Haringey London Borough Council (202417807)

Decision
Case ID	202417807
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	Haringey London Borough Council
Landlord type	Local Authority / ALMO or TMO
Occupancy	Leaseholder
Date	22 January 2026

Background

1. The resident lives in a flat which is accessed by a communal front door entrance. He said he put the landlord on notice in May 2023 that the door was not closing properly. He believed the door remained insecure and as a result this had posed a risk to him for a prolonged period.

What the complaint is about

2. The resident’s complaint is about the landlord’s handling of repairs to the front communal door.
3. We have also investigated the landlord’s complaint handling,

Our decision (determination)

4. We have found that there was service failure in:
   1. The resident’s complaint about the landlord’s handling of repairs to the front communal door.
   2. The landlord’s complaint handling.

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

Summary of reasons

Repairs to the front communal door

5. The landlord did not complete communal repairs in line with its policy timeframes. Although it had acknowledged this failure, it did not provide appropriate remedy to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident. It also did not provide assurances to him about whether any further action was required.

The landlord’s complaint handling

6. The landlord failed to respond to the complaint in line with its policy and procedures at stage 2 of its process.

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 specific to the failures identified in this decision, meaningful and empathetic. It has due regard to our apologies guidance.	No later than 19 February 2026
2	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £100 to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of repairs to the front communal door. This must be paid directly to the resident by the due date. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of compliance.	No later than 19 February 2026

 

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
22 February 2024	The resident complained to the landlord that the communal front entrance door was not closing. He attached photos and said he: Had put it on notice of the repairs in May 2023. Believed this posed a trip hazard and security risk.
11 March 2024	The landlord sent the resident its stage 1 complaint response and said: It upheld his complaint and acknowledged the communal door was not closing due to a broken step. It would attend on 18 March 2024 to action repairs. If it was unable to complete this it would schedule another repair.
26 March 2024	The resident remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s stage 1 response and escalated his complaint. On the same day, it sent him its stage 2 acknowledgement and said it would issue its response by 25 April 2024.
1 May 2024	In the landlord’s stage 2 response it told the resident that: It did not attend the 18 March 2024 repair appointment It acknowledged the delay with repairs since May 2023 and that it had not kept him informed. It would use the complaint as a learning opportunity to improve the planning process when booking repairs in the future. The outstanding repair was completed, and it completed a post repair inspection on 12 April 2024. It attached images of this.
25 June 2024	The resident told the landlord the door was not closing properly and the issues were not resolved.
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident wanted us to investigate his concerns because he: Remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s final response. While temporary repairs were completed in March 2024 he believed the issue with the door was unresolved and posed security risks and hazards.
13 January 2026	The resident confirmed to us that the communal door issue was fixed in September 2025 but he felt the repair had taken too long.

 

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	Repairs to the front communal door
Finding	Service failure

7. The resident’s lease states that the landlord is responsible for the maintenance and repair of communal areas and the upkeep of pathways on the estate. This is reiterated in the landlord’s repairs handbook. This says its target timeframe to complete routine repairs is 28 days.
8. The landlord accepted there were delays in repairing the communal door. While it was positive the landlord identified learning from the complaint, it did not explain the reasons for the delays. The evidence showed the landlord had incorrectly raised repairs from the resident’s reports on 5 May 2023. The landlord attended the wrong address and subsequently cancelled the repair. This demonstrated poor record keeping and repair oversight by the landlord. There is no evidence it communicated clearly the actions it would or would not take to the resident.
9. The landlord did not raise communal repairs again until 20 September 2023. When it did, these were not completed until 20 March 2024. From the records the landlord provided, we can see it did not proactively manage the repair as it exceeded target. Given that the resident’s initial report was 5 May 2023, it should have completed the repair by 2 June 2023.
10. We have taken into consideration that it was not until 22 February 2024 that the resident chased the landlord about the repair. However, as the repairs were more than 9 months overdue, it was clear he experienced distress and inconvenience caused by the landlord’s inaction and the incomplete repair.
11. Additionally, the landlord’s communication caused confusion. Despite telling the resident the repair had been completed in its final complaint response, it knew its contractor had said the issue would recur. This indicates it was only a temporary fix, which the landlord had acknowledged to us when providing information for this investigation. There is no evidence it acknowledged the same to the resident. This was unfair, and it should have been more transparent.
12. Although the landlord acknowledged some of its errors, including a missed attendance on 18 March 2024, it had not done enough to put things right for the resident. Due to the extent of the repair delays, its poor record keeping and the detriment caused to the resident, we have found service failure. Considering our remedies guidance, we have awarded £100 for the distress and inconvenience experienced by the resident.

Complaint	The landlord’s complaint handling
Finding	Service failure

13. The landlord operated a housing feedback policy for complaints (complaints policy). This stated it would acknowledge complaints at stage 1 in 2 working days and send its response 10 working days after. At stage 2 it aimed to respond in 20 working days.
14. Although the landlord referenced receiving the resident’s complaint on 26 February 2024, we have not seen whether it provided a stage 1 complaint acknowledgement at the time. However, its stage 1 response was sent in 10 working days from receipt of the complaint, in line with its target timeframes.
15. At stage 2 the landlord acknowledged the resident’s escalation but exceeded its target response timeframes by 5 working days. There is no evidence the landlord clearly communicated this delay with the resident despite telling him it would issue its response by 25 April 2024. The landlord failed to acknowledge the error in its final response.
16. The landlord’s complaint responses did not fully address the resident’s concerns about any potential security issues or hazards due to delays with completing repairs to the front communal door. This differed to the landlord’s complaints policy wording, which said it may have provided an explanation and assurances for further actions. It was unreasonable the landlord did not include further detail in its complaints responses as the resident remained concerned about these issues when he referred his complaint to us.
17. Overall, we have considered the above shows the landlord failed to adhere to its own complaints policy. As such we have found service failure. Having reviewed our guidance on remedies, in the circumstances an apology is required to put things right in the circumstances.

 

Learning

Knowledge information management (record keeping) and communication

18. As above, the landlord’s overall record keeping of this case was poor. The information the landlord provided to us was limited and there was no clear contact log. The landlord also failed to provide a full audit trail of the resident’s complaint journey. We published a special report on the landlord in July 2023. The landlord is reminded this stated it had recognised issues with its knowledge and information management and it was committed to improving its systems and processes. The landlord should ensure errors are not being repeated regarding its record keeping. It was put on notice of repairs on 5 May 2023 and 20 September 2023, but it did not use its information systems effectively to manage the repairs.
19. Regarding the landlord’s communication, we acknowledge it found the communal door was functioning in February 2025 and the resident told us a further repair in September 2025 resolved the issues he was experiencing. Our spotlight report on leasehold, shared ownership and new builds made a number of recommendations for landlords. These included that:
    1. A landlord must ensure timely and accurate communication with all residents on complaints about communal areas as these can cause inconvenience and dissatisfaction for many residents.
    2. Where repair work is overdue, residents should receive regular updates clearly explaining the reasons for delay and expected date of completion. 
    3. Where repairs repeatedly fail, a landlord must have systems in place that brings this to their attention and then consider a different approach or full replacement.
20. Had the landlord considered the above recommendations, it may have mitigated the distress and inconvenience experienced by the resident, resolved the issue at an earlier opportunity and avoided the need for the complaint.