Summary: Mrs B complained that the Council delayed in taking action to repair a leak in her temporary accommodation causing substantial damage. It also delayed moving her to alternative accommodation, failed to deal with problems in the second property and failed to respond properly to her complaint. We found fault with the actions of the Council. It has agreed to apologise to Mrs B, pay her £1000 and improve its procedures for the future.

The complaint

1. Mrs B complained that the London Borough of Harrow (the Council) failed to repair a leak in Mrs B’s accommodation which she first reported in July 2020. When the leak worsened in September 2021, the Council delayed in taking effective action to either repair the leak or provide emergency accommodation. The Council also failed to deal with further problems in the emergency accommodation and failed to keep to its promise that she could return to the original accommodation. It also failed to respond to her complaints properly. Mrs B and her family have been caused significant distress and inconvenience over a long period of time and the situation remains unresolved.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered the complaint and the documents provided by the complainant, made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided. Mrs B and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

5. Mrs B had been living with her husband and four children in temporary accommodation (Property C) since January 2019.
6. In July 2020 Mrs B reported a leak in the bathroom of the property. She sent photographs showing the damp patch on the ceiling. The Council said it had contacted the owner of the property. In August 2020 Mrs B contacted the Council again and it asked for a video of the leak which Mrs B provided. In February 2021 Mrs B contacted the Council to say the leak was still a problem. She said the Council did not respond.
7. In September 2021 Mrs B reported the leak again to the Council . She said it was getting so bad that the bathroom ceiling was in danger of collapsing and it was difficult for the family to use the bathroom. She also complained of a leak in the kitchen cupboards. The Council advised Mrs B to contact British Gas as the owner said it was responsible for the plumbing in the property. British Gas attended on 16 September 2021 and said the sink tap needed replacing in the kitchen. On 22 September 2021 the Council asked for photos of the damage and said it would contact British Gas for its report of the visit. On 29 September 2021 the Council asked for details of the flat upstairs.
8. On 11 October 2021 Mrs B said the ceiling was about to collapse. The Council said a builder was due to attend. On 17 October 2021 Mrs B said part of the ceiling had collapsed on her daughter in the shower and no builder had attended. The Council visited the property on 19 October 2021 and contacted the owner of the upstairs flat to fix the leak. On 22 October 2021 Mrs B said the builder had said he could not fix the problem in the upstairs flat as it was too big a job.
9. On 31 October 2021 Mrs B reported that both leaks in the bathroom and kitchen were worse, leaving smelly water in the kitchen and they were unable to use the bathroom. Mrs B said the next day that the electrics were unsafe and complained about the lack of action.
10. On 5 November 2021 the Council moved Mrs B and her family to alternative emergency accommodation (Property D). Mrs B complained immediately about water pressure problems which meant there was no water in the shower. On the 22 November 2021 the accommodation provider installed a water pump. Mrs B said it was too noisy. The Accommodation Provider said it could not resolve the noise because it could not box in the pump.
11. Mrs B instructed a solicitor. In December 2021 they requested a review of the suitability of Property D and made a stage one complaint about the delays in repairing the leak in Property C and the delay in finding Mrs B alternative accommodation. They also complained about the noisy pump in Property D and sent a video demonstrating the problem.
12. The Council responded to the stage one complaint in January 2022. It said a report of a toilet leak on 22 July 2020 had been fixed a week later and it did not receive any other reports of a leak until September 2021. It said the leak in Property C was now being fixed through the owner’s insurance company and Mrs B could move back when the repairs were completed in approximately four to five weeks. Alternatively, she could move to different temporary accommodation, but it may not be in her preferred area.
13. In February 2022 she escalated her complaint to stage two of the complaints procedure. She denied any repair was done in July 2020 and complained about comments made by the Council regarding her current circumstances. The Council responded on 21 February 2022. It apologised for the comments made in the first complaint response and said it was in the process of finding her new accommodation. It did not comment on the leak.
14. The Council found new temporary accommodation, which Mrs B accepted and moved into on 14 March 2022. Property C was handed back to the owner and was no longer available. Mrs B then complained to us.
15. The Council in response to my enquiries said that it had no evidence that the leak was repaired in July 2020. It said the leak in Property C was coming from the upstairs flat but the delay in repairing it was due to the tenant’s insurance company.

Analysis

Property C

16. The Council did not take effective action to repair the leak when Mrs B first reported it in July 2020. It took some steps to contact the property owner but did not take any follow-up action. This was fault. If the Council had repaired the leak at this point, it would not have got worse, and Mrs B would not have had to move to alternative accommodation.
17. Mrs B says she did not contact the Council again until February 2021 which indicates the leak was not having a significant impact on the household at this point. But the Council missed another opportunity to repair the leak.
18. When Mrs B reported the problem for a third time in September 2021 the damage was now significant, but the Council still took a month to visit the property. By this time some of the ceiling had collapsed and the bathroom was unusable. The Council took a further month to find Mrs B alternative accommodation. I accept the Council took some action at this time, but it was too slow, and Mrs B had to endure unsuitable housing conditions for too long. I consider the Council should have moved Mrs B within a month, once it established the leak was coming from the flat upstairs and was outside the Council’s control to fix.

Property D

19. It was unfortunate that there was a problem with the water pressure when Mrs B moved into Property D. I would have expected the Council to be aware of any defects in accommodation it provides in these situations. This caused Mrs B further distress and inconvenience in having to report a new problem and ensure it was fixed. The Council initially ensured prompt action was taken within three weeks to install a new pump. Unfortunately, this created a new problem as it was noisy. Once it was established this problem could not be rectified the Council took steps to find Mrs B new accommodation and she moved within three months. I have not found fault here.

Complaint response

20. The stage one complaint response contained inaccurate information that the leak was from the toilet and had been fixed in July 2020. The stage two response did not address the issue of the leak at all. This was fault which caused Mrs B frustration and the time and trouble of pursuing her complaint. If the Council had carried out a proper complaint investigation it should have identified the errors in the Council’s actions and offered an appropriate resolution for Mrs B’s time, trouble and inconvenience.
21. The complaint response also raised Mrs B’s expectation that she could move back to Property C, but the Council then failed to provide any further update on progress with the work and in the end moved her to a different property. I accept this situation was outside the Council’s control, but it should have kept Mrs B informed so she could prepare for a move to her third property in less than six months

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Agreed action

22. In recognition of the injustice caused to Mrs B, I recommended that the Council:
• within one month of the date of my final decision, apologises to Mrs B and pays her £1000; and
• within three months of the date of my final decision,
1. reviews its procedure for responding to disrepair in temporary accommodation to ensure there is a checking process on each report to monitor when repairs are completed; and
2. reviews its complaints procedure to ensure all matters are properly investigated, evidence is provided to support the responses and any follow-up actions are completed.
23. The Council has agreed to my recommendations and should provide us with evidence it has complied with them.

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Final decision

24. I consider this is a proportionate way of putting right the injustice caused to Mrs B and I have completed my investigation on this basis.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman