London Borough of Tower Hamlets (202426456)

Decision
Case ID	202426456
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Landlord type	Local Authority / ALMO or TMO
Occupancy	Secure Tenancy
Date	31 October 2025

Background

The resident lives in a flat. The resident’s partner was pregnant at the time he reported the leak in the bathroom. They have 2 young children.

What the complaint is about

The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of a leak in the bathroom at the resident’s property.
We have also considered the landlord’s complaint handling.

Our decision (determination)

There was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of a leak in the bathroom at the resident’s property.
The landlord made an offer of redress which, in our opinion, resolved errors in its complaint handling.

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

Summary of reasons

Handling of a leak in the bathroom

The landlord did not follow its leaks procedure and failed to carry out the repairs in line with its published timescales. The landlord acknowledged some of its delays, but the underlying issue that caused the leak remains unresolved. The landlord has not provided an appropriate remedy to recognise the impact caused to the resident.

Complaint handling

There were delays in the landlord sending its complaint responses. It appropriately apologised for this and awarded compensation in its final response to the resident’s complaint in October 2024.

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 28 November 2025
2	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £500 to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by its errors in its handling of a repair in the bathroom. This includes the £275 awarded in the landlord’s stage 2 complaint response which it may deduct from the total if this has already been 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 28 November 2025
3	Inspection order The landlord must contact the resident to arrange an inspection of the leak coming through the resident’s bathroom ceiling. This inspection is to be in line with its leaks procedure for how it should respond to a complex leak. It must take all reasonable steps to ensure the inspection is completed by the due date. The inspection must be completed by a suitably qualified person. If the landlord cannot gain access to complete the inspection, it must provide us with documentary evidence of its attempts to inspect the property no later than the due date. What the inspection must achieve The landlord must ensure that the surveyor: Inspects and carries out an investigation to diagnose the cause of leaks coming through the resident’s bathroom ceiling. The surveyor must produce a written report with photographs. The survey report must set out: The most likely cause of the leaks coming through the bathroom ceiling. Whether the landlord is responsible to repair or resolve the issue together with reasons where it is not responsible. A full scope of works to achieve a lasting and effective resolution to the issue (if the landlord is responsible). The likely timescales to commence and complete the work. Whether temporary alternative accommodation is necessary either because of the condition of the property or during the works.	No later than 28 November 2025

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
26 June 2024	The resident complained about a leak coming through the bathroom ceiling from the neighbour’s flat above. He said: The leak had been on-going for a month. The bathroom ceiling and the tiling in the bathroom were damaged. There was no lighting in the bathroom because the landlord had disconnected the electrics to make it safe. The resident said he was shocked the landlord had not carried out any repairs to the neighbour’s flat above or his property to fix the leak. He said the bathroom was dangerous for his pregnant wife and young children. This was because the bathroom had no lighting, and the floor had become a slip hazard. The resident asked the landlord to carry out the works to resolve the leak and repair the damage caused to his bathroom.
24 July 2024	The landlord sent the resident its stage 1 complaint response. The landlord: Apologised for its delay in resolving the leak. Accepted it had not initiated its usual process in responding to a report of a leak. Explained the resident’s neighbour above was a leaseholder and the repairs in that property were the neighbour’s responsibility. Said the resident had requested for the light in the bathroom to not be reinstated until the plastering repairs had been completed. The landlord said it had visited the resident’s property to repair the ceiling in the bathroom, but its contractor suspected it contained asbestos. It was waiting for the results of its asbestos survey. The landlord said it would then carry out the repairs to the resident’s bathroom which it would monitor until they had been completed. The landlord agreed to assess any compensation after it had resolved the repair.
14 August 2024	The resident escalated the complaint. He said there had been another leak coming through the ceiling in the bathroom and he had been left without lighting in the room since 23 July 2024. The resident was unhappy the landlord had not visited the property to trace where the leak was coming from and that the issue had not been resolved. The resident said the landlord had not taken into consideration the wellbeing of his pregnant wife and young children.
8 October 2024	The landlord sent the resident its stage 2 complaint response. The landlord apologised for its delay in carrying out the repairs to the resident’s bathroom. It awarded the resident £275 compensation which it said had considered that his partner had been pregnant. This was broken down as: £250 for time, trouble and inconvenience in its handling of the repair. £25 for its delays in its complaint handling.
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident was unhappy with the landlord’s offer of compensation and asked us to investigate. He said he has had further leaks coming through the ceiling in the bathroom after the landlord’s final response and the issue remains unresolved. The resident said he wanted the landlord to: Take responsibility for its failings in its handling of the leak. Apologise for how it communicated with him about the leaks. Investigate and fully resolve the leak coming through the ceiling in the bathroom of his property.

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 a leak in the bathroom at the resident’s property.
Finding	Maladministration

The resident has stated he was aware of having issues with leaks coming through the ceiling in the bathroom for more than 2 years. He raised a formal complaint on 26 June 2024. We have not seen any evidence he was prevented from raising a complaint sooner. In the interest of fairness, and considering the availability of evidence, this investigation is focused on events occurring in 2024. This is when her most recent report was made within 12 months prior to her complaint, which we will consider a reasonable timescale.
The landlord aims to respond to emergency repairs (such as a water leak that cannot be contained) within 2 hours to make it safe. The landlord’s contractor responded within 3 hours to the leak coming through the bathroom ceiling on 16 May 2024. Whilst this was just outside of its published timescales, the contractor acted appropriately by:
1. Disconnecting the bathroom light for the safety of the resident’s family.
2. Reinstating the light once the ceiling had dried out, 6 days later.
The resident reported a further leak coming through the bathroom ceiling on 26 May 2024. The contractor attended within its published timescales and disconnected the light. Whilst it was positive the contractor inspected the neighbour’s flat above on this visit, it should have taken this action 10 days earlier when the resident first reported the leak.
On 28 May 2024 the contractor recommended to the landlord that it should carry out a further inspection of the plumbing in the neighbour’s bathroom. The contractor also recommended it should seal the areas around the neighbour’s bath to prevent further leaks. The contractor completed this work 40 working days later on 23 July 2024. The landlord has accepted in its stage 1 complaint response (July 2024) that this delay was caused by it failing to follow its own leaks process. This should have been completed as a routine repair which the landlord states it aims to complete within 20 working days.

The landlord’s leaks procedure describes a complex leak as being where there has been a recurring leak from the same source in a 12-month period. Where there is a problem in diagnosing a complex leak the landlord will carry out a joint inspection with its contractor and will take the necessary steps to trace the leak.
The resident reported a further leak coming through the ceiling in the bathroom between 23 July 2024 and 25 July 2024. Whilst the landlord acknowledged this leak in its final response (October 2024), we have not been provided with any evidence it had taken any steps to investigate the leak in line with its leaks procedure. We consider 3 leaks within 3 months in the same place to have been a recurring issue. This would define it as a complex leak which the landlord should have investigated as such. Our order for the landlord to carry out an inspection is to ensure it properly diagnoses the underlying cause of this leak.
The resident has also told us he has experienced a further 2 leaks coming from the same place following the landlord’s final response to his complaint. He said the issue remains unresolved. This is a total of 5 leaks coming through the ceiling in the resident’s bathroom in 16 months. We have no power to investigate the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of these 2 further leaks. This is because these complaints have not exhausted the landlord’s complaints process and so the landlord has not had the chance to put things right first. We will not comment further about these 2 further leaks.
The landlord repaired the resident’s ceiling in the bathroom by 30 November 2024. This was 94 working days after the resident reported the third leak on 23 July 2024, and 141 working days after he reported the first leak. We accept this type of repair (routine) may take longer than its published timescale of 20 working days due to its need to resolve the leak before it did the works. The ceiling would also need to have dried out. In this case, the landlord also needed to complete an asbestos survey which it did on 31 July 2024.
However, we have not seen any evidence the landlord kept the resident informed about its timescales during its handling of this repair. We would expect the landlord to have communicated with the resident during these 4 months, setting out for him when the works would be completed. We understand the resident chased the landlord for updates. We also acknowledge the landlord’s lack of response frustrated and inconvenienced him whilst he was trying to seek a resolution to the repairs in his bathroom.

The resident was without lighting in his bathroom for 114 days (26 May 2024 to 2 July 2024 and 23 July 2024 to 8 October 2024). During this significant period of time we have not seen any evidence the landlord offered any alternative solutions such as portable lighting. We understand this would have had a significant adverse impact on the resident. This is especially so when it is combined with the hazard of water leaking through the ceiling, his wife being pregnant, and having young children all needing to use the bathroom.
The landlord has acknowledged its delays in completing the repairs to the resident’s bathroom. It apologised for this and awarded the resident £250 compensation for this aspect of the resident’s complaint. Whilst it is positive the landlord attempted to put things right; we do not consider the landlord’s offer of £250 compensation to have gone far enough. This offer does not reflect the overall delays, lack of communication, and that the resident and his family have lived with this recurring leak intermittently, for an unreasonable amount of time.
This has caused the resident and his family significant distress and inconvenience, and they have had to live with the disruption for longer than needed due to the landlord’s delays. This could have been avoided if the landlord had carried out its investigations into the leak and any subsequent repairs in line with its published processes. The landlord missed the chance to put things right resulting in our finding of maladministration.
Our remedies guidance (published on our website) sets out our approach to compensation. This suggests awards of between £100 and £600 for such situations, where there was a failure that adversely affected the resident with no permanent impact.

Complaint	The handling of the complaint
Finding	Reasonable redress

The landlord’s stage 1 complaint response was sent 11 working days after it acknowledged the resident’s complaint. This was also 20 working days after the resident initially raised a formal complaint. Whilst this delay was not excessive, we would expect the landlord to respond in line with the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code), which sets out our expectations for landlords’ complaint handling.

The landlord should have:
1. Acknowledged the resident’s complaint within 5 working days.
2. Provided its stage 1 complaint response within 10 working days of its acknowledgement.
The landlord sent its stage 2 complaint response 39 working days after the resident asked it to escalate his complaint. This delay was outside the timeframes set out in the Code. We would expect a landlord to provide its stage 2 complaint response within 20 working days. We note this delay would have inconvenienced the resident who was trying to seek a resolution to his complaint.
The landlord accepted there were delays in its handling of the resident’s complaint. Where there are admitted failings by a landlord, our role is to consider whether the redress offered by the landlord put things right and resolved the resident’s complaint satisfactorily in the circumstances. In considering this we consider whether the landlord’s offer of redress was in line with our dispute resolution principles of be fair (follow fair processes and recognise what went wrong), put things right, and learn from outcomes.
The landlord’s apology and offer of £25 compensation for this aspect of the resident’s complaint was appropriate in the circumstances.

Learning

Communication

In this case, the records show the landlord did not follow its leaks procedure and it failed to provide clear and regular updates to the resident during these repairs. The resident’s dissatisfaction may have been avoided if the landlord’s repairs and maintenance team followed its processes and communicated this to the resident.
The landlord should ensure it responds to complaints in line with the timescales set out in the Code. The Code sets out that in some circumstances the landlord may need further time to respond to a resident’s complaint. This should not exceed a further 10 working days at stage 1 and 20 working days at stage 2, without good reason. If the landlord considers due to the complexity of the complaint, it requires this extension, it must clearly explain this to the resident. When the landlord informs a resident about any extension it must also provide the resident with our contact details.