The Chalcots estate in Adelaide Road

A HOUSING regulator has criticised Camden Council over its handling of complaints from people living in the Chalcots estate, including failing to properly warn residents about the dangers of children falling out of newly installed windows.

The Housing Ombudsman has ordered the Town Hall to apologise and pay compensation to a tenant in the Fellows Road estate, Belsize, after finding it guilty of “severe maladministra­tion” and “service failure”.

Anthony Royle, 81, has been one the key voices of protest over seven years of major works at the blocks that included a full-scale evacuation of residents following the Grenfell disaster, the removal of dangerous cladding and installation of hundreds of windows despite opposition from all the Chalcots’ tenants residents associations.

Mr Royle, who lives in Bray, said: “The Ombudsman demolishes every claim that Camden have made and exposes the incompetence of the management of this project. I believe that this case against Camden is potentially dynamite in that it exposes the victim-blaming strategy of Camden against residents here.”

He added: “TRAs in each of these blocks opposed these right from the beginning. But we were told we were frustrating plans that would have wonderful benefits for hundreds of people. They have attacked us, the residents, for opposing what they were implementing. And now Camden has effectively stopped working with the TRAs. Their attitude to tenant reps has been abysmal.”

One of three complaints upheld by the Ombudsman was about the council’s poor management of the Chalcots refurbishment.

The new inward-tilting windows work with a two-key system:one key allows the window to open a little bit and a second allows it to open at a wide 90-degree angle.

The second key is only supposed to be given to a “responsible person” who is assessed by the council as being in sound enough mind to live in a tower block with a wide-opening window.

Mr Royle, who once stood for the Labour Party for a constituency seat, said: “Lots of old people in the blocks are mentally ill people and elderly. Then there are children. The council has to make a judgement on each flat. It’s a very complex thing that they have supposed to have done, which is something we have always pointed out.”

He said: “I spent half of my life running factories in general management. I was one of the first people in the country to go to business school. The second half of my life I moved into psychotherapy and counselling.

“Throughout this project I’ve realised the huge effect of a major project on people’s mental health. And what despairs me that somehow the elected officers are not managing their paid officers, and so they get away with murder.”

The Ombudsman said there had been a “service failure by the landlord in its handling of the consultation on the new window design”, the report said.

It also said there remained a “risk of young children overheating in their bedrooms at night” due to narrowness of the opening with the first key.

It added: “There remains no evidence the landlord consulted residents about the risks associated with the use of keys, and outstanding safety considerations regarding overheating.”

The council has been told to review its risk assessment procedures on all major works projects, set up a new policy for training and instructing residents on how to use the window keys safely and write to residents in the blocks outlining the risks and dangers of the windows.

Camden’s housing chief Councillor Sagal Abdi-Wali said: “We always fully cooperate with the Ombudsman and will provide them with the information and assurances asked for.

We have now installed around 60 per cent of the new windows, which are safe and comply with building regulations. We are continuing to explain to residents how they work, as they go in. We have put resident engagement at the heart of bringing the Chalcots up to the highest standard of safety

“Chalcots works are scheduled for completion in Spring 2025 and we thank residents for their ongoing work with us and their continued patience.”