Apologies and £5k compensation for tenant who waited nearly a year for repairs

Westminster City council has agreed to pay a tenant nearly £4,800 after taking 11 months to repair exposed electrical wires in his bathroom.

According to a report before the council, the tenant, who has not been named, had been living alone in community supported housing and was suffering from asthma, rheumatoid arthritis and depression at the time of his initial complaint in December 2023.

The resident said he had been reporting the issue for some time but that no repairs had been completed. He also requested adaptations to the bathroom to make it more suitable, including a level-access shower as water was not draining properly.

The tenant was assessed a month later and told the adaptations were not possible and was instead advised to bid for other properties.

The council said they were not previously alerted to a leaking shower but sent a surveyor on January 2, last year, who was not able to access the shower unit because there was no power. The tenant escalated his complaint in September, saying many of the problems in his initial complaint still hadn’t been resolved.

A surveyor was sent to inspect the property on October 1 and three weeks later, contractors renewed and rerouted cabling in the bathroom and updated the fuse box. An investigation by the council then found the electrics kept tripping, affecting the shower supply.

In November 2024, the housing team manager and chief of repairs visited the tenant and apologised.

They said their response to the tenant’s December 2023 complaint was late and that the subsequent investigation should have been more thorough. They acknowledged the resident had to ‘put more time and trouble’ into pursuing his complaint and that the stage 2 complaint had ‘taken the maximum time allowed’.

The report read: “The resident indicated that they were not looking for compensation as an outcome to their complaint. However, to comply with the council’s policies and procedures, we recommend an offer of £4,795.74.”

The compensation included returning 50 per cent of the rent paid since December 2023. The authorities have since completed a medical assessment form and will return to inspect ventilation in the kitchen and a window the tenant is finding difficult to open. Smoke alarms are expected to be changed and a review of the layout of the bathroom, shower screen and towel rail will take place.

Westminster City council has been approached for comment.

Picture: Pixabay/Michal Jarmoluk