Local mum wins £6.5k after Lambeth council took 5 years to fix leaking roof

A mum has won £6,500 from Lambeth council after it failed to fix her leaky roof for five years.

The Housing Ombudsman – which deals with complaints about town hall landlords – found Lambeth Council spent a total of six years dragging its heels over an ongoing damp and mould problem in the unnamed woman's flat. 

In one instance, the council took five months to act on a safeguarding enquiry from her son's primary school about black mould and a broken window pane in the house. 

It was one of a catalogue of failures in the council's handling of the case which led the woman and her son having to sleep in the same bed to keep warm because of dodgy windows elsewhere in the house. 

While workmen sent by the council tried to fix the problems, the flat was left in darkness, surrounded by scaffolding, for over two years. Meanwhile, the woman's son developed what she described as "extreme eczema," which his school reported was visible on his hands and body. He also started using an inhaler, which his mum blamed on mould in the property. 

During an emergency leak at the flat in 2021, the woman called the fire brigade after the council failed to respond. When firefighters arrived, they told her that live wires above the flat's door were hazardous. 

Lambeth said that repairs were delayed because the woman refused to let a surveyor in to inspect her roof. But the Ombudsman said "little evidence was seen to support" the council's claims, noting that there was no evidence it had formally raised access issues since a court hearing in 2016. 

The Ombudsman added that missing information "hampered" its investigation into the case. Lambeth was unable to provide a tenancy agreement or any inspection reports when asked for them. 

Richard Blakeway, the Housing Ombudsman, branded the woman's situation "intolerable" and blasted the council for its "inappropriate" response which was "contrary to its legal obligations." 

He added: "It should not take intervention from the Ombudsman to carry out fundamental repairs. I am also concerned the landlord was slow to respond to the school's safeguarding enquiry who were worried about the conditions at the home. This investigation includes one of the first severe findings for poor information management, with the landlord unable to locate basic documents."

Lambeth Council said it had now completed all the works, apologised to the woman and paid her £6,500 compensation.

A council spokesperson added: "We acknowledge that our management of the repair was inadequate, and we recognize the need for greater proactive communication with our tenants.

"We acknowledge that a proactive approach is crucial when addressing water penetration and damp issues, as these can be highly disruptive for our residents and have the potential to escalate.

"The council is therefore actively working on establishing a Repairs Journey team and an Early Resolutions team dedicated to improving communication between the Repairs Service and our tenants, and managing and coordinating repair needs promptly and proactively."