Gove writes to bosses of major landlords as part of ‘naming and shaming’ push

Responses from housing associations and councils

Notting Hill Genesis

A Notting Hill Genesis spokesperson, referring to a case involving an unsafe window, said: “We are very sorry for the unacceptable length of time it took us to replace the resident’s windows and the serious inconvenience it caused her and her family. Our standards fell way below what we demand.

“We appreciate the engagement of the secretary of state and will be writing back to explain the steps we have taken to improve our processes following this complaint, as well as reinforcing our commitment to meeting the priorities and expectations of our residents – the core philosophy of our new Better Together corporate strategy.

“Any finding of this nature comes as a huge disappointment to us and we will ensure this acts as motivation to get issues like this right first time in future.”

Peabody (parent of Catalyst)

A spokesperson for Peabody, referring to a case of severe maladministration involving a resident with mobility issues, said: “We are terribly sorry we let this resident down in this case. We’ve paid the resident compensation and carried out the full list of recommendations from the ombudsman.

“Since the complaint in January 2022, we have reviewed and tightened procedures and increased our resources to ensure we are better at handling repairs, managing complaints, keeping our records up to date and, most importantly, communicating with residents.”

The spokesperson added: “We are working to improve overall services for residents at a more local level and are prioritising investment in our existing homes. We are listening and using every opportunity to make things right, learn lessons and improve.”

MTVH 

A spokesperson for MTVH, in reference to a case involving poor fire safety compliant-handling, said: “We accepted the Housing Ombudsman’s findings in full at the time and have apologised to the resident that their complaint was not handled satisfactorily.

“Since this ruling, we have taken steps to improve our complaints-handling service to avoid similar occurrences in the future. We have responded to Mr Gove’s letter providing assurance of the learnings from this case and of our commitment to continuously developing and improving the services we provide.”

Westminster City Council

A Westminster City Council spokesperson, on a case where it left a newborn living in damp and mould, said: “The council fully accepts the findings from the Housing Ombudsman in this case which dates back to 2021. We have apologised to the resident for the distress caused to them due to our failings.

“We know that the housing services our residents have been receiving have not always been as good as they need to be. The lessons we’ve learnt from this regrettable case have directly informed our service improvements including how we identify, record and tailor our service to support vulnerable housing residents.

“Earlier this year we introduced a council-wide Housing Improvement Programme. This includes reviewing the repairs process and working with our contractors to significantly improve the service our residents receive.

“We would like to thank the ombudsman for their engagement with us and with our residents, who recently hosted an event for them to speak directly to residents about the valuable role they play.”

Nottingham City Council 

Responding to a case where the council failed a disabled resident on repairs, Jay Hayes, portfolio holder for housing at Nottingham City Council, said: “I’d like to sincerely apologise on behalf of the council to the resident affected here for the issues she and her family faced as Nottingham City Homes tenants.

“It’s clear that standards fell well short of where they should have been, and we understand the impact this must have had on their daily lives. All recommendations from the Housing Ombudsman have been fully accepted and implemented, and an apology rightly issued on behalf of the authority.

“We took the decision to bring housing management back in house from April this year, following the previous arm’s-length management arrangements.

“This has reinforced our need and determination to not just put things right in this case, but to introduce the systems and processes to support council staff to get things right first time as part of a broader programme of improvement.”

Camden Council

Georgia Gould, leader of Camden Council, said: “Councils are providers of housing, and most council funding comes from the government. The reality is the government have stripped our funds over the last 12 years.

“Despite all of this, we are investing more than £200m in a wide range of housing safety improvements; we’ve published all fire risk assessments and carried out more than 40,000 individual safety improvements and repairs. We were the first council to strip dangerous cladding from our tower blocks following Grenfell and I won’t be content until every safety action is complete.

“We haven’t waited for government to act, rather we will continue to push our stretched resources to focus on even faster action to keep residents safe.”

Ealing Council

A council spokesperson, in reference to this case, said: “Ealing Council strives to provide the best housing service in London. We are committed to providing high-quality housing services to our residents and take complaints and grievances very seriously.

“However, we acknowledge that, in this case, our procedures and communication failed to meet the expected standards. We recognise our shortcomings and the subsequent unacceptable impact on our residents. 

We sincerely apologised to the tenants affected by the level of service they received. This level of service is not what any tenant should expect from us. 

“As a result the council took immediate action to overhaul our internal complaint-handling process. We also made access to our service easier for users. In addition, the contractor in question in this case was stood down. We are replacing them with a new contractor to deliver on repairs and meet our residents’ needs.

“The maladministration findings from the Housing Ombudsman service have allowed us to review where our standards of service were not at the levels we expect and this has allowed us to improve the service to benefit all of our residents. 

“Ealing Council prioritises vulnerable tenants and seeks to do our best for our residents. We are rapidly improving our repair service with the new contractor and management to ensure we meet the standards our resident expect.”

Milton Keynes Council

A statement from Milton Keynes Council, referring to a case where it led to a disabled resident and her son living with multiple repairs issues outstanding for years, said: “We have apologised to our tenant for how we handled this matter, and have since made significant changes within our housing team to improve our response.”

Tandridge Council

Catherine Sayer, leader of Tandridge Council, in reference to this case, said: “We recognise there were problems in how we dealt with this long-running case which has stretched over several years and we didn’t fully consider the resident’s needs and vulnerabilities.

“We are sincerely sorry for the distress and inconvenience caused. Compensation was paid to the resident and we continue to work with and support them with their future needs.”

Ms Sayer said improvements had been made, including refresher training for all customer-facing staff and a review of the council’s staffing structure.

She added: “In addition, we made a referral to the Regulator of Social Housing who was satisfied with the response and action we have taken and they did not require us to take any further action.”

Lambeth Council

Maria Kay, Lambeth’s cabinet member for better homes and reducing homelessness, said: “The council’s service to this resident fell far below the standards we expect in Lambeth. We have apologised for the distress and disruption caused and have completed all the works required for the property. The resident and their family have been moved to a new property and we have paid compensation to them in recognition of the service failures they experienced.

“I do not believe the service they received in recent years reflects the service the council is providing to residents today. We are working hard to improve that service, correcting historic failings, improving complaints processes and ensuring repairs are completed in a timely way. This isn’t easy for the council as one of the biggest social landlords in the country at a time of government cuts to councils, but I believe the changes we are making are ensuring residents get a better service.

“We have worked positively with the housing regulator and ombudsman on these changes and welcome engagement with the government on them as well. However, Michael Gove’s record in government has been one of cuts to local councils and a refusal to invest in the public services that support our residents. After 13 years in power and doing nothing, we need a government that works with councils to invest in services and improving homes, instead of firing off letters from Whitehall while doing nothing to solve the UK housing crisis.”

Other organisations

Sovereign pointed Social Housing to the statement it gave the Housing Ombudsman from a case involving a resident’s leaky roof, published in April. 

PA Housing declined to comment.

Hyde and Inquilab Housing Association have been contacted for comment. 

Lambeth Council has also been contacted for comment.