Health and safety risks left unresolved for years, Ombudsman finds

The Housing Ombudsman has described examples of health and safety risks that should have been addressed as emergencies but were left unresolved for years, in its latest report.

In the most recent learning from severe administration report focusing on the ‘Big 6’ building safety compliance areas of asbestos, fire, water, gas, electrics and lifts, the Ombudsman called attention to cases where issues should have been sorted out within hours or days but were instead left for months or years.

These include a disabled resident who was ‘forced’ to have a family member carry her down the stairs after a lift was left out of action for 21 months in a block managed by housing association A2Dominion.

According to the Ombudsman, the resident was moved temporarily on at least eight occasions, while the landlord attempted to repair the lift eight times but did not provide repair records or details of how it categorised the repairs.

A2Dominion said it has since appointed two new contractors to service and maintain all passenger lifts and is trialling remote monitoring equipment aiming to improve performance and identify issues quicker.

Another incident described in the report was a Lambeth Council tenant who had to cover a collapsed ceiling in their home with black bin bags for two years.

The collapse happened two days after the resident complained about a leak but two months after they first reported the issues, said the report.

Lambeth Council said it is “underlining the importance of timely and effective responses to repair requests, the need for accurate and comprehensive record-keeping to ensure proper tracking and resolution of issues, and the value of proactive measures, such as risk assessments and interim solutions”, in response to the maladminisatration finding.

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In total, examples from 16 landlords are mentioned in the report.

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said “complaints can be an early warning sign of any problems and provide valuable insight to improve services.

“Concerningly, these cases show issues remaining unresolved for months or even years, despite many of them requiring emergency repairs. And the impact on a household can be profound, with some landlords doing too little to recognize the poor conditions some residents have been left to live in.”