, and Section 20 consultation requirements. But the landlord should have competently identified the cause of the leak(s) and effected lasting repairs earlier. Better oversight and management of the work would have helped avoid the unnecessary delays in the work and ensure a lasting repair. Overall, we have found maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the roof leak.
- The landlord acknowledged repair delays in its complaint response. It did not specify what part of its £325 was for delays in repairs. As such, we consider it fair to attribute £200 of this award to the repair delays. This award is insufficient given the prolonged impact of the unresolved leak. The resident has experienced a leak since April 2024, causing distress, inconvenience, and damage to living spaces including a bedroom, living room and dining room.
- The resident said that his family had not been able to use the main bedroom since around May 2024 due to concern the leak may cause the ceiling to collapse. We acknowledge what he has said about this. Under the lease, the landlord had an obligation to maintain/repair the structure of the property, including the roof. It should have acted to assess if the property was safe when the leak remained unresolved.
- We have reviewed all the circumstances and have decided that compensation based on a proportion of rent (based on the Regulator of Social Housing’s average rent) is appropriate in this case. We have taken all factors into account, including what the resident said and the findings of the landlord’s survey of April 2025. This identified serious water ingress in the living room and bedroom.
- We have ordered that the landlord pay the resident compensation of £1,698.26 based on 20% of rent from 29 April 2025 to the date of this report. We acknowledge this is not a precise calculation. But we consider it to be a fair and reasonable recognition of the resident’s loss of use/enjoyment of his bedroom, and the impact of leak issues to his living room and dining room. We have also ordered that the landlord pay him a further £600. This is to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of the roof leak, including its inadequate communication. This award is in line with the range set out in our compensation guidance where we have found maladministration that has had a significant impact.
- The landlord has now told the resident of the plan for roof replacement to start in May 2026. Given the issues outlined above, we have ordered that it provide him with a point of contact for work and update him about any change to timescales of the work. If work is delayed it must arrange an inspection and consider appropriate temporary repairs.
- The landlord told the resident that it will complete remedial decorative work to his property following completion of planned work. That was appropriate. However, the resident told us he intends to submit an insurance claim instead.
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Complaint |
The handling of the complaint |
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Finding |
Service failure |
- Our Complaint Handling Code (the Code) sets out when and how a landlord should respond to complaints. When the resident complained to the landlord in June 2025, the relevant Code was the April 2024 edition. We have found that the landlord’s published complaints policy at this time complied with the Code in respect of timescales and the definition of a complaint.
- The landlord did not issue its initial complaint response until 13 November 2025. This was 97 working days outside its target response timeframe. It appropriately acknowledged and apologised for this delay in its eventual response. But it should have maintained communication with the resident during this period, including agreeing and providing updates on revised timescales.
- The landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response within its target timeframe. However, the response did not demonstrate it had meaningfully considered the concerns raised by the resident in his escalation request. That was particularly about the impact of the roof leak.
- The landlord missed an opportunity to properly engage with and resolve the resident’s concerns. We consider that the £125 offered was appropriate in recognising the distress and inconvenience caused by delays in complaint handling. But we have found service failure in its complaint handling. This is because the remedy offered did not fully reflect the impact of its failings. We have not ordered additional compensation for the complaint handling failure, as this has already been taken into account within the compensation award made in relation to its handling of the roof leak. But we have ordered that the landlord apologise for this.
Learning
- The landlord should maintain oversight and management or repairs, particularly when work has not resolved issues. Doing so would ensure it considers appropriate action without delay.
- The landlord should ensure that it properly identifies at an early stage the causes of repair issues and effects lasting repairs, replacements or renewals within a reasonable time. The landlord may wish to refer to our spotlight report on repairs and maintenance – repairing trust.
Knowledge information management (record keeping)
- The landlord’s records did not contain enough information to confirm all action taken by its contractors. Clear and detailed repair records showing this would have allowed it to maintain oversight of work and consider appropriate next steps.
Communication
- The landlord did not maintain effective communication with the resident throughout repairs or after he complained. It should ensure good communication to avoid additional distress and inconvenience.