London Borough of Hackney (202502710)

Decision
Case ID	202502710
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	London Borough of Hackney
Landlord type	Local Authority
Occupancy	Secure Tenancy
Date	25 November 2025

Background

The resident lives in a top floor flat within a medium rise block of flats. The resident first reported issues with the water supply into their property on 16 December 2024. They said they had intermittent outages of water, and when the water returned the resident said there was a build-up of hot water which came out at high pressure.

What the complaint is about

The landlord’s handling of water pressure issues in the property.
We have also considered the landlord’s complaints handling.

Our decision (determination)

We have found that:
1. There was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of water pressure issues in the property.
2. The landlord provided the resident reasonable redress for its complaints handling.
We have made orders for the landlord to put things right.

Summary of reasons

The landlord’s handling of the water pressure issues

Under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and The Housing Act 2004 the landlord had a requirement to repair and keep in working order the supply of water for domestic purposes. Despite the landlord’s commitment to fix the issue this the water pressure issues are ongoing and the landlord has not kept the resident updated of its progress. The lack of a reliable water source has had a significant impact on the resident and their family.
Additionally, the landlord has not provided a formal response to the resident’s concerns that there has been damage caused to their washing machine, and that their water bill has increased.

The landlord’s complaint handling

The compensation offered by the landlord was reasonable in the circumstances.

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	Compensation order Within 4 weeks the landlord must pay the resident £1000 to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by the water pressure issues. The £725 previously offered can be deducted from this amount if already paid. This must be paid directly to the resident by the due date. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date.	No later than 23 December 2025
2	Starting the works Within 4 weeks the landlord must take all steps to ensure the repairs to the block’s booster pump are started no later than the due date. If the landlord cannot start the works in this time, it must explain to us, by the due date: Why it cannot start the works by the due date and provide evidence to support its reasons. It must provide a revised timescale of when it will start and finish the works; or The steps it has taken to start the works and provide us with documentary evidence of its attempts to ensure the works were started by the due date. It must provide a revised timescale if it is able to or explain why it cannot.	No later than 23 December 2025
3	Apology order Within 4 weeks 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 23 December 2025
4	Point of contact Within 4 weeks the landlord is to provide the resident with a point of contact for the water pressure issues. This person is to keep the resident updated on its progress in rectifying the issues.	No later than 23 December 2025
5	Contact order Within 4 weeks the landlord is to contact the resident and request evidence of the reported increased costs of their water bill.	No later than 23 December 2025
6	Order to address reported damage/costs Within 10 weeks the landlord is to provide the resident with a formal response on its stance on compensating the resident for the reported damage caused to their washing machine and their increased water bills. If the landlord decides this should be considered via its insurers, it is to provide the details of its insurers.	No later than 10 February 2026

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
3 January 2025	The resident complained to the landlord. In their complaint the resident said: They had ongoing water pressure issues which were affecting domestic family life. Sometimes they were unable to do tasks such as brushing their teeth and using their washing machine. Sometimes the water would come out of the taps at a high pressure with a high temperature, and this scared their child. The water pressure had caused leaks from their washing machine and radiators and had damaged their washing machine. The landlord had missed an appointment on 31 December 2024. Their housing officer promised to investigate the issue, but they had not followed up on this. They were concerned the high water pressure would lead to increased costs to their water bill.
18 February 2025	The landlord provided the resident with its stage one response which said: The resident had reported a total loss of water on 27 December 2024. It attended on the same day and found there was a high level of gas in the pipework. It outlined the numerous occasions where its plumbing and gas teams attended the property. It said it had raised emergency and priority works to rectify the issues, and it committed to monitoring the progress of repairs. It awarded the resident £350 in compensation for their distress and inconvenience, £250 for their time and trouble and £25 for its stage one response being delayed.
12 March 2025	The resident escalated their complaint.
8 April 2025	The landlord provided the resident with its stage 2 response which said: An inspection occurred on 24 February 2025 and the plumber could not identify any issues. The plumber said from the resident’s comments they believed the issue could be linked to a leak in the communal pipework or an issue with the block’s booster pumps. It had passed the issue onto its water quality team to investigate on 12 March 2025. It was confident that progress would be made with this team. It sincerely apologised for the on-going issues and its lack of progress, and said it recognised the impact this had on the resident. It revised its previous compensation offer and offered the resident £725 in compensation, broken down as: £25 for a missed appointment on 31 December 2024. £350 for distress and inconvenience. £350 for the resident’s time and trouble.
29 April 2025	The resident brought their complaint to us as they wanted the water pressure issues to be resolved.

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 handling of water pressure issues.
Finding	Maladministration

The landlord’s repairs policy says it will consider major plumbing issues to be emergency repairs and it will attend these within 24 hours. For urgent repairs it will attend within 5 working days, and it will attend routine repairs within 21 working days.
Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 places a legal duty on landlords to make full, effective, and lasting repairs once they become aware a repair is required. Landlords must keep in repair and working order the installations for the supply of gas and electricity, water, sanitation, and heating.
The resident first reported water issues on 16 December 2024. The resident has said at times of high-water usage (such as the morning and evening) their water pressure stops completely, and they cannot access water in the property. They said when the water pressure returns the water comes out of the taps with significant force and at a very hot temperature. The resident told us that this has had a significant impact on their domestic life as it affects their ability to cook and clean, this in turn impacts their children’s morning and bed-time routines. The resident said they have had to rely on bottled water if they need to clean their teeth or wash their hands when they cannot use the taps.
The resident has said that the neighbours who live below them in the block also experience water pressure issues, and because they live on the top floor they suspect the matter is linked to the communal water pumps.
Repairs records show that, from the resident first reporting the issue in late December 2024 to the landlord sending its stage 2 response in early April 2025,operatives attended the property several times. This included staff from the landlord’s plumbing team, gas team and water quality team. Despite several professionals attending the property, the landlord was unable to establish the cause of the water outages.
In its stage 2 response the landlord said the case was with its water quality team and it was confident that the issue would soon be rectified. However both the landlord and the resident have confirmed that the issues are still ongoing. We acknowledge that this matter was complicated, and that complicated issues can take time for a landlord to diagnose and remedy. However, in this instance the resident has been experiencing water pressure issues for around 10 months. We consider this to be an inappropriate length of time considering the landlord’s legal obligations, its commitments in its stage 2 response and the impact on the resident.
The landlord has told us that on 15 August 2025 an inspection occurred, and it was determined that the main booster pump for the block required renewing or fixing. The landlord has not provided any evidence to suggest this work is being progressed in response to our query about this. It is inappropriate that the works were not arranged on a priority basis at this point considering the impact on the resident. It was also inappropriate that it did not tell the resident that the cause of the outages had been identified and provide details of when the work would be conducted.
During the complaints process the resident said the high water pressure had damaged their washing machine and had increased their water bill as they are on a water meter. The landlord did not address this in its complaint responses. This was unreasonable because it left the resident in an uncertain position. To address this, we have ordered the landlord to request evidence from the resident about their increased water costs and provide a formal position to the resident on whether it will offer any compensation for these issues. If the landlord feels this is better dealt with by its insurers then it is to provide the relevant information and outline its position on compensating the resident.
In its stage 2 reply dated 8 April 2025 the landlord apologised to the resident, and it offered £725 for their distress, inconvenience, time and trouble. We consider this apology and compensation alongside its commitment to fix the issues, to be reasonable redress for the 5 months the resident had been experiencing issues for, at the time the stage 2 was sent.
Following the conclusion of the landlord’s internal complaint procedure it confirmed on 9 April 2025 that there was no evidence of leaks within the communal plumbing systems. On 25 June 2025 the landlord decided to boost the supply of water to the resident’s block. On 15 August 2025 the landlord conducted an inspection and determined the issues were linked to the block’s booster pump requiring repairs or replacement. The landlord’s records show operatives noted they believed the issues could be linked to the booster pump in January 2025 and February 2025, so it is unreasonable that it took until August 2025 to identify this as contributing to the cause of the water pressure issues.
We asked the landlord for an update on what steps it is taking to rectify the water pressure issues and why there has been a delay in resolving the issues following the August 2025 inspection. The landlord did not provide the requested information; this is unreasonable given the impact the matter has had on the resident. The landlord responded to our enquiry by saying it now believed there is an issue with the resident’s property rather than the water pump.
As the water pressure issues have not been fixed, we do not consider the compensation offered to be suitable as the resident is still experiencing distress from an issue the landlord has failed to resolve. This is because the issues are ongoing, and have had a significant impact on the resident and their family. Whilst the landlord’s position at the end of its complaints procedure was reasonable, it has failed to ensure that appropriate steps have been taken to ensure that the issue has been put right, and the evidence indicates that the cause is still not clear. It has also not kept the resident updated on what steps it is taking, despite acknowledging the impact on the household in its stage 2 reply.
We have ordered the landlord to pay the resident £1000 in compensation, the £725 previously offered can be deducted from this amount. We have considered the following factors when determining compensation for the resident:
1. The length of time for which the resident has not had a reliable supply of water.
2. The landlord’s repair obligations under the Landlord and Tenant Act.
3. The health and safety issues associated with not having a reliable supply of water to clean with, bathe and wash hands.
4. The health and safety issues linked to the build-up of hot water in the taps.
5. The impact on the resident’s domestic and family life.

Complaint	The handling of the complaint
Finding	Reasonable redress

The landlord’s complaints policy outlines the timescales in which it will respond to a complaint. The landlord commits to acknowledging complaints within 5 working days, and to provide its stage one response within 10 working days of the acknowledgement. If the resident wishes for their complaint to be escalated to stage 2, the landlord will acknowledge this request within 5 working days and provide its response within 20 working days of the acknowledgement.
The resident made their complaint on 3 January 2025, the landlord acknowledged the complaint 8 working days later on 14 January 2025. The landlord provided its stage one response 26 working days later on 18 February 2025. Both of its actions at stage one were not in line with policy. The landlord apologised for the time it had taken to send its stage one response and said this was linked to it gathering evidence. The landlord offered the resident £25 in compensation. The landlord’s explanation alongside the compensation offered was reasonable in the circumstances.
The resident escalated their complaint on 4 March 2025, and the landlord acknowledged this 7 working days later on 12 March 2025. The response was two working days late. This delay was brief, so its impact on the resident would be limited. The landlord provided its stage 2 response in line with its policy.
When assessing the landlord’s complaints handling in full the landlord’s offer of an apology and £25 compensation was reasonable in the circumstances.

Learning

We have observed some areas in which the landlord may wish to consider the learning it can take from this investigation.

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

The landlord’s record keeping could have been improved. If it had kept better records around what professionals had attended the property, and what their findings were, this could have led to a better service. We have seen evidence where operatives were unable to conduct inspections because they did not have the correct keys and where operatives told the landlord they were not the correct tradesperson to deal with the issues. The landlord should consider if it requires improvement in this area. In particular it should consider the learning it can take from this case about how it manages more complex repair issues where the cause of a problem may not be

Communication

Following the conclusion of the complaints process the landlord has not kept the resident updated of its progress and it should consider if it requires improvement in this area.