![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1_Ombudsman-leak01401.jpg\")
In Camden’s case, the repair job was marked as fixed twice despite the leak’s persisting(Image: Facundo Arrizabalaga)<\/p>\nThe Housing Ombudsman found fault with several local authorities and landlords over their failures to fix \u2018serious\u2019 leaks which had caused electricity outages and saw some families displaced from their homesIn Camden’s case, the repair job was marked as fixed twice despite the leak’s persisting(Image: Facundo Arrizabalaga)<\/p>\n
A North London<\/a> man\u2019s ceiling collapsed<\/a> after the local authority took too long to fix a leak coming from his upstairs neighbour’s flat, a watchdog report has found. The Housing Ombudsman<\/a> slammed Camden Council<\/a> after it failed to fix the problem coming from its property above a leaseholder\u2019s home, despite several warnings and more than 10 attempts to stop the leak<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ombudsman Richard Blakeway\u2019s report<\/a> found \u201cno evidence\u201d the council had thought to take enforcement action – despite failing 7 times to enter the upstairs flat it owned and resolve the issue. He also criticised the council for twice marking the job as complete without even confirming if it had fixed the problem.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the man living below kept trying to send the council\u2019s repair teams photos of the impact the leak was having on his home through the service WhatsApp account, but it \u201cwas not working\u201d. The landlord tried to call the neighbour but there was no answer and they failed to follow up.<\/p>\n Council workers then made numerous attempts to fix the problem but on many occasions were scuppered by the fact that they could not get into the upstairs property. Eventually, the man’s ceiling fell in.<\/p>\n The Ombudsman squarely placed the blame for this on the landlord\u2019s delays. Yet even after Camden<\/a> Council managed to fix the leak, the man remained in temporary accommodation even by the time the watchdog finished its investigation and upheld his complaint. \u201cThe resident said the home was not safe to live in,\u201d Blakeway noted.<\/p>\n Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS)<\/a>, a Camden Council spokesperson apologised for the distress and disruption caused. They accepted the Town Hall should have acted faster, and that the resident’s remaining in emergency housing was “unacceptable”.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want all our residents to live in homes that are safe, warm and dry,\u201d they said. The council said it has since changed how it manages and monitors \u201ccomplex\u201d repairs to prevent delays like this from repeating, the spokesperson added.<\/p>\n This includes bringing in specialist contractors earlier if in-house teams can\u2019t quickly find the root cause of the problem. New follow-up procedures have also been rolled out to monitor people’s stays in temporary accommodation due to repairs and make sure they can return home as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n The Ombudsman\u2019s report criticised several other London authorities <\/a>including Ealing<\/a>, Harrow<\/a>, Lambeth and Tower Hamlets borough councils, along with several housing associations. Mr Blakeway singled out Islington<\/a> and Shoreditch<\/a> Housing Association (ISHA) for one case where it took more than three years to fix a leaseholder\u2019s leak – including 8 months between the initial complaint and starting works.<\/p>\n The watchdog found the landlord had ignored the resident while the woodwork in her flat was left rotting. When the housing association did respond it offered no explanation for what was going on or when the problem would be fixed.<\/p>\n While her landlord initially offered to replace the decaying window and door, they later rowed back on this and told the woman to claim on her contents insurance instead. A spokesperson for ISHA said they had apologised to the tenant and said what had happened was \u201cabsolutely not the standard or experience we want for our residents\u201d.<\/p>\n The housing association said it has since put in more resources to its repairs and surveys team along with \u201cnew structures and processes\u201d. The spokesperson added that the organisation was installing a new housing management system to improve tracking of repairs and communications with its residents.<\/p>\n Since the complaint, ISHA said it had strengthened its “standalone complaints team\u201d which is responsible for investigating complaints \u201cimpartially\u201d and finding resolutions when service delivery fails.<\/p>\n