Gove seeks meeting with L&Q boss over ‘severe failings’

The ombudsman’s report

In its report on L&Q, the ombudsman identified six key themes and set out a series of recommendations. These are on areas including complaint-handling, compensation, vulnerabilities, repairs, damp and mould and anti-social behaviour.

The ombudsman said that complaint responses demonstrated “little empathy” and in some cases were “overtly dismissive, heavy-handed and lacking respect”.

The ombudsman has recommended that L&Q designs monitoring criteria to track performance and implement quality assurance checks.

It also recommended that the landlord reviews the equalities information held on casework to inform an objective assessment of whether the diverse communities it serves are being appropriately served.

There were repeated examples of the landlord not awarding compensation in a fair, reasonable or consistent way, the ombudsman said.

The landlord failed to embed its ‘vulnerable residents policy’ in its daily dealings with residents and did not accurately record when a resident was vulnerable or needed additional support, the report said.

As a result, it did not adapt its approach to residents who most needed help, the agency said. 

The ombudsman has recommended training for all staff on service adjustment needs and a review of staff objectives and recruitment on customer focus and values.

This includes mechanisms for possible disciplinary action where courtesy and respect is found to be at fault.

In 2022-23, 73 per cent of all complaints made to L&Q were about repairs and maintenance. The landlord repeatedly failed in the cases investigated to meet obligations under the Landlord and Tenant Act and was slow to identify and respond to hazards, according to the ombudsman. 

As a result, the ombudsman has recommended designing monitoring criteria to track the progress of its repairs change project and make improvements to its record-keeping.

The landlord failed to consistently identify damp and mould as the root cause of many of its disrepair cases, the report said. This led to reports of damp and mould treated in isolation, with repeat visits and an overall failure to consider the presence and seriousness of damp and mould.

The ombudsman also found that L&Q did not follow its own anti-social behaviour policy, which says the landlord will take account of vulnerabilities, carry out a risk assessment and set out a plan of action.

In reality, reports were not acted on and vulnerable residents were exposed to anti-social behaviour for a prolonged period of time.

In one case investigated by the ombudsman, internal emails show staff reacting to failed repairs by suggesting the landlord send a supervisor instead of a surveyor, because “at least he looks like the surveyor”.

In another case the housing association said they needed to take action so not to “appear on ITV News again”. The landlord also told another resident it would pay compensation only if they agreed to a confidentiality clause in their tenancy agreement.

Housing ombudsman Richard Blakeway said: “While the landlord makes a significant contribution to housing and has many committed staff, the scale of the findings in this report are indicative of a period of significant failure in its services.

“Resident concerns were repeatedly dismissed or poorly handled, without the respect they or their issues deserved. Crucially, the needs of vulnerable residents were not always identified, and too often this caused serious detriment and risk to them.

“The landlord consistently failed to take sufficient action on its own monitoring and warning signs that were evident in its complaints and independent reviews – leading to a prolonged period of decline, especially in areas like repairs and complaints-handling.”

Mr Blakeway said that he welcomed the steps L&Q is taking in response to the investigation, but that it needs to go further.

He said: “This time it must embed change. It must not let the illusion of activity distract from real change. Its residents deserve better; they are impatient to see change.”

L&Q’s response

L&Q responded to the Housing Ombudsman’s report but did not comment on Mr Gove’s letter.

Fiona Fletcher-Smith, group chief executive at L&Q, said: “We recognise that we’ve got things wrong, and we welcome this extremely valuable learning process.

“My senior leadership colleagues and I are personally contacting the residents whose complaints the ombudsman judged to have involved service failure or maladministration on our part. We have apologised for the completely unacceptable service they have received. L&Q has let them down, and I’m truly sorry for that.

“What really matters to us is putting things right for residents and using the report’s learnings to correct historic failings, continue building a resident-centred culture, and ensure we deliver a quality service every time.”

Ms Fletcher-Smith said that when she became chief executive in 2021, she and the board put in place a new five-year improvement and investment strategy to tackle the problems that had emerged.

This was developed through listening to residents, and resolutely focused on the safety and quality of existing homes and services.

Ms Fletcher-Smith said that L&Q has made “significant progress” to address the operational issues highlighted in the ombudsman’s report, and these are already delivering improvements.

She said the housing association’s £3bn, 15-year major works investment programme, launched last year, is making sure every resident’s home is safe, decent and more energy efficient, and will also drive down repairs.

L&Q is also progressing further improvements to tackle damp and mould through its Healthy Homes Project, which has already carried out 20,000 home visits and installed 14,000 humidity sensors.

Ms Fletcher-Smith said that the new, localised housing management approach the provider implemented last year is putting 30 per cent more frontline colleagues in local neighbourhoods where they are better placed to proactively support residents and communities and be more responsive to the needs of vulnerable residents.

L&Q also established an “extensive training programme” for resident-facing colleagues to help it deliver an “empathetic and responsive resident experience” and manage poor performance, she said.

L&Q is overhauling its complaint-handling; investing in additional staff, training and other resources; prioritising efficiency and good communication; and embedding learning from complaints in its process.

Underpinning these changes is a £40m investment in a new housing management system and other technologies.

Ms Fletcher-Smith said these will improve how the housing association manages its data and information, and how it communicates with residents, and in particular vulnerable residents who may need different types of support.

She concluded: “We have a clear plan, a dedicated and committed team to deliver it, and we are confident that the changes we’re making will ensure residents receive the quality homes and services they deserve.

“We are grateful to the ombudsman for their work, and we look forward to ongoing collaboration to make further improvements.”