Housing secretary writes to eight social landlords over maladministration

Aster Group

 

Mr Gove criticised Aster Group for its two findings of severe maladministration for its handling of complaints about flooring at the start of a resident’s tenancy and associated complaint-handling.

 

Bjorn Howard, chief executive of Aster, said that since this issue arose in 2020, Aster has worked with its customer to ensure that her home is up to the standards she should expect, including replacing the flooring throughout the property. 

 

The group has reviewed and updated its processes for supporting vulnerable or disabled customers to mean they will always receive individual support.

 

Both Aster’s internal lettings process and complaints procedures have been updated, and it has invested in additional training for its complaints teams.

 

Mr Howard said: “We would like to make clear once more our sincere regret for how this complaint was initially handled. We fell short of the high standards we set ourselves, fully accept the ombudsman’s findings and have apologised to our customer for their experience.

 

“We remain committed to listening, learning and ensuring we deliver the services our customers deserve.”

 

Livv Housing Group

 

Mr Gove wrote to Livv Housing Group following a finding of severe maladministration by the ombudsman for the group’s poor response to leaks and damp, and inadequate complaint-handling.

 

Chief executive Leann Hearne said that the group has complied with the orders of the ombudsman and will continue to learn from this case to improve its service for customers.

 

The housing association has implemented a “wide range of changes” in its approach to dealing with damp and mould prior to the ombudsman’s finding but has also used this case to develop its learning further.

 

It has developed a damp dashboard that uses data to identify hotspots and trends in cases being reported. This will allow it to begin to proactively engage with its customers to resolve issues early and ensure any repairs it undertakes resolve the problem.

 

Livv has introduced a new repairs management software to enhance its ability to track a repair from start to finish and improve its record-keeping.

 

The housing association has also expanded its complaints team and improved its systems and procedures.

 

Its corporate plan 2020-23 invested £50m in its stock and its new plan for 2023 to 2026 will see a further £80m invested in its stock.

 

Ms Hearne said: “We are sorry for the distress this experience caused our customer and we fully recognise that a more holistic approach should have been taken to resolve the issues sooner. While the case stems back to 2017, it was concluded in 2021 and the resident remains our customer today.

 

“We are in the process of writing back to Mr Gove to assure him of our commitment to the implementation of a wide range of changes in our approach to dealing with complaints about damp and mould, how we listen and respond to customers’ complaints and how our employees conduct themselves towards those customers.”

 

Southwark Council

 

Mr Gove has criticised Southwark Council for four severe maladministration findings from the ombudsman this year.

 

Two were issued on 16 May, one for failures in damp and mould and the other for poor complaint-handling. The other two were from a report on 25 July after the landlord “failed to act appropriately” when various issues were raised on service charges and a mutual exchange.

 

Kieron Williams, leader of Southwark Council, said: “I would like to say again how sorry we are to the residents involved with these cases from previous years.

 

“They should not have happened, and we have since made many changes to ensure we learn the lessons from each case. This week we published our plans for improving our repairs service, overseen by a resident board, and that work is already showing improvements.

 

“We take full responsibility for the things that went wrong in these historic cases and will continue to work with residents to improve our services.”

Barking and Dagenham Council

 

Barking and Dagenham Council received a letter about its severe maladministration failing to address reports of damp and mould, leaving a family of six living in poor conditions for over two-and-a-half years.

 

The council said it has introduced a new approach to root-cause identification by specialist surveyors and a robust post inspection regime. It has also introduced a compliance team focused on a case management approach, which will take into account the wider considerations of the resident or household’s needs.

 

A spokesperson from Barking and Dagenham Council said: “The council have recognised the failings in this case and the impact that this would have had on the family and the ability to enjoy their environment, and for which we offer our sincere apologies.

 

“As a council, it is important that we take complaints and use these as a basis to improve services for our residents, as such we have taken this complaint and determined several learning outcomes to improve the services which we offer all residents.

 

“We value the Housing Ombudsman and the work they undertake not only with the council but our residents, ensuring that our processes are improved with our customers at the heart of decision making.”

 

Sandwell Council

 

Mr Gove wrote to Sandwell Council following a finding of severe maladministration by the ombudsman for the council’s failure to consider a resident’s vulnerabilities during an anti-social behaviour case.

 

A spokesperson from the council said: “We take our responsibilities to our tenants extremely seriously and we are working hard to provide the excellent services they deserve.

 

“However, we acknowledge we fell short on this occasion, and we have made changes as a result.”

 

Waverley Borough Council

 

Mr Gove wrote to Waverley Borough Council regarding its severe maladministration for a delay in installing disability adaptations.

 

The council offered its “sincere apologies for the poor service”. It said it accepts that there were “unreasonable delays” in dealing with an application made by one of its residents for adaptations to meet the needs of his disabled son and that its communication with its resident could have been improved.

 

The council said it has “learned valuable lessons” from this case. As requested by the ombudsman, it is in the process of carrying out a comprehensive review of its policies and procedures around processing requests from its residents for disabled aids and adaptations.

 

As a result of the review, Waverley Borough Council will ensure the relevant staff have a “thorough knowledge and understanding” of its aids and adaptations policy and procedure.

 

It will also be putting in place a “clear and robust communications plan” to ensure that its tenants are kept regularly updated on the progress of their application for aids and adaptations.

 

A spokesperson said: “We firmly believe that these actions will help to drive service improvements which will benefit our residents, and we would like to thank the Housing Ombudsman for highlighting this matter to us.”

 

Six Town Housing

 

The housing secretary wrote to Six Town Housing, an ALMO managing Bury Council’s stock, following a severe maladministration for lack of professionalism in responding to a resident’s complaints about noise.

 

The ALMO said after completing a full review, it has reminded staff of their responsibilities in accurate record-keeping, including complaint-handling, and ensuring a customer-first approach, and refreshed its complaint-handling policy with staff training.

 

It also apologised to the tenant, compensated her with £1,100 and offered additional support regarding the complaint.

 

A spokesperson said: “Six Town Housing are deeply sorry that on this occasion their approach did not deliver the quality of service expected and that internal processes did not highlight the issue sooner within the organisation.

 

“The complaint and review have led to a review of processes at Six Town Housing, and the organisation is committed to learning from mistakes, and in ensuring that errors do not reoccur.”

 

Stoke-on-Trent City Council

 

Mr Gove wrote to Stoke-on-Trent City Council following a finding of severe maladministration by the Housing Ombudsman for its failure to respond, on two separate occasions, to a stage one complaint. This left a resident and her two vulnerable children in a home with damp and mould.

 

The council has been contacted for comment.