London Borough of Lambeth (07B15371)

Housing repairs                      Maladministration causing injustice 

11 August 2008 

Lambeth Council delayed repeatedly in completing repairs to a tenant’s home. The Ombudsman says the Council “…continued to fail to get to grips with repairs at [the property]”, and commented that “The failings have led to a justifiable sense of outrage and loss of faith in the Council’s commitment to complete the work.”

The Council has agreed to the Ombudsman’s recommendations to pay compensation and complete any further works recommended by an independent surveyor within three months.

‘Mr Oak’ (not his real name for legal reasons) took over the tenancy of a council-owned cottage from his father. He notified the Council that works were needed to the property, which had not been repaired or refurbished by the Council for some years.

The Council identified that extensive repairs were needed and commenced some works in 2005, but it did not complete them before April 2007. The Ombudsman concluded at that time that there had been unreasonable delay and the Council agreed that it would pay Mr Oak £4,000 for the delay and complete the outstanding works within 12 weeks.

However, the repairs were still not completed within this time, and the Ombudsman concluded in his report that there had been further unreasonable delay due to a failure to implement proper project management controls.

The Ombudsman finds maladministration causing injustice and the Council has accepted his recommendations that it should:

• pay Mr Oak £1,000 for the further six month delay in completing the works at the property;
• pay for an independent surveyor to inspect the property; and
• agree to complete any works the independent surveyor believes are still required within three months from the date of the surveyor’s report and to the surveyor’s satisfaction.

Date Updated: 21/10/08