Housing watchdog rebukes Camden Council over ‘defensive’ complaints culture

The Housing Ombudsman has criticised Camden Council’s conduct as a landlord after finding evidence of a “defensive” approach to handling residents’ complaints.

A special report published yesterday (28 November) found that the council had repeatedly failed to properly maintain and repair its housing stock.

The Town Hall also neglected to make proper adjustments for vulnerable residents, with one deaf individual’s request for an interpreter delayed for four months.

“The landlord’s complaint handling shows insufficient recognition of residents’ vulnerabilities and the impact,” the report stated.

Housing Ombudsman Richard Blakeway had received a “significant volume of severe maladministration findings” at a rate of 83 per cent in 2023-24.

Documents seen by the watchdog also showed “dismissive” tones from officers dealing with requests, which risked “discouraging the acknowledgement of valid complaints”.

“Repairs management suffered from record-keeping inaccuracies and gaps, significantly contributing to failures in cases.

“Although the landlord may not have intended to appear dismissive of resident complaints, its practices and communications created a perception of a defensive culture,” the Ombudsman added.

A total of 57 individual complaints were investigated, and Blakeway made 124 findings of “maladministration”.

This means the landlord failed to do something, did something it should not have, or in the watchdog’s eyes, “delayed unreasonably”.

In one case, a man with arthritis and other health issues, who relied on a service dog, was repeatedly forced to climb his council block’s stairs due to the lift being out of use for most of the time he lived there.

“The landlord had previously received complaints about the lift but did not learn from these to prevent the impact on the resident,” the report stated.

The council has since found the man an alternative, permanent place to live.

In a separate case about renovation work, one leaseholder was left waiting for over six years before the Town Hall responded to their complaint.

Another resident was reportedly living in “persistent” disrepair, including damp and mould, for over three years — “severely impacting her mental health”.

“The issues weren’t addressed until the Ombudsman intervened.”

Camden Council’s maladministration rate for repairs averaged 91 per cent compared to 73 per cent nationally, and 86 per cent compared to 84 per cent for complaint handling respectively.

However, the Ombudsman was pleased to note that the local authority has changed its processes in light of the findings.

“The landlord has engaged positively throughout this investigation. I welcome its new vision to create a culture that views complaints as opportunities for improvement rather than failures. These are important steps.

“The landlord needs to understand why several opportunities are missed to put things right, which may leave residents living in unsuitable and avoidable conditions.

“To build trust and ensure residents’ voices are genuinely heard, comprehensive training and a strategic shift towards proactive, respectful engagement are imperative as the landlord continues to improve its services,” Blakeway stated.

Camden Council gave its reply as a ‘learning statement’ in the report, pledging to go “above and beyond” the watchdog’s recommendations.

“Our tenants and leaseholders deserve high-quality, responsive and empathetic services, and we have been investing and working hard to improve the services they receive.

“As a council we have experienced many years of under-investment from government and there is a critical shortage of affordable housing.

“We are pleased that report acknowledges our commitment to the long-term improvement of housing and repairs services through our established transformation programme.

“The Ombudsman has also acknowledged our engagement with them and our proactive work to make key improvements throughout the investigation, and we will continue to work with them as we make further progress.

The local authority noted that cases covered in the report were generally from 2022 or before.

“Since then we have changed and improved many aspects of our services. We have more work to do, and we have comprehensive plans in place that will deliver further improvements.”

The council pointed to its setting up a housing and property residents panel, a complaints and oversight panel, as well as its program of “intensive resident engagement”.

The Citizen approached the council for further comment, but was told that it had nothing more to add.