Camden Council’s 5PS offices in King’s Cross

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AN elderly man racked with arthritis and other serious health conditions was forced to live in a wooden shack because Camden Council failed to fix the lifts in his flats.

A damning new report by the government’s Housing Ombudsman has called Camden’s repairs service rude, dismissive, confrontational and simply not getting the job done when dealing with tenants.

The report highlighted a case of an elderly man with complicated health issues and needing a service dog to get about who lived in a block where the lift was broken for 686 days out of the 1,051 he had been a tenant there. It was impossible for him to stay in his flat so he moved into a wooden shed on the estate with no heating or water.

In another case, the Ombudsman heard a leaseholder waited 2,337 days for a simple reply to a complaint. The Ombudsman has the final say on disputes between residents and landlords and after noting a worrying number of dissatisfied tenants, launched an investigation.

This found a raft of issues over how complaints are handled, how rules were followed, and the poor service for repairs and maintenance of Camden’s 31,858 homes.

The findings were made public last week and describes Camden’s “…defensive complaints culture, with documents containing dismissive tones that run the risk of discouraging the acknowledgement of valid complaints”.

Living conditions were the focus of complaints. Work was delayed  by inaccurate and badly kept records, lack of follow-ups, stalled jobs with no explanations, jobs done badly or left half finished.  They spanned a range of issues, including damp, mould, heating, water, and rats and mice infestations.

Councillor Tom Simon,  the leader of the opposition

Liberal Democrat councillor Tom Simon, the leader of the opposition, said: “We have been telling the Labour administration for years that their service is simply not good enough. We have told them how bad the communication is with tenants and the myriad of problems people face when simply reporting repairs – and all we hear back is everything is wonderful.

“They have long been in denial about these problems. They either say there’s nothing to see or say: Don’t worry, we are improving. “But the issues do not get better and people’s lives are seriously affected. We will be watching carefully to make sure the Ombuds­man recommendations are followed through.”

Criticisms found significant communi­cation barriers, with one repair delayed for more than four months because the tenant was deaf and needed a sign language interpreter.

Housing Ombudsman Richard Blakeway said: “The landlord [Camden] needs to understand why several opportunities are missed to put things right, which may leave residents’ living in unsuitable and avoidable conditions.

“This includes a resident living with persistent disrepair, including damp and mould, for over three years, severely impacting her mental health. “The issues weren’t addressed until the Ombudsman intervened. To build trust and ensure residents are genuinely heard, comprehensive training and a strategic shift towards proactive, respectful engagement are imperative.”

Camden came on the Ombudsman’s radar after 10 cases regarding complaints between April and October 2023 took the borough above the national average.

The report stated: “Although the landlord may not have intended to appear dismissive of resident complaints, its practices and communications created a perception of a defensive culture.”

The Ombudsman has made 275 orders to Camden to act on.

A Town Hall spokes­man said: “Our tenants and leaseholders deserve high-quality, responsive and empathetic services. We are working hard to improve. “We have experienced many years of under-investment from government and there is a critical shortage of affordable housing. “The cases in the report are generally from 2022 or earlier – since then, we have changed and improved. We have more work to do.”