Council under ‘wide ranging’ investigation after housing failures

By Adrian Zorzut, Local Democracy Reporter

England’s housing regulator has launched a “wide-ranging” investigation into a West London council following a string of failures.

The Housing Ombudsman is investigating Hammersmith and Fulham Council (LBHF) to uncover whether its handling of complaints and repairs is indicative of a wider problem, a report revealed.

The watchdog said it was concerned about the number of delays being reported and how the council was dealing with them.

It said there are 13 high or medium risk cases currently open and 12 findings of severe maladministration since April last year.

The Ombudsman will use special powers bestowed on it to investigate individual complaints and advise on changes to LBHF’s housing department.

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said: “After repeated failures in the past year by this landlord, we’ve seen a high number of cases concerning the landlord identified as high or medium risk. Under the circumstances, I’ve asked my team to expedite these investigations.

“Other cases with us concern similar issues and may indicate a repeated failing. Conducting a further investigation, using our systemic powers under paragraph 49 of the Scheme to identify areas for the landlord to learn and improve, is therefore required.”

Freddie Poser, from the housing reform charity PricedOut, said the UK had one of the oldest housing stocks in the world with most of today’s social housing built decades ago.

He said this means homes are poor at conserving energy, have damp and are often unsafe to live in, hurting both the financial and physical health of those living in them.

He said: “It isn’t a surprise that councils are struggling to protect residents, there are just so many people suffering. In the short term it is important that the ombudsman drives social landlords to improve conditions for residents and protect the most vulnerable.

“In the long term, however, the only sensible remedy has to be building more homes of a good quality in the places which people want to live. Without more homes the pressure on social and private rented homes will continue to increase.”

It comes as the West London local authority was recently fined £18k for a string of repair failures, including leaving a dad and his young daughter in a mouldy flat for four years and causing a cancer patient to go without a reliable hot water supply for two-and-a-half years.

LBHF has said it is reforming its housing repairs service, including successfully exiting an underfunded 10-year maintenance contract in 2019.

It has increased funding for repairs to £30million annually and also plans to invest more than £600million to “radically improve” its council homes over the next 12 years.

Commenting on the investigation, LBHF strategic director of economy, Jon Pickstone, said: “We fully recognise the historic failings in our handling of complaints and repairs in our ageing housing stock.

“The severe maladministration findings referenced by the Ombudsman relate to a period when one of our three major contractors exited abruptly, the impact of which was exacerbated by the Covid pandemic.

“We have apologised unreservedly to those affected. We will co-operate fully with the Ombudsman’s investigation and look forward to receiving its report. We will study it closely and act on its recommendations.”

Pictured top: White City estate in Hammersmith and Fulham borough (Picture: Google Street View)