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London Borough of Lambeth (202403717)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202403717

London Borough of Lambeth

10 September 2025

 

Our approach

The Housing Ombudsman’s approach to investigating and determining complaints is to decide what is fair in all the circumstances of the case. This is set out in the Housing Act 1996 and the Housing Ombudsman Scheme (the Scheme). The Ombudsman considers the evidence and looks to see if there has been any ‘maladministration’, for example whether the landlord has failed to keep to the law, followed proper procedure, followed good practice or behaved in a reasonable and competent manner.

Both the resident and the landlord have submitted information to the Ombudsman and this has been carefully considered. Their accounts of what has happened are summarised below. This report is not an exhaustive description of all the events that have occurred in relation to this case, but an outline of the key issues as a background to the investigation’s findings.

The complaint

  1. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
    1. The resident’s reports of the communal lifts breaking down.
    2. The associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident is a secure tenant of the landlord, which is a local authority. The property is on the 15th floor of a block of flats and there are 2 lifts that service this floor. The landlord has not recorded any vulnerabilities for the resident, but it is aware that she has a problem with her knee.
  2. The resident has reported several lift breakdowns and has said there have been regular problems since 2016. She raised a formal complaint to the landlord on 20 November 2023. She said there are regular issues with the lifts and at the point of her complaint, one had been out of service for 10 days. The other lift on the floor had also been out of service all day. She complained that this means elderly and disabled people in the block are housebound. She also had to cancel a knee replacement operation as she cannot trust there will be a working lift.
  3. The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response on 2 January 2024. It upheld the complaint and advised that it needed to order parts to rectify the issue, which they expected to be available on 4 January 2024.
  4. The resident escalated her complaint to stage 2 on 10 January 2024, as the lift was still out of service and contractors had not attended. She said the landlord was failing in its duty to supply a decent lift service to a 20-storey tower block.
  5. The landlord issued its stage 2 response on 5 March 2024, it apologised and said it had tried to repair the lift but had now decided to replace the current lift mechanism with a newer model, which would be part of the repairs programme for 2024.
  6. The resident referred her complaint to the Housing Ombudsman on 23 April 2024; she said her particular lift has been out of service since October 2023 and the landlord had not carried out further works to repair it.
  7. Following this, the landlord acknowledged another complaint on 3 September 2024. The resident was dissatisfied that the landlord had not taken steps to install a new lift mechanism into the out of service lift. She complained that the landlord was telling residents it was trying to find a solution when this was a waste of time, as it needed to instal a new lift mechanism. She said the other lift was currently out of service, meaning the entire block did not have a working lift.
  8. The landlord provided its stage 1 response to this complaint on 5 September 2024, it apologised for the inconvenience and said engineers were trying to reinstate the lift.
  9. The resident escalated the second complaint to stage 2 as she was unhappy with the landlord’s response. She said it did not acknowledge that the other lift in the block breaks down regularly and other residents cannot use stairs to get to the other lift.
  10. The landlord issued its stage 2 response for the second complaint on 27 September 2024. It said that the lift is on its replacement plan for the 2024 program, both lifts were working, and its contract engineer was monitoring them daily. The resident continued with her escalation to the Housing Ombudsman, as she was seeking for the landlord to fix the lifts, due to the ongoing issues. She said the lift had been put back in working order after being out of service for nearly a year, but there are intermittent problems.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. The evidence shows that the resident has raised several reports about the lifts on her floor breaking down since she moved into the property in 2004. In accordance with paragraph 42(c) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, we may not consider complaints that were not brought to the landlord’s attention as a formal complaint within a reasonable period, normally within 12 months of the matters arising. This is because residents are expected to raise complaints with their landlords in a timely manner so that the landlord has a reasonable opportunity to consider the issues whilst they are still ‘live’, and while the evidence is available to reach an informed conclusion on the events that occurred. This investigation will therefore consider the landlord’s handling of the matter from November 2022 onwards. However, the Ombudsman will not completely discount the date that the issue was initially reported to the landlord. Although we will not comment on how this was managed, the length of time the landlord took to complete the repairs may feature in our overall conclusion.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of lift breakdowns

  1. The landlord’s repair logs indicate that a callout job was raised for the lift breakdown on 15 November 2023. On the same day, engineers attended and found the drive had tripped, which they reset and tested. However, it kept tripping, and the lift had to be shut down.
  2. In line with the landlord’s repairs policy, a lift breakdown is classed as an emergency repair. The policy states the landlord will attend within 2 hours and fix the issue within 1 working day. We would have expected the landlord to act urgently, and it acted reasonably by ensuring its engineers attended the same day the issue was reported. As the contractor found a fault with the lift which could pose a risk to safety, the lift was taken out of service. This was appropriate and in line with the landlord’s lift servicing and testing procedure. While the Ombudsman recognises the inconvenience of the lift being out of service, it is important for landlords to prioritise the health and safety of its residents.
  3. On the 19 November 2023, another engineer attended and found the same error on the drive and tried to fix it. They found the drive could not be repaired and ordered a new unit. As this was from Germany, the minimum estimated time of arrival was 8 weeks. The landlord acted reasonably by instructing engineers to attend promptly, who were proactive in trying to find the issue and ordering the necessary parts.
  4. In its stage 1 response, the landlord advised that it expected the parts to be available on 4 January 2024. However, the resident contacted it on 10 January 2024, as she had not received an update, the lift remained out of service, and she had not seen any contractors attending to it. As the landlord did not adhere to the timeframe set out in the complaint resolution, the resident incurred additional time and effort chasing the matter. If the landlord deemed the timeframe was no longer achievable, it should have informed the resident of the reasons for the delay and provided an updated timeframe. As it failed to do so, it did not appropriately manage the resident’s expectations.
  5. The landlord has also explained that there was a further delay in it receiving the new drive unit as the order was processed over Christmas. While the Ombudsman recognises that this delay was outside of the landlord’s control, it should have been mindful of the Christmas period and provided a longer timescale. The Service appreciates the landlord was trying to get the issue rectified quickly, but it is important for landlords to manage expectations of residents and over-promising on timeframes can increase frustration and inconvenience.
  6. The repair logs indicate that the landlord changed the expected return to service dates to 12 February 2024 and then to 5 March 2024. The expected return to service dates far exceeded its repairs policy, and this was unreasonable. The repair logs also show that the other lift on the floor was having intermittent issues, particularly in October and November 2023. On both occasions, the Service notes that contractors were able to return the second lift to working order the day after it was reported. However, we recognise the inconvenience of having both lifts out of service at the same time, particularly because the resident lives on the 15th floor.
  7. The evidence indicates that a contractor attended on 16 February 2024 to repair the lift with the new part. However, they found the manufacturer had sent the incorrect part and the landlord had to place another order, which further delayed things. The landlord was regularly chasing its lift contractor and the manufacturer for updates on if the parts could be obtained sooner, as the timescale given was 2 March 2024. It was reasonable that the landlord was trying to get the parts as quickly as possible, as the lift had been out of service for 4 months, which far exceeded the repair timescales in the landlord’s policy.
  8. In its stage 2 response, the landlord said the drive should arrive and be ready for installation by 8 March 2024. It also explained that it had decided to overhaul the current mechanism and replace it with a newer model, forming part of the repairs programme for 2024. The Ombudsman recognises that the landlord was not responsible for the manufacturer sending the incorrect part and it therefore did not cause this further delay. It was also reasonable for the landlord to acknowledge that repairing the lift was no longer sustainable and to decide to replace it.
  9. It is unclear why the lift was not repaired in March 2024 and the resident requested further updates on the repair progress on 23 April and 29 July 2024. She also raised a second complaint in August 2024, as she said the landlord was wasting time by trying to find solutions to the current lift and not installing a new lift. The other lift was also out of service, meaning the entire block did not have a working lift. The Ombudsman notes that the lift had been out of service for 9 months at this point. As this was an ongoing repair issue, it would have been reasonable for the landlord to regularly update the resident on the next steps it was taking. This would have prevented the resident from needing to request updates, raising further complaints and helped to improve the tenant and landlord relationship. The Ombudsman’s Spotlight Report on Repairs (published May 2025) also said that it is the responsibility of landlords to maintain trust with residents and to aim to improve relationships with them.
  10. In its response to the second complaint, the landlord apologised and said the lift had to be taken out of service as a critical safety component failed and using it would pose a health and safety risk. The Ombudsman recognises that the safety of residents should be the paramount consideration for landlords. Due to the ongoing issues, the landlord confirmed that works to replace the lifts were anticipated to begin in January 2025 and it was carrying out works to prepare for the lift replacements. On 27 September 2024, the landlord confirmed both lifts were working and were being monitored daily by the contract engineer. The Service considers that it is reasonable that the landlord was being pro-active in regularly checking the lift and while we are pleased to see both lifts were put back in service, this took over 10 months.
  11. The landlord acted reasonably by apologising for the significant inconvenience to the resident; however, it did nothing further to put things right. Since the lifts were both repaired on 27 September 2024, the Service has seen evidence of various repair requests for the lifts, and the resident has said there have been ongoing intermittent issues with the lifts. Despite anticipating that works would begin to replace the lifts in January 2025, the resident has told the Service that no works have begun. The Service recognises that this was not guaranteed, however, it would have been reasonable for the landlord to keep the resident updated. It also should have put in place full and lasting resolutions within reasonable timeframes.
  12. In light of the failures noted above, the Ombudsman has determined that there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the reported lift breakdowns. In line with the Service’s remedies guidance, awards of £100-£600 are appropriate in cases where the landlord’s failure has adversely impacted the resident, and it has failed to address the detriment to the resident. In this case, the landlord failed to provide a lasting resolution or keep the resident regularly updated, which meant she had to repeatedly raise the issue and was facing intermittent issues with both lifts in the block. One of the lifts was out of service for 10 months and the other was having ongoing intermittent issues, lasting for at least a day at a time. This was a particular issue when she underwent a knee replacement procedure and because she lives on the 15th floor. Given the impact on the resident, this was unreasonable. The Ombudsman orders the landlord to pay £400 compensation directly to the resident.
  13. The Service recognises that while the landlord anticipated that works would start to replace the lifts in January 2025, this has not happened. The landlord has confirmed to the Ombudsman that the resident’s block has been approved to be refurbished, and works are scheduled for the first week of March 2026. As the resident has not been updated, we order that, within 4 weeks of this determination, the landlord must provide a full update by letter to the resident, with the current plans.

Complaint handling

  1. The Ombudsman notes that the resident raised her first complaint on 20 November 2023, which concluded the landlord’s complaints process on 5 March 2024. This related to the frequent issues the resident was having with the lifts. The landlord subsequently acknowledged another complaint from the resident on 3 September 2024, she said the landlord needed to install a new lift mechanism rather than trying to repair the lift. She said the other lift was out of service and so the entire block did not have a working lift. Therefore, both complaints were about the management of the lifts, and we consider the landlord to have addressed this in the initial complaint. After the resident completed the landlord’s complaints process for the first complaint, the landlord should not have restarted the complaints process. It would have been reasonable for the landlord to have reminded the resident about her right to approach the Ombudsman and continued to communicate with her outside of the complaint, to resolve the issue.
  2. The Service’s Complaint Handling Code sets out the requirements for landlords to operate effective complaint handling. The resident raised her initial formal complaint on 20 November 2023, and the Code says that landlords must issue a full stage 1 response within 10 working days of its complaint acknowledgement. The landlord acknowledged the complaint on 22 November 2023 and said it would aim to provide its written response by 18 December 2023. The landlord sent its stage 1 complaint response on 2 January 2024. The Code allows for 5 working days to acknowledge the complaint and then 10 working days to provide the response. Therefore, the landlord should have provided its response on 11 December 2023 in line with the Code, but it took a further 13 working days. It also failed to adhere to the timescale set in its acknowledgement. This is unreasonable given the inconvenience of the lift breakdown on the resident and that she was awaiting further information on when the issue would be resolved.
  3. The landlord provided its stage 2 acknowledgement on 9 February 2024 and its stage 2 response on 5 March 2024. The Code says landlords must issue a full stage 2 response within 20 working days of the acknowledgement. The landlord acted reasonably and in line with the Code, as it responded within the timeframe.
  4. For the second complaint, the Ombudsman has received limited information for when the resident raised this complaint, but it was acknowledged on 3 September 2024. The stage 1 response was provided on 5 September 2024 and was in line with the timeframe of 10 working days. The evidence indicates that the resident escalated her complaint to stage 2 on 7 September 2024 and the landlord issued its stage 2 response on 27 September 2024. This was within the timeframe set out in the Code of 20 working days.
  5. Overall, while the landlord was delayed in providing one of its complaint responses, it was within the stipulated timeframes for its other responses. The Ombudsman does not consider the one delayed response to have had a significant negative impact on the resident. The Ombudsman has therefore found that there was no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the complaint.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in its handling of the lift breakdowns.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the complaint.

Orders and recommendation

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of this report, the landlord must provide us with evidence to demonstrate that it has complied with the following orders:
    1. Pay £400 compensation to the resident.
    2. The landlord should provide a letter to the resident with an update on the lift refurbishment. This should include a schedule of works, noting the start date and estimated timeframe to complete the works.

Recommendation

  1. It is recommended that the landlord provides a letter to every resident in the block with an update on the lift refurbishment. This should include a schedule of works, noting the start date and estimated timeframe to complete the works.